Tag: trust

Lesson From a Rescue #3 – A.S.K.

Posted on by Dorci

I’ve been eating eggs for breakfast for years, and since shortly after we rescued our dog six years ago, he’s virtually insisted I share my eggs with him every morning.

The routine is nearly always the same: he waits for me to get out of bed, dutifully watches as I get out the ingredients, utensils, plate…maybe paces a bit as I cook it up (depending on whether or not he’s deferred eating his own breakfast until he’s had some of mine), walks with me over to my seat, sits as close as he can get, and begins to remind me, repeatedly, that he’s there.

He stares deep into my soul, and if that’s not enough, he accentuates it with some serious begging, or he’ll whimper as pathetically as he knows how. And every once in a while, when he’s especially desperate and I’m not paying close enough attention, he’ll resort to a chest bump to the leg.  

Every day, week after week, month after month, year after year, he thinks he has to remind me all over again. That somehow I’ve forgotten him. Like I could.

All the while I’m reminding him, again, that I know he’s there, just like yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that. I cut off his little pieces and save them until I’m finished, or at least almost. I can’t forget. There’s no way he’d let me. Yes, he’s a dog, but he’s part of my family. He’s my furry little child, and I love him.

“Yes, I know, I remember, you’ll get your eggs when it’s time.”

And so many times during this exchange I think of us.

We have needs and there may be times we’re not sure if God’s going to provide. Has He forgotten me? Does He see me? How is He going to get me out of this situation?

But Jesus tells us our Father knows what we need before we ask Him. (Matt. 6:8)

Yes, we ask for our daily bread (or eggs) and all our needs, but we don’t need to wonder if our Father’s heard us or has forgotten us.

We’re His children and we’re always on His mind and in His heart.  

Still, Rocky reminds me of a command Jesus gives us:

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Which of you, if your son asks for bread (or your dog asks for eggs), will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil (hurtful), know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!”
Matthew 7:7-11


Rocky’s got it down. He asks, he seeks, and when needed, he knocks his chest right up against my leg. And in the right time, he gets what he’s asked for.

We are invited by Christ Himself to go to our Heavenly Father and A.S.K. – ask, seek, and knock, but not from a place of doubt, not afraid He’s forgotten us, or worse, believing He doesn’t care about us.

We can and must go to Him firmly seated in the foundation of our abiding faith in Him who sent His Son to die for us, who loves us with an everlasting love, and who called us by knocking on the door of our own heart to bring us into relationship with Himself. 

 

“Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from Him anything we ask, because we keep His commands and do what pleases Him. And this is His command: to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us.“
1 John 3:21-23

 

With His Love,

 


Related blogs: 

Lesson From a Rescue

Lesson From a Rescue – #2

 

15 Years!

Posted on by Dorci


Hello!

I’m doing a little bit of celebrating today. It’s been 15 years since I started God Treasure, four and half years first on Blogspot, and ten and half here.

I was encouraged to write by a couple of friends years ago. Then when my health took a dive and I wasn’t able to serve Him in other ways, I finally took the plunge into devotional writing.  I’m so thankful He’s allowed me to serve Him this way. Or maybe, (just maybe!) that was His plan all along.

Nothing takes Him by surprise. He knows the beginning from the end and vice versa.  He knew what my life held, all its craziness, before Christ and after, and I’m sure this was His plan from the beginning, and why He began planting seeds through those friends so long ago.  

And maybe that’s what this has been about, a way for Him to bring healing to my heart, a heart that’s held more pain than a heart should be able to hold, but for Him. Only He could heal a heart like that.

Even though I delve into scripture, I still sit here every time in front of a blank screen, not knowing exactly where the Lord and I are going.  But I pray, and the Holy Spirit gives me direction.

He’s always showing me things I didn’t know, having given me more “aha!” moments than I can count that have led me down a fifteen-year path of tears and joys. He teaches me first, bringing healing to my own heart, and through that, He’s equipped me with understanding and compassion to help show others how faithful our God is.  

I hope and pray the Lord’s brought hope and bit more understanding to even a few through my own discoveries, and maybe a bit of comfort that whatever you’re going through, you’re not alone. I’ve been there, in so many ways, over and over again.

So, from my healed, and healing, heart to yours, thank you for reading. I hope you’ve found something to take away for yourself. l hope you’ve grown deeper in love with Jesus, learning you can trust Him more and more, and then taken Him out into the world as salt and light for others.

It’s been my story, and maybe yours, too.

 

As always, if you ever need prayer, or you’d like me (and the Holy Spirit!) to attempt a particular subject, I’d love to hear from you. You can leave a comment here, email me, or message me on the blog’s Facebook or Twitter pages.  

His,
Dorci

 

 

Saturday Song – I Will Carry You

Posted on by Dorci

Much of my life I seemed to walk alone. Or so I thought. Through more difficult days I can count, more trials, more stumbling and reaching out in the darkness for someone to help me up and thinking no one was there, now I see Jesus was.

It was He who led me, He who protected me, He who lifted me up again and again, and He who loved me through it all, and I know He always will. 

I pray you know He’s there for you, too. I pray you know He carried your sins on the cross, even when He knew the sins that would stumble you, and He loved you still.

I pray you know when you’re in need He’ll provide for you; when you fall He’ll pick you up; when you’re empty He’ll fill you; when you’re lost He’ll come after you; when you’re broken He’ll weep with you, and then He’ll heal your heart, as many times as it takes.  

Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and His understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:28-31

 

 

I Will Carry You
by Ellie Holcomb
 
I know you’re tired, I see it in your eyesAll that anxiety that rules your mindI’ll be your shield when you don’t feel likeYou’ve got strength enough to fightI’ll stand by your side
 
I will carry youThrough your darkest nightWhen you’re terrifiedI will carry youWhen the waters riseWhen your hope runs dryI will carry you
 
You are not the sum of your mistakesYou don’t have to hide the parts of you that acheI choose you as you are a million times‘Cause I am not ashamed of youI won’t walk away from you
 
I will carry youThrough your darkest nightWhen you’re terrifiedI will carry youWhen the waters riseWhen your hope runs dryI will carry you
 
Up and over the mountainsValley deep as the oceanWhen you can’t keep goingI will shoulder your burdensUp and over the mountainsValley deep as the oceanWhen you can’t keep goingI will shoulder your burdens
 
I will carry youThrough your darkest nightWhen you’re terrifiedI will carry you (carry you)When the waters riseWhen your hope runs dryI will carry you
 
I will carry you, carry youThrough the darkest night (you)When you’re terrified(I will shoulder your burdens)I will carry you, carry youWhen the waters rise (you)I will carry you

Oh, Those Pop Quizzes

Posted on by Dorci

Remember being in school, having gotten to the end of the semester, maybe the year. You walk into the classroom and sit down, thinking it’s going to be just another ho-hum day, when the teacher walks to the front of the class and announces there’s going to be a pop quiz on everything you’ve learned (or haven’t) up to that point. Soon you find out exactly how well you’ve been paying attention.

I recently had one of those days, not in school, but in life. 

I woke up on a Friday, looking forward to the weekend, and instead found myself hours later in a hospital bed hearing the doctor tell me news I never expected – I’d had a stroke. 

Suddenly I was faced with the constant choice, every minute of every day, with every new twist and turn, to believe what my God had taught me the last 32 years, or not. How well had I truly internalized what I’d read and heard; how well had I learned my lessons in previous “quizzes?” Did I believe He was with me, that His love was true, that in Him my suffering had a purpose, that He would never leave me or forsake me? 

Had I truly walked with my God, my Father, my Savior, my Lord, or had I been kidding myself? 

In the last three months I’ve had a few bad days, when it’s all been just too much, too overwhelming, too “unfair.”

But for the most part I’ve looked around and seen God’s grace and mercy in a myriad of ways. So much grace and mercy. I’ve felt His presence, His indwelling Holy Spirit, giving me joy and hope, even in the face of reasons to have very little.

There are many of those stories to tell, and God willing, I will. 

But the good news is my faith has once again been proven to be real. If it were never real, if it was only a “said” faith – in word only – but no real belief, no indwelling and sealing by the Holy Spirit, I surely would have dropped out by now. 

Oh, I’ve had days where I questioned, I’ve been angry, but God’s been there even in the middle of that. His understanding and compassion no one can fathom. I am still His child and He is still my Father, and no one can separate me from His love.

For a while I’ve kept a flip calendar that has a new scripture for each day. I have yet to flip the page from the one it was on the day my life changed. 

“I will say of the LORD, 
‘He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.'”
Psalm 91:2

Those words have been a reminder to me every day where my hope lies. 

So, when the next trial pops into your life, will you be ready? When your faith is tested, will you persevere because you’ve been learning to trust Him all along? Are you preparing now by seeking Jesus with all your heart, by building on that relationship with Him every day so that you know Him, and when the trial comes, you’ll know He’s where He’s always been – right by your side?

I pray your hope lies in the only One who is completely trustworthy, that your faith, your belief is in His Son Jesus as Lord and Savior, for “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12

If not, or if you’re not sure, just ask Him. Ask God to forgive you of your sins, and tell Him you’re putting your faith in His Son Jesus and His blood that was shed on the cross to pay for your sins.

Read, listen, and learn all you can. Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love others as yourself. And when life hits you hard, as it does for everyone, you’ll be ready, and He’ll be there. 

 

 

 

One Author, Many Stories

Posted on by Dorci

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”

So begins one of the most well-known and best-selling novels of all time. But it doesn’t stand alone. There are countless other stories just as beautifully written and well-regarded. It would be futile to compare them because they’re each beautiful in their own unique way. 


“…let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…”  
Hebrews 12:1b-2a


It is oh so easy to compare our lives, our stories, to others. In fact, satan encourages it. And with the explosion of social media, it’s easier than ever to become engrained into our psyche, even subconsciously, to compare everything about ourselves and our lives to others. 

What he doesn’t want us to remember is that we have a perfect Author who writes each unique story of faith.

Our Author knows what what’s needed to advance our own particular epic, strengthening our faith, while taking into account our unique hearts and the varying characters and events of our lives, so that our faith is mature and complete. 

Yes, our stories will be different, but every one is written just as thoughtfully and lovingly as the others, each just as beautiful and miraculous.

The one commonality we share in our stories, if we indeed know Him, is our Protagonist, our Hero, the Champion of our faith. 

So whether our stories begin with “Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmond, and Lucy” or “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit,” as long as we continue walking with our Champion, the Author of our faith, we can trust Him with the twists and turns of own adventures, developing our faith until the end.

And then, a new beginning…