Tag: trust

Getting the Cart Before the Horse

Posted on by Dorci

Life is fleeting. More fleeting than most of us think about on a day to day basis. But I think anytime we look back over the life of a loved one who’s gone, we realize again how very momentary it is. 

I want to pack all I can into this life. I want to do all the right things, and I sure don’t want to miss anything God wants for my life. I don’t want to miss His purpose in having me here, and I’ve caught myself feeling frantic that I’m not doing enough, or worried that God’s disappointed that I haven’t gotten everything right. Maybe I’ve messed it all up. 

I grew up learning to be a perfectionist, that if I could just do everything right I’d be worthy of love, and that spilled over into my relationship with the Lord. Do everything right and He will love me.

But that’s getting the cart before the horse. 

God already loves us, and what He wants from us, is us. 

He desires us to love Him, to grow in our relationship with Him.

If we practice loving Him with everything in us, everything good will flow from that. Anything we do for Him, any obedience, any service, any use of our gifts, will be a result of that fellowship of love. 

Jesus said the greatest commandment is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” 
Matthew 22:37

That word commandment means an injunction, an authoritative prescription.

This is what the Lord’s been impressing on my heart lately.  “Rest in Me. Focus on being, not just on the doing.” 

And yes, of course I love the Lord, but there’s always room for that love to grow. He wants us to love Him – 

– with all our heart. Choose to trust Him with every emotion, every anxiety, every worry;

– with all our soul . Choose faith in the love and goodness of God in every circumstance, no matter what’s happening;

– with all our mind. Choose to believe in Him with all understanding. Take every thought captive to obey Him.

Receiving God’s love and loving Him back is God’s prescription for the health of our entire being, heart, soul, and mind. 

Sometimes this life doesn’t quite turn out the way we thought it would or ever wanted it to. But God knew, and He’s had a plan all along.

In the middle of the mess He says, “Focus your energies on loving me with your whole being, and anything I desire you to do I will show you and enable you to do it.” 

Just a couple of chapters later, after Jesus tells His disciples the greatest thing we can do is love God, His disciples ask Him what will be the sign of His coming and of the end of the age.

He tells them, among other things, that “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Matthew 24:12-13

He didn’t say the love of some, or the love of many, but the love of most will grow cold. 

Whether we’re facing the end of the age now or not, there is a lot of hatred and violence and destruction going on out there publicly, and in a lot of ways we’re each being stretched personally. We’re suffering, we’re hurting, we’re confused, we’re downright angry. 

The enemy will try to use all that to cause our hearts to harden and grow cold. 

But if we purpose to love our Heavenly Father with all of our being, we won’t be one of the most.

Instead, we’ll be one of the few with His love flowing in and through us that will be like an oil causing the light of Christ in us to shine brightest when the world needs it most. 

This life is fleeting.  

Wouldn’t it be great if someone looked back on our life and said “How they loved the Lord”?

And even more, facing Him at the start of our new life, having loved Him with everything?

 

 

 

The Saturday Song – Reckless Love

Posted on by Dorci

“But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says:

‘When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts to men.’
(Psalm 68:18)

(Now this, ‘He ascended’—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)”
Ephesians 4:7-10

The word {lower} parts of the earth is katōteros, meaning of Hades (different word than that for hell). 

There’s much more to learn in the scriptures about this than I’ll take to explain here, but Christ was not idly waiting inside the tomb. After He shed His blood and died, sin’s power was broken.

It was time for Him to descend to those who’d already died in faith, whose belief in the Lord was counted to them as righteousness, and were waiting for this pivotal moment to be rescued and taken to their eternal home in heaven.  

If He was willing to die on a cross while we were yet sinners, and He was willing to descend into a part of Hades to rescue those who were His, what is He not willing to do, and where is not willing to go to rescue any one of us?  

 

 
Before I spoke a word, You were singing over me
You have been so, so good to me
Before I took a breath, You breathed Your life in me
You have been so, so kind to me
 
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine
I couldn’t earn it, and I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah
 
When I was Your foe, still Your love fought for me
You have been so, so good to me
When I felt no worth, You paid it all for me
You have been so, so kind to me
 
And oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine
And I couldn’t earn it, and I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah
 
There’s no shadow You won’t light up
Mountain You won’t climb up
Coming after me
There’s no wall You won’t kick down
Lie You won’t tear down
Coming after me
There’s no shadow You won’t light up
Mountain You won’t climb up
Coming after me
There’s no wall You won’t kick down
Lie You won’t tear down
Coming after me
There’s no shadow You won’t light up
Mountain You won’t climb up
Coming after me
There’s no wall You won’t kick down
Lie You won’t tear down
Coming after me
There’s no shadow You won’t light up
Mountain You won’t climb up
Coming after me
There’s no wall You won’t kick down
Lie You won’t tear down
Coming after me
 
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine
And I couldn’t earn it, I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah

Keep Growing and Growing and Growing…

Posted on by Dorci

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap. For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 

As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good to all men, especially to them who are of the household of faith.”
Galatians 6:7-10  AKJV


It is a long and tedious process to produce the perfect grape. It is three years from seed to harvest and involves soil cultivating – different soils for different grapes, perfect planting, temperature and wind control, proper sunlight, protection from pests and disease, watering, and pruning.  Oh, the pruning.  Pruning is so important that pruning contests are held to reward the best pruners. It takes a lot work to produce a fully mature, sweet crop of grapes.

Jesus said “I am the vine; you are the branches.” John 15:5a

The branches on grapevines can’t get tired, but we can. And as we endure years of tending and watering and pruning and waiting and not yet seeing the fully mature faith we desire, we might be tempted to give up. And right about the time when it looks like nothing is happening, it’s time to prune. Pruning is painful and sometimes all we see is that something is gone.

What we don’t see is what’s happening underground. Beneath the surface the roots are growing deep and strong, feeding on the nutrients in that perfectly fertilized and watered soil. And the stronger the roots, the stronger the grapevine will be.

So, let us not be weary in well doing…”

That word “doing” is a prolonged form of the word to do. To keep doing for an extended period of time.  It also means to abide.

Keep going, keep growing, keep doing well, keep holding onto Jesus, the Vine, until harvest time.  Yes, it’s hard, yes, it can be exhausting, yes it might look like nothing is happening except that so much has been taken away, but good things are coming if we don’t give up. We’ll see some fruit in this life, but the full harvest comes in the next. One day we’ll stand before our Heavenly Gardener and reap what we’ve sown.

So whatever season we’re in, let’s keep doing good to others – sowing to the Spirit – as God gives us opportunity, producing the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, and eventually the harvest of a sweet, fully mature faith.

Spiritual Olympics

Posted on by Dorci

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 

Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

 

Next year will be the Summer Olympics. A time when athletes will put to the test everything they’ve been training night and day for, sacrificing their lives for, restricting their diets for, enduring injuries for as they’ve fallen down and gotten up over and over so they will be perfect. 

In the same way, we who have been following Christ have a proving ground right now to put into practice what we’ve been learning.

The world is stressed out and we’re all going to cross paths with that stress one way or another, whether it’s from within or without.

And there is no better opportunity than right now to put to the test the faith we’ve been learning, the trust in Christ we’ve been practicing, the filling of the Holy Spirit we’ve been training our ears and hearts and minds to hear.  

So let’s run the race with the right garments:

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3 12-14

Path of Faith

Posted on by Dorci

Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. 

But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary (against them).

Now in the fourth watch of the night (3am-6am), Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 

And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.

But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”

And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”

So He said, “Come.” 

And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”

And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Matthew 14:22-31

The changing picture at the top of this page always has some sort of path or road which represents the paths we take in the changing seasons of our spiritual lives. 

In this scene in the book of Matthew, we see Jesus telling Peter to come to Him on some undefined, invisible path on the water while the winds raged against them.

And Peter, precious Peter, has enough faith to step out of the boat and to actually start walking toward Jesus on this invisible path.

But halfway through, his faith moves from Jesus to the wind and the waves, and he begins to sink.

I can’t blame Peter too much.  Being willing to walk on water is amazing enough, but he got out of the boat when the wind and waves were so strong they were tossing them around. And this was no gentle rocking. The word “tossed” means pain, toil, torment.

Just as Jesus called Peter to walk a path of faith, He calls us to come to Him, to focus on Him and not the pain, not the toil, and not the torment.

When storms come and the winds of circumstance come against us, we might not see a clear path, and that is when, more than ever, we need to look to Jesus, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, walk toward Him a path of faith.