Dee2rites Blog

Category: devotional

  • “But God…”

    “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

    One of my top favorite phrases from the Bible is “But God”. The reason I love it so much, it reminds me that whatever may be going on now in my live, it is always subject to change. I was totally unlovable, but God loved me anyway and sent Jesus to die for me. And that was just the beginning!

    Depending which translation you use, there are approximately 104 times in the Old and New Testaments that say “but God”, and the phrase “but the Lord” appears 155 times! Every time things look one way, God comes on the scene and with one word, it all changes.

    Tempted to go where or do what you shouldn’t? Ask and God will show up with a way out. “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13

    Going through difficulty or hardship? “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” Psalm 34:19

    Right now there are terrible things happening in our world that seem so hopeless. Every day Muslim terrorists attack Israel and Israel is defending them self (and rightly so), and they are being criticized by our government. Christians in Iraq are being told to convert to Islam or die. All these things and more seem to be out of control. “But God…”

    The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 3:1-3 “Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.” But the Lord is faithful… If anyone knew about persecution for his faith, it would be the Apostle Paul.

    We can’t let our hearts and minds dwell on the things going on in the world so that we become consumed with fear or worry. Yes, we need to be informed, but only as much as we need in order to pray effectively and call on God. He has the last word. We have to first of all know His Word (the written Word), then have faith in His Word and finally pray according to His Word.

    “…but the Lord’s faithfulness overwhelms the one who trusts in him.”     Psalm 32:10b¹ Thank You Father.

    Peace and blessings in our Lord Jesus Christ,
    Dee

    ¹NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.
    All other Scripture references from The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

  • What’s That Smell?

    “God, create a pure heart in me. Give me a new spirit that is faithful to you.”  Psalm 51:10 (NIRV)Image

              A few days ago I noticed a slight odor in the refrigerator when I was getting my morning yogurt. I was getting ready to go to work so I noted to myself that I needed to clean out the refrigerator when I got home from work that day. By the time I got home, I was too tired and decided it could wait until the next day which was Saturday. Saturday morning I went to younger grandson’s baseball game, ran some errands on the way home and by the time I got home, I had other things on my mind and forgot about it. Since hubby was out of town, that evening I went out to dinner with a friend from work and didn’t open the fridge again until Sunday morning. Ugh! It was worse, but no time to do anything about it. Went to church that morning and since it was Mother’s Day I met my daughter and her family for a special lunch. By Monday I didn’t even have to open the door to smell the odor coming from the refrigerator. Good thing I’m off work this week, because there was no more putting it off. It had to be cleaned out now!  
                 I emptied the contents of the fridge, checking expiration dates on every bottle and container. Finally I found the culprit – a plastic container of leftovers that had gotten pushed to the back and forgotten. As I was wiping down the inside walls and shelves of the fridge, God began speaking to me about how just as those rotten leftovers created a bad odor in the refrigerator and finally the kitchen, that is what unconfessed sin does in our lives.
               We go to church, pay our tithes and keep the Ten Commandments. Everything is good, right? Ok, what about that little white lie we told to get out of doing something we’d promised to do but really didn’t want to do? Cover it up and push to the back the fridge. What about that word muttered at the driver who cut who cut us off in traffic? Wrap it up and put it on the bottom shelf. There they’ll stay and grow mold. Any sin, even ones we consider small are an affront to our God because He is holy and He calls us to be holy. “For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy.” Leviticus 11:44a (NKJV)
               John the Apostle writes in I John 1:8 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”    We all sin, even after we are born again we all say or do things we know are not what we’re supposed to do. And we fail to do things we know God has told us to do.  Even the Apostle Paul struggled with this. “For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.” Romans 7:19
                So what is the answer? Paul continues on to tell us – Jesus. Jesus has made the way.  “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Romans 7:24,25a
    Then John continues his message in First John. “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” 1 John 2:1, 2
                We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)  All we have to do is confess and Jesus will cleanse us.
                Just as I not only had to clean the refrigerator interior with baking soda to eradicate the smell, I also had to throw out the leftover food that was causing the odor.  Jesus cleanses us of all unrighteousness the moment we confess, but we have to remove it from our lives. Stop doing whatever that sin was. If it’s a bad habit, ask the Holy Spirit to help you. He abides within you once you are born again and He is called to help us and to guide us. If you have unforgiveness towards someone who offended you, start praying for them. It’s hard to hold a grudge against someone you’re praying for!

    Father, thank You for cleansing me of all unrighteousness. I pray that my life will be holy, a sweet aroma to You. In Jesus Name, Amen

    Peace and blessings in our Lord Jesus Christ,
    Dee

     

    New International Reader’s Version (NIRV)
    Copyright © 1996, 1998 by Biblica

     New King James Version (NKJV)
    The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

  • He’s Coming on a White Horse!

    “Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.
    And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” Revelation 19:11, 16

              When I was a little girl, my mother would read to me every day at nap-time and every night before tucking me into bed. My favorite stories were always the ones that ended with the handsome prince riding in on his white stallion and rescuing the princess from the evil witch. He would carry her away to his kingdom and they would live happily ever after. I daydreamed that someday my prince would come carry me away on the back of his beautiful white horse to live in his castle. When my prince did come, he was driving a green Plymouth and we lived in a small apartment!

             The desire to be rescued, or saved, is ingrained in our soul. Try as we might, deep down we know we are incapable of saving ourselves. We all need a savior. The only one capable of saving us is Jesus Christ. “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12

              The first time Jesus came, it was a helpless baby born in a manger. He lived a sinless life, was crucified for our sins, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. It is only by faith in Jesus Christ and His completed work that we can be saved. We are spiritually born again, saved from eternal damnation for our sins, and saved to eternal life with Him. We are saved from dead works and saved to do good works, not to earn salvation, but to glorify God with our lives.

              And He is coming again! This time it will not be as a helpless baby, but He is coming as KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS! He is coming to judge the nations and to rule His kingdom on the earth. Ever wonder where the idea that the good guys come riding in on white horses came from? Here it is in Scripture. When Jesus returns to establish His kingdom on earth, He and all the saints with Him are coming on white horses! My prince may not have come on a white horse, but my King is!

              “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming quickly.’  Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” Revelation 22:20

    Peace and blessings in our Lord Jesus Christ,
    Dee

     

    New King James Version
    The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

  • Good Friday – The End and the Beginning

    “After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” … So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. John 19:28, 30

    Today is Good Friday, a Holy Day for Christians because it is the day we remember the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the day a perfect sacrifice was made once and for all for our sins and the price was paid for our healing. Sometimes we seem to take this too lightly and fail to consider what it cost Jesus.

    King David wrote Psalm 22, a prophetic psalm describing Jesus death on the cross. “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” was Jesus’ cry from the cross. Why would God the Father turn his back on His beloved Son? The answer is in Isaiah 53:6, “And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” God had to turn His back – He cannot look at sin and the sin of all mankind was placed on Jesus. The Apostle Paul wrote “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21.

    God the Father and Jesus, God the Son, had been One, in perfect unity and harmony, from eternity past until that moment when Jesus took on Himself the sins of the world. My sin, your sin, the sins of our parents and our children were all put on Jesus. The Man who never committed a single sin was made to be sin so that a woman who never did anything righteous could be made the righteousness of God. Praise God!

    There was more to come. After being beaten into a bloody mess, being nailed in the most humiliating way possible to a cross and dying of suffocation, there was more to come. Jesus descended into hell where He finished the price and defeated Satan on his home field.

    That was the end. The end of sin having dominion over the man God created to have fellowship with. Ah, but with the end came a glorious beginning! After 3 days and 3 nights, Jesus came up from the heart of the earth. “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Matthew 12:40.

    That is the beginning – Christ is risen from the dead so that we may have eternal life! Praise God! The grave where they laid His body, is empty. He is risen from the dead! We have the testimony of eyewitnesses, people who saw and spoke with Jesus after the resurrection. As a woman, it blesses me to know that one of the first people Jesus appeared to was a woman.

    “Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.
    “Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.” Mark 16:9-11, 14

    Jesus was crucified for our sins, paid our debt in full, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. His work completed, He’s given all who believe eternal life in Him, forgiveness of all sin, healing for our bodies, and peace for our minds. Now it is our job to share the good news to the world.

    THE LORD IS RISEN! YES HE IS RISEN INDEED!

    Peace and blessings in our Lord Jesus Christ,
    Dee

    New King James Version (NKJV)
    The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

  • The Facts of Crucifixion

    Here is a link to an excellent piece written by a man named Robert Gidley about Roman crucifixion and graphic detail about what Jesus experienced during His last hours. It is not pleasant, not a pretty picture.

    The facts of crucifixion.

  • Through Jesus Christ I Have…

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    “For while the Law was given through Moses, grace (unearned, undeserved favor and spiritual blessing) and truth came through Jesus Christ.” John 1:17

    A number of years ago I was challenged to read the New Testament looking for all the prepositional phrases referring to Jesus. I don’t know how many there are, I lost count but I know it’s in the hundreds. But the purpose of the assignment was not to count them, but to grow in my understanding of everything Jesus has done for us. I began reading and every time I came to a phrase referring to Jesus, I would circle the phrase and meditate on what the Scripture was saying to me. The result was I came away with a deeper understanding of who I am in Jesus Christ.

    I encourage anyone wanting to grow spiritually to try the same process. Starting reading the New Testament actively looking for “in Jesus Christ”, “in Whom”, “by Jesus Christ”, “through Jesus Christ”, “through Whom”, “from Whom” and so on. As you find one, stop and meditate on what the verse is saying. Ask yourself how that applies to you and your life, what exactly has God done? Sometimes you need to consider the verse before and after it to fully understand the context of the verse.

    To help you get started, here is a small list of verses. But these are but a small sample of what is waiting for you in your Bible.

    John 1:17 – we have grace and truth through Jesus Christ
    Romans 8:1 – we are free from condemnation
    1 Corinthians 5:18 – we are reconciled to God through Christ Jesus
    Philippians 1:11 – we are filled with the fruits of righteousness by Jesus Christ
    Colossians 2:3 – wisdom and knowledge are in Christ Jesus
    Romans 5:11 – we have eternal life through Jesus Christ

    Peace and blessings in our Lord Jesus Christ,
    Dee

    Amplified Bible (AMP)
    Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

  • I AM a Cheerleader!

     

    The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: ‘Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.’”  Jeremiah 31:3 (NKJV)

                Last Saturday my four year old granddaughter Kaylee was sitting with me and her other grandmother at my grandson’s baseball game. There were two middle school age girls there also watching their brother play. From the way they were dressed they were probably on a competitive cheer team. Kaylee kept staring at them admiring their purple outfits, purple hair bows and especially their purple glitter eye make-up. Yes, I said purple glitter eye make-up. The other grandmother asked Kaylee if she wanted to be a cheerleader when she got older. Kaylee looked at us wide-eyed and said “I AM a cheerleader!”
              Kaylee has admired cheerleaders since she watched a cheerleading competition on TV last summer. So in the fall her mom put her in a gymnastics class that also has a little cheerleading instruction included. Then for Christmas she got some pom-poms and a dress-up cheerleading outfit. She’s learning to do flips and she has her own pom-poms. Kaylee sees herself as a cheerleader.
     How do you see yourself? Do you see yourself as what the world tells you are? Or do you see yourself as God sees you? Do you see yourself as one who is loved and cherished by God?
     Many years ago when I was leading my first ladies Bible study, God’s instruction to me was to tell His daughters how much He loves them. Those instructions have not changed but only grown stronger as I felt called to start writing. “Tell My daughters I love them.”
                 If you only believe one thing, believe this: God loves you and cherishes you. There is nothing, no fault, no sin, no wicked spirit that can keep God from loving you. The choice to believe and receive it is yours.
    Jesus said “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3:16-17 (NKJV)
              Let me be your cheerleader and encourage you in the fact that God loves you!  “For God so loved the world”. Put yourself in that verse – For God so loves ___ that He gave His Son Jesus to die for ___. If He loves us that much, why would He allow anything to ever stop that love? There is nothing.
    “For I am persuaded beyond doubt (am sure) that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39 (AMP)

    Peace and blessings in our Lord Jesus Christ,
    Dee

    The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
    Amplified Bible Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

  • My Father’s Voice

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                “…your Teacher will not hide Himself any more, but your eyes will constantly behold your Teacher. And your ears will hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it, when you turn to the right hand and when you turn to the left.’” Isaiah 30:20b-21

                 Last Sunday afternoon our North Texas area was slammed again by a late winter storm pelting us with sleet and ice. My daughter, a newly minted ER nurse, called me on her way to work asking me to pray for her safety driving the 40 plus miles to her job at an area hospital. The roads, particularly the bridges and overpasses, were getting slippery. I could hear nervousness in her usually confident voice. As we talked, I remembered an incident that happened to me many years ago, before she was even born.

    My husband and I were living in Houston, and one afternoon as I was driving home from work, we had a sudden thunderstorm, making the quickly wet streets slippery in places. I was approaching an intersection and applied the brake to slow down, but as I did, my car began to slide right towards another car. For a moment I started to panic, but then I heard my dad’s voice in my head. Dad had taught me to drive and even after I got my license, he continued to instruct me on how to handle various situations that I might encounter while driving. That day I heard my dad say, “If you ever start to skid, take your foot off the brake and steer into the skid.” Immediately I calmed down, did what he said and regained control of the car.

    As much as hearing my dad’s voice that day calmed me, there is another voice I seek to hear that calms me even more. The voice of my Heavenly Father can not only calm me in the storm, but He calms the storms in me.  My earthly dad taught me everything he possibly could, not only about driving, but many other things. However, as much as he tried to prepare me for life, his wisdom and knowledge was limited. My Heavenly Father knows all things, He knows my life and what I need to hear from Him.

    Psalm 139:16 says, “Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them.” God knows my past, my present and my future. He instructs me the way to go because He knows where I need to be, what I need to avoid. He tells me when I need to let off the brake and when I need to steer into the skid.

    My Heavenly Father speaks to me through the Bible, His written word and by the Holy Spirit. Jesus said “But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth). For He will not speak His own message [on His own authority]; but He will tell whatever He hears [from the Father; He will give the message that has been given to Him], and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come [that will happen in the future].”  (John 16:13)

    This is what the prophet Isaiah spoke about in Isaiah 30:21, that we would hear our Teacher saying ‘This is the way, walk in it.’

    After Jesus was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to live with and in us, all who will receive Him. Not just a little, but to overflowing. He teaches, guides and empowers us. It is through the Holy Spirit we can share the gospel with others. It is through the Holy Spirit I have words to write. It is through the Holy Spirit I know how to pray when my child calls needing prayer. “For in Him we live and move and have our being; as even some of your [own] poets have said, For we are also His offspring.” (Acts 17:28)

    How I thank God for my Father’s voice!

     Peace and blessings in our Lord Jesus Christ,

    Dee

     

    All Scripture references from the Amplified Bible.Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

    photo credit: freestone via photopin cc

  • Life or Death, Your Choice

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        “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:16, 17

     

    Studying the book of Genesis, I notice something interesting. When God placed man in Eden, two special trees were in the center of the garden. One was the tree of life and the other was the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God told them they could eat freely of every tree in the garden, including the tree of life.  All the trees were pleasant for food but one was forbidden. Only the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was forbidden to them, with the caution that if they did eat the fruit from it, they would surely die. God was offering them life, if they obeyed, or death if they disobeyed.
        Then isn’t it interesting that the serpent tempted them with the one leading to death. The tree of life was equally appealing to the eye, but the serpent could only offer death.  There is no life in him. Jesus said the thief (referring to Satan, called the serpent in Genesis) “…does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” (John 10:10)
        Only God can offer life and He has offered it to us from the beginning. Deuteronomy 30:19, 20 says “I call heaven and earth to witness this day against you that I have set before you life and death, the blessings and the curses; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live and may love the Lord your God, obey His voice, and cling to Him. For He is your life and the length of your days, that you may dwell in the land…”
     God calls us to choose life. He has provided a way for us to have life. Jesus said then, and is saying to us now, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”  (John 14:6)
    The choice is ours. Life of death. I believe I’ll choose life. Thank You Jesus for giving me life, a fulfilled life on here on earth and when it’s done, eternal life with You in heaven.

    Peace and blessings in our Lord Jesus Christ,
    Dee

    All scripture quoted is from The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

  • Disappointment 101

    “My soul is deeply grieved, even to the point of death. Remain here and stay alert.” Mark 14:34

    How do you handle disappointments? People don’t always behave the way we expect or need them to behave. Even our closest friends or family members let us down. Things happen that we have no control over cause us pain and disappointment. What are we supposed to do with those feelings? Who can we turn to in those times?

    Jesus suffered disappointment in the Garden of Gethsemane. He took Peter, James and John, the inner circle of the twelve men He’d called to follow Him, His closest friends, into the Garden to watch and pray with Him. One of the twelve had already deserted Him and was going to betray Him.

    “Then they went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Sit here while I pray.’ He took Peter, James, and John with him, and became very troubled and distressed. He said to them, ‘My soul is deeply grieved, even to the point of death. Remain here and stay alert.’” Mark 14:32-35

    “Remain here and stay alert” Jesus asked them, but when He returned they had fallen asleep, not once, but three times. When He needed them the most, they were sleeping. (See Mark 14:32-42)

    David wrote in Psalm 31:7 “I will be happy and rejoice in Your faithfulness because You are aware of how distressed I am.”

    God notices our pain, emotional as well as physical. He is aware of our disappointments. But He does more than just notice and be aware. David goes on to say, “But I trust in you, O Lord! I declare, ‘You are my God!’ You determine my destiny!” (31:14, 15a)

    Keep trusting God. He knows what happens in your life, and He has a plan for you. Other people do not have final say in your life – God does!

    Verse 19 says, “How great is your favor, which you store up for your loyal followers! In plain sight of everyone you bestow it on those who take shelter in you.”

    When your friend lets you down, when your spouse disappoints you, when you get passed over at work, pull into Jesus. He knows your hurts and He understands them as no one else can.

    “Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help.” Hebrews 4:14-16

    Jesus suffered disappointment without letting it cause Him to sin. He forgave and continued to love those who had let Him down. He held to the plan that after His resurrection, those eleven men would be the leaders and take the gospel to the world. Forgive without being asked, keep loving those who hurt you and hold fast to Jesus.

    David closes Psalm 31 saying, “Be strong and confident, all you who wait on the Lord!”
    Be strong. Be confident. Wait on the Lord.

    Peace and blessings in our Lord Jesus Christ,
    Dee

    References: New English Translation (NET)
    Mark 14:32-42
    Psalm 31
    Hebrews 4:14-16

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