Dee2rites Blog

Tag: Encouragement

  • Overcome Evil With Good

    “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)

    church_steeple

    When Jesus was on the earth, He promised that His church would prevail against the gates of hell. “…and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18b) Through the centuries Satan has perpetrated attack after attack against the kingdom of God, attempting to destroy the body of Christ, His Holy Church. The latest attempt last Wednesday night in Charleston, South Carolina, was another defeat snatched from satanic jaws of victory.

    Nine people, all followers of Jesus Christ, including Rev. Clementa Pinckney, the pastor of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church were murdered in church. It looked like a sure win for the enemy. Nine believers were dead at the hands of a confused young man who had said he wanted to start a race war. But just as Satan thought he’d won when Jesus died on the cross, it was no win but in fact was a great defeat. Just as Jesus took the first victory from him by rising from the dead, the church body at Emanuel AME has taken this victory from him. The families of the nine murder victims won by forgiving the young man used in this heinous act. Love trumps hate every time.

    Satan thought he’d strike a winning blow against the church by inciting division in the body – black against white and white against black. Wrong again! Churches of all denominations, of all races and cultures have united in support of Emanuel AME Church. The devil fails to understand that when one part of the body of Christ is hurt, the rest of the body gathers around to support, to pray and to comfort. Churches across the nation are praying for their brothers and sisters in Charleston SC. My home church, Grace Outreach Center in Plano, was one of many that sent donations to show them our love and support.

    I’m reminded of what the Apostle Paul wrote in the book of Romans about how believers are to act toward one another and toward outsiders. I’ve seen this passage in action the last five days by the families of the murder victims, other members of that church and by believers across the nation.

    Romans 12:9-21
    9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.
    10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; 13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.
    14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16 Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.
    17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. 18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
    19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
    For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”
    21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

    Peace and blessings in our Lord Jesus Christ,
    Dee

    Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.

  • “Come With Me”

    “Come to me, all of you who are tired and are carrying heavy loads. I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 (NIRV)

    I was recently asked by a friend to write a short Bible study lesson on love. That was her only directive – just write a short study on love. Wow, that a huge subject. As I prayed about what to write, God kept bringing me back to the directive He had given me years ago when I first started writing. “Tell my daughters how much I love them.”

    You may wonder, doesn’t everyone know God loves everybody? Probably, in their head if they ever been in or near a church. Most people can quote some version or form of John 3:16 “For God so loved the world”, but in their hearts they may wonder if or how He loves them personally, individually. Even Christians who have a real relationship with God can have periods of doubt, they may wonder about God’s love for them.

    This week in our ladies Bible study at church, a lady shared that she was coming out of a period of darkness, she’d been through some struggles with her faith. As I listened to her, I thought about how I’d been through my own periods of darkness and struggle. I knew right then that that was the reason God had led me to write about God’s love for us.

    In 1981 Del Shannon recorded a song originally written and recorded in 1959 by Phil Phillips called “Sea of Love”.

    Come with me my love
    To the sea
    The sea of love
    I want to tell you
    How much I love you

    When I hear that song or read those words, I think of Jesus and what He said in Matthew 11. “Come to me, all you who are tired…” Yes, there was a time when I was very tired, and not just physically but emotionally and spiritually.

    In 2001, about a year after my mother had graduated to heaven, I went through a deep depression. I was angry at God for taking my mother and not preparing me for her leaving. I felt that some of the people in my life had not given me the comfort and support I thought I needed. I was fighting with my sister over care for our dad. Some individuals at church, instead of reaching out to me, judged me because I wasn’t acting right in their opinion. So I dropped out of church for a period and stopped reading my Bible. From there I continued to spiral downward. My husband and I began having problems in our marriage. Sins I’d not struggled with for decades began tempting me. I don’t know what would have happened had God not loved me enough to pull me back. But He did and He did it in through a secular magazine of all things! But since I’d stopped reading my Bible, listening to Christian music, or going to church I hadn’t left Him a lot of options. I opened a Woman’s Day magazine I’d bought that day on a whim and saw these words:

    “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:28-30 The Message


    As I read those words, it seemed as if Jesus were sitting right there beside me, speaking directly to me. “Are you tired and worn out?” He asked. Yes, I was very tired and worn out from my hurts, doubts and fears. “Are you burned out on religion?” Yes, I was totally burned out and let down by church members. “Come to Me, not the church, not other people. Just come to Me.” Jesus gently and loving wooed me. There was no condemnation in His words, just love. Tenderly and lovingly God reached out to me when I was at the lowest point in my life.

    I’ve learned about the “unforced rhythms of grace”, I’ve recovered my life. I’m leaning how “to live freely and lightly”. I run to Jesus every day to hear Him tell me how much He loves me. Good circumstances or bad, I rest in His love.

    Jesus calls you to come with Him, come to the sea of His great love and let Him tell you how much He loves you. Wherever you are in your life, He calls “Come to Me. Come learn about my grace. Come with Me and learn how to live. Come receive My love. Come with Me, I want to tell you how much I love you.”

    Jesus loves you, my friend!

    Peace and blessings in our Lord Jesus Christ,
    Dee

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

    The Message (MSG)
    Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

  • 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

  • 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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  • Resurrection Power

    Resurrection Power.

    Since I first wrote this blog, I have heard one of my pastors teach from Ephesians 1:18-20 more than once that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in believers through the power of the Holy Spirit.

    “By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints (His set-apart ones), And [so that you can know and understand] what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength, Which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His [own] right hand in the heavenly [places]” Ephesians 1:18-20 (Amplified Bible)

    Feeling powerless? Feeling low? Feeling defeated? Call on the Power that dwells within you by the Holy Spirit. If you’ve been born again and filled with the Holy Spirit, It is there.

    Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

    Dee

  • Signs of Mercy

    “Now David came to his house at Jerusalem. And the king took the ten women, his concubines whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in seclusion and supported them, but did not go in to them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood.” 2 Samuel 20:3
    (NKJV)

    I love King David. He was the man the Bible called “a man after God’s own heart” but that’s not why I love him. I love him because like most of us, his life took many twists and turns, highs and lows. He could worship God in total abandon, yet yield to dark temptations. Sounds like someone I know very well – me! David understood from personal experience about repentance, grace, love and forgiveness. He understood mercy.

    The history of King David recorded in 2 Samuel tells us about his son Absalom’s decision to take the kingdom away from him. Instead of defending the throne, David packed up his wives, his other children, and his army and went on the run. He left behind ten women, his concubines, to keep the house. Nathan the prophet had told David that division would come in his own house, and what he’d done in secret, would be done to him in public. Absalom pitched a tent on the roof and took the ten concubines of his father so the people could see he’d taken his father’s wives and the kingdom.

    When David returned after the death of his son, what was to happen to these women? Concubines were wives but they did not have the rights of a wife, they were really slaves. They were more easily dismissed than a wife, they had little legal protection.

    Jewish writers tell us that the widowed queens of Hebrew monarchs were not allowed to marry again but were obliged to pass the rest of their lives in strict seclusion. This is what David chose. They were not divorced, they were guiltless; but they were no longer publicly recognized as his wives. He sequestered them away where they were out of public view, where they could live in quiet privacy as Absalom’s widows. And he continued to provide for them the rest of their lives. That’s mercy.

    When we’ve been abused or wronged by someone or the world in general, we can call on God’s mercy to sequester us in His love. He’ll provide us with His lavish love. We’re not to be isolated, we need the right people around us; but we can be protected further abuse or from judgment.

    David wrote the 31st Psalm. Verses 7-8 says, “I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy and steadfast love, because You have seen my affliction, You have taken note of my life’s distresses, And You have not given me into the hand of the enemy; You have set my feet in a broad place.” (The Amplified Bible)

    “I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy”. David understood the mercy of God because he’d benefited from it over and over. “You have seen my affliction…you have taken note”. God not only sees when we’re abused, He’s taking notes! Beloved, God will not let your abuser go unpunished. But you He will set in a broad place because you are seated with Jesus, your life is hidden with Christ in God.

    “…let all those who take refuge and put their trust in You rejoice; let them ever sing and shout for joy, because You make a covering over them and defend them; let those also who love Your name be joyful in You and be in high spirits.” Psalm 5:11 (The Amplified Bible)

    God’s mercy and love are a covering over us. We can shout for joy and rejoice even in our hard places. We are covered with His love. We are covered by mercy.

    Peace and blessings in our Lord Jesus Christ,
    Dee

    Scripture used but not noted: 2 Samuel 15:13-16; 2 Samuel 12:10-12; 2 Samuel 16:20-23; Ex 21:7-11: Colossians 3:3.

  • Getting Past Our Past

    “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14 (New King James Version)

    “Me teach a Bible study? I can’t do that. I’m not worthy. Lord, You know my past. You know the sins I was involved in. I’m not suitable to lead a Bible study.”
    “Daughter, did you repent and ask Me to forgive you? And did you turn away from those sins?”
    “Well, yes. I did. And it no longer has a place in my life.”
    “Do you believe I’ve forgiven you? Cleansed you?”
    “Yes, You promised in Your Word that if I confessed my sin You would forgive me and cleanse me of all unrighteousness.”
    “Do you believe you are now righteousness?”
    “Uh, I’m not so sure about that. I don’t always feel righteous.”
    “Daughter, do you know what I see when I look at you? I see the Blood of my Son Jesus. I see My righteousness which I have given you in place of your unrighteousness. I see you as worthy because I have made you worthy.”
    “Yes, Father. I believe You have given me Your righteousness. Thank You Father for forgiving me not only of my past, but also for not believing Your righteousness has been given to me. Thank You Father for forgiving me, healing me, and giving me a new life in You. And I will do any task You ask me to do. Even leading a Bible study when I don’t feel worthy. Because I know in You I am worthy.”

    Have you ever had a conversation like that? Knowing that God has called you to do something, yet not feeling like you’re worthy of the call?
    Too many times as Christians we allow fear, doubt, or shame over our past keep us from fulfilling a call from God. We allow the enemy to come in and condemn us for things God has already forgiven and cleansed us of. When satan brings these thoughts, that is not the time to turn from God; that would be falling into satan’s trap to lure us back into sin. Rather that is the time when we need most to run to God, to go to the Word and meditate on the fact that we have been made the righteousness of God.

    “God made him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 (New International Version)

    Some may say, ‘but I was already a Christian when I sinned. I knew better but I did it anyway. How can I be the righteousness of God?’ The same way we’re saved to start with – by faith, believing the Word of God, by believing God can and will do what He said He would do.
    1 John 2:1 was written to Christians. “My little children, I write you these things so that you may not violate God’s law and sin. But if anyone should sin, we have an Advocate (One Who will intercede for us) with the Father–[it is] Jesus Christ [the all] righteous [upright, just, Who conforms to the Father’s will in every purpose, thought, and action].” (The Amplified Bible) We have an Advocate – One who pleads our case before the Father and makes sure we’re forgiven.

    God instructed me once to major on righteousness because when we become more aware and understand that we are the righteousness of God, sin begins to lose its hold on us. And the more we know of righteousness, the less it has control over us. We have to lose, give up, get rid of and deny its right that old religious idea “we’re just poor ol’ sinners saved by grace and can’t help ourselves but to sin”. As long as we hold on to that attitude, we’ll continue to be subject to sin.

    It’s time to move on. Time to get past our past. The Apostle Paul said that he was forgetting his past – the position he’d attained as a devout Jew, his persecution of the Christians, all of it, and was moving on with Jesus toward the goal of being like Him. (See Philippians 3:13, 14)

    We can’t change our past, neither the past before or since we received Jesus as Savior. But we can change our present. We can learn to walk in the righteousness Jesus has provided for us. We can grow into it. Like a child grows into a suit of clothes or a pair of shoes that are too big, we can grow into the image of Jesus Christ.

    Peace and blessings in our Lord Jesus Christ,
    Dee

  • You are Beautiful to God


    “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.” John 15:9

    Elizabeth* sat across my desk from me while I was preparing her common-law husband’s taxes. With them was another young woman who was the mother of his baby. My heart ached for this young woman. She didn’t appear to have any self worth and seemed resigned to be replaced and subservient to a new “wife”. Her shoulders drooped and frown lines were already creasing her young face. She looked much older than the 23 years of age indicated by her driver license. There was a strong spirit of despair and sorrow surrounding her. How I longed to reach out to her, take her by the shoulders and tell her “God loves you. He sees you worthy of love and you are beautiful. You can be free from this situation.” Because of where we were, that was not possible, but I pray that God will send someone to Elizabeth and share the Good News that will set her free.

    At age 20 months my precious granddaughter Kaylee knows she is loved and knows that she is beautiful. Just ask her.
    “Kaylee, who’s Nana precious girl?”
    “Me!” she responds with a big smile, slapping her hand on her chest.
    “Kaylee, who’s my pretty girl?”
    “Me!” she again responds with a big smile, again slapping her hand on her chest. Yes, when we’re young and are affirmed by our loved ones, we know our self-worth. If we are loved by our parents, we can learn and believe God loves us and has value in us.

    The world does its best to tell us we’re not worthy and there are things wrongs with our bodies, wrong with our abilities, wrong with our feelings. The enemy feeds on our fears and insecurities and he doesn’t wait until we’re adults to start putting those doubts in our heads. All you have to do is look around to see young women allowing themselves to be used and put into demeaning situations to know that. I wonder about Elizabeth. Did she have a father who loved her and made her feel special? Or was he absent, or worse, did he abuse her? What took her to that place where she is being used and taken advantage of by a man old enough to be her father?

    Fathers play a crucial role in teaching a young girl to have self worth. Generally the way girl’s father treats her is how she will expect to be treated in life. Mothers have a role in this as well, but it is the father who usually has the strongest influence in how a girl sees herself.

    If you’ve lost your father, or never had a loving earthly father, know you can have a Heavenly Father who loves you with the highest and purest love you will ever know.

    “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” I John 3:1a

    God lavishes His love on us. He calls us His children. All we have to do is accept it. If you’ve never asked Jesus into your heart, given Him your life, do it now. He is waiting for you to respond to His call. It makes no difference to Him where you’ve been, what you’ve done. He loves you and wants to forgive you and wash you clean. Nothing will keep Him from you if you will only receive Him.

    “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38, 39

    Your Heavenly Father loves you and thinks you are beautiful. He will give you beauty for your ashes and joy instead of despair.

    “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
    He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
    to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
    They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.”     Isaiah 61:1-3

    Peace and blessings in our Lord Jesus Christ,
    Dee

    *Her name was changed to keep confidentially.

  • FORGIVE MY IMPERFECTION, PLEASE

    “You, therefore, must be perfect [growing into complete maturity of godliness in mind and character, having reached the proper height of virtue and integrity], as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matt. 5:48 (The Amplified Bible)

    That’s a pretty strong command from our Lord Jesus. But do any of us ever reach it? Just about the time I think I have a particular sin conquered, along comes something else I have to overcome.
    I’m reminded frequently that none of us in this life seem to ever reach that goal. If we place too high a standard with others, they will disappoint us. Sometimes repeatedly. But that’s where grace and the love of God comes in. God’s love in and for us allows us to forgive others and ourselves.

    “Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins [forgives and disregards the offenses of others].” I Peter 4:8 (The Amplified Bible)

    Love forgives and disregards the offenses of others. Praise God for his love and grace which He pours over us without measure.
    King Jehoshaphat was king of Judah and the Bible says the Lord was with him because he walked in the ways of his ancestor David and “… sought and yearned with all his desire for the Lord, the God of his father, and walked in His commandments and not after the ways of Israel. Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah brought tribute to Jehoshaphat, and he had great riches and honor.” 2 Chron. 17: 4, 5
    Jehoshaphat sent leaders to teach in all the cities of Judah the Book of the Law, God’s written word, so that the people would know and fear the Lord.
    But even Jehoshaphat made wrong decisions and bad alliances. He allied with Ahab, the king of the southern tribes, Israel, who was not following after God. Jehoshaphat agreed to go into battle with King Ahab even thought God’s prophet warned it would end badly. (See 2 Chron. 8:15-17.)
    When the enemy’s army came against him, Jehoshaphat called out to God “…and the Lord helped him; and God moved them to depart from him.” 2 Chron. 8:31b
    Jehoshaphat was not a perfect man as none of us are, but he was God’s man. At the end of his life it was said of him “And he walked in the ways of Asa his father and departed not from it, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord.” 2 Chron. 20:32
    Wouldn’t it be nice to know that when the end of our time comes they could say about us that we had walked in the ways of God and did what was right in the sight of the Lord. And is it not comforting to know even when we make bad decisions, God will not hold it against us but will help us if we call out.

    “MY LITTLE children, I write you these things so that you may not violate God’s law and sin. But if anyone should sin, we have an Advocate (One Who will intercede for us) with the Father–[it is] Jesus Christ [the all] righteous [upright, just, Who conforms to the Father’s will in every purpose, thought, and action].” 1 John 2:1 (The Amplified Bible)

    Peace and blessings in our Lord Jesus Christ,
    Dee