Friday, October 29, 2021

Trials and Tribulations

Many years ago one of the ministers at church called me up to talk out our differences. I was the Adult Class Sunday School teacher. He and a couple of other brothers loved giving me a hard time by debating with me over the lesson. We hashed it out and cleared the air. But before we hung up he quoted me a Scripture out of the book of Jeremiah, that I was reminded of this morning.

"If you have run with the footmen, ๐Ÿƒ and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? ๐ŸŽ And if in the land of peace, in which you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan?" Jer. 12:5 ๐Ÿ’–

If I am wearied by 3 brothers in a Sunday School class, how could I possibly manage the masses?

I recently asked the Lord if there was a better way to get from the pit to the palace (Joseph's Story) without going through a bunch of trials and tribulations. After much deliberation, I received the understanding that the only way to build spiritual muscle is to work them out. ๐Ÿ’ช๐Ÿ’ช

Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." Matt 16:24 ๐Ÿ’–

Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove

Wednesday, October 27, 2021

When Life Gives You Lemons

 

I keep seeing this commercial of a young man that worked in an Amazon plant. In 2016, his brother got really sick and died. Two years later, his mother also got sick and died. In both instances, he was the caretaker and it awakened in him a desire to become a nurse.

I happen to be suffering a hard trial of my own right now, but as I watched that commercial, I said to myself, “Now here is a man that life threw lemons at, but he decided to open up a lemonade stand.” How many more people will be helped in his lifetime by his becoming a nurse? How healing will it be for him as he cares for others, knowing it is the result of how he cared for his loved ones? If he had not endured his mother and brother’s illnesses, he may have never discovered this seed lying dormant in him.

Life gave him lemons... there was nothing he could do about the passing of his loved ones, but he picked up the broken pieces of his heart and made something new. At the end of the commercial, he speaks to his mother and brother in his native language and says, "You will always be in my heart."

He encouraged me. I said, “When my trial is over, I am going to do the same. I will not let this pain in my heart be for nothing. With God’s help, I will take these lemons and help somebody else.

When life gives you lemons, open up a lemonade stand.

Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove

Saturday, October 16, 2021

The Desires of Our Hearts

Psalm 37:4-5 NKJV Delight yourself ALSO in the LORD, and He shall give you the (unselfish) desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, trust ALSO in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.

Many translations do not include the word "also" but it's very important.

God will give us the desires of our hearts, but He will not grant what the flesh lusts after (anything selfish). When we become preoccupied with something to the point that we are obsessed about getting it and it consumes our thoughts, we have moved from desire to lust.

James 4:2-3 NKJV You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

Galatians 5:16-17 NKJV I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.

When we are walking in the Spirit and delighting ourselves ALSO in Him, we are not going to become preoccupied and obsessed with selfish desires, but instead we desire the things of God. And many times it is something He put in our heart because His desire is to bless us. He gives us the desire so we can ask for it and then He grants it.

Delight yourself also in the Lord. ๐Ÿ˜‰ Get in His presence. Get to know Him. Seek Him. Love Him. Obey Him. Live godly in His presence.

Matthew 6:13 KJV Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: for Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove

Friday, October 15, 2021

The Picky Eater Child

My Version of Slam-Damn
When I was a kid, my mother had a dish she called "Slam-Damn". On days when she didn't feel like being in the kitchen for an hour, that's what we ate for dinner. She said Slam-Damn is "anything you slam in a pot and don't give a damn if they eat it." I remembered this when I recently baby sat some picky eaters that came over everyday after school. They were very hard to please.

After doing a lot of research on the subject, I discovered that this behavior is not even related to food at all. A lot of kids use it as a mechanism to eliminate pressure or give them a sense of control. It's not really about what's actually on the plate at all.

In her book The Picky Eater Project, co-author Sally Sampson said, "Don't give the picky eater a lot of 'air-time' because it can just be a struggle for attention. Don't make a big deal about what the after school snack is or how much they need to eat. To a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet. (emphasis mine) Don't create a negative eating environment by allowing tantrums. Eliminate this with discipline and correction."

Proverbs 22:15 (TLB) A youngster's heart is filled with rebellion, but punishment will drive it out of him (or her).

As a zealous Christian, I might try to re-name Slam-Damn to something else, but the concept is truly profound. ๐Ÿ‘Œ

Heavenly Father, I pray for the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that I may soundly and gracefully handle every situation I face.

Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove

Wednesday, October 13, 2021

God Can Easily Handle Hard Prayers

Sister Evans

Six years ago on 6/7/2015, a lady at my church, who I call "my other mother" showed me a quote that she had clipped from her calendar. It said, "Don't pray for a bushel and carry only a cup." After all this time, I finally get it.

I was desiring a career change, and I mentioned it to God in conversation as something that would be nice to achieve, and the reasons I would like to achieve it. However, my prayer to God was something I thought He could easily provide. Then I went about trying to achieve that but the Lord closed the door on it. So then I thought I would try for a part-time job but it was still not what I truly desired. The Lord closed the door on that too. He said to me, "I am trying to give you your heart's desire, why are you trying to make it easy on Me by believing for something else?"

The Prophet Elijah

The Lord reminded me of the story of Elijah's experience on Mount Carmel when he had a face-off with the 450 false prophets. (1 Kings 18:19-39) The false prophets received a bull to prepare an altar for a burnt offering. Elijah also received a bull to do the same. They were to call on their god and Elijah would call on his God to answer by fire, and light a fire under the altar. The one who answered would be the true God. The false prophets called and called on their god from morning to evening but nothing happened.

When it was Elijah's turn, he did not make it easy on his God to light a fire under the altar. He dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold about 3 gallons of water. He had 12 large jars of water poured over the bull and the wood, which also ran down and filled the trench.

Elijah walked up to the altar and prayed, "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant. Prove that I have done all this at Your command. O LORD, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that You, O LORD, are God and that You have brought them back to yourself."

Immediately the fire of the LORD flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the trench!

Ephesians 3:20 (AMP) Now to Him who is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think [infinitely beyond our greatest thoughts, desires, prayers, hopes, or dreams], according to His power that is at work within us.

Don't pray for a bushel, and carry only a cup. Be bold in your prayers and know that God is able to handle whatever we ask.

Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove

Sunday, October 10, 2021

There Is Healing For You

After Elisha saw the prophet Elijah ascend into heaven, he returned to Jericho where a community of prophets lived. They told the prophet Elisha, “As you can see, this is a delightful place to live but the water is so bad that the land cannot grow crops.” Elisha must have prayed to God about it because he received a word from the Lord.

"I have healed this body of water. From now on, it won't cause death, and it won't keep the land from growing crops." (2 Kings 2:21)

Elisha went to the location where the spring was that fed water into Jericho and performed a purification ceremony on the poisonous water. He poured salt from a new bowl into it and repeated what God had said about the water. (2 Kings 2:19-22)

Whenever Israel offered grain offerings to the Lord, it was seasoned with salt, and contained no leaven. It was called the covenant of salt forever before the Lord. It was an expression of an everlasting covenant which indicated the Lord’s faithfulness, dependability, and durability.

We also have a new and everlasting covenant with God — it is through the body and blood of Lord Jesus Christ. At the Last Supper with His disciples, Jesus said, “Drink this, all of you. This is My blood, God's new covenant poured out for many people for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matt. 26:27-28)

The apostle Paul said in 1 Cor. 11:23-26 of The Message Translation…

“Let me go over with you again exactly what goes on in the Lord’s Supper and why it is so centrally important. I received my instructions from the Master Himself and passed them on to you. The Master, Jesus, on the night of His betrayal, took bread. Having given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is my body, broken for you. Do this to remember Me.’ After supper, He did the same thing with the cup: ‘This cup is My blood, My new covenant with you. Each time you drink this cup, remember Me.’ What you must solemnly realize is that every time you eat this bread and every time you drink this cup, you re-enact in your words and actions the death of the Master. You will be drawn back to this meal again and again until the Master returns.”

If you are a believer under God’s new covenant, and struggling with sickness and disease, may I strongly suggest partaking of Communion on a regular basis? There is healing for you in the body and blood of Jesus Christ. In the same way that the prophet Elisha poured salt and healed the poison in the water, God will also heal your body.

Isaiah 53:5 (NKJV) He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove

Thursday, October 07, 2021

Freddie's Miraculous Healing

Rottweiler

Years ago I had a Rottweiler named Freddie, and I loved him. He came to us at 7-weeks old in poor health because the breeder had not taken proper care of him. After several trips to the veterinarian, Freddie was good as new. Freddie and I went to puppy training school and learned lots of neat tricks. One of Freddie’s favorite pass-times was playing Fetch… and he was pretty good at it too.

Before Freddie turned a year old, I noticed he started having a lot of pain in his hip area. The vet said he had Hip Dysplasia (joint inflammation usually found in old dogs which causes difficulty in rising, jumping, and running). Our Fetch games ended… because he could barely walk without being in a lot of pain, much less run and jump.

One day I was discussing this with my mother-in-law, and she told me to let Freddie lick Blessed Anointing Oil out of the palm of my hand. He lapped it up while I prayed for him.

Not long after that, I heard Freddie barking up a blue streak in the backyard, so I flew to the door. Freddie was chasing a squirrel down the fence in full stride. My mouth fell open. ๐Ÿ˜ฎ๐Ÿ˜ฒ The squirrel jumped from the fence, to a tree, and then to the next-door neighbor’s roof and disappeared. Freddie continued barking… he jumped up and leaned his front paws against the fence, and put all his weight on those hips. He felt no pain at all.

I said out loud, “Oh my God, You healed my dog! You healed my dog!!” God responded gently to me, “And you are more important to Me than a dog.”

Freddie was immediately and miraculously healed that day. He continued to be a sign and a wonder to me for years. We played Fetch hundreds of times throughout the years. He would walk back and forth in front of the sliding glass door carrying his football in his mouth, begging me to come outside and throw it so he could run and fetch it.

We are more important to God than a dog. Be healed in Jesus’ name.

Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove