A guy named Kevin was working
on his washing machine. He disconnected the hose and turned the water off at
the valve. He was getting ready to go to the store to pick up parts, but before
he left home, he thought I should probably put a cap on that faucet in case the
valve breaks. This thought came to him several times, but he kept blowing it
off thinking he was being overly cautious.
He hurriedly went on to the store,
but while he was gone his kids called in a panic stating there was water all
over the house. The thought to put a cap on the faucet was the Lord
compelling Kevin to prevent this tragedy. If Kevin had known his
thoughts was the Holy Spirit speaking to him, he would’ve capped the faucet,
and graciously thanked God for preventing this trouble from occurring.
He
thought God’s voice was his own anxious thoughts, so he kept ignoring it. Kevin didn't need a five point sermon about three ways to do to hear God's voice. Kevin didn’t
need a still small voice (1 Kings 19:12), Kevin needed God’s voice to be
identifiable, and recognizable, and distinguishable from other voices in his head; something that would've stopped him dead in his tracks before he left the house.
We
must be able to distinguish what are our own thoughts, or the devil dropping a
thought, or God dropping thoughts in our heads. Who are all these voices? And how
do I determine which is which? With the power of Holy Spirit made available to
every true believer in Christ, it’s tremendously beneficial when we are able to
hear Him clearly and be guided by Him everyday of our lives. Question, how do you
distinguish the voice of Holy Spirit from other voices? Answer... discernment.
Discernment: an act of separating one thing from another;
recognizing, perceiving, or clearly differentiating the difference between one
thing or another.
Infants’ systems cannot digest solid foods, so they’re fed
milk until they're old enough to be weaned. As babes in Christ, we are fed spiritual milk because we are not able to
receive solid food, being unskilled in the word of righteousness. But as we
mature in Christ and put into practice what we've learned, our capacity to
discern God’s voice will grow also.
Hebrews 5:13-14 (NKJV) For everyone who partakes only of
milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid
food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of
use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
While I'm not Kevin trying to fix a washing machine, I am Dee trying to fix my life. I need to be able to discern God's voice to gain clarity when He is speaking to me.
Psalm 25:4-5 (NKJV) Show me Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the day.
To God be the glory. Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove 🕊
Yesterday I stumbled upon Job’s prayer to God while he was
enduring his time of great suffering. It stunned me because Job was so unwaveringly
bold in confronting the Lord about his situation, and he did not bite his
tongue, nor mince his words.
Job’s Prayer:
“My soul loathes my life; I will give free course to my complaint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn
me; show me why You contend with me. Does it seem good to You that You should
oppress, that You should despise the work of Your hands, and smile on the
counsel of the wicked? Do You have eyes of flesh? Or do You see as man sees?
Are Your days like the days of a mortal man? Are Your years like the days of a
mighty man, that You should seek for my iniquity and search out my sin, although
You know that I am not wicked, and there is no one who can deliver from Your
hand? ‘Your hands have made me and fashioned me, an intricate unity; yet You
would destroy me. Remember, I pray, that You have made me like clay. And will
You turn me into dust again? Did You not pour me out like milk, and curdle me
like cheese, clothe me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and
sinews? You have granted me life and favor, and Your care has preserved my
spirit. ‘And these things You have hidden in Your heart; I know that this was
with You: if I sin, then You mark me, and will not acquit me of my iniquity. If
I am wicked, woe to me; even if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head. I am
full of disgrace; see my misery! If my head is exalted, You hunt me like a
fierce lion, and again You show Yourself awesome against me. You renew Your
witnesses against me, and increase Your indignation toward me; changes and war
are ever with me. ‘Why then have You brought me out of the womb? Oh, that I had
perished and no eye had seen me! I would have been as though I had not been. I
would have been carried from the womb to the grave. Are not my days few? Cease!
Leave me alone, that I may take a little comfort, before I go to the place from
which I shall not return, to the land of darkness and the shadow of death, a
land as dark as darkness itself, as the shadow of death, without any order, where
even the light is like darkness.’” (Job 10:1-22 NKJV)
This is a man in clear agony and perplexed as to why God is
allowing such dismay to enter his life. He said it was destroying him.
In Job 38:1-2, the Lord answered Job out of a whirlwind and
said, “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” The Lord
began a long discourse portraying His deity before Job. And yet… in Job 42:7,
the Lord said to Eliphaz (one of Job’s friends) that he and his two friends had
not spoken of God what was right as His servant Job had. God did not hold it
against Job for praying what was on his mind, although His response was just as
direct as Job’s prayer was.
James 1:5 (NKJV) If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of
God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to
him.
There are times in our lives when it will get tough. This is
not the time to back away from God because we misunderstand what He is doing.
Job said in Job 42:3, “I have uttered what I did not understand, things too
wonderful for me which I did not know.” It got rough for Job and his own wife
encouraged him to curse God and die. Job cursed the day he was born, but he did
not curse God as Satan had said he would.
💜💜💜💜💜
When the going gets tough, the tough resists self-pity.
When the going gets tough, the tough calls on God for
strength to endure.
When the going gets tough, the tough appeals to God’s grace
and mercy.
When the going gets tough, the tough will not stop praying
until help comes.
💜💜💜💜💜
While David and his men were out fighting, the Amalekites
invaded their land and took all the women and children hostage. When they returned
from battle and saw their city burned and loved ones gone, they wept until they
had no more strength to weep. They wanted to stone David. Everyone turned
against him. The Bible says that David encouraged himself in the Lord. He
inquired of the Lord about what to do and God answered him. Long story short… they
recovered everything and everyone. There was nothing lacking.
In the end, God came through for Job and for David. He will
come through for me and for you.
Jesus taught in Luke 18 that men ought always to pray and not lose
heart. Don’t give up. This is not the end. When you have nothing left, ask the Heavenly
Father for something. When you're down to nothing, God's up to something. When the going gets tough, He will never leave you nor forsake you. Never, no never.God bless you.
1 Peter 5:8 (NKJV) Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
There’s a story about a seven-year-old boy that kept getting bullied on his way to school by another boy taking his milk money. The bully threatened that if he didn’t hand it over, he would give him a knuckle sandwich. This would occur every morning but the seven-year-old was too ashamed to admit it to anyone, and too afraid of the knuckle sandwich to stand up to him. He just kept giving the bully what he demanded.
One day he finally decided to stand up to the bully. He refused to hand over his milk money and the bully socked him in the eye, but he laughed at him, then he tore into that bully like a windmill in a tornado and beat the snot out of that boy. He realized that what he was afraid of wasn’t really as bad as he had imagined.
This reminds me of a video I saw one time where this bully comes to pick a fight with a boy that he knew would not fight back. He punched the boy in the face and started dancing around like he was Smokin’ Joe Frazier, trying to impress the other kids standing around. The victim watched him for a second, then picked that boy up at the waist and literally body slammed him to the ground and walked away. When the bully was able to get up, he limped off with an injured ankle. This same victim asked his father to buy him a set of weights and he started working out so he could defend himself against bullies. He stopped being a victim… and became a victor.💪
Matthew 10:28 (NKJV) Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Satan is the adversary of God. Since his fall from heaven (Isa. 14:12-15; Luke 10:18; Rev. 12:7-8), he has opposed God's plan to establish His kingdom on earth. He deceived Eve, ushering sin into the world. Later, he opposed Jesus' authority and tempted Him to misuse His power as God's Son. But Jesus crushed Satan under His feet, bruising His heel. Now, Satan is the Christian's adversary, but we have an Advocate, Jesus Christ the Righteous.
Luke 10:19 (NKJV) Behold, (Jesus said) I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
In Christ, we are overcomers. In Him, we are more than conquerors. God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than we can stand. He will always make a way of escape, so that no weapon formed against us shall prosper, and nothing above or beneath will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
James 4:7 (NKJV) Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Thanks be to God,
who gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
To God be the glory. Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove 🕊
A mentor named Sharmaine once said to me, “There is a temperament, a character, a compassion, a long suffering and many other traits of God that has to be downloaded within you to sustain you in what God is calling you to do ultimately.”
This download is accomplished through testing and trials that the Father permits, or in some cases He orchestrates in order to prepare us for the purpose He has planned for us.
Recently, two dogs moved in next door to us, one to our immediate left and one to our immediate right. Long story short, they LOVE to bark, both of them, very loudly. I prayed and prayed that the Lord would rebuke the devil for putting these dogs here to torment me day in and day out. I even spoke with one of the owners. Nothing! Finally, I heard the voice of the Lord say, “I put the dogs there! I am trying to teach you endurance. Where I’m taking you, you will experience many loud barkers. You need the stamina and endurance to face it.” What an aha moment that was.
Winston Churchill said, “You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.” I am learning to just keep going despite the noise. Some days I put on loud music to block them out, but I keep going.
The neighbor I spoke with concerning his barking dog, eventually someone killed it, and the noise eased up a bit. God had mercy on me.
The apostle Paul said, “We are God’s workmanship (handiwork, masterpiece), created in Christ Jesus for good works. God is saying, “I am trying to work on you, but you are like that lump of clay that the potter cannot get to act right.
Jeremiah 18:1-6 (NLT) The LORD gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, “Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.” So I did as He told me and found the potter working at his wheel. But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over. Then the LORD gave Jeremiah this message: “O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand.
"We've been calling the wrong stuff, the devil.
God delivers stuff that is not the devil."
I have not become the devil's advocate, I am the Lord's mouthpiece. You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.
To God be the glory. Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove 🕊
I have been studying the seven churches the Lord Jesus spoke to in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. Some of them were rebuked because they were simply going through the motions but their hearts were not 💯.
The apostle Paul said, as converted believers, we have put off the old man with its deeds of anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language, and lies; and have a new nature which is being renewed day by day as we grow and mature in Christ.
Matthew 12:33 (NKJV) Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.
In the first chapter of Revelation the church is compared to golden lampstands. We are put in a dark world to light it up. Jesus said in Matthew 6:23, "If the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness." If our nature is the same as the sinner, where is the distinction between light and dark?
2 Corinthians 13:5-7 (The Voice Translation) Examine yourselves. Check your faith! Are you really in the faith? Do you still not know that Jesus the Anointed is in you? - unless, of course, you have failed the test. Surely you will realize we have not failed the test, but we pray to God that you will stay away from evil. What's important is not whether we appear to have passed the test, but that you do what is right and act honorably, even if it appears that we have failed.
To the church at Ephesus in Revelation chapter 2, Jesus said that if they didn't repent and do the first works, He would remove their lampstand and they would cease to be an effective church.
Matthew 5:16 (NKJV) Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite were Job's three friends that tried to console him in his times of trouble. But they only served to make his pain greater. They all agreed that Job's troubles must be his own fault and the result of some evil he had committed. The enemy was attacking Job, he was not reaping what he sowed. The consolation of Job's friends turned to condemnation instead of comfort because they had not spoken of God what was right.
The Lord told them to offer up sacrifices because He was angry with them, and go to Job and let him pray over them.
Job 42:10 KJV And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.
When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord turned his situation around and blessed him so tremendously that the latter days of his life were better than the beginning.
Keep Jesus first place and don't let distractions get you off course.
Our church was on an extended consecration and it was very Spirit filled. The glory of God was showing up in every worship service. Somehow though, we got distracted from the consecration and made an about-face and ended up in full on warfare with the enemy. We stopped consecrating ourselves to God and did warfare with the devil.
Conspiracy Against Nehemiah
Nehemiah 6:1-3 (NKJV) Now it happened when Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I (Nehemiah) had rebuilt the wall, and that there were no breaks left in it (though at that time I had not hung the doors in the gates), that Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, "Come, let us meet together among the villages in the plain of Ono." But they thought to do me harm. So I sent messengers to them, saying, "I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?"
Nehemiah's enemies tried to distract him but he said, "Oh, no!"
Conspiracy Against Adam and Eve
The serpent influenced Eve to believe the lie. God said, "In the day you eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you shall surely die." The serpent said, "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
Eve was distracted from obeying God by the implication that they would be like God, and ate the forbidden fruit. Don't let temptation dominate you or cause you to get off course. Jesus said to abide in Him and you will bear much fruit, and that fruit will remain.
To God be the glory. Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove
Jesus Washing the Feet of the Man Who Would Betray Him
Jesus knew that Judas would betray Him,
yet He washed Judas' feet anyway.
💙💚💛💜
The following passage is from John 13:2-5, 10-18,
21, 25-30 (NKJV)
And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into
the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him. Jesus, knowing that
the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God
and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a
towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to
wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was
girded.
Jesus said to Peter, “He who is bathed needs only to wash
his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you
(speaking of Judas).” For He knew who would betray Him; therefore, He said,
“You are not all clean.”
So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and
sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call
Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and
Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I
have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most
assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is
he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed
are you if you do them. “I do not speak concerning all of you. I know
whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats bread
with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.’
When Jesus had said these things, He was troubled in spirit,
and testified and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray
Me.”
Then, leaning back on Jesus’ breast, John said to Him,
“Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I shall give a piece of
bread when I have dipped it.” And having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas
Iscariot, the son of Simon. Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered Judas.
Then Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.” But no one at the table knew
for what reason He said this to him. For some thought, because Judas had the
money box, that Jesus had said to him, “Buy those things we need for the
feast,” or that he should give something to the poor. Having received the piece
of bread, Judas then went out immediately. And it was night.
Heavenly Father, help us to follow Jesus' example to love our enemies, and bless those who curse us, and do good to those who hate us, and pray for those who spitefully use us, and persecute us. In Jesus' holy name we pray. Amen.
To God be the glory. Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove
Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees, and said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." So he went up and looked, and said, "There is nothing." And seven times he said, "Go again." Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, "There is a cloud, as small as a man's hand, rising out of the sea!" So he said, "Go up, say to Ahab, 'Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.'" Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain.
Whatever you are believing God for, that didn't work out before... Go again!
Don’t count on your warhorse to give you victory— for all
its strength,
it cannot save you. But the LORD watches over those who fear Him,
those who rely on His unfailing love.
In the last week the Lord has been bringing Secretariat to
my mind. There were three specific occasions where Secretariat was brought
before me. The Lord is using this horse and this verse in Psalm 33 to teach me
that He is the One in charge of our lives. The Lord is the One watching over us
and is our resource when we need help. He works through others to get that help
to us, but it is Him sending the help. Our dependence is in God alone, not
people — not the government — and not even ourselves.
James 1:17 in the NLT says, “Whatever is good and perfect is
a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the
heavens He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.”
Anything or anyone that we put our hope in other than God,
is a vain hope for safety. God is our resource. Whether or not they come
through when we expect, God is still our resource. He is watching over us and
is faithful to the end. He will never leave us, nor forsake us. Never! No, never!
Psalm 37:19 (NLT) They will not be disgraced in hard times;
even in famine they will have more than enough.
Lord, You’re enough.
To God be the glory. Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove
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