THERE IS NO PLAN B

A fictional story is told of a conversation between Jesus and the angel Gabriel.

After Jesus ascended to heaven, Gabriel approached Him and said, "Master, You must have suffered terribly for mankind down there." "Yes I did," Jesus said. Gabriel continued, "Do they know all about how You loved them and what You did for them?"

"Not yet," Jesus said. "Right now only a handful of people in Palestine know. I left them to preach My kingdom and be My witnesses to the ends of the earth. Ultimately, all of mankind will have heard about My life and what I have done for them."

Gabriel was perplexed and a little skeptical. "So You expect Peter who denied You three times, and the other disciples who scattered when You were being arrested to take this message to the ends of the earth? What if Peter, James and John grow weary? What if the people who come after them forget? What if way down in the twenty-first century, people just don't tell others about You? Haven't You made any other plans?"

And Jesus answered, "I have no other plans. I'm counting on them."

Twenty centuries later...Jesus still has no other plan!

Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses of Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

To God be the glory.

Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove

THOU SHALT NOT WEAR PANTS

I grew up in a legalistic church environment. Ladies were not permitted to wear pants, nor make up, nor cut our hair. These are three of many commandments we were taught to obey. As a result, I came away with a really uncharacteristic opinion of God. To me, He was this impossible-to-please judge leaning over His bench, waiting to smack me over the head with His gavel for every little infraction. It isn't God, but it's actually the accuser of the brethren, who has been cast down, that makes these accusations against us.

As a result of the dresses-only-mandate, I came to hate dresses. My mother started letting my sister and I wear pants outside of church activities… and we moved on with life. But I came to hate wearing dresses and for most of my life, I rarely ever bought a dress, or wore a dress, unless I was attending church functions.

Recently my pastor preached a sermon that I could not shake for three days. I studied and meditated on that sermon from the time I got home that Sunday till the following Tuesday. He described a ballistic missile type weapon that sounded somewhat like a bow and arrow assembly. Once the missile is inserted, the crossbow is stretched back as far as it can be pulled. The only thing keeping the missile from launching is a lynchpin. When the lynchpin is removed, the missile flies in the direction it is facing.

For three days I sought the Lord about my lynchpin. Long story short… I made a long list of possibilities to consider. Somewhere in the middle of all this, I had an aha moment. I scribbled on my notepad, “I am done being mad at the church because they said I couldn’t wear pants.” The lynchpin was pulled and the missile was fired. Before the end of the week, I pulled out the two skirts that I own that were tucked way back in the closet and decided that I was going to wear a skirt to church on Sunday. The church I attend wears pants, and has no legalistic commandments that we must follow.

Once I forgave the church, suddenly I felt free to wear dresses. The church had made it a mandate to only wear dresses, so I made a mandate to only wear pants. For most of my life that is all I have worn.

In his sermon, my pastor talked about the transformation of old mindsets and compared that to the lynchpin. “If we agree to let go of the lynchpin, we can overcome anything. Where we are seated together in the heavenly places with Christ Jesus, we have the power to overcome anything,” he said. We are equipped with His power. There is nothing done that cannot be undone – because there is nothing too hard for God. For the first time in a long, long time I wore a dress and felt good about it.

We are more than conquerors in Christ, and can overcome anything in Him. What’s your lynchpin holding back?

The freedom and the peace I received was totally unexpected. I didn’t even know that I needed to forgive the church. I’m looking forward to more aha moments that I may achieve more freedom and more peace. If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed (John 8:36).

To God be the glory.

Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove

THE MYSTERY OF THE GLORY OF GOD

The only way for us to know God, is that He reveals Himself to us. Jesus’ disciples had seen Him resurrect people that had only been dead a short time, but to raise Lazarus after he was already decaying in the tomb proved to them that Jesus is truly the Resurrection and the Life. According to John 11:42, that was the purpose… that they may believe Jesus was sent by God. Those that loved Lazarus (and even Lazarus himself) was uncomfortable for a while but afterward they knew God in a brand-new way. And not only them, but us too as we study this passage. John 11:45 says many believed in Him as a result of Lazarus’ resurrection.

It was the same with the man born blind in John 9. How many millions of us know God better because of the blind man whom Jesus healed? Jesus said of that man, that the works of God should be revealed through him, is why he was born blind. For a season, the blind man had hardship but it literally had an eternal impact.

Prior to entering the Promised Land, the children of Israel wondered in the wilderness for 40 years, and ate manna. When they were finally able to enjoy milk and honey, it had a much greater impact because of their wilderness experience. God could’ve easily rained down milk and honey instead of manna, but He didn’t. The other day, I heard a song by TobyMac where he sang to God, “Through all these seasons — I’m still believing — You’re my promised land.” That gives new life to the milk and honey motif. Christ said, “In Him we have ‘perissos’ (quality of life)” John 10:10. Perissos is the Greek word for "life abundantly." That beats material things every day of the week.

Joseph said to his brothers, that they meant evil against him, but God meant it for good. Everything Joseph went through was preparing him to be Emperor over Egypt. In that role, he was able to save many, many lives from extinction. Everything the enemy meant for evil, God meant for Joseph’s good. It could’ve been so easy for Joseph to become frustrated in his faith because all he had was a dream that kept going in opposite directions. But one morning (many years later), it unexpectedly came true.

Apostle Paul said, “We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory (1Cor 2:7-8). Many times, the mysteries of God is hidden from us too, because all we can see is the trouble we’re facing. On purpose, Jesus lingered two more days before heading to Bethany after Mary and Martha had summoned for Him… fully intending to find Lazarus dead. He said to His disciples, “For your sakes, I am glad that I was not there to heal him so that you may believe” (John 11:15). The only way for us to know God, is that He reveals Himself to us.

Both Mary and Martha expressed their disappointment by saying to Jesus, “If You had been here my brother wouldn’t have died.” Jesus did answer their prayers, just not in the way they had expected. Lazarus’ sickness was not unto death, but it did include death, that they could believe in Him. As a result, they knew God in a better way and so do we when we study their story.

In that same story, when Jesus encountered Mary and Martha’s disappointment, John 11:35 says that He also wept. Jesus is fully God, but also fully man with human emotions. The love of God was fully in His heart and He was moved by their grief. Even knowing that He would raise Lazarus, He wept with them.

There’s a German Shepherd that lives next door to us. Their fence is about 10 feet outside the window to my home office, where I’m studying and trying to concentrate. That dog barked incessantly for many days (over a year) and got on my last nerve. Many prayers had gone up but no response coming back. When I couldn’t take it anymore I was yelling at God to the top of my lungs because He was tormenting me with this dog while I’m trying to study His word. It was definitely a mystery. God interrupted my yelling and said, “Where I’m taking you, you will experience people barking at you and I need to prepare you for that.” When God was all done using that dog to teach me how to not become distracted by noise, He quieted the dog. He still lives 10 feet outside my office but he rarely ever barks anymore. Even when he does, I’m not paying attention to it. Now what I hear is the beautiful chirping and singing of birds outside my window. 😊 He’s making up for the dog.

Many times, I’ve wished that God and I could meet at Starbucks and talk things out. That never happened. But He daily reveals Himself to me through activities He is orchestrating, even as He did through my misunderstanding of His glory. I couldn’t imagine why He’s putting people through disappointments and hardship when He has the ability to make it stop. Scripture says that He does it for His glory. That troubled me even more, because we’re suffering so He can look good? That didn’t seem right to me, that God would use us as pawns in His chess game with the devil. The only way for us to know God, is that He reveals Himself to us. That is the mystery of the glory of God. It is not so He can sit on His throne and gloat.

He hid Moses in the cleft of the rock. We are hidden in the Rock, Christ Jesus. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust (Ps 18:2). While His glory passed by, Moses couldn’t see His face, but He let Moses see His back. In the same way, we may not see God coming but after He’s passed we definitely know we’ve just had an encounter with God.

James 1:5 says, “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.” That was me questioning God’s motive, that He is sitting on His throne gloating, while letting us suffer. But He did not reprimand me, He woke me up in the middle of the night and guided me into this truth. I have a much better understanding of the glory of God. The only way for us to know God, is that He reveals Himself to us. That is why Jesus said of Lazarus, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it" (John 11:4).

Heavenly Father, open our eyes that we may see wondrous things in Your word.

To God be the glory.

Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove

DON'T LISTEN TO THE DEVIL

I heard Pastor Steven Furtick say this, and felt led to share it.

“If the devil can’t trick you into thinking something is never going to happen, then he’ll tell you it’s going to happen quickly so that when it doesn’t happen when you thought it would, you’ll get discouraged and give up on it. And if that doesn’t work, and you’re still believing God then he’ll use a tactic to deceive you into thinking you were crazy to even think that God would do that thing in your life to begin with.”

Romans 8:31 NKJV

What then shall we say to these things?

If God is for us, who can be against us?

To God be the glory.

Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove

THE WORDS OUT OF MY MOUTH

Do I hear the words that are coming out of my mouth?

Proverbs 18:21 NKJV Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Matthew 15:18 NKJV Those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.

Proverbs 4:23 NKJV Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.

If you continue to say, "I can't afford it," you'll never be able to afford it.

To God be the glory.

Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove

ENTERING THE PROMISED LAND

Entering the land which the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord God of your fathers promised you. Deut 27:3

Come on, let's go!!!

To God be the glory.

Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove

WHERE'S MY ABUNDANCE?

Why must I live like a pauper,

when my Father is the King?

A pauper is a very poor person, destitute of the basic necessities of life.

Every beast of the forest belongs to God and all the cattle grazing on a thousand hills. He knows all the birds of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field, all of it belong to Father God (Ps 50:10-11). He is my Father, and I am His daughter. Shouldn’t there be some sort of advantage for those whose Father is the King of kings? Even so, I continue to struggle from year to year and I'm still living in lack.

Am I stingy? Am I covetous? Am I greedy? Do I have not, because I’ve asked not? Are my desires evil and carnal? Am I asking amiss that I may spend it all on me, myself, and I? Am I jealous of others? Are my motives all wrong? Am I being pretentious, asking so I might look good in front of others? Why must I live like a pauper, when my Father is the King?

Psalm 23:1-2 (AMPC) The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack. He makes me lie down in [fresh, tender] green pastures; He leads me beside the still and restful waters.

John 10:10 (AMPC) The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).

Is there something I’m supposed to be learning in this season of living like a pauper, because I don’t seem to be getting it? Jesus is the Good Shepherd who came so that the sheep may enjoy fresh, tender, green pasture, but I’m still grazing in dried up, withered pasture, and living in lack continually.

Isaiah 59:1 (NKJV) Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear.

James 1:12 (NKJV) Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

Numbers 23:19-20 (NKJV) God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? Behold, I have received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.

1 Kings 8:56 (NKJV) Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses.

Habakkuk 2:3 (NKJV) For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

Deuteronomy 28:2 (NKJV) And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God.

Matthew 7:11 (NKJV) If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

1 John 3:1 (NKJV) Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!

Don’t give up hope.

Romans 5:5 (NKJV) Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Heavenly Father, I pray that You will rebuke the spirit of poverty, and lift us out of it. Your rebuke dries up the sea and it makes the river a dried-up wilderness. We lift our eyes to the hills from which comes our help. Our help comes from You. Let Your word manifest in us, and lead us out of poverty into a life of abundance. In Jesus holy name we pray, Amen.

To God be the glory.

Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove