MY SONG OF DELIVERANCE

When Moses and the Children of Israel crossed the Red Sea,

they broke into songs of deliverance glorifying God. (Exodus 15)

I also wrote a Song of Deliverance. Wanna see it? Here it is!

My Song of Deliverance

It feels good to be

Healthy and wealthy

Healthy and wealthy

Healthy and wealthy

It feels good to be

Healthy and wealthy

And living in the

Presence of God.

I will sing to the Lord

I will praise Him today

He has brought me deliverance

And took oppression away.

Thanks be to God

For the battle is won

His name is Christ Jesus

Through Him it was done.

To God be the glory.
Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove

SPEAK TO THE MOUNTAIN

In the name of Jesus I speak to the mountain of mess in my life and command it to be removed from here to someplace else. In its place I welcome righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Then rain on that the abundant living that Christ Jesus came to provide for us, for we are seated together with Him in the heavenly places far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world but also in the world to come. Amen.

To God be the glory.

Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove

ACTING ON YOUR PRAYERS

When Elijah was praying for the 3½ year drought to end, he went to the top of Mount Carmel and bowed down to the ground with his face between his knees. He prayed for rain, then sent his servant to go look toward the sea for any sign of rain. The servant returned and said, “There’s nothing.” Elijah kept praying and sent the servant back again, and he returned with the same news. They repeated this errand seven times. Then on the seventh time, the servant returned and said, “There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!” The sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy downpour.

To be proactive means taking initiative or acting in anticipation.

Elijah proactively prayed when he acted in faith and anticipation, by having his servant continue to look for signs of rain. He prayed with persistence until his servant saw a small cloud rising up into the sky. He then acted on that knowledge notifying King Ahab that the drought had ended.

To God be the glory.
Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove

ACTING IN FAITH

Don't pray for a bushel,

and carry only a cup.☕

To God be the glory.

Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove

I'M COMING OUT

I was watching TV yesterday and an ad popped up about Joyce Meyer’s book called Blessed In The Mess, which teaches how to live life victoriously while things are messy. It’s about discovering God’s strength and His blessings in the midst of life’s difficulties.

As much as I LOVE Joyce Meyer and her teachings, I am not motivated to read this book because quite frankly… I don’t want the mess anymore. I’m done with mess! I want order in my life, and peace, and quiet, and comfort, and rest, and calm. I want my surroundings to be Blessed in His Rest Instead of the Mess. I want the Lord to clean out the culvert of my life and bring me the peace that passes understanding.

I want the Lord to still the storm with a great calm.

I want that New Day to manifest that the Lord promised me a while ago.

I want to live in a clean, organized house where the sun bursts through the windows everyday.

I want to see the word of God fulfilled in my life where Jesus said, “Come unto Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

I want to see the word of God fulfilled that says my God shall supply ALL my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

I want to see His word fulfilled that says the gates of hell shall not prevail against His church.

I want to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

I want the good seed of His word to fall on the soil of my heart and bear good fruit.

I want to walk in the light as He is in the light with access to all that Christ has made available in the spiritual realm.

I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit and walk in victory everyday.

I DON’T want to live my life with the mentality that it could be worse. I want to live knowing that it couldn’t get any better because I’m living my best life.

I want to live in the overflow… underneath the windows of heaven where the Lord is pouring out blessings that I don’t have enough room to receive.

I want my life to be a blessing.

I want to dwell in the secret place of the Most High God, right there under the shadow of His wing… not worried about tomorrow, but thoroughly enjoying today.

I want to live under the favor of Almighty God who holds the power of the world in His hands.

I want to stir up the gifts that God placed on my life and pursue godliness with all my heart.

I want to stand in faith and full assurance that Christ Jesus is my Lord and my Savior, whom I have confessed with my mouth and believed in my heart that God raised Him from the dead and He is right now seated on the throne at the right hand of our heavenly Father.

I’m coming out… because He’s bringing me out… into a life of abundance.

Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly, to the fullest, until it overflows.”

To God be the glory.
Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove

THE THORN IN PAUL'S FLESH

The Truth About the Apostle Paul's Thorn in the Flesh

2 Corinthians 12:7 (NKJV)
And lest I should be exalted above measure
by the abundance of the revelations,

a thorn in the flesh was given to me,

a messenger of Satan to buffet me,

lest I be exalted above measure.

The apostle Paul was constantly up against false teachers who tried to discredit his ministry by bringing confusion, divisiveness, and turmoil into the mix.

Paul was not a proud man. He said in Ephesians 3:8, “Even though I am the least deserving of all God’s people, He graciously gave me the privilege of telling the Gentiles about Christ.” God did not need to permit a thorn in the flesh to keep the apostle meek and humble. On the contrary, Satan’s messenger was the thorn in Paul’s flesh, sent to keep the exaltation of Paul’s ministry from expanding beyond measure. False apostles were sent to buffet (or strike) Paul and discredit his ministry, in an attempt to overthrow the faith of those that had been won to Christ through him.

Back up two chapters and you’ll see where Paul goes into greater detail about the limitations of his authority being challenged by these false teachers.

2 Corinthians 10:12-17 (NKJV) For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. We, however, will not boast beyond measure, but within the limits of the sphere (or domain) which God appointed us—a sphere (or domain) which especially includes you. For we are not over extending ourselves (as though our authority did not extend to you), for it was to you that we came with the gospel of Christ; not boasting of things beyond measure, that is, in other men's labors, but having hope, that as your faith is increased, we shall be greatly enlarged by you in our sphere (or domain), to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man's sphere (or domain) of accomplishment. But he who glories, let him glory in the LORD.

Paul pleaded with the Lord about these attacks three times, but God seemed to have a greater purpose for it, and allowed it telling Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”

Paul also demonstrated his humility by refusing to boast of his own accomplishments, and even about his ascension into the Paradise of Heaven where he had seen and heard magnificent things. He spoke of his experience in the third person so as not to stick his chest out or appear to be show-boating his experiences.

2 Corinthians 12:1-6 (NKJV) It is doubtless not profitable (necessary, though not profitable) for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord: I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities. For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me.

Paul’s ministry had the capacity and the capability of going world-wide because of the abundance of the revelations that he received from God. That is what Paul meant by "being exalted above measure." He spoke of the exaltation of his ministry beyond the borders of Asia Minor. Satan attacked Paul trying to limit his impact. This had nothing to do with malaria, epilepsy, eye disease, or some chronic and debilitating illness.

The apostle went on to write a significant portion of the New Testament documenting many of the revelations he received from God, and completed three missionary journeys throughout the Roman empire, and was named the apostle to the Gentiles. Satan was unable to limit Paul’s impact, for we now have the inspired word of God given through Paul equipping us for every good work.

Fight the good fight, and keep the faith!

2 Corinthians 13:14 (NLT) May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

To God be the glory.
Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove

WHY GOD MADE ME LIKE THIS

I love nature so I have a lot of those images scrolling through my Facebook feed. A photo came through of a really UGLY fish, and I wondered why the Creator God would have made such an animal. I stared at it for a long time and started to wonder about many other things along that line. Some things God made are really beautiful and some are really ugly, like that fish. He would never be in someone’s fish aquarium because they would not want to look at him day after day. To me, it would seem like a disadvantage to create something so ugly that no one would be interested.

But the ways of God cannot be understood by my human logic, because His thoughts are nothing like our thoughts, and His ways are far beyond anything you and I can imagine. Just as far as heaven is from the earth, so are His ways higher than ours, and His thoughts higher than our thoughts.

Even God’s most foolish plan is wiser than the wisest of human’s plans, and His weakness is much stronger than the greatest of human strength.

However, we are not without a remedy to this dilemma. The Bible 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.”

God is characteristically good, through and through. In all He say and do, God is good. Our understanding is small, but God is still good.

The Lord said through the prophet Jeremiah, “You will seek Me and you will find Me, when you search for me with all your heart. I will be found by you.” He’s hiding in the open, we just have to start looking… that’s all.

To God be the glory.
Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove

ALWAYS SOMETHING THERE TO REMIND ME

I couldn’t get that Amazon Prime Video TV commercial out of my head. This couple was breaking up and the song playing in the background was, Always Something There To Remind Me. There’s a lyric in the song that says, “I was born to love her and I’ll never be free… you'll always be a part of me 'cause there’s always something there to remind me.”

I went around singing that song for two days, and suddenly I remembered a verse that said something about being inscribed on the palms of God’s hands, so I did a search.

Isaiah 49:15-16 NKJV "Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are continually before Me.”

Always Something There To Remind Him

To God be the glory.
Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove

THE CALAMITY OF THE WICKED

I was studying the Sunday School lesson this morning and ran across a passage that mentioned how people sacrificed their children to idol gods by making them pass through fire, and it made me very sad for mankind that we have sunk so low. These endless mass shootings… oppression… betrayal… and the list goes on. The other day I was doing a study on The Works of the Flesh. I made a list of all the things named in the word of God that defines the flesh and it almost filled up a whole page. Wow!😲 We have a built-in tendency to be evil, and some people violate their conscience so much till their immediate response to everything is to respond with evil.

Then I remembered a verse in Proverbs that says, “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.” At times it may seem like evil is running rampant in this world and God is not paying it any attention, but actually He is. In The Great White Throne Judgment, the apostle John said he saw books opened and the dead were judged by their deeds recorded in these books. It’s not forgotten, and when the great day of His wrath has come, the wicked will stand before the King of kings and the Lord of lords and receive the judgment for their actions, and His judgment is righteous.

The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 2:5-9, In accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath, in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who "will render to each one according to his deeds": eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness — indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil. No one escapes judgment. Not one.

Hell and Destruction holds no secrets from God. The psalmist David prayed, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall fall on me,’ even the night shall be light about me; indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You” (Ps 139:7-12).

The psalmist David also said, “Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be mowed down like the grass, and wither as the green herb” (Ps 37:1-2).

In one of Jesus’s final prayers while He was on earth, He prayed to His Father for us: "Father, I pray for them. I do not pray for the world, but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one” (John 17:9, 15). Jesus prayed for us and I certainly do believe in His prayers.

I’m not trying to depressed you with this blogpost, I am hoping to encourage you that God has not abandoned mankind. He is the Good Shepherd, and we are His beloved sheep. The Good Shepherd gave His life for the sheep. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.

Someone wrote a song that says, “As long as I live and trouble rise, I will hasten to His throne.”

Go in peace.

To God be the glory.

Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove

MY OUT OF CONTROL TO DO LIST

Rid Anxiety From Your Life

On April 14th I wrote out the following prayer:

Heavenly Father (Teacher), I have an abundance of studies in progress. These are subjects that I started to study and have not completed. It is overwhelming me because I want to complete them and it seems to be impossible because of the quantity. This also includes my writing projects that are not completed. I need Your direction in how to proceed with this. I also want to be well prepared to teach Sunday School each week so studying for that is at the top of my list. It is written, “In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.” I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Fifteen days later, on the morning of April 29th my anxiety level was still rising with a To Do List that seemed completely out of control so I wrote the following in my journal:

Anxiety is robbing me of the joy of studying the word of God. There are too many irons in the fire, and the fire is not big enough to heat all the irons. Currently, I have 68 Bible study topics that are not completed. And I have 29 blogposts in Drafts mode. And I have 5 books I need to finish reading. And I have 11 major writing projects to work on. And I have Sun School to prep for. Comfort me O God and soothe my anxieties. Teach me a better way to tackle my To Do Lists so that I come away feeling like I’ve accomplished some things, and not just added yet another thing to the lists.

After this, I attended our Saturday Fit Body and Bible at church and afterward the First Lady and I had a conversation about my anxiety. She gave me a word… “fluidity”. She said Holy Spirit wants me to release my rigidity and flow in the Spirit as He leads me from study to study, and project to project.

I went home that same day and completely dismantled my Studies in Progress binder. I made sure that all the study projects were on my spreadsheet and I filed them all away for future reference. The Holy Spirit wants me to follow His lead from now on. As He leads me into a study, I will look on my Studies in Progress spreadsheet and see if it is already on there. If it is, I will pull the reference material and continue the study as He leads me that day. If we don’t complete it that day, I will update the spreadsheet and file it away. If we do complete the study I can remove it from the spreadsheet and process it accordingly. If it becomes a blogpost, I will add it to that list, and if not I can file it away in the journal and so on. My anxiety was completely gone. I was relieved to no longer be governed by my To Do List but now governed by the gentle leading of Holy Spirit. The Scripture that He dropped in my spirit was Matt 11:28-30… “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

On the following Monday morning, the very first thing He led me to study was The Glory of God. I searched my spreadsheet and saw that we had already begun the study back in March. I pulled those notes out and studied for hours. It felt good. I enjoyed it. There was no anxiety at all. I stumbled across a YouTube video where this teacher was expounding on the glory of God and I received life changing revelation.

I heard Pastor Steven Furtick say, “If the enemy cannot distract you, he’ll try to discourage you, just as he did the prophet Elijah. The Lord approached Elijah and asked him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” God likes asking rhetorical questions that will get us to thinking.

God will never design a life for us that makes Him unnecessary, because if I think that I can do it all on my own, then I don’t need Him. He had to show me that without Him I am nothing but a ball of anxiety with no way to make my calling worthwhile, but through Him, I am more than a conqueror.

My anxiety level had taken away my enjoyment of studying. This was the enemy’s goal to discourage me from studying God’s word. The word that First Lady gave me to stay fluid was the answer to my dilemma. As a result, I have now developed a brand-new process for studying the word of God. His yoke is easy. His burden is light.

Thank You Lord!

To God be the glory.

Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove

LET THERE BE LIGHT

Let There Be Light

Yesterday we had an interesting Bible Study at church. Pastor Phillip started out with, “God wants to share His heart with us.” I wrote in my notes, “How does God feel toward me?” Pastor Phillip expounded on why God allowed His Son to be bruised… because He wanted us for His family. He read Isa. 53:9-10. “He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief.” Those who believe are in the family of God.

He also read 1 John 5:1-15 in The Passion Translation. Ironically, 1 John 5:14-15 is a passage that I often quote when I’m praying. “If I know that You hear me when I pray, then I know I have the petitions that I have asked of You.”

Another irony in the Bible Study was that Joseph (from the book of Genesis) came up. In a 5/13/23 blogpost (22 days ago), I spoke about Joseph stating, “It could’ve been easy for Joseph to become frustrated in his faith, because all he had was a dream of greatness that kept going in opposite directions.” I also brought this up in the Bible Study.

I’m taking to heart that this study was definitely orchestrated by Holy Spirit, and was desperately needed. In an effort to see that this seed falls on good ground and yields a hundredfold crop, I am going to explore it further.

A third topic that came up at the Bible Study was the concept of Spirit versus Reality. I’m sure some of that went over my head, but Pastor Phillip used the concept of dreams controlling life… the things we cannot see, touch, taste, hear, or smell… controlling the things that we can see, touch, taste, hear, or smell.

This morning I was awakened by my dear husband having nocturnal seizures (these are uncontrolled spasms or convulsions that happen while one sleeps). In the past, I have prayed many, many, many times that the seizures would stop. I have cast the devil out of our home. I have asked the Lord to rebuke the devil. I have also prayed that the Lord would put me into a deep sleep so that I may sleep through the seizures. None of these have worked. ☹ This is just one of many examples of my unanswered prayers hanging in limbo, that continue to perplex me on a regular basis. Is God causing the seizures so I will get out of bed and go study or write? Is that supposed to be my indication to get up? Even if I heard the Lord communicate the reason, or direction, I would feel better, but I have nothing but prayers going up, which brings me full circle back to my initial question, “How does God feel toward me?”

Three days ago (on 6/1/23), I published another blogpost. It was a prayer to God that I may have the ability to hear Him speaking in plain English from His mouth to my ears. Not through a preacher nor a prophet but straight from His lips to my ears in plain English. I’m not disqualifying preachers just hopeful that there could be better communication between me and God so there may be light in my darkness. He could then explain the nocturnal seizures issue, and I would have a response to my prayers that are hanging out there in limbo year after year. Then as prayers go up a response will always come back. That is my concept of relationship… a two-way conversation.

Before I fully knew the call of God on my life, I prayed He would make me a singer with a voice like Whitney Houston’s so I could travel the globe singing for His glory. I prayed for this many times. One day, I got a response. God said, “Daddy can’t make you a singer. Your whole life I have prepared you for another calling.” He then took me all the way back to elementary school and walked me through life detail by detail and showed me those things that were Him preparing me to fulfill His calling. I let go of the Whitney Houston prayers and accepted what He had shown me.

When I think about how God feels toward me, I have many firsthand experiences logged in my journal. I will only need to read a short time before I run across one, then another, and another of God revealing Himself to me, and His love for me through a song that popped up, or a social media post, or a commercial on TV, or a Scripture that fell in my spirit, or a Bible Study such as the one we had on yesterday. Indeed, God does care for me! There is no doubt about it. He loves me as a Daddy should.

I recently saw a YouTube video of a guy cleaning obstruction out of a culvert by pulling a car tire through it. On the other end you could see mud, branches, dead leaves, trash, and debris being pushed out by the tire. I began to pray that my spiritual culvert would also be cleaned out so God’s special gifts may flow freely through me without obstructions.

SO NOW, as I come full circle back to my desire for the seed of God’s word, that I received in Bible Study yesterday, to produce and bear fruit, I now submit my prayer to God.

Heavenly Father, Jesus said in Matthew 13:23, “The one who received seed in good ground is the one who truly hears the word and understands it, and produces a plentiful harvest. I commit my concerns to You because I know that even the very hairs on my head are all numbered. You’re concerned about EVERYTHING that concerns me. You know my thoughts afar off, and You know my heart. I’m not in this thing all by myself. Let this mind be in me which was also in Christ Jesus. In His name I humbly ask and pray. Amen.

2 Corinthians 4:6 (NLT) For God, who said, "Let there be light in the darkness," has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

To God be the glory.
Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove

SPEAKING IN TONGUES

Dear Heavenly Father,

You and I have spoken a few times about my having better clarity concerning the things of God. At times it seems the church is struggling to be clear about how You are leading us, and speaking in tongues is one of those times. I have studied and read commentaries on it, and I am getting varying degrees of explanations — none really agreeing wholeheartedly with the others. We also discussed it at length in Bible Study and it was the same. The church is not in agreement about speaking in tongues. I have forgiven the church for teaching that tongues was a mandate from You as evidence that we are filled with the Spirit. I hope that clears out the culvert, so this special gift may flow to me.

Those that spoke in tongues on the Day of Pentecost, began to speak as the Spirit gave them utterance. This is what I’m going to hang my hat on. I will begin to speak in tongues as the Spirit gives me utterance. As the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets, I will not resist the Holy Spirit, but I will not force it either. I will let the Spirit’s anointing come forth as He will’s it to. I welcome the ability to speak in tongues when the Spirit begins to give me utterance.

The apostle Paul spoke of the tongues of angels in 1Cor. 13:1. I am not sure if what I’m thinking is correct but perhaps when we speak in unknown tongues we are speaking the language of angels… giving them instructions or plans to carry out. In that case, I overwhelmingly welcome the gift of new tongues. Paul also said that he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God. Speaking in tongues carries the idea that in my spirit I am speaking mysteries, as Holy Spirit gives me utterance.

Father, please allow me to pray boldly concerning this, if You will. While I do appreciate what tongues accomplishes, what I desire even more than that, is not so much the ability to speak, but the ability to hear. If there is an ability for You to speak plain English words from Your mouth to my ears, instead of me speaking to You in tongues, I actually desire that much, much more. I need conversations that does not land as a parable I am scratching my head about, totally confused about what it meant and how it relates to me personally. God is not the author of confusion, but of peace. We seem to be making a bigger deal of speaking in tongues but what I need more than that is to hear You with better clarity. I desperately need a way for my Lord to talk to me in plain English, and in a way that eliminates and annihilates my confusion… that shines a 400-watt flood light onto my path that I may see at a distance, without stumbling around, bumping into stuff, and tripping over rocks. More than speaking in tongues, that is what I need.

Jesus said to His disciples that a time was coming when He would no longer speak to them in figurative language, but He would tell them plainly about the Father. I am assuming He was speaking of the presence of Holy Spirit in us, bringing with Him our ability to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God. Jesus also said that He had to speak in parables because it had not been “given” to them to know the mysteries of the kingdom. But the kingdom is now within us, therefore we have been “given” that ability.

Moses wrote the entire Pentateuch. The Bible says that the Lord spoke to Moses face-to-face, as a man speaks to his friend. There were many occasions where Moses had the advantage of hearing Your voice speaking in his language, that he wrote down, and we are reading it today.

Adam walked with You in the cool of the day, he also had the advantage of hearing Your voice with his ears. The ability to hear You plainly is my request, this desire is much greater than my ability to speak in tongues, although I welcome that too. Jesus said, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says.” Thank You for letting me come boldly to Your throne of grace with my requests.

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.

To God be the glory.

Dee Richardson, Voice of the Dove

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