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123123

Posted by on Dec 31, 2023 in Prayer Perspective | Comments Off on 123123

Evidently, this tidbit of information is out there. But a friend of mine brought this to my attention this morning: Today is 123123. That won’t happen again until 2123; and there’s a good chance none of us will see it after today.

But it reminded me of “On the Count of THREE!” or “READY, SET, GO!”

I became a Christian 49 years ago as of 12/29/23, and I have learned that God is all about preparation. He’s all about growing us up. He doesn’t desire us to remain babies or toddlers or even teens. He expects us, at every phase of our walk in Him to recognize His leading, His correction, and His redirections…and to yield to what He is saying. Part of growing up is learning His impressions and promptings in your spirit in the multi-assortment of ways He may bring them to you and then complying to what He directs.

The word disciple means “disciplined one”. Although no disciple (and that includes you and me!) has walked 100% perfectly, each of us are called to bring the good, the bad, and the ugly of our lives before God on an ongoing basis and receive from Him how to proceed from there. No matter HOW bad, HOW ugly…or HOW good…you may judge yourself to be, He wants to be in on all of your reasonings, assessments, and adjustments, and if you allow Him to do so, He will then empower you to grow and mature.

123123 is the day for positioning yourself to run the race before you with a simple focus on hearing from your Maker and yielding to His promptings. Are there adjustments or corrections to make? Join the club! Don’t beat yourself up for that; simply take the time to let Him reveal His best course for you and then follow that.

I believe that the preparation that the Lord has for each of us is not necessarily flashy or instantly spectacular; but when God has His say so in your life on the quiet and often hidden aspects, the results are absolutely life changing.

123123—READY, SET, GO!

Dorothy

“…let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith…” Heb. 12:1-2

“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

 

© 2023, Dorothy Frick

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The government will rest on His shoulders

Posted by on Dec 22, 2023 in Prayer Perspective | Comments Off on The government will rest on His shoulders

Should Christmas and government have anything to do with one another? Many say NO—the two are entirely separate concepts, and they must never occupy the same space.

And yet—surprise, surprise—government and the first Christmas are forever bound together in Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus.

Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth…And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David.  Luke 2:1, 3-4

God’s big, sweeping plan to redeem mankind from the grip and tyranny of sin was ordained before the foundation of the world. As part of that plan, He used the government of the time in an important sub-plan, laced together with multiple other sub-plans of prophetic and intricate detail to bring clarity, precision, and confirmation to His greater plan. And as His plan unfolded, most of the individuals involved were utterly unaware that they personally played a specific role in its fulfillment.

Take Caesar Augustus, for instance. Caesar’s own records (“The Deeds of the Divine Augustus”, see http://classics.mit.edu/Augustus/deeds.html, #8) reveal that he conducted three censuses during his reign. They were held in roughly twenty-year cycles, and the census that summoned Joseph to Bethlehem when Mary was pregnant with Jesus was likely the second of the three. Caesar Augustus—the self-proclaimed “divine Augustus”—was merely a mortal chess-piece played by the wisdom and hand of the one true God to fulfill His predetermined purpose. Whereas Augustus took great pride in amassing boundless wealth for his administration through taxes collected in the census, God used this empire-building monarch’s hunger for ever-increasing power to get Mary and Joseph to the right place at the right time.

Know this: There is no power or throne established by the hand of man or devil that supersedes the power and authority of our God and His Christ. Neither Caesar, nor Pilate, nor Herod, nor Nero, nor Lenin, nor Hitler, nor governments present nor governments to come can override the rule and the plan of God.

Don’t be surprised if the heathen rage (Psalm 2:1). Don’t be shaken if you see the “nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing. The kings of the earth” may indeed “take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, ‘Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!’” (Psalm 2:1-3). The fact is that God is aware of it all and He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them (Psalm 2:4).

The God who used the governmental drive of Caesar Augustus to get His handmaiden and her fiancé to Bethlehem for the birth of the Christ child is not moved by regulations, mandates, hearings, or lawless acts of leaders—whether elected or self-appointed, national or global. He sees the end from the beginning and His purpose will be established; He will accomplish all His good pleasure (see Isaiah 46:10).

Caesar Augustus was subject to the plan of God without knowing it. And despite all that we are witnessing now—those who assume superiority to the rest of us, calling good evil and evil good—no purpose of God can be thwarted. You, as one who has opened your heart to Jesus, can be confident in your God—the Highest Authority in the universe. According to the Bible, you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord (Ephesians 5:8). No one—neither man nor government nor devil—can stop you from walking as a child of the Light.

Be confident and be bold this Christmas season…and forever! It is your birthright in the Lord.

Dorothy

and the government will rest on His shoulders… Isaiah 9:6b

© 2015, updated 2023, Dorothy Frick

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Suffering according to the power of God

Posted by on Sep 29, 2023 in Daily walk, Prayer Perspective | Comments Off on Suffering according to the power of God

Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God” 2 Timothy 1:8

I don’t know how often I have read 2 Timothy, but this verse recently jumped out at me, as if for the first time. I come from a faith tradition that does not preach or teach much on suffering; I know some who do teach about this topic, but it makes sense to me why it’s not an extremely popular or sought after subject. Who wants to be reminded of suffering?

Here I go, anyway.

This phrase in 2 Timothy 1:8 kept rumbling around inside of me—suffering for the gospel according to the power of God—and then shortened to simply suffering…according to the power of God.

I thought of the apostle who wrote this letter to Timothy and how his entire life as a believer in Jesus was punctuated with suffering.

I love comfort. I told God that. But being a realist, I recognize that this life has its share of suffering, and no one is exempt. Whether the suffering comes in the form of rejection, mockery, lack, pain, illness, loneliness, or any number of other sources, it struck me that there is a way to suffer according to the power of God. Therefore, if I am to undergo suffering of any kind, I choose to do so according to the power of God.

Psalm 91:15 reveals an amazing statement from God. It declares, “I will be with you in trouble”. If you are IN trouble of any sort, know this for certain: That is exactly where the Living God is as well. He is WITH YOU. IN TROUBLE. He’s not like so many whose instinct is to ditch you at the first whiff of difficulty. NO. He’s right there with you in the middle of your trouble. Where you suffer. And if you dare to believe that, then you will be empowered to suffer according to the power of God, a suffering in which the Almighty bears the brunt of your pain and will turn it all around for your good. Why? Because HE’S good.

In August of 2003 I underwent bypass surgery to correct an anomalous right coronary artery. When I awoke in ICU, it felt like my chest had been crushed by an 18-wheeler. Immediately the Scripture came to me, “He was wounded for our transgressions. He was CRUSHED for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5a). And I experienced (as I was waking up from a 14 hour stretch of unconsciousness) the Lord’s crushing in place of mine. My pain was still there, but I was keenly aware of the intense pain He endured for all of us and mine became miniscule in comparison. Without being aware of 2 Timothy 1:8, I had entered into suffering according to the power of God.

And today I was reading Hebrews 2. In verse 17 I read that He was made to be like all of us in all things (the Greek meaning of “was made to be” is He “was obligated to be”. That means if He refused to be made like us in all things, then none of us would ever taste the freedom of being forgiven and cleansed or the joy of experiencing the love of God and eternal life with Him. For us to be fully accepted in Christ, He was obligated to become human…and hence, to suffer like we suffer—and beyond.

Hebrews 2:18 continues, “For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.”

There is something about suffering that is readily linked to being tempted. Resisting temptation carries a form of suffering—you refuse to pamper or give into whatever is luring you to disobey God. However, I saw something deeper here as well. Suffering of all varieties brings with it great temptation to be outraged at God and ditch HIM for all kinds of reasons. “Why did this happen? I PRAYED!” “Why won’t this go away? I don’t get it! I did everything the Bible says to do and I still hurt (lack, feel depressed, am lonely, etc.)”

Jesus was tempted in the very things He suffered. Don’t think He wasn’t tempted like we are when we suffer to scream, cry, yell, question God and tell Him off, slap faces, punch holes in the wall, kick the dog or cat, and throw an absolute hissy fit and a great big pity party! But He didn’t. Why not? Because He suffered according to the power of God. And in that, He conquered temptation and never gave in to a bit of it.

This verse goes on to say that as a result of His temptation in the things He suffered (and the inferred overcoming of it all), He is ABLE—He has the POWER—to come to the aid of all those who are tempted. That includes you.

Are you in the middle of some kind of suffering that is tempting you to question your faith and everything you know about God? Then you qualify to receive His ability and His power to aid, assist, and support you right where you are, in whatever condition you find yourself.

The victory is not in avoiding suffering altogether (although He so often is gracious to cause us to bypass it), nor is the victory in how short the suffering lasts (although He frequently brings about quick deliverances).

The victory IS found by fixing our eyes on Jesus despite whatever we may be suffering, and to know that the Greater One IS at work in our lives and that He will turn this whole situation around for good. Press on despite it all. Victory IS yours.

This is how you suffer according to the power of God.

Dorothy

© 2023, Dorothy Frick

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God in the clouds VS the Cloud is god

Posted by on Sep 1, 2023 in Prayer Perspective | Comments Off on God in the clouds VS the Cloud is god

I wrote this is in a comment on a secular news site and decided to share it here:

“The push to veer human thinking into the concept that there is no God in the clouds—that the Cloud is god—comes from anti-free will enthusiasts who want to circumvent human free will so that when we have nothing (by their oh so god-like design), we will be happy.

“Free will in humanity was definitely a risk for God—many choose not to follow Him, many mock those who do—but He is quite big enough to handle those slights. But those who are anti-free will and want to form Human 2.0 without a free will also want total control thinking that will make them god. Sorry Charlie, only the One big enough to handle rebellion and turn things around for good to those who love Him can wear the name God effectively.

“But the little gods will have their hour, and it won’t be pretty.”

Here’s to the God in the clouds!

Dorothy

© 2023, Dorothy Frick

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Power, love, and self-control

Posted by on Feb 12, 2023 in Prayer Perspective | Comments Off on Power, love, and self-control

For God did not give us a Spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control. 2 Timothy 1:7

Power is the Greek word “dynamis” here, which is basically God’s power and not our own.

Love is the Greek word “agape”, which is known as the God kind of love…something we receive from Him to be able to love with the love of Christ.

And self-control? (Other translations call it discipline or sound mind.)

Somehow we think WE are in charge of creating this in ourselves, but just like POWER and LOVE–both imparted to us from God–SELF-CONTROL is likewise just as divine–a virtue He pours into us and which we grow in as we step out in it by faith.

We sometimes stumble in the power arena; we sometimes stumble in the arena of love; but both are inexhaustible in Christ and can be accessed again and again, humbly, when we fail (and we will at times).

I believe self-control operates in the same way. It is from God to enable us to walk this natural life with Heaven’s ability. We will sometimes stumble, but HIS self-control poured out into us is inexhaustible and can be accessed again and again, humbly, when we do fail.

Dorothy

© 2023, Dorothy Frick.

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You will not be afraid of pestilence that stalks in darkness

Posted by on Jul 17, 2022 in Prayer Perspective, Psalm 91 | Comments Off on You will not be afraid of pestilence that stalks in darkness

You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
Or of the arrow that flies by day;
Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.
 Psalm 91:5-6

Words that seem nearly impossible to believe for some people precede a list of four truly haunting fears: “YOU WILL NOT BE AFRAID OF…”.

These fear-inducing four include:

  • Terror by night
  • The arrow that flies by day
  • Pestilence that stalks in darkness
  • Destruction that lays waste at noon

For about the last two and a half years, the world’s population has been held hostage by the fear of pestilence that stalks in darkness. Coronavirus. Covid-19. SARS CoV-2. The atmosphere was almost electric with dread anticipation in early March 2020 as we counted down to the soon-to-be-imposed shutdown of schools, churches, restaurants, stores, even parks and public beaches. We learned to make masks. We stopped socializing. We hunkered down in our homes, some of us all alone.

I don’t need to remind you of the hopeless feeling that every death count posted on the news brought to the souls of the listeners. Every sniffle, throat tickle, or stuffy nose brought a sense of panic to many.

We’ve lived through the pestilence that stalks in darkness; we are told by our medical “experts” that there is more to come. My purpose here is to direct you to the Bible statement, “YOU WILL NOT BE AFRAID…”

Fear is tricky. It can be a helpful instructor/informant—”Remember how touching that hot stove burned you last time? Yeah, let’s not do that again.” Or “I have an uneasy feeling about that party…think I’ll do something else.”

But fear that rides you and prevails over your thought-life and emotions like an evil taskmaster? That’s from Hell. When your heart races whenever you cough—or hear someone else coughing—fear is driving you. The Lord says, “YOU WILL NOT BE AFRAID OF pestilence that stalks in darkness.”

“But so many have died!” you may argue. Yes, they have. But the truth is that there are millions of ways that people depart this life. This sickness is but one of those ways, yet you have life right NOW, and you need to live it.

How do you live without fear in the face of disease, epidemics, and pandemics?

Two things have helped me. First, I learned as much as I could about ways to stay healthy in light of covid, and I practiced those things. I learned what might harm me in my quest to stay well, and I abandoned that. Fortunately, piles of information about the current diseases floating around are relatively easy to be found, as well as methods to remain healthy. You just need to know where to look.

Second—and most important—know what the Word of God reveals about sickness and disease. Both the Old and New Testaments are loaded with supernatural healings and they both shed light on God’s healing nature. During the early shutdown, as I suffered alone from an unusually bad asthma attack (made worse, I’m sure, due to the drummed-up fear of covid), peace came, and soon, easier breathing when I repeated Scriptures concerning the breath of Life the Lord breathed into my lungs. (See John 20:22, “He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” The Greek word for both breath and Spirit is “pneuma”, and I just repeated that to myself and thanked the Holy “Pneuma” for my “pneuma” flowing freely. Sounds funny, I know, but I was clinging to that “pneuma” from God…and was so glad to experience life-giving pneuma-air going into my lungs!)

A quick search online for healing Scriptures will provide you with enough ammunition to build your faith against the fear you might feel crawling up your neck or growing in the pit of your stomach. I am confident that in your search you will find one or two—or dozens—of verses that will ring true to your heart and will stir your hope and confidence. God’s power is stored inside those verses, and when united by your faith, they will produce peace, confidence, and ultimately, help and health.

I would be disobedient to God, though, if I didn’t mention the gorilla in the room—Death. I have found that the fear of death is a terrifying master, and unless that is conquered, you will never overcome the fear of sickness.

Hebrews 2:14-15 states, “Therefore, since the children [that’s you and me] share in flesh and blood, He Himself [that’s Jesus!] likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

Jesus died for us so we could live eternally. That means that when I die—whether by illness or injury or passing quietly in my sleep—I merely change locations! I’ll step out of my body at death and enter my new home, sort of like stepping out of clothes at the end of the day to enter my shower or bed. I never mourn stripping off those smelly clothes! I simply toss them in the clothes hamper. How much more will I be thrilled to step out of this body and enter into the new adventure ahead of me that was paid for in full by Jesus’ bold sacrificial death? Once the fear of death is tackled through your faith in Jesus and what He undertook for you, the fear of sickness becomes so much easier to overcome.

You will not be afraid of the pestilence that stalks in darkness. 

Dorothy

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