A bit of "Elsie".... I wrote this one morning after hearing some heartbreaking news about a family in our community. Sometimes, when I go to prayer over a matter, I like to have my journal handy, and often something will come to me in "story-form"... such it was with the following....

Praise is awaiting You, O God, in Zion; And to You the vow shall be performed. O You who hear prayer, To You all flesh will come.
-Psalm 65:1-2


Elsie pushed open the door to her father’s room and proceeded to him as he held open his arms in welcome. Mr. Dinsmore was glad to see his little girl, but he did notice a marked difference in her from her usual cheerful mood. There was the absence of the usual bounce and lightness in her step as she came to him and was drawn onto his knee.
She quietly lay her head against his chest and her greeting was subdued and quiet.

"What ails my darling this morning, that she should come to me so quietly and subdued?"
He felt her sigh deeply and snuggle in a bit closer to his protective embrace. It was a moment though before she spoke.

“Oh Papa, ...why doesn’t everyone love and follow Jesus? She asked with a troubled heaviness in her young voice. I am so sorry for the trouble that people find themselves in and I wonder if they truly don’t know that if they would only listen to and obey God’s commands they might escape the awful heartache that sin causes...” Her voice trailed off and Mr. Dinsmore silently prayed for wisdom as to how to comfort and answer his little daughter. He drew her close, folding her to his heart, and with his lips pressed against her soft curls, he spoke in a low voice full of feeling,

“For that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard.” (2 Peter 2:8)

Elsie said nothing in reply but he felt her little body tremble slightly and he felt a warm wetness upon his neck as she pressed her face against him. He knew she was weeping for the sin of humanity and all of the suffering it brought upon itself.

"This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it." –Isaiah 30:15.

He sat there quietly, holding his precious girl and thinking... “but you would have none of it..” Even after the Children of Israel had sinned against Him, God had given them a roadmap to remedy their pitiful situation, but they would have none of it. Horace shook his head slightly in silent wonder. How great God’s mercy! But how powerful sometimes was sin’s awful grasp! He shuddered to think of the deceitfulness of sin and they way it had of blinding people to the truth. Elsie felt her Papa tremble and looked up inquisitively into his troubled face. He smiled at her, not wanting to frighten her and took a deep breath. Then spoke quietly, “Darling, let us kneel together right now and give thanks to our wonderful Heavenly Father for His unspeakable mercy and love... How thankful I am to be walking in His way, now at last, and to have been granted the tremendous privilege of sharing this journey with my own darling daughter, –We will ask Him to draw all men unto Him that the scales might be removed from their eyes and they might see what great mercy is available to them in the richness of His unbounded grace and forgiveness.” They slipped to the carpeted floor and knelt side by side, father and daughter, in the presence of the One to whom all flesh will come , and poured out their hearts as one to the Hearer of all prayers, the Giver of All Comfort... †

I was asked recently if I would be interested in helping to answer some letters sent in by people seeking prayer/counsel to a certain website that a pastor friend of ours is in charge of. This has certainly not been an easy task, and I have felt woefully inadequate to give any sort of counsel to the cries for help that come in to this site, but as I've spent time praying for these people, I believe that God has begun to use me to speak back to them and I pray that it has brought some comfort to them to know that He loves them unconditionally and that there are people -the body of Christ- who love them as well and are standing with them in prayer in their times of need.
As I've been in the process of writing back to some of these dear ones, it has occurred to me that what God is saying to them could be just as applicable to all our lives so I thought I might share a couple of my (His) responses here in my blog.

This first one is in response to an adulterous affair/possible divorce...

Dear _________,
I’ve been praying for you and your husband since I first read your letter... my heart goes out to you. I want you to know that I’m here if you want to talk about this. There are no easy answers here, but some things that have come to mind while praying... If you are not wanting to get a divorce at this time, is there a chance that your husband would settle for a time of seperation without filing for divorce? This would give you both time to think things through a bit more, and give a chance for reconciliation if that is what you are hoping for.

It is good that you have been relying on your faith – sometimes that is truly all we have to hold on to. I am reminded of the scripture in Psalm 68, which reads:

“Father to the fatherless, defender of widows--this is God, whose dwelling is holy.”

And there is another verse, in Psalm 27:10 – “Even if my father and mother abandon me, the LORD will take care of me.”

I know that you must feel as though you have been abandoned.. and by the one whom you should have been able to trust with all confidence to be your closest support and ally. But satan does roam about continually, searching for whom he may devour..and your husband fell into his trap. People will dissappoint. That is a hard fact of life. But if we are trusting God..truly trusting Him as our very ALL, He will never let us down, though we may go through seemingly unbearable trials, He is always there with us. I hope I am not bombarding you with too many scriptures, but as I write, more and more just keep coming to mind. I think God wants to get across to you how very deeply He loves and cares for you, and how hurt He Himself is over this thing that has happened to you. If I may share a couple more scriptures, these two came to mind:

"Can a woman forget her nursing child And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you”. –Isaiah 49:15

In the following one, I feel that God just wants you to know His “Shepherd’s heart” toward you...especially as a young mother, I believe He wants to say to you that He will be with you..and with your dear child..as a loving Shepherd caring for His dear ones during this terribly difficult time in your lives.

He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. –Isaiah 40:11

I and my husband will continue to be in prayer for you and yours. I would suggest that you try to be around friends/family who can be a support to you through this time...as I said before, I am here if you would like to talk/have questions/ just wanna vent.

Yours in Christ,
Denise

“So brace up your minds; be sober (circumspect, morally alert); set your hope wholly and unchangeably on the grace (divine favor) that is coming to you when Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is revealed.”
-1Peter 1:13

I usually start my day with the “verse of the day” on Biblegateway.com. This one, from 1 Peter, was today’s verse.

After reading the verse, I will usually go on to read that chapter for my morning devotions. So I went to 1 Peter today. When I thought of writing in my blog today, I thought of maybe just writing a list of some of my favorite verses, and the interesting thing today is that one of my favorite verses of late is found right here in 1 Peter – it’s verse 2:

2 Who were chosen and foreknown by God the Father and consecrated (sanctified, made holy) by the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ (the Messiah) and to be sprinkled with [His] blood: May grace (spiritual blessing) and peace be given you in increasing abundance [that spiritual peace to be realized in and through Christ, freedom from fears, agitating passions, and moral conflicts].

That part about freedom from “agitating passions and moral conflicts” has always caught my eye... what causes us to have agitating passions and moral conflicts? Something Robert said during one of his sermons recently came to my mind when I thought of that; He said, “We think we’re dealing with our sins, but really what we like to do is put them on the shelf instead of on the alter. Then we can always go back and play with them again later.” As I have thought about that, I’ve realized, the things that I would say cause me to have “agitating passions and moral conflicts” are the things I’ve been convicted about in my life, but I haven’t utterly destroyed. I’ve been wishy washy and compromising. I’ve considered the affect that my actions will have on others way too much. I’ve thought, “If I do this, they will feel....” God forgive me, the truth is I have been more concerned about offending people than I have with offending God. I’ve even justified that to myself, thinking, “God is all-knowing so He understands, but they won’t understand and they’ll be hurt.” I have wondered before whether Isaac understood when Abraham was about to sacrifice him as an offering...Abraham didn’t tell him at the beginning of the journey, in fact not until just before he was about to go through with it. I am quite certain Sarah would not have understood. He didn’t tell her at all.
Why is it so hard to just let go of the things that cause us these agitating passions? Especially if we know they are caused by things that are wrong in our life. There is a battle for our soul that I believe won’t be completely over until we draw our last breath here. I’m reminded of John Bunyan’s epic poem, The Holy War. How eloquently this portrays the fierce battle within every human heart. I think the answer to this question, at least in part, is this – we don’t love God like we should. Like we would really like to love Him. We are so distracted today. There are a million other things constantly trying to pull our focus away from God. And then, there are the other things we have allowed to take root in our lives – our “comforts” –whatever that is for you. You alone know what they are. I know what mine are, and I know that to get rid of them will hurt. We form soul ties with our comforts and to root them out once and for all will hurt like tearing our own flesh. But what else should we expect? Should we expect to “play” with sin and then extricate ourselves from it as easily and freely as a child throwing down a toy he has grown tired of? No..sin is more like the story of the tar-baby. Touch it once and you’re in trouble. Touch it again and you’re in a bit deeper. Keep messing with it and pretty soon your trapped. Helpless. We are poor Brer Rabbit. And that wily old devil, Brer Fox, is sittin’ over in the bushes, laughing fit to be tied at the predicament we are in. Is there anything more helpless than a rabbit?? I think it’s a fitting picture. But thanks be to God! He doesn’t leave us helpless - if we will but call out to Him He comes immediately to our aid and lifts us out of our pit of despair.

And therefore the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you; and therefore He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship]! –Isaiah 30:18
For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me. Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me.
-Psalm 40:12,13

I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD. –Psalm 40:1-3