Do you know Dorcas?

Truly the Lord is in this place!

Which is exactly how I felt as I participated in the first day of the “It’s Tough Being a Woman” annual retreat in Escanaba.

This year’s Christian get-together focused on Dorcas, aka Tabitha, the seamstress. Although little is known of this follower of Jesus Christ, only six biblical verses are dedicated to her existence, enough was gleaned by the retreat’s organizers to focus an entire weekend event around this dedicated woman of God.

The story of Dorcas is a saga of faith in a Savior, faith that was enriched by good works in His precious name. Dorcas cared for those in her hometown of Joppa by providing clothing to those in need. When she died, which is the account told in book of Acts, she was mourned by many. Her dedication and her reputation was such that when she passed away, Peter, one of Jesus’s original 12 disciples, was called to her side.

Through the Lord's mercy, Peter raised Dorcas from the dead! Can you imagine? Can you envision a scenario more miraculous than being restored to life by a disciple of the Risen Lord? Can you grasp the significance of this seemingly impossible occurrence?

Quickly, here’s the Bible passage about our weekend’s guest star – Acts 9:36-41 (NIV) 36 In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. 37 About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. 38 Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!” 39 Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.40 Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. 41 He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive.

Although we may never be raised from the dead by God, we can find eternal life by believing in His Son Jesus Christ. It’s a fact, and it’s promised over and over again in the New Testament as witnessed by this passage from the disciple whom Jesus loved – 1 John 5:11-12 (NIV) 11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Don’t forget that God will forgive our transgressions and purify us from our sin too. And, it’s all because he is faithful as John wrote in 1 John 1:9 (NIV) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

How simple is that? Believe, confess, enjoy life in Him. It’s a no-brainer in my estimation.

Besides, just think of all the fun you could be having as a true follower of Jesus. Check out the photographs attached to this blog to get a tiny taste of Christian interaction that, so far this weekend, has included pedicures, manicures, door prizes, scarf sewing and card making, not to mention praise and worship singing, special speakers, good food and much, much more.

Well, I see it’s getting late, 11:44 p.m. to be exact, and 6 a.m. comes pretty early. So good night, and may God bless each and every one of you. Amen.

Overcome failure through confession

When we fail, it can be an eye-opening experience. Failure comes in many varieties. Failed marriages. Failed dreams. Failed investments. Failing grades. Failure to communicate. Failing at sports. The list seems endless, doesn’t it?

As most of you who know me know, I am an avid football fan. In fact, I guess you could say I am now experiencing football withdrawal. Being a fan creates innumerable highs and lows. The high point was THE Ohio State University’s undisputed national championship win on Jan. 12. The low point? Yesterday’s unfathomable Seattle Seahawks loss, and to none other than Tom Brady’s Patriots, the perennial nemesis of both Charlie’s Colts and my Bengals.

But, life goes on, and the football diversion goes on the back burner until next year.

In the meantime, my focus to reach the unreached in Jesus Christ’s name continues as we expand this daily blog. Last week my husband and I discussed the future of my blog-based ministry.  His insight proved invaluable.

As a result of much prayerful consideration, Charlie has decided to join this ministry. As such, you can expect to soon see blog posts from a man’s point of view, with Charlie sharing his male perspective of life as a follower of Jesus.

Back to the topic at hand…failure seems to rear its ugly head when you least expect it. But, just like sin invades our lives from time to time, so does failure.

As the followers of this blog probably noticed, personal blog posts were missing last week. Although links to the devotional I read every day were provided to you, I know it was not the same as a daily dose of personal reflection from one sinner to another. Missing even one day of sharing His Word, is, in my opinion, a monumental failure.

When I started blogging on Jan. 1, I made a commitment to not fail, and there I was, less than one month into this ministry, experiencing a colossal failure. Woe is me.

Then I thought about failure and sin and what the Good Book says how failure and sin, at least in my mind, may be related.

Romans 3:22-24 (NIV) says ²² This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of (failed in our pursuit of) the glory of God, ²⁴ and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. [emphasis and parenthetical meaning mine]

The apostle Paul writes that we are saved by grace if we believe in Jesus. But, even though we employ our best efforts not to, we continue to sin. Remember Jesus says that if we sin in our heart…

In fact, in the Sermon on the Mount, Christ cautions against all types of heart-/mind-based sin. Matthew 5 gives the details. Read His instruction on the subject in your Bible or by clicking here.

My take is that I failed Christ in my absence from this blog for the last week. Even though I was ill, I should have at least made the effort to share His Word. I failed as a true follower. I failed. But that does not mean I cannot seek His forgiveness and begin again, does it?

My granddaddy always said, “Cheryl Ann, don’t you know confession is good for the soul?”

As always, granddaddy was right. As the disciple John put it so well in 1 John 1:9 (NIV) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

According to my study Bible, John wrote this letter to the churches in Ephesus to encourage their journey in the faith. The Bible remains a timeless vessel of unfathomable knowledge as witnessed in this passage which holds true today just as it did more than 2,000 years ago.

Amazing!

In today’s vernacular, God gives us “an out,” a way back to him. A way to process, and confess our failures/sins, a way to return to Him as a true follower.

Dennis Dehaan put it so well when he wrote, “Learning to benefit from failure is the key to continued growth in grace.”

Pray, confess your sin, ask for forgiveness, and work to do it better the next time. Grow in grace. After all, “…with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26(b) (NIV).

May God bless each and every one of you every day in every way. Amen.