Good Friday - The Value of Sacrifice

The story is told of a minister who had two little children. His youngest daughter asked him one Sunday after church why he always stopped and said a prayer right before he preached. Impressed that his young daughter was actually paying attention to what was going on in the service, he solemnly told her that he always stopped and prayed before the sermon in order to ask God to bless the sermon and make it both inspiring and encouraging to the audience. After a moment of silence, the little girl spoke up again. She said, “Daddy, why doesn’t God ever answer that prayer?”

Every pastor, priest, minister, or other religious leader would like to think that all of his or her sermons are encouraging and inspiring. Obviously some are, some aren’t. But on Good Friday every Christian minister prayers a little harder and hopes to inspire people at special Good Friday services happening around the world. On Good Friday 2.5 billion Christians will pause and remember the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made on the cross. His sacrifice, which was freely given, and so terrible costly to Christ in both body and soul, still speaks powerfully to Christians some 2000 years after it happened.

But I believe that the sacrifice of Christ on the cross should encourage and inspire more than just Christians. Even though other religions may not hold Christ in quite the same light as Christians, His sacrifice for others still sets an amazing example for all.

Regardless of our religious background, or lack thereof, stories of deep personal sacrifice always seems to inspire us. Such stories of sacrifice remind us that life really isn’t all about us. Life is about the people around us and how we can help each other live peaceful, fulfilling and joyful lives. Life is also about making peace with God, even when we are tempted to pretend He does not exist.

So whether we are Christians, or Jews, or Muslims, or Buddhists, or Unbelievers, or whatever label we may choose to refer to ourselves, I hope that we will be inspired today as we remember the sacrifice that Christ made for others. I hope we will do more than just be inspired, I hope we will all look for ways in which we might sacrifice for others in order to make the world a better place for our children and our grandchildren.

Let us remember those inspiring words that Jesus said to his disciples in the Gospel of John 15:12-13 “This is My command: love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends.”

That is the essence of Good Friday.

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Dr. Terry W. Dorsett is an author and Christian leader in New England. He is a happy husband, proud father, adoring grandfather and thankful cancer survivor. You can find out more about his writings at:
http://www.amazon.com/Dr.-Terry-W.-Dorsett/e/B00405U4NY/

Paul's Detour - Acts 16:16-34

Acts 16:16-34 tells the story of Paul’s second missionary journey. Paul planned to revisit all the places he had previously started churches at. God sent him a supernatural vision that told him to go to Macedonia instead. Paul obeyed the vision, changed his plans, and ended up in Philippi, which was a key city in Macedonia. There he met a business woman named Lydia, who became a Christian because of Paul’s ministry. Paul stayed in Lydia’s home and shared Christ with anyone in town who would listen. A closer look at each verse reveals some powerful truths.

Verse 16 - Once, as we were on our way to prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit of prediction and made a large profit for her owners by fortune-telling.

Paul and Silas were on their way to pray when they encountered a demon possessed slave girl. This slave girl could tell the future through the demon that possessed her. The owners of this slave girl made a lot of money from her fortune telling. When people play with the occult, they open themselves up to demonic attack. Though the occult may at first seem to give a person special power, in reality it makes a person a slave to demonic power. Demons do not care about the people they possess. They only care about power and control.

Verse 17 - As she followed us she cried out, "These men are the servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.”

This demon knew Paul was a man of God. It is fascinating that demons know the truth! Even though demons know the truth intellectually, they have refused to accept the impact of the truth. We must remember what the Apostle James said in James 2:19 - You believe that God is one; you do well. The demons also believe—and they shudder.

Verse 18 - And she did this for many days. But Paul was greatly aggravated, and turning to the spirit, said, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" And it came out right away.

The demon possessed slave girl followed Paul and his group around for days telling everyone who Paul was. The Bible says that Paul became aggravated about this and cast the demon out of the girl. The Greek word for “aggravated” is diaponetheis. The word can also mean “burdened.” Paul was not as much aggravated at the girl herself as he was burdened about her situation. She was after all demon possessed! When we minister to people whose lives are messed up by sin, we must be careful not to get aggravated at the person. Instead, we should be burdened for how the sins that bind them are slowly destroying their lives. We should be praying for God to deliver them from the chains that bind them. Paul decided to do something to help this young lady. Using the power of Christ, he commanded that the demon leave the girl. Notice he did not use his own power, but the power of Christ. The demon had to obey because Jesus Christ is on the throne and Satan is just a pretender. Satan only has power if we let him have it. Jesus’s power triumphed over Satan on the Cross! But we often let Satan convince us otherwise.

Verse 19 - When her owners saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities. 

The slave owners did not care if the girl was freed from the spiritual chains that bound her. All they cared about was money. When they realized they would not be able to exploit the girl any longer, they got very upset. What we get upset about reveals a lot!

Verses 20-21 - They said, "These men are seriously disturbing our city. They are Jews, and are promoting customs that are not legal for us as Romans to adopt or practice.”

The slave owners distorted the truth. They said Paul was disturbing the city when all he had done was help a desperate little girl. People should have been rejoicing at this good deed, instead they called good, evil, and attacked the good doers. Notice they used a racial slur, “They are Jews.” Racism has been used to justify many sins throughout the ages. Notice they appealed to their customs and their laws. Their customs and laws allowed little girls to be enslaved for the profit of others. Whenever our customs and laws create situations where one person can be wrongfully exploited by another, it is time to chance those customs and laws!

Verse 23 - After they had inflicted many blows on them, they threw them in jail, ordering the jailer to keep them securely guarded.

Paul and Silas were arrested, beaten up and thrown in jail. The jailer was specifically told to guard them “securely,” which meant to put them in the maximum security section of jail. The world’s reaction to the things of God sometime seems severe. But remember, Satan was fueling this response because he had lost a major battle in the spiritual war. Remember what Paul said in Ephesians 6:12 For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of darkness and the spiritual forces of evil.

Verse 25 - About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.

Paul and Silas had been unjustly beaten by a mob and then chained to the floor in the maximum security section of the jail. Their response to their situation was praying and singing praise to God! How do we respond when we are treated unjustly?

Notice that the other prisoners were listening! Other people notice how Christians respond to unjust difficulties. We must resist the urge to be complainers and instead learn to use the power of prayer and praise in challenging situations.

Verse 26 - Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the jail were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's chains came loose.

Though we might be tempted to think that the earthquake was caused by the terrible singing of Paul and Silas, it was actually caused by the POWER of their prayers and praise! Never underestimate the power of prayer and praise! When God’s people start praying and praising, the foundations of Satan’s deepest cells are shaken. When God’s people start praying and praising, closed doors of every kind are opened! When God’s people start praying and praising, the chains of every sin that binds us come loose! We need to be praying and praising God more, especially when we are treated unjustly.

Verse 27 - When the jailer woke up and saw the doors of the prison open, he drew his sword and was going to kill himself, since he thought the prisoners had escaped.

In those days, if a prisoner escaped, the jailer would be executed publicly. When the jailer saw the doors of the prison opened, he assumed all the prisoners had escaped and he decided to kill himself and get it over with. 

Verse 28 - But Paul called out in a loud voice, "Don't harm yourself, because all of us are here!”

Paul saw that the jailer was about to kill himself and called out to stop him. Paul had been beaten by a mob, arrested unjustly, chained to the floor of cold stone cell and yet he still cared about the jailer, whom most would have considered his enemy. How we treat our enemies says a lot about the kind of people we are.

Verse 30 - Then he escorted them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

Notice the change in the jailer’s behavior. He had chained them to the floor but now he was “escorting” them out of the jail. When God gets a hold of our lives, we often begin to change our behaviors without anyone having to tell us to do it. But an outward change of behavior is not enough.  We must not just have a temporary change of outward behavior. We must experience an inward change of spiritual condition. We must be born again. The jailer asked the most important question that anyone can ask, “What must I do to be saved?” We are all sinners and because of our sin we all deserve to spend eternity in hell apart from God, family, friends and all that we hold dear.

Many people ask why a loving God sends people to hell. The answer is that God does NOT send people to hell. People send themselves to hell as a result of their own wrong choices. No one forces us to sin; we do that quite well all on our own.

Verse 31 - So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”

Paul answers the jailer’s question by telling him to believe on the Lord Jesus. If we want to be saved from a dark eternity separated from God and all that we hold dear, then we must believe in Jesus. Believing in Jesus means believing that Jesus is who He said He was and trusting Him to guide us in our lives. Notice that Paul calls Jesus, “LORD Jesus.” A “lord” is a ruler that tells others what to do. But Jesus is not a cruel ruler who tells others to sacrifice while He sits in a castle living well. Jesus is the kind of ruler that gave Himself for those who follow Him. Jesus is the kind of ruler we WANT to follow. Believing in Jesus is more than just an intellectual acceptance of the historical Jesus. Believing in Jesus is allowing Jesus to become the Lord, or ruler, of our lives. If we want to be saved from a dark eternity in hell, we must believe Jesus is who He said He was AND we must allow Jesus to become the ruler of our lives. If we have not yet been saved, we should consider turning from our sin and placing our faith in Christ. We might express that through a prayer something like this:

Dear Lord, I know I am a sinner and I deserve to be separated for all of eternity from You and from all that I hold dear. But right now I turn from my sin and place all of my hope in You. I want You to be the Lord of my life and help me know how to live. With Your help, I will do my best to follow You and serve You for the rest of my life. Thank you Lord, Amen.

Verse 33 - He took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds. Right away he and all his family were baptized.

As soon as the jailer made this personal commitment to Christ, his life was changed. The jailer took Paul and Silas home and washed their wounds. What kind of jailer does this for his prisoners? The jailer and his entire family were baptized as an outward of expression of their new faith. Baptism is IMPORTANT! Far too many people have treated baptism as if it was just a sweet ritual that we should go through to make our grandmother happy. Baptism is a public declaration of our inner faith and a shout of praise goes up from the angels of heaven every time a person is baptized in the name of Jesus. If we have not yet been baptized, it’s time.

Conclusion:

1. We are in a spiritual war against the forces of evil and should not be surprised when demonic forces oppose us and distort the truth.

2. There is power in prayer and praise that will overcome evil and give us strength to endure difficulties in life.

3. Outward behavioral change will only last if it comes from an inner spiritual transformation that begins with believing and following Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

4. Once we have had that inner transformation, we should be publicly baptized to proclaim that faith to the world.

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Dr. Terry W. Dorsett has been a pastor, church planter, denominational leader and author in New England for more than 20 years. He is a happy husband, a proud father and adoring grandfather. He is a cancer survivor and believes that God works powerfully through times of suffering. He writes extensively and you can find all of his books at:

 http://www.amazon.com/Dr.-Terry-W.-Dorsett/e/B00405U4NY

A Parable About Faith

There was once a little boy name Josh. He was fascinated by science and wanted to know how everything in the universe worked. Even as a little boy Josh drove his parents and teachers crazy by asking complicated questions that had complicated answers. When Josh grew up, he got a job in a scientific laboratory working for the famous Dr. Reason. Dr. Reason was well known for doing excellent research and producing scholarly reports on that research. Josh enjoyed working for him and as the years passed he was able to be a part of exciting research that answered so many of his questions about how the universe worked. When Dr. Reason would finish a major project, he would always publish an article in a well respected scientific journal about his work. Josh loved reading those articles. They made sense to him. The research was meticulous and the conclusions were rational. Dr. Reason was so careful in his research that no one had ever proved any of the conclusions in his articles wrong.

Josh respected Dr. Reason for the research and conclusions that those articles represented, but the longer Josh worked for Dr. Reason, the more their relationship evolved. In time, they became great friends, perhaps even best friends. Dr. Reason would remember little details about Josh and use those details to make Josh’s life more joyful. For example, Dr. Reason remembered that Josh liked chocolate cake, and so he would bring chocolate cake in when it was Josh’s birthday. Though Josh did not have quite as good a memory as Dr. Reason, over time he realized that Dr. Reason like baked chicken. So Josh would often bring a whole baked chicken to the lab for lunch and share it with Dr. Reason. Dr. Reason was also willing to help Josh when Josh needed it. When Josh’s car broke down, Dr. Reason gave him a bonus so he could get the car fixed. When Josh’s grandmother passed away, Dr. Reason came to the funeral and sat next to Josh and they cried together and found comfort in each other’s friendship. Though the scientific articles that Dr. Reason wrote meant a lot to Josh, it was only a piece of their relationship. It was all the other things that really made them friends.

One day Dr. Reason published an article in a journal about a project that he had been working on in a different laboratory. Josh had known that Dr. Reason had a number of other labs where he was doing research. Josh was vaguely aware of what was going on in those labs but did not know all the details like he did in his own lab. When the new article came out, many people did not like Dr. Reason’s conclusions. People began to come to Josh and ask him how he could continue to work for Dr. Reason when his conclusions were so faulty. Josh did his best to defend Dr. Reason’s work, but since he did not know all the details of what was being done in those other labs, he was not able to give as good an answer as he might have liked. Josh did ask Dr. Reason about it, and though Dr. Reason explained it to him, the research and work was so complex that Josh really could not fully understand it. But Josh tried to explain it the best he could to those who asked him about it.

As the controversy intensified, many people said that Josh had “blind faith” in Dr. Reason because Josh kept defending something that he could not fully explain. Others said Josh had made a “leap of faith.” But Josh was not moved from his belief in Dr. Reason’s abilities or intelligence. Josh patiently explained to others that while he was indeed exercising faith in Dr. Reason in this work that he did not fully understand, it was not “blind” faith, nor was it a “leap” of faith. From Josh’s perspective, it was only a step of faith, not a leap of faith. From Josh’s perspective, it was not blind faith, but informed faith. Josh had this perspective because Josh knew Dr. Reason really well. Dr. Reason had proved himself to Josh, not just in the scholarly research and well written articles that had been published, but also in the friendship itself.

Josh was informed enough about Dr. Reason’s work and life and that he felt comfortable continuing working for Dr. Reason even though he did not fully understand this particular situation. Others kept using words like “blind” and “leap” and Josh kept explaining that it was an informed step of faith, not a blind leap, but many people just could not understand Josh’s perspective. At first Josh was frustrated with these people, even a little angry at some of them. He even said a few things he shouldn’t have in his frustration. But in time Josh realized that these people could not understand because they did not know Dr. Reason the way he did. Though Josh really did want to know all the details and all the answers about this project that Dr. Reason was doing, he knew Dr. Reason enough to realize that in time, all would be revealed. Josh was comfortable in his informed step of faith and remained Dr. Reason’s lab assistant. Many people did not understand Josh’s choice, but Josh knew it was the right one and so he was at peace with his choice even if others did not understand.

Moral of the parable:

Many people say that Christians blindly follow a God that is only revealed in the Bible. But for Christians who have built a relationship with God, He is not just revealed in the Bible, but also in their experiences with God. The Bible shows God’s work and parts of it are very easy to understand and explain to others. Other parts are more difficult to understand and explain to others. Those who are not Christians call it blind faith or a leap of faith. But for Christians who have a personal relationship with God, it is not a blind leap of faith at all. Yes, it is faith, but it is more of an informed step of faith than a blind leap. They understand parts of the Bible very well, and they know God well through their personal experiences with Him. Their friendship with God and the parts of the Bible they do understand give them the faith to believe the parts of the Bible that might not be as easy to explain. Faith is required, but from the Christian’s perspective, it is a faith that is well founded and makes perfect sense. Others may lack the ability to understand the informed step of faith that a reflective Christian might make, but to the Christian, it makes perfect sense.

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Dr. Terry W. Dorsett has been a pastor, church planter, denominational leader and author in New England for more than 20 years. He is a happy husband, a proud father and adoring grandfather. He is a cancer survivor and believes that God works powerfully through times of suffering. He writes extensively and you can find all of his books at:

 http://www.amazon.com/Dr.-Terry-W.-Dorsett/e/B00405U4NY

Good Friday Meditation for 2016

Good Friday. What a name for a day on which something so terrible as the death of Christ happened. To think that an innocent man was brutally murdered in front of an approving crowd is almost unimaginable, except that it wasn't just a myth or someone's vivid imagination, it actually happened.

Good Friday shows the depths of the depravity of man. It shows how low people will sink to protect their political aspirations, their theological assumptions, or their place in the world. It shows how even good people will deny the truth or hide in the shadows while great horror happens around them, which begs the question, are they actually good? The answer of course is that there is none good, no not even one (Romans 3:10).

Good Friday also shows the amazing love of God. That He would endure such agony for us is something hard to fathom. None of us deserve it. None of us can truly appreciate it. None of us would even understand it without the gift of grace. Yet, while we were yet sinners, God demonstrated His love for us by allowing Jesus to die for us (Romans 5:8).

What makes this day good is not the agony of Jesus, but the love He had for those He was in agony for. Because of what happened on this day, every good and perfect gift can now come to us from the Lord who does not change like the ever shifting court of public opinion (James 1:17). He has declared that He loves us. And that declaration stands. No matter what. This is a hard truth to accept, and yet we must if we are to have any hope for a joyful life on earth and a more joyous one on the other side of death.

Let us remember Good Friday on days in which we feel unloved, or unlovable. Let us remember that He has decided that He loves us and nothing can change that. Nothing. Period. We can resist that love (which does not change the fact that He still loves us), or we can embrace that love (which gives us great peace and comfort). I chose to embrace it, and that makes this day good.

Dr. Terry W. Dorsett is an author and Christian leader in New England. He is a happy husband, proud father, adoring grandfather and thankful cancer survivor. You can find his books at:
http://www.amazon.com/Dr.-Terry-W.-Dorsett/e/B00405U4NY/

Don't Let the Four Horsemen Keep Us from Rejoicing!!

My devotions this morning were from Revelation 6-7. Those chapters are about the four horsemen who come and destroy so much of the earth during the last days. They are difficult chapters to read, so much death and destruction. Those chapters are not exactly the "morning encouragement" I was hoping for when I began my devotions.

Then I got to these verses: "After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" (Revelation 7.9-10)

Oh how my heart rejoiced! I could see the image in my mind. I could hear the voices crying out in my ear. I could see the Lamb standing before the throne. And I realized that that four horsemen, as bad as they are, cannot keep us from rejoicing! There, in the midst of great trial and tribulation, was evidence that God is still at work. He is still saving people from every tribe and language. He is still changing lives and moving us to deeper levels of commitment to Him. Regardless of what happens on this earth, one day all those who are Jesus' followers will all rejoice together in heaven.

When life gets rough, let us remember that whatever we are facing today is temporary, but salvation is forever. The trials and tribulations that seem so great today will be gone tomorrow. And if we know Jesus, then we have reason to rejoice! Those who don't know Jesus should receive Him today so they do not have to endure the trials of life alone and can look forward to eternity with Him. What a reason to celebrate!

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Dr. Terry W. Dorsett has been a pastor, church planter, denominational leader and author in New England for more than 20 years. He is a happy husband, a proud father and adoring grandfather. He is a cancer survivor and believes that God works powerfully through times of suffering. He writes extensively and you can find all of his books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Dr.-Terry-W.-Dorsett/e/B00405U4NY

What is Truth? - Guest Post by Bill Davis

A conservative, a liberal, a conservative liberal and a liberal conservative went in search of the truth. On the way they met a religious right, a religious left and a religious ambidextrous that were arguing. The conservative, the liberal, the conservative liberal and the liberal conservative asked the religious right, the religious left and the religious ambidextrous what they were arguing about. To which they replied; “We don’t really remember, but we know we are right.”

The conservative, the liberal, the conservative liberal and the liberal conservative asked the religious right, the religious left and the religious ambidextrous to accompany them in search of the truth. The religious right, the religious left and the religious ambidextrous asked the conservative, the liberal, the conservative liberal and the liberal conservative what the truth looked like. To which they replied; “We don’t really remember.”

Then the religious right, the religious left and the religious ambidextrous asked where was the last place you saw it. To which they replied; “We don’t remember, it was so long ago.”

The moral of the story: How do you know what the truth is if you do not remember what it looks like or where it lives? Jesus said:

John 8:32 (NIV); “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 14:6a (NIV); “I am the way and the truth and the life.”

Bill Davis lives in Anderson County, SC, where he speaks at churches and encourages evangelism and discipleship efforts across the region. He is the author of “The Revelation of Jesus.”

How I Came to Have a Genuine Relationship with God

Recently my friend Jay Moore, from the Fellowship of the Cross in Tulsa, Oklahoma, challenged me to post a video of my testimony on the Internet. Jay is encouraging ordinary Christians around the nation to do this as a way of helping others understand who Christ is. My testimony is posted in the video below. I pray it is a blessing to someone. For more info about how to have a strong relationship with Christ, go to PeaceWithGod.net

Sharing Our Testimony With Others

John 1:35-41
³⁵ Again the next day, John was standing with two of his disciples. ³⁶ When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look! The Lamb of God!” ³⁷ The two disciples heard him say this and followed Jesus. ³⁸ When Jesus turned and noticed them following Him, He asked them, “What are you looking for?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are You staying?” ³⁹ Come and you’ll see, He replied. So they went and saw where He was staying, and they stayed with Him that day. It was about 10 in the morning. ⁴⁰ Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John and followed Him.⁴¹ He first found his own brother Simon and told him, We have found the Messiah! (which means Anointed One), ⁴² and he brought Simon to Jesus. When Jesus saw him, He said, You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas, which means Rock.

Context:

•          John the Baptist was a preacher. John constantly explained who Jesus was to those around him and many of them became followers of Jesus. One of the men, Andrew, immediately began to share his faith with others. Andrew was not a preacher, he was just a guy who had been changed by his faith in Christ and wanted others to experience that blessing too.

•          The first person Andrew shared his faith with was his own brother, Simon. Andrew told Simon he had found the Messiah and then brought Simon to Jesus. When Jesus saw Simon He gave him a new name. In that culture a person’s name meant everything. Changing one’s name was rare and normally only happened when a person’s life was so changed that they were no longer the same person they were before. That happened to Peter and he became a powerful preacher and one of the key leaders of the early church.

•          Many of us came to faith because a preacher told us about Jesus. We came to understand who Jesus is and committed our lives to following Him. Like Andrew, we have an obligation to share our faith with others, even if we are not preachers. We should start by sharing with those closest to us, including family and close friends. We should want every one of our family and friends to come to faith in Christ. Imagine if one or two of them become powerful leaders in God’s church like Peter did!

•          But how do we share our faith with our friends? One way is to share our testimony with them. Our testimony is simply our story of how we came to faith in Christ and what Christ has done in our life.

A testimony has four key parts:

1.     What our lives were like before we became Christians. We do not have to include every detail, because we do not want to glorify sin, but we need to set the stage of our life before Christ.

2.      What caused us to first begin to turn to God. This is not the actual moment when we became Christians, but what caused us to realize our relationship with God was not what it should be.

3.     What were the circumstances of how we received Christ into our lives. This is where we talk about the moment everything clicked in our minds and we personally made a commitment to Christ.

4.     How did our lives have changed as a result. If Christ has really come into our lives, then our lives will be changed in some way. We must share those changes with others.

When we share our testimony, it is often helpful to give a sample prayer our friends could use to accept Jesus if they want to and then invite them to pray and receive Christ. Make sure they understand it is the grace of God that saves themes them, not the specific words of a prayer, so they should not get overly concerned about finding some specific prayer to pray.

What kind of response might we expect from our friends when we give them the opportunity to accept Jesus?

• •      Some will receive Jesus
• •      Some will want to think about it
• •      Some will want to ask questions
• •      Some will reject it

How they respond is between them and God. But it is our job to tell them about Jesus. Are we willing to do it?

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Terry Dorsett has been a church planter and author in

New England for more than 20 years. He is a happy

husband, a proud father and adoring grandfather. He

is a cancer survivor and believes that God works

powerfully through times of  suffering. Find all of his

books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Dr.-Terry-W.-Dorsett/e/B00405U4NY

Emotional Orphans

I recently listened to a reporter on the nightly news interview a mother with a severely handicapped child. She said her greatest struggle was that she often felt alone. Very few people could understand her unique situation and that frequently left her isolated emotionally and physically. Over the years of my ministry, I have met many people who faced challenging life circumstances. That sense of loneliness seems to be a common experience.

Though we all have different challenges to endure, we can all acknowledge that life is sometimes hard. In those moments, we may feel all alone in the world. One person expressed that feeling this way; she said “I feel like emotional orphan without a family to love me.” Many of us have felt that way at some point or another. Our loneliness and isolation can become like shackles that hold us back and rob us of the peace and comfort that we need to thrive. In those moments it is good to remember what Jesus said in John 14:18 "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." Jesus also said “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27).

Troubles and difficulties will always be part of life. Knowing that we are not alone, that we are not orphans without a Heavenly Father to care of us, brings comfort in the midst of trials. Having a strong connection with Jesus gives us peace in the midst of pain and lifts our hearts when we are troubled.

Those of us who know Jesus have experienced this comfort and peace many times but still need to be reminded of them in our moments of travail. Those who do not know Jesus often long for the peace He offers though they may not be able to express that desire in theological words. If you do not know Jesus, turn to Him today. Open your heart and mind to His love and commit to follow Him for the rest of your life. Receiving Jesus does not mean that all our problems will go away, but it does mean that we will no longer be spiritual orphans in this world.

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Terry Dorsett has been a church planter and author in New England for more than 20 years. He is a happy husband, a proud father and adoring grandfather. He is a cancer survivor and believes that God works powerfully through times of suffering. Find all of his books at:
http://www.amazon.com/Dr.-Terry-W.-Dorsett/e/B00405U4NY