Be a Uniter, Not a Divider

“I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.” 1 Corinthians 1:10

This is most definitely an election year in the United States. I know I’ve already eaten my fill of not so tasty political speeches. I have witnessed:  division along party lines; division in race; division in every demographic possible. Paul told the Corinthians to agree with one another so there would be no divisions.

If you’re married, you know that loving people do not agree all of the time. If they do, one of them is not thinking. Disagreement, however, is not mean or angry; it’s not loud or rude; it does not slander or defame. Actually, disagreement is a wonderful sharing of ideas and points of view. Only the weak fear to hear another’s side.

In my Length of Days trilogy that takes place from 2112-2114, when political correctness has controlled the country, four distinct zones divide the nation, with no travel or contact between them.

Will our divisiveness today cut our nation in half, or even in little pieces? Or, can we be strong 

enough and mature enough to realize that it is up to us to bind our country together with your love. John Wesley addressed how to unite, to mend and not divide, on October 6, 1774. He said:

“I met those of our society who had votes in the ensuing election, and advised them: 1. to vote, without fee or reward, for the person they judged most worthy; 2. to speak no evil of the person they voted against; and, 3. to take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side.”

Can we put on our prayer shawls and humbly submit our words and spirits to God who will speak through us the loving and binding words that are needed right now? I know we can. We don’t even have to want to. We just have to want to want to, and to be obedient to the God of love. God will do the rest. Let us pray:

“Holy Father, Love divine, shine your light of peace on all of us. Not peace as some might see it, as weakness, but peace as strength through Jesus Christ, who was so determined to be obedient to you, ‘…he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem…’ when you were ready to call him home. May your kingdom come today, a kingdom of quietness and joy, so that we may take this election season and place it in your hands. For this day, may I want to want to choose your path where division is not the way to love. Forgive me when I have joined in the gossip and slander that defames your civil servants. I am not perfect and I must not demand perfection of them. I turn our blessed country over to you, Father God and pray through your son Jesus Christ that your will may be done in our beautiful and free land. Amen”

Doris

"God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine.”

Copyright 2016 Doris Gaines Rapp

Length of Days trilogy, by Doris Gaines Rapp: All three are available in paperback and eBook at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com, as well at Cokesbury.com

Length of Days – The Age of Silence   (© 2014)

Length of Days – Beyond the Valley of the Keepers  (© 2015)

Length of Days – Search for Freedom  (© 2016)

Thank You Father God

"Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have made your glory higher than the heavens."  Psalm 8:1 (NIV)

Yesterday was Fathers Day. I wonder how many of us remembered to thank the father of us all, the Lord God. Some may say, "But this whole world is out of control, with killings and God-less living. God has done nothing to stop it."

If we, you and I, don't stop the sinfulness of His people, by acknowledge God's grace and give Him thanks, then we are part of what makes the Lord weep. When I go on the social media of today, I see post after post from those who soil the name of the Lord rather than lift Him up.

It has become politically incorrect to speak of the Most High in loving and respectful tones. In my Length of Days trilogy, which takes place in 2112-2114, the name of Jesus is banned, Christmas is turned into Gift Giving Season, music of all kinds is forbidden because music stirs emotions in the people, and freedom is lost to a ruling class who believe freedom is too dangerous for normal citizens to embrace. And, it all begins when they forbid the name of Jesus and His father, God, to be spoken. For this day, I lift up praise and thanksgiving to our Lord God for His grace and love and to His son Jesus, for His sacrifice that saved a soul like even me. Let us pray:

"Father, God of all that lives, holy, holy, holy is your name. May your kingdom of love come into my life and the lives of those around me, that we may behold your glory and majesty, just as the angels in Heaven now enjoy. For today, I bow low before your throne and worship you, lifting up your name in praise and love. Forgive me when I do not acknowledge you and speak your name freely in the corner of the world in which I live. I love you Lord and I lift up your name this very day. I ask for your strength and awareness, in the name of your son Jesus, my savior and redeemer I pray. Amen"
Doris

"God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine.”

Copyright 2016 Doris Gaines Rapp

Length of Days trilogy, by Doris Gaines Rapp: All three are available in paperback and eBook at Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com, as well at Cokesbury.com

Length of Days – The Age of Silence   (© 2014)

Length of Days – Beyond the Valley of the Keepers  (© 2015)

Length of Days – Search for Freedom  (© 2016)

National Day of Prayer

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."  Philippians 4:6 

Today is the National Day of Prayer. Let us all take pause to invite the Lord God into our nation that desperately needs His guidance. We are to pray with thanksgiving. Why would anyone pray with thanksgiving if they didn't believe He would answer their prayer? Pray, knowing He hears you and knowing He will answer your prayers. Remember, God is not a genie. You can not put on your prayer shawl as if you were rubbing His bottle. He will answer your prayers in keeping with His plan. The saddest people I know are those who believe He answered there prayer, gave them what they thought they wanted, only to discover that they wanted was not good for them. Let us pray:

"Oh loving father of us all, I bow before you on this day when our nation is at prayer. I ask that your glorious plan may come to our nation, our families, our friends and ourselves. Sometimes I do not pray for those who have injured me. But, on this day, I pray that my former enemy may be lifted up and blessed with your abounding love, that only your love can flow from them. Our nation is involved in a great decision this year, a decision that will mold and direct our national security, our prosperity, and our standing with you who created this great nation. I ask that your kingdom may come in spirit and in truth and direct my actions that I may help to bring it about in your name. In the name of your son, my savior Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen"
Doris

"God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine.”

Copyright 2016 Doris Gaines Rapp

www.dorisgainesrapp.blogspot.com

www.dorisgainesrapp.com

Put on Love

“Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”  Colossians 3:14-16 (NIV)

If you are a news-junkie you have been watching the current political events with great interest and amazement. If you don’t automatically turn to CNN or FOX NEWS when you sit down in the evening, you still have overheard about the strange rantings and messages of people you have little interest in. How could you help but hear their names in this electrically charged political season?

Some of us worry and become stressed. What will become of our great nation if so-and-so wins the nomination? My question is—what are you willing to do to help elect your favorite candidate? Or, do you just complain and become angrier? And then, there’s that LOVE word.

Put on the strongest, most courageous love that God can place on you. KNOW that Christ dwells within you. With the word of Christ within you, wisdom will come, with thanksgiving in your heart and songs of praise and love on your lips. Trust that He will bring about the change our country needs when you follow His lead. Vote like our country depends on your vote—because it does. Love those who think like you do and those who do not, so a perfect unity may bless us all. Only love can heal our country. Let us pray:

“Our father God, you who dwell within my heart when my heart is tuned to you, holy is your name. For this day, I ask for your wisdom to burst forth and guide my life and my decisions. Forgive me when I have been unkind to those who think differently than I do. I am not wise enough to know your heart but I trust that you know mine. Guide me from within by the indwelling of your spirit, that I may hear your direction for my steps. I love you Lord, and I give over my decisions and my will to you. In the name of, and by the power of your precious risen son, Jesus Christ I pray. Amen”

Doris

"God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine.”

Copyright 2016 Doris Gaines Rapp

Length of Days – Search for Freedom, the third in my Length of Days trilogy, is now available in paperback and eBook on Amazon. “Christiana Applewait’s dear grandfather, Oliver Richly, the presidential candidate in the newly formed 1787-Constitutionalists Party, has been kidnapped. Her friend, Dr. Jason O’Reilly, helps her in the desperate search to find him. Is he alive? If he is, will they find him before the presidential election?” Read Length of Days – Search for Freedom today.

Believe and You Are Forgiven

⁸ “Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof ⁹ and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. ¹⁰ We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea^[a] for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed.^[b] 11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

¹² “Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign ¹³ that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them—and that you will save us from death.” Joshua 2: 8-13

Blessed to attend a Christian Women’s retreat on Saturday that included these verses, I pass them on to you. In the Old Testament, we learn how Joshua sent spies to Rahab the prostitute in Jericho before he and his army marched around and attacked the city. Notice in vs 10 Rahab acknowledged the God of the Israelites in whom she had not believed and chose to put her trust in Him. Though she was a sinner, a prostitute, she went down in history, not as a prostitute, but as a person of faith. Honored for her belief in God, she became the mother of Boaz (the husband of Ruth), the g-grandmother of King David, and the 25^th g-grandmother of Jesus Christ – if I counted correctly. You can read Matthew 1 and count the generations back to Rahab yourself. It was for Rahab’s FAITH – not her sins – that the Lord blessed her.

We too can be forgiven of our past sins if we have faith in the Lord God who forgives. Dear ones do not carry the burdens of the past on your shoulders for an eternity. Eternity belongs to God and the beginning steps we take here on earth are His as well. Hand your past to the Lord God and He will bless you with a life of Love and forgiveness because of your faith. Let us pray:

“Dear Lord God, you are the Lord of all, the one who gives Life and saves our lives from our past mistakes. Holy, holy, holy are you, dear Lord. May your kingdom of Love come and make its home in my life as the angels in Heaven now enjoy. For today, I ask that you forgive the mistakes in my past. I speak their names now so that you may hear the desire of my heart and set me free from their clutches. (List them by name) Forgive me for these mistakes and for having carried them so long without asking you for their release. I pray to have your love within me that I might forgive those who have sinned against me. May I not be tempted to blame them for their misdeeds while I ignore my own sins. Let me shower the world around me with your love, so that others may feel free to seek your forgiveness as well. In the name of your son, my redeemer and Lord I pray. Amen”

Doris

"God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine.”

Copyright 2016 Doris Gaines Rapp

Watch for the 3^rd in my Length of Days trilogy - available in April. Length of Days – Search for Freedom

Do You Hear What I Hear?

“I thank my God every time I remember you.” Philippians 1:3 (NIV)

Sunday, as Carolyn played a beautiful piano solo, combining many Christmas hymns and carols, my father’s one-note melody drifted into my mind and I smiled. Daddy was a fine Christian but with a blue-collar vocabulary who sang praises to the Lord on the flat lilt of a tone-deaf monotone. It was hard to hold back tears of joy when I heard his familiar voice singing again in my memory.

Momma played the piano for the primary-grade Sunday school classes as they gathered before their Bible lesson. She pounded on those ivory keys until the melodies of Christmas flooded the low ceiling-room in the little Beavertown EUB church of my childhood. As we all listened to Carolyn yesterday, in my mind I saw Momma in her brown felt hat with the attached Christmas tree pin with bright rhinestones for tiny ornaments and my heart filled with love and joy.

For myself, I have/had a trained singing voice with a three-octave range … before three or four winters with chronic bronchitis and several surgeries in which oxygen burned my vocal chords. I have lost the top two octaves and sing in a female-tenor range. But Sunday, it was different. As the pianist drew beautiful tones out of the piano, I could hear my own voice of a decade ago, floating above the words of praise. I could not control my emotions. While I cannot now sing to praise the Lord as I used to, I know I heard my own voice singing, just like I’ll sound in Heaven when I’m invited to sing with the angel choir.

Christmas is a wonderful time of past and present, celebrating with birthday songs to our Lord Jesus and the trill of giggles from our children and grandchildren as they experience the season with new eyes and ears. What do you hear this Christmas — family arguments from the past or the sweet voices and sounds of your own childhood? Even a flat or melody-free rendition, when sung by the familiar voice of a loving father, is a blessing for which to thank God.

What sounds do you hear at Christmas? What memories do you cling to? Are they ones for which you cannot help but thank God? If not, let them go and choose to remember joy. Let us pray:

“Oh Father God, creator of all there is and father of the Christmas-child, holy is your name and the name of Jesus. At this sacred time of the year, I ask that your will may come to earth and into my life, just as it is in Heaven. For today, I ask that the good sounds of Christmas-past and Christmas-present may fill my mind and memory. Forgive me when I have contributed to the jangle and noise at the foot of the manger. May I not disturb the Christ child or any of your children around me. I thank you for all the good voices of my past and all the many, many blessings of the present. May I be part of the joy and song of Christmas and not a clanging racket. In the name of Jesus, the Christ-child and my savior, I pray. Amen”

Doris

"God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine.”

Copyright 2015 Doris Gaines Rapp

A very Merry and Blessed Christmas to all of you!

  

18 Jars of Marmalade

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  John 13: 34-35 (ESV)

It’s the very last day of October. The gold and crimson leaves are falling in the autumn wind creating a warm, multi-colored blanket on the lawn. October has also been pastor-appreciation month. How does one show appreciation to their pastor — or their spouse, friends and other family members? - By using the 3-L’s in their interactions: Listen, Laugh and Love.

“I’d like orange marmalade with that,” my husband Bill said to the waitress one Saturday morning as she put a plate of toast in front of him.

“We don’t have any,” she apologized.

Bill meets twice a month for an early Saturday morning breakfast with a few men from our church. As he went to the counter to pay that jam-less morning, he noticed some marmalade on a shelf. “There’s some right there,” he pointed out. The men laughed at his insistent reaction and remembered his disappointed but fun attitude.

As the people planned ways to show their appreciation during October the congregation showed their thanks by using those 3-L’s. They had heard and remembered Bill’s lament over the lack of orange marmalade on a previous Saturday morning. They all enjoyed the fun of the allusive sweet orange rind and they showed their love on the first Sunday of October. Families in our small country church brought in jars of orange marmalade, eighteen in total, and blessed him with a … citric jelly jar shower!

Use the 3-L’s to develop other solid relationships. (1) Listen – Many people believe that no one hears them. Be the very best listener you can be. (2) Laugh until all the lines in your face go up. There are very few things in this life that merit an argument. Laugh with, not at others. Buddy, don’t bully. Then, (3) love freely, asking for nothing in return. Love one another as Jesus loved His disciples. Those who don’t know Him will see His light reflected in our love. Love enough to fill eighteen jars to the brim … and running over until it sweetens all those around us. Let us pray:

“Our father God, you sent love to earth in the embodiment of your son, Jesus. He asked us to love one another and to share that love with others beyond our group. As the wind chills, we will be coming into the blessed season of Jesus’ birth, when we share love freely. Let today be the day that I decide to listen, laugh and love with others every day, not just during selected months of the year, whether that be October or December. I admit I want my own needs met. Forgive me when I’m too busy to see the needs of those around me. May I spread enough love to fill eighteen jars to over-flowing. In the name of your son, my savior and redeemer, Jesus I pray. Amen”

Doris

"God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine.”

Copyright 2015 Doris Gaines Rapp

A big thank you to the 631 readers who signed up to try to win one of ten copies of my newest book, News at Eleven – A Novel, at Goodreads.

Another big thanks to those who came to Mt Etna’s Bazaar last Saturday. It was great meeting so many readers!

I will sign all six novels at the following upcoming book-signings.

11/07/15             Whitley County Historical Museum Author Fair – Time: 1-4pm. Columbia City, IN

11/14/15             Allen County Public Library – Author Fair – Time: 1-4pm. Main Library – Fort Wayne, IN. I also speak on the second panel, “Write On! – Steps to Fabulous Fiction”

All books are also available on Amazon.com