DARK SECRETS: Devotional "Am I Okay, God?" by Lorilyn Roberts

DARK SECRETS

Would not God have discovered it since he knows the secret of the heart?

—Psalm 44:21

Do you have a secret hidden in your heart—something that is so horrid you wouldn’t share it with anyone?

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From Seventh Dimension – The Door, a Young Adult Christian Fantasy:

“I hid in the closet underneath the stairs—my safe house. Nobody would find me in here.”

—Shale Snyder, chapter one

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God knows everything about you. Every thought and every deed you’ve ever done or will do is not hidden from his watchful eyes.

Including secrets. Satan will use anything he can to prevent you from experiencing God’s grace. Secrets are among his favorite weapons. The devil derives great pleasure using blackmail. You will never win playing his game. All he has to do is threaten to expose your secret sin—pornography, abortion, cheating, thievery—you name it.

My worst fears from the time I was young involved secret sins. I would convince myself if anyone knew “this or that” about me, I would be on the front page of the New York Times.

Seriously, in the past, when I was plagued with guilt, I would lie in bed at night and ponder what would happen if someone told something about me that was slanderous. Many poor souls have committed suicide to escape the judgment of others. Secrets of the heart can imprison you in a living hell. Is that how you want to live your life?

God doesn’t want you to live in fear. Bring your hidden sin to your heavenly father, confess it, and receive God’s unconditional forgiveness. Remember:  God died on the cross to heal you from all your sins—past, present, and future. 

Thank you, Jesus, that I no longer want to hide in a closet—or behind a façade. I will seek you in the morning, noon, and night so you can set me free from secret sins. 

Am I Okay, God? Devotionals from the Seventh Dimension

includes 26 more devotionals like this one and is a companion book

to Seventh Dimension - The Door, a Young Adult Fantasy

 

GUEST POST BY MICHAEL W. WEBB: What Inspired Me to Write “Infernal Gates”?

    

Ethan Freeman, ex-Special Forces Ranger, wakes up to discover he is the sole survivor of a fiery commercial airline crash that killed his entire family.  His nightmare is only beginning when he becomes the FBI’s prime suspect.  Only Ethan knows he’s not a cold-hearted murderer, but he has no idea what happened to him--and why he alone survived.

He finds an unlikely ally in Sam Weaver, the NTSB Chief Investigator.  An ex-military pilot, Sam senses Ethan is innocent.  She tries to remain dispassionate in her investigation of the crash even as she finds herself attracted to the man who may be Americas worst homegrown mass-murderer.

Neither Ethan nor Sam realize that shadowy spiritual forces are at work which will alter their lives forever.

A monstrous evil, imprisoned since the time of the Pharaohs, has been released by The Nine, a sinister group of powerful men and women who believe they are the direct descendants of the Anunnaki, ancient Sumerian gods. The demon they have unleashed intends to free The Destroyer from The Abyss, the angelic prison referred to in the Book of Revelation, and unleash a worldwide reign of terror and annihilation.

Facing impossible odds, time is running out for Ethan and all of humanity as he is drawn into an ever-deeper  conspiracy--millennia in the making--and learns that he is the key to stopping The Nine.

  

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It was a dark and stormy night . .
Ooops.  Not really! J  Sorry Snoopy.

I regularly drive long distances and have a great deal of time to think.  One morning, as I was headed to an appointment, the opening lines from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities scrolled through my mind unexpectedly:  “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.”

         

As I meditated on those powerful words in terms of the present condition of our fallen world, a fascinating thought popped into my head.  What would happen if my wife and I were on a commercial airliner that crashed within a few minutes of takeoff killing everyone on board—except us!  We awaken exactly 24 hours later, at home, in our bed, dressed in the same clothes we’d worn to the airport.  How would we explain what happened to us?

This is how all of my novels are born. A vivid opening scene, generally an action-filled, pulse-pounding sequence of events, but sometimes several lines of riveting dialog from a character I have yet to meet.  In the case of Infernal Gates, the opening line was “Less than ten minutes before we’re all dead, thought Ethan Freeman, and there is nothing I can do about it!

I’m a seat-of-the-pants writer.  I’ve never done an outline.  All of my stories begin as movies in my head.  I have a general idea about plot, but it morphs into something bigger than my imagination over time.  My characters are born, grow, and mature as I write.   At some point, they take control.  Then, all I do is transcribe as fast as I can whatever I see and hear.

Unbelievable fun—and I get paid to do this!

But I digress.  Back to the “inspiration” theme.

Most of us, sadly, see the world three-dimensionally.  But, as Rod Serling, the creator of The Twilight Zone was fond of saying: There is another dimension--a fourth dimension. A dimension not of sight or sound, or taste or touch, or hearing, but one that overlays the one we accept as the “real” world. A parallel universe layered over the terrestrial realm like a gossamer veil. In order to “see” into this realm and interact with it we must use gifts given to us by God that transcend our fleshly bodies—and our souls.

The realm of Spirit.

I’m inspired by God to write about this realm and explore the consequences of ignoring, denigrating, or misrepresenting its power to impact our lives for all eternity.

I hope you’ll take a chance on an “unknown writer” and join me in my world.

             Michael J. Webb graduated summa cum laude from the University of Florida and obtained his J. D. from the same university.  Over the past forty years he has travelled the world in search of adventure.

            He is a history buff, both ancient and modern, and is fascinated by the intersection of the scientific, supernatural, and Biblical world views, and has studied and taught from the Bible extensively for more than twenty-five years. He is also intrigued by recent discoveries in quantum physics that are now providing extraordinary insights into the reality of the spirit realm, especially as it relates to the study of Light.  He incorporates all of the above into his supernatural thrillers.

            Michael and his wife make their home in North Carolina.  

Books by Michael:  The Master’s Quilt, The Nephilim Parchments, The Song of the Seraphim (Giants in the Earth trilogy), The Oldest Enemy, Infernal Gates.  He is currently working on Devil’s Cauldron, the sequel to Infernal Gates.  He also authored a non-fiction work entitled In the Cleft of the Rock: Insights into the Blood of Jesus, Resurrection Power, and Saving the Soul. 

   

I DON'T WANT TO FORGIVE: Devotional from "Am I Okay, God?" by Lorilyn Roberts

Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”

—Matthew 18:21

Everyone agrees forgiveness is something we should do until we are confronted with the unforgivable.

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From Seventh Dimension – The Door, a Young Adult Christian Fantasy:

I stood frozen as if shot with a stun gun. How could he be here? Memories hijacked me—the curse he put on me two years ago, the attack in the hallway, shaming me with the worm, and all the things too numerous to mention. He had made my life hell. I hated him. How dare he follow me here! I began to hyperventilate, feeling my way behind me with my hands.

“Don’t come near me or I’ll kill you.”

D

id Shale have the “right” to hate Judd? After all, he had molested her and made her life hell.

How about Judd? Was he justified in how he treated Shale? Shale had hurt Judd when she accidentally killed his puppy. Do two wrongs make a right?

I have been a Christian since I was twelve years old. At thirty I rededicated my life to Jesus Christ when I read the book of Romans in the New Testament. My desire to read the Bible was prompted when my husband left me for another woman.

At the core of my struggle was the fact I didn’t want to forgive him. I wanted to hold on to my pain because it was familiar. I had been in a lot of pain for a long time. I didn’t know how I would live without him and I didn’t feel like he deserved to be forgiven.

Besides that, I was grieving. Emotionally I was too distraught to be rational about the concept of forgiveness. Its stranglehold on me was relentless.

Once I reached the point I knew I needed to forgive, I wasn’t sure I wanted to. I felt like I had died a thousand deaths and there was no way I could forgive anyone who had hurt me that badly.

Has someone done something to you and you can’t seem to let go? Have you ever done something to someone else that caused that person immense pain?

Over the course of time, the raw memories will fade. The pain may ease, but will probably always be there. Despite the hurt, forgiveness brings acceptance and peace.

Hate is one of the strongest emotions of the human psyche. Martin Luther King said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

How did Shale’s hatred toward Judd  spill out into other areas of her life? Do you want to be like Shale?

When you harbor unforgiveness, it’s toxic. You can’t compartmentalize it. Being unable to forgive will eventually take over your entire personality. Have you ever met an angry person?

Thoughts, emotions, and actions will be affected. Just like cancer invades a person’s body, hatred knows no boundaries.

Preoccupation with hate can become a full-time job. It takes a lot of energy to stay angry—energy that could be used for more constructive purposes. Satan is the only winner when you refuse to forgive. Is the price of unforgiveness worth it?

                                          *~*~*~*~*~*

Dear Jesus, I want to forgive, but I don’t know how. Help me to let go of my pain. Help me not to hate. Even if I was willing to forgive, it wouldn’t change what has already happened, but I don’t want to be separated from you. Please help me to forgive.

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