LINKS TO BOOK PAGES TO ORDER
- Home
- Tails and Purrs for the Heart and Soul
- Seventh Dimension - The Door, Book 1, A YA Fantasy
- Seventh Dimension - The King, Book 2, A YA Fantasy
- Seventh Dimension - The Castle, Book 3, A YA Fantasy
- Seventh Dimension - The City, Book 4, A YA Fantasy
- Seventh Dimension - The Prescience, Book 5, A YA Fantasy
- Seventh Dimension - The Howling, Book 6, A Young Adult Fantasy
- Seventh Dimension Inspirational - Am I Okay, God?
- Children of Dreams, An Adoption Memoir
- Food for Thought: Quick and Easy Recipes for Homeschooling Families
- The Donkey and the King, a Story of Redemption
- Book Love - Young Readers Become World Leaders - An Early Chapter Book for 1st though 3rd Grade
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
BOOK MARKETING: HOW MUCH DIFFERENCE IN SALES DOES A GREAT BOOK COVER MAKE? by Lorilyn Roberts
Original cover on the left. Lisa Vento designed the cover on the right |
How much difference does a great book cover make when it comes to selling books? The one on the left is my original book cover of Seventh Dimension - The Door. I found the photograph at http://shutterstock.com and bought the license to use it. I then hired a professional to design the book cover. There is nothing wrong with my original cover on the left, but compared to the one on the right - what do you think?
How about some numbers to compare how many copies I sold of Seventh Dimension - The Door with the two different covers? From October 2012 through February 2013, I sold 118 books. From March 1 through March 17, with the new book cover, I sold 374 books. Seventh Dimension - The Door reached number one in Christian Fantasy, Christian Futuristic, and Religious Science Fiction & Fantasy on Amazon (Kindle version).
As you can see in the screenshot below, Amazon is now labeling Seventh Dimension - The Door a "#1 best seller." The only significant factor I can attribute the increase in sales to is the book cover. The number of reviews didn't change dramatically. I had three more reviews added in March (If you would like to review my book, let me know in the comments).
Who is the miracle worker that designed my new book cover? Her name is Lisa Vento. She was recommended to me by Jerry Jenkins.
Why settle for a mediocre book cover when you can hire someone to design a great book cover? I had no idea that an excellent book cover made that much difference in sales, but it does. If you would like to contact Lisa Vento or look at other book covers she has designed, her website is LisaVento.com
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
YOUNG-ADULT CHRISTIAN FANTASY NOVEL OFFERS HOPE, INSPIRATION FOR BULLIED AND TROUBLED TEENS: Press Release for “Seventh Dimension - The Door: A Young Adult Fantsy,” by Lorilyn Roberts
Young-Adult
Christian Fantasy Novel Offers Hope, Inspiration for Bullied and Troubled
Teens
GAINESVILLE, Fla., March 7, 2013 /Christian Newswire/ -- For every child who struggles with doubt, for every kid who has been bullied, for every teen who comes from a broken home, and for every young adult who longs to be understood - there is hope. Best-selling author Lorilyn Roberts shares once again the power of redemption in this Christian coming-of-age novel. Written in first-person, Seventh Dimension - The Door reads like a first-hand account by a young girl, Shale Snyder, who is treated unfairly by her family, school, and classmates. Fear distorts her sense of self-worth and she is enveloped with guilt because of a secret from her past. While on a sojourn similar to Christian in Pilgrim's Progress, Shale discovers talking animals and a handsome young man with whom she falls in love. Her journey is one of self-discovery as she battles personal demons, family conflict, and wicked underlings, and comes face-to-face with a personal decision she must make - bound up in the king she meets in first-century Israel. “I spent two years developing the plot,” says Roberts, “as part of my Masters in Creative Writing. I love the classics, particularly books by Charles Dickens, Fydor Dostoevsky, Emily Bronte, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. I hoped to provide an entertaining story that would evoke deep spiritual longing.” Roberts adds, “I was a troubled child from a broken home on the road to juvenile delinquency - until I met the king.” From March 1 through March 16, Roberts is offering the Kindle version of Seventh Dimension - The Door for 99 cents. Order from the launch site and enter the drawing for a Kindle, a $50 Amazon gift card, and a $10 Starbucks card (no purchase is necessary for the raffle). About Author Lorilyn Roberts lives in Gainesville, Florida, with her two daughters from Nepal and Vietnam. Manisha’s and Joy’s adoption stories were told in her bestselling memoir “Children of Dreams.” Part of her family’s memoir was featured on Discovery Channel's “Monsters Inside Me.” You may learn more about Roberts by visiting her website at lorilynroberts.com. Roberts can also be found on Facebook at facebook.com/LorilynRoberts and Twitter at twitter.com/LorilynRoberts. Seventh Dimension - The Door A Young Adult Christian Fantasy LORILYN ROBERTS February 2012/Mass Market Original/Fiction $11.77 ISBN 9781480153905 Author Hometown: Gainesville, FL 32606 "Seventh Dimension - The Door, A Young Adult Christian Fantasy" (Create Space, $12.95, 230 pages, 35 reviews 4.7 stars 6 X 9, paperback, ISBN: 978- 1480153905), is available at Amazon. For more information, visit lorilynroberts.com To book radio appearances, see the number below Author Lorilyn Roberts Christian Newswire |
Monday, March 4, 2013
GUEST POST BY TEENA STEWART: The Treasure Seeker: Finding Love and Value In The Arms of Your Loving Heavenly Father
Guest Post by Teena Stewart
One of the toughest women's issues
is that many women, even the most outwardly self-assured ones, wrestle with
feelings of inadequacy and worthlessness. Though women want to believe they have
value, messages bombard them daily, telling them that if they don’t look a
certain way, dress a certain way, drive a certain car, weigh a certain weight,
or work in a certain type of career, they have little value..
Stewart
casts God in the role of a heavenly Treasure Seeker who knows every woman’s true value and will stop at nothing to
recover her, His cherished one. He longs to come into a close, loving
relationship so that she can not only feel cherished but also cherish Him, the
greatest treasure of all.
Through practical truth this
Christian Living book will draw women closer to the Treasure Seeker who takes
on the role of Master Jeweler and lovingly shapes, refines, polishes, even
incorporating her flaws, to transform her into a jewel of stunning beauty. He
will help her find her remarkable true worth so that she becomes the dazzling
gemstone she was meant to be.
Unique accompaniments:
- Intriguing
treasure stories
- A
study of the "Lost" parables including the lost coin, the lost
sheep, the prodigal son, the treasure hidden in a field, and the pearl of
great price
- Points
to ponder at the end of each chapter for reflection and discussion
- A
chapter highlighting gemstone attributes allowing readers to determine
which gemstone they are most like
- A
Treasure Seeker Jewelry line created by author/artist Teena Stewart
available at a discount through her website when you purchase the book.
Enjoy an Excerpt from Teena Stewart's New Book
The Treasure Seeker
Viewed Through Expert Eyes
Let us cling
to him and never stop trusting him [Jesus]. This High Priest of ours
understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testing we do, yet he
did not sin. (Hebrews 4:14–15 NLT)
God acts in the role of Treasure Seeker while searching
us out, but He also is a gemologist and master jeweler. Gemologists primarily
concern themselves with a gemstone’s characteristics. In what condition has the
stone been found? What are its attributes and inclusions? A gemologist also may
sell gemstones and provide appraisal services. Jewelers, on the other hand,
focus primarily on the settings and design in which a gemstone is placed. Some
jewelers also study gemology to become familiar with the properties of the
gemstones they handle.
A jeweler typically serves in an apprenticeship while
learning the craft. The Jewelers of America require jeweler apprentices to pass
written and “bench” tests on four levels, with certification being obtained on
each level. The fourth level of certification is the Certified Master Bench
Jeweler (CMBJ).1 The master jeweler is a skilled artisan who is an
expert in his or her field. He or she appraises, sets or resets, cleans,
designs settings for unset stones, redesigns old settings, sizes, and even
custom designs pieces upon request.
An artist has a trained eye to see space, color, texture,
and groupings to know what is aesthetically pleasing. A woodworker values the
grain and characteristics of the wood and knows how to shape, turn, and join
the wood together to make a beautiful piece. So it is with the Master Jeweler.
God delights in our makeup, much as a master jeweler appreciates the gemstones
and jewelry with which he works.
God Releases Our Radiance
Just as a master jeweler holds a stone under his scope to
see its clarity and beauty, our Master Jeweler can look into our hearts and see
our true nature. When we first come to Him, it is of a dark and cloudy
composition. But when we enter into a relationship with Him, the murkiness is
replaced with brilliance and clarity.
Our
gemstone nature is much like a mirror. A mirror cannot create its own light
source; rather, it bounces back light reflected into it. God designed us to
reflect God’s glory. When we do, sin is no longer obscuring the beauty God
instilled in us.
One of
the best examples of God’s glory literally being reflected is the story of
Moses on Mt. Sinai . He had been on the
top of the mountain in God’s presence while the Ten Commandments were being
transcribed. How anyone even could bear to be in the presence of such divinity
and majesty and live to tell about it still baffles me. Surely the Lord had to
hold back His true essence in order for Moses to be able to withstand it.
When
Moses descended the mountain, his face still reflected God’s holiness. His
countenance shown so brightly that the Israelites were afraid to come near Him.
The Scriptures describe his face as “radiant” (Ex. 34:29). The word used here
for “radiant” is the Hebrew word qaran2, which means to shine or send out
rays. If you ever have tried to look at a bright sky with unprotected eyes, you
know how painful it can be. You can’t stand to do it for long. Moses’ face
shone like the sun.
David
recognized the amazing transformation that comes from abiding in God’s
presence. He wrote, “Those who look to him are radiant. Their faces are never
covered with shame” (Psalm 34:5). In the King James translation, the word is “lightened.”
It comes from the Hebrew word nahar3. Who better to
understand transformation than a humble shepherd boy who had been made into a
great king? God had raised David up from a humble status and made him a
brilliant jewel to shine before Israel .
Though
David made mistakes, he never lost his sense of awe regarding God, and David
felt humbled by how God covered up David’s shortcomings. One could turn to God
without shame, illuminated by knowing that He is a compassionate, loving, and
forgiving God.
Paul, in Hebrews 1:3, wrote about Jesus’ radiance: “The
Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being,
sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purifications
for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” In this
case, the word “radiance,” which is listed as “brightness” in the King James,
is the Greek word apaugasma4, which means reflected brightness. It can also mean shining
forth as rays shine forth from a light source.
Phillip
W. Keller, in his book A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, talks about
radiance, which should shine forth from Christians’ inner light. He says,
“Almost every day I am literally rubbing shoulders with men and women ‘on the
other side of the fence.’ What is my impact on them? Is my life so serene, so
satisfying, so radiant because I walk and talk and live with God, that they
become envious? Do they see in me the benefits of being under Christ’s control?
Do they see something of Himself reflected in my conduct and character? Does my
life and conversation lead them to Him—and thus into life everlasting?”5
Just as Jesus is an exact representation of his Father,
reflecting His radiance, we become an exact representation of Christ when we
commit to a relationship with Him. When we allow the Master Jeweler to take us
into His hands and begin transforming us, we take on His nature. The more we
imitate our heavenly Father, the source of this light, the more radiant we
become.
Matthew 5:14
speaks about this light, calling us the light of the world and a city on a hill.
Our radiance hurts the eyes of a darkened world. It draws some people to the
beauty they see. Others can’t tolerate its presence and seek to snuff it out.
He is Captivated by Our Beauty
My love for books began when I was a young child. My
father, whose formal education went no further than high school, was a
self-educated man who loved to read. His books and children’s books lined our
enclosed back porch. I grew up in the era of Dr. Suess and P. D. Eastman.
I fondly
remember my older sister, Vicki’s, and my excitement when a new children’s book
would arrive in the mail. My mother, never one to be extravagant with money,
had for some reason determined this particular splurge to be a good investment,
and for that I always will be grateful. I recall one particular children’s book
series we had on our shelves. These rather thick books contained fairytales,
fables, and children’s stories. Countless times I thumbed through them, reading
and rereading favorites from these beloved stories.
One of my favorites was The Plain Princess by
Phillis McGinley. The king and queen spoiled and pampered their only child,
Esmeralda, the story’s main character. She had everything a royal child
possibly could want: a beautiful palace to live in and charming dresses and
toys. As Esmeralda grew older, her parents struck an agreement that she should
marry a certain prince. But the prince took little interest in the princess
because she lacked one thing a princess should surely have—beauty.
Physicians
and wizards attempted a variety of remedies to improve her looks, but none of
those with whom their royal majesties consulted were able to change the
princess’s appearance. In desperation, the king and queen placed an ad in the
paper, offering a generous reward to anyone who could help.
A
widowed mother with five children answered this ad and brought Esmeralda home
to live in her house. She soon put the princess to work, having her help clean
the house and care for the children. The more the princess learned to take the
focus off of herself, the more attractive she became. By the end of the story,
Esmeralda had been transformed from plain to beautiful. The transformation was
not merely a surface alteration, but one that came from the inside out. She
learned to care for others besides herself.
By the
time Esmerelda returned to the castle, she was a lovely, changed woman. The
obvious moral of the story—beauty comes from within.
Exterior
beauty doesn’t impress God; it is what is on the inside that matters. Like the
Master Jeweler who sees the exceptional beauty of a stone, He is enraptured by
us. He wants to have an intimate relationship with us. Like a lover captivated
by his beloved’s beauty, He can’t take His eyes from us.
The
issue of whether Song of Solomon, written by King Solomon to the Shulamite
woman, is merely a sensual love poem or something much deeper, describing the
intimate and exciting relationship the Father longs to have with us, has long
been debated. I believe that the book, like many other Scripture passages,
holds a two-fold message. First, it details the very intimate relationship
between two lovers, and second, it details the intimate we relationship God
desires to have with us.
Chapter
4, verse 1 reads, “How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your
eyes behind your veil are doves. Your hair is like a flock of goats descending
from Mount Gilead .” Much like Solomon and the
Shulamite, our beauty so captivates our lover that we take His breath away.
In the
movie Shallow Hal, the male lead
character played by Jack Black falls madly in love with a woman played by Gwyneth
Paltrow. He is smitten with her and, like the writer in Song of Solomon, gushes
to his friends about this woman’s beauty and lovely attributes. His friends
can’t make him see that the woman is actually grossly obese, and their
judgment, which is based on external appearances, causes them to view her as
both ugly and worthless.
Some
days I’m rumpled and bone-tired, with dark circles beneath my eyes. My face is
lined with age and fatigue. At my age, the beauty that once may have been there
now has faded considerably. And yet Jeff still will call me “pretty lady.”
Sometimes I think he needs to see an optometrist because I don’t think he’s
seeing all too clearly. He looks at me through rosy lenses.
True
love is like that, looking into the heart and holding the other person as dear
and lovely. This is the type of remarkable relationship the Father has with us.
He Recognizes Our Elegance
Dictionary.com
defines “elegance” as an elegant quality or a refinement. People who exemplify
elegance are in a class all their own. Culture, sophistication, beauty, and
charm together culminate into a unique aura called elegance. Women like
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, and Princess Diana
come to mind.
On the
other hand, I can think of many famous, beautiful women who do not embody
elegance. Some women, despite their looks and wealth, are actually very crass.
We read about their often-embarrassing exploits in the papers. Proverbs 11:22 cautions us, “Like a gold ring
in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.”
Stanley
Marcus, in his book Quest for the Best,
defines elegance in this manner: “Elegance, to me, is a summary word denoting
the ultimate in beauty, craftsmanship, and quality—all put together with taste.
Elegance suggests selectivity, fitness, and authority—whether in decoration,
personal adornment, or manners.”5
Master
Jeweler Peter Carl Fabergé is renowned for designing elegant, golden jeweled
eggs for the household of Czar Nicholas of Russia. Each egg is an incredible
work of art in itself. The eggs’ beautiful, ornate exteriors are covered with
precious metals and enamel and are encrusted with priceless gemstones. Inside
of each egg is a surprise, often a masterpiece in miniature. Fabergé and his
team of craftsmen carefully designed and selected precisely the right gemstones
to adorn each unique egg. Each had to be fit for royalty. The care,
craftsmanship, and selectiveness Fabergé used when crafting each egg made his
name synonymous with luxury and elegance befitting royalty.
The
Master Jeweler sees in us exquisite elegance. He carefully hand-selected us,
His gemstones, as an adornment befitting a palace, and the king’s palace is
precisely where we will remain, a shining tribute to Him, magnifying His glory
for all eternity. Let us remember, then, while we remain in these fragile,
earthly vessels, always to conduct ourselves with restraint and refinement so
that others will be captivated by our unique aura of elegance and be drawn to
Him.
He is Convinced of Our Quality
“Your friend in the diamond business,” reads
the slogan for the Shane Company, a national jewelry chain. For a number of
years, the company’s slow-talking owner has appeared in radio ads promoting the
business’s quality and service. The company set itself apart from the average
jewelry store by claiming to avoid gimmicks, coupons, and sales. Instead, they
touted excellent everyday prices, quality, and service. Today, the Shane
Company has successfully branded itself as a trustworthy jeweler, a name
synonymous with superior gemstones.
John
Ruskin wrote: “Quality is never an accident. It is always the result of
intelligent effort. It is the will to produce a superior thing.”6 Quality
results from intentional, carefully-thought-out production and design.
During
the building of Solomon’s temple, King Solomon (1 Kings 5:17) decreed that only
the most costly stones were to be used for the temple’s foundation. The Hebrew
word yaqar7, which is used
in the passage, means costly. By dictating that only the most expensive stones
be used, Solomon knew he ensured that the selected stones would be the best of
the best. Every item that went into making the temple of the Lord was to be of
superior quality, making the structure of the temple itself an act of worship
to the heavenly king.
Like the
retail buyer who hand selects the fabrics and merchandise to be carried in his
chain of stores or the jeweler who insists on only purchasing the superior
grade of gemstones, God hand selected us and chose us from thousands of others.
He is confident that He has made an excellent choice, and well He should be,
for He is the one who designed and ordained our purpose from the onset.
Unfortunately,
many of us have difficulty believing we are indeed a quality gemstone. It is
one thing to be told we are an exceptional product and another entirely to
actually to believe it. Many women suffer from poor self-esteem. It only takes
one callous word or one seemingly insignificant incident for us to descend into
self-abasement. When we fall into these depressed patterns of thinking, we
really are lying to ourselves.
Self-loathing
grieves God, who wants only the best for us. Instead of self-abasement and
self-loathing, He envisions affirmation and joy. Our challenge, then, is to
remember that it’s not within God’s nature to make junk; therefore, we cannot
be what we often think we are.
Just as
God has instilled in us the best of the best, He also expects only the best
from us. First Corinthians 3:13 says, “His work will be shown for what it is,
because the day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the
fire will test the quality of
each man's work.” Does our work and our walk reflect the Master Jeweler’s
fineness? We should never forget to continue striving for excellence.
He Sees Beyond Our Flaws
The Master Jeweler
examines us with the eye of an expert. He clearly sees all of the lovely attributes
that make us so desirable: our radiance, beauty, elegance, and quality. But He
wouldn’t be an expert unless He also saw our weaknesses, including our flaws.
Though
the words “oversight” and “overlook” seem to hold nearly identical meanings,
they differ considerably. “Oversight” is when someone examines something but
misses a key factor. The person might have been distracted or careless when
doing the initial examination.
An
excellent example of this is the clearance rack at your local clothing store.
Many of us love a bargain, and you can’t beat the end-of-season clearance
deals. But you also have to be very careful when selecting clearance items. For
instance, you might find gads of one specific style and color in a blouse.
(What? You mean you don’t want that chartreuse size three blouse?) Or mixed in
with quality merchandise are sometimes irregular or damaged items. There have
been times when I’ve thought I’ve found a great bargain, only to arrive home to
find a pulled thread or missing button. Those instances were oversights on my
part. Great sale prices temporarily blinded me enough to make me overlook the
flaws.
But God
actually sees our flaws, and He purposely
overlooks them. We’ll talk more about this in a later chapter, but I think it
bears merit here, so we will examine why God overlooks them—why the one who is
without flaws is willing to overlook ours (Psalm 19:12).
First,
God overlooks our flaws because He doesn’t want our shortcomings to stand in
the way of our having a deep relationship with Him. Second, He knows that many
of these flaws have come about because of tough knocks we have been through in
life. They are a part of what makes us who we are.
J. B.
Yeats wrote, “Personality is born out of pain. It is the fire shut up in the
flint.”8 God knows our tough life experiences have an integral part
of our formation. They add to our beauty and can be
used to glorify God. He does not demand that they be eliminated because He
knows doing so will cause irreparable damage. Instead, He wants us to trust His
gentle touch and expertise as He works to make us into the treasure He knows we
can be.
{Call-out Box:
Treasure
and Gemstone Trivia
England
passed a law in 1283 that made it legal for only those of noble birth to wear
jewels.9}
Points to Ponder
1. How does it make you feel to
consider God as a Master Jeweler?
2. Can you think of any other scriptural examples of God’s glory and
radiance being revealed?
3. Have you ever met someone who
reflects God’s radiance?
4. How does it make you feel to know that God sees us as beautiful no
matter what we look like on the inside or outside?
5. What are some examples of
Jesus reflecting His Father’s radiance?
6. It is not in God’s nature to make anything lacking in quality. How
does knowing God made you make you feel?
********
Sunday, February 24, 2013
THE DEMONIC DEATH KNELL: Devotional by Lorilyn Roberts
There
should be a funeral for dead marriages. There isn't.
At
first the rain fell softly outside my bedroom window. Soon it increased in
intensity. What began as a light mist quickly turned into a torrential
downpour. The closed blinds could not shut out the lightning bolts that pierced
the darkness. Thunder rocked my already frayed nerves that kept me up most of
the night. Light finally arrived but the rain continued to pound relentlessly.
I
dressed and ran out the door. I didn't know where I was going. Part of me
believed I would never return. I wanted to run away from everything—life; Tim, my
husband; the future, the past, the present—mostly I wanted to run away from
myself. I wandered down the street through the pouring rain soaking through my
clothes. I was a bad wife, I
convinced myself, and deserved to be punished
and sentenced to a life of misery. I walked around a fenced-in retention
pond and headed down a pathway into the woods. I was ready to end my life of
thirty years—a life that I saw no value in—wasted.
“God,
why have you abandoned me,” I cried out. “Where are you?”
Lightning
imprinted and disappeared across the angry sky. I felt fearful and fearless, in
control of my thoughts, but my emotions spun out of control.
A
stream bordering the woods near my house caught my eye. I approached the crest
of the hill and was surprised to see it rambling on in the distance; I climbed
down the slippery slope as raindrops seeped into my cold, waterlogged clothes.
As
the rain fell harder, the sides of the creek turned to mud. I lost my balance
and stumbled down the embankment as the cold water oozed into my shoes and
socks. I smeared the slimy mess over my arms, legs, face, and into my blonde
hair. The smell of the rancid water sickened me. I continued to cry out to a
God I wasn't sure I believed in anymore, but if He did exist, I was angry with
Him.
“Where
are you?” I cried out. “Why don't you save my marriage?”
Over
the seven years of marriage, I had kept my faith hidden because Tim couldn’t or
wouldn’t relate to that part of me. If anything, he had belittled my search for
understanding of the deeper things in the Bible, much like others had bullied
me as a child. Anything from the Bible always stirred up controversy. I dragged
Tim to church despite his protests because it was too hard to go alone. All Tim’s
promises of a wonderful life as a doctor’s wife and supporting me so I could
return to school had vanished—the way of
everything else in the marriage.
The
religion classes I took at Santa Fe State College had given me an academic
understanding of the Bible, but not the kind of heart knowledge that reached
down into my soul. With the resignation of the pastor a few weeks earlier at
the church we attended occasionally, Tim vowed never to go back. Rejected and feeling
unloved, I’d given up.
The
limestone from the muddy creek burned my eyes and scratched my skin. How many
creepy, crawly things filled the water that now covered by body? I rolled over
and stared up at the darkened, gray sky. Is this all there was? Was there
nothing more to live for?
As
dirty as I felt, it wasn't enough. There had to be something more I could do to
become the ugly, dirty, unloved person that I was. I climbed out of the creek and
headed back to the house. The rain had let up but not the seething pain that
lashed out at me. When I returned to the house, I washed off the dirt in the
shower knowing I had not accomplished what I wanted.
Then
I remembered the pills in the medicine cabinet. I tried to dismiss the thought
but I couldn't. I wanted my torment to end. Rejection consumed me. I longed to
be loved, held, and needed. I felt like God had abandoned me. The lies were
deafening.
I
opened the medicine cabinet and searched for pills—anything I could find. I
pulled out several bottles—an assortment of Tylenol, Bayer, and other things
accumulated during our marriage. Not concerned with what they were, I opened
each bottle and threw the contents on the table.
I
sat for a long time staring at the scattered pills that threatened to end my
life. They spoke my name, called out to me, and taunted me. I was in a trance. I
took them and made a face—my face, with a mouth contorted into an upside‑down
smile. Nobody could hurt me anymore. I took pleasure in the fact that the last
act in my life was mine, not something somebody did to me.
As
I reached for the pills, I was stopped by something far bigger than myself. A
voice spoke to my heart out of the recesses of time and space, a word‑thought
that was not of this world. It was not an audible voice, but it was as real to
me as if it had been.
I
saw myself standing in front of Jesus, outside the gates of heaven. He was
waiting for me. From his lips came a question I had no answer to.
“Lori,
how can you do this thing when I died for you two thousand years ago? How can
you throw your precious life away?”
I
stopped. The words were said in a gentle, pleading tone, spoken in a language I
understood. I was in the presence of Goodness, even as I sensed a spiritual war
waging in the unseen world around me. I felt fallen angels battling against the
armies of God.
Demonic
beings wanted my soul and unseemly forces beckoned, “Take the pills and end
your suffering. You belong to us. Nothing in the world of light will ever
change you because you are unlovable.”
Evil is relentless, especially
when it thinks it can win. The clamor would have been deafening if my earthly
ears could have heard it, but the battle belongs to the Lord. He knows His own
and I was His. The choice was mine, though, to choose life over death. God's
unconditional love lets us choose who we will follow, a love that does not
condemn or control. Would I allow love to conquer hate or would deception
convince me that despair was the only answer? Could I accept forgiveness as the
path to freedom? Did I believe Jesus loved me, would never leave me, and had
forgiven me?
I
closed my eyes and prayed for deliverance from the darkness.
Jesus
stood before me, His eyes seeing through to my soul. Hope would emerge if I
could believe in His healing power. The Risen Savior created a sense of
calmness where chaos had existed. An overwhelming sense of peace enveloped me.
Love pierced the darkness and Hope raised His scarred hands, reminding me of
the price it cost Him. The shadows began to lift, grudgingly at first, refusing
to accept defeat. A veil of light embraced the dark surroundings and the demons
fled. They recoiled because they could no longer see. They were lost—lost in the darkness because the light had blinded them.
I
knew at that moment, that I couldn't do this heinous thing. I no longer believed the
evil—an evil that tried to hurt me. I had been deceived. The fallen angels knew
they had lost their hold on me—at least for the moment. The screams of hate by
the demonic powers slowly trailed off as the darkness dispersed, leaving behind
a cat-o’-nine-tails reduced to whimpering.
They
would go in search of their unsuspecting next victim. For the moment, I was
free from their taunts. An overwhelming sense of love caressed my soul. A
deafening silence waited on cue for the celebration to begin. God’s angels
began to shower me with grace.
The
Immortal Being of the universes cast out my despair with His perfect love and
covered me with mercy. No longer fettered with chains in a dungeon of defeat, I
was free. For the first time, I felt loved.
I
was now at one with “The One” who knew my greatest need. He embraced me as I
had never been held, loved me as I had never been known—unconditionally. I was
given another chance at
life.
Poor in spirit, I had seen God.
I
quickly cleared the brightly-colored pills off the table and threw them away.
Their enchantment had lost its magic. No longer condemned, I was a new
creature, a new person, redeemed by the Redeemer. Exhausted but renewed, I had
seen a great light. Jesus had won—life over death. A celebration was at hand.
If the rocks could have cried out, they would have.
Jesus
said in Matthew 15:7, “I tell you that in the same way there will be more
rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous
persons who do not need to repent.”
“God,
please show me the way,” I begged. “Please forgive me."
For
the last twenty-six years, God has never left my side, but I will never forget
the day He delivered me from that demonic death knell. I thank God for reaching
down and saving me, the wretch that I was. Little did I know then the great
plans He had for my future.
By
the grace of God, since that experience, God has restored by life many times
over. I finished college and obtained my Master of Arts in Creative Writing.
God brought me two beautiful daughters from the ends of the earth that are now
fourteen and twenty-one. I was blessed with a job that allowed me to stay home
and even homeschool them. I have published four books and lead a network of
Christian authors from around the world.
Most
of all, my relationship with Jesus Christ has never wavered. Even though at
times I’ve made mistakes and disappointed Him, God has been faithful and
provided for all of my needs. I feel blessed for the doubts I once had because
God showered me through those dark days with His perfect love and gave me hope.
God is sufficient to meet every need, even when I am weak; and for that, I am
thankful.
To check out Lorilyn’s latest
book, Seventh Dimension – The Door, a YA Christian fantasy, you can purchase it
at the following websites:
To buy Seventh
Dimension – The Door at Amazon: http://amzn.to/UBE1Mr
To buy Seventh
Dimension – The Door as an audiobook:
http://bit.ly/11YrzMI
To buy Seventh
Dimension – The Door at Barnes & Noble (Print): http://bit.ly/WRkUha
REMEMBER: There is no pit so deep, no hurt so painful, no
secret so horrid that God can’t cover it through the death of His Son, Jesus
Christ. Open up your heart to the infinite possibilities of living a life of
love, no longer warped by bullying or scarred by deceitful words. Where there
is life, there is hope—and healing!
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
PRISONS OF THE MIND - CAN DEAFNESS SET THE CAPTIVE FREE: Devotional by Lorilyn Roberts
Recently a deaf person emailed me a letter
that profoundly touched me. I don’t have permission to print it—hopefully, at
some point, I will—but I wanted to share my response with her. I have a large
contingent of deaf and hearing-impaired people who follow my blog. Her
struggles are universal also, not just confined to those who are hearing
disabled. I pray that my thoughts are Godly and thought-provoking. Salvation is
a momentary decision but can take a lifetime of surrendering. Wherever you are
in that decision, after reading this blog post, please share. This may be your
moment….don’t waste it.
By Lorilyn Roberts
Satan’s biggest deception is to masquerade as an angel of light. He
wants to trick us into believing, if it were possible, that Jesus Christ is not
the answer. The paradox is that God made us both strong and weak. We are strong
in the sense that we fight for life at all costs, longing for what He gave us
in the beginning – eternal life. We are weak in the sense that true happiness
can’t be found except in our relationship with Him. If Satan can convince us we
can be as God, our pride will make us reluctant to admit we need anyone or
anything else. Humility lies at the beginning of the road to salvation.
There are many kinds of prisons and you’ve found one of them – the
bottle. Prisons null our pain, but they also take away our freedom—most
importantly, the freedom to choose. God also never takes away our freedom to
fail but will never not give us what we need to succeed. The devil will give
you what you think you want—God will give you Himself. Some prisoners will go to
their grave having sold their soul to the devil—for this world and the next. For
what? A lie.
Ultimate freedom in Christ will never take away your freedom of
choice. If you have made idols of your wants or lowered your expectations of
what will make you happy, you will be imprisoned in your mind to false gods
that will do nothing to save your soul. Sin feels good at the time, but a
moment of bliss can bring a lifetime of regret. Ultimately, sin will destroy
your ability to hear God’s voice. Don’t forget, eternity is forever. We will
all spend eternity in heaven or in hell. The choice is ours.
You are strong in the sense you have found freedom by conquering your
dependency on alcohol. God has blessed you with a spouse to love and cherish. As
you have discovered, however, it’s not enough to be free FROM something. We
need to find our freedom IN something.
There is not enough of anything in this world to bring us complete
happiness. There is not enough power ball money, adoration of fans, cushy jobs,
plastic surgery, or computer gadgets to fill our hearts. We aren’t made to have
a relationship with idols. We are made for a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Without Him, all other pursuits may bring partial or temporary happiness, but
they are fleeting at best.
That brings me to the root of your quest for answers. Who is God? You
were born deaf, and your whole life has been devoted to overcoming this
limitation in order to survive in a world where nearly everyone else hears. You
feel flawed, shortchanged, and your perceptions have influenced many of the
choices you have made, both good and bad.
Has it ever occurred to you that God made you that way for a purpose? You
might ask me, “Why would God do that?”
People ask that question in reference to their own “flaws” or
“disappointments” or “lot in life” hundreds of time each day. I have asked
myself that same question – I even ask it of others. Why did God take away my
friend’s eyesight?
Why did my beautiful adopted daughter from Nepal suffer for years with
seizures? Why did God allow her to drink contaminated water from Nepal that
gave her a brain infection? Why are there 150 million orphans around the world
with little hope of being adopted?
My goal is not to make you feel guilty or to compare your disability
with others. You have already done that plenty of times. We all have. That is
part of Satan’s ploy, to guilt us into feeling like we are no good, or trick us
into comparing ourselves with others with a legalistic yardstick—God does not measure
our value in such a demonic, meaningless way.
We need to remember how much our sin grieves God. It took the death of
His Son, Jesus Christ, to make it possible for us to enter into the kingdom of
heaven. Can we know the evilness of sin and appreciate the price God paid in
our fallen, depraved state? We can’t see it—except through suffering. We see
sin when we see a young child die of cancer. We see sin on the battlefield during
war, in a car accident that devastates a family, in a drug overdose that kills a
young person, and in the sex trafficking trade in Nepal and India. We shake our
fist at those things and proclaim the wickedness of man, aghast that any decent
human being could rip out a young girl’s genitals and sell her as a slave. We
cringe and become angry—angry at what we know is wrong and inhumane.
Our infirmities remind us of our need for Jesus Christ. We are driven
to repent when we realize how weak we are in spirit to do even one good thing.
Our blindness and deafness and diseases awaken us from an indifferent slumber
and instill in us a longing for the day God will wipe away every tear. We don’t
suffer in vain—we suffer for God’s glory. If we give our weaknesses to Him,
something supernatural happens within us that is more powerful than anything
man can invent or achieve. The Holy Spirit makes us bold and enables us to let go
of past hurts and forgive. We are compelled to take our eyes off of ourselves
and focus our hearts and minds on the one who created us. We remember once
again we aren’t made for this world. We are made for eternity.
Your ability to rise above your deafness can only take you so far—it
can’t overcome that emptiness within you that only the Holy Spirit can fill. In
fact, Jesus Christ is so much bigger than your deafness, that if you truly
allowed Him into your heart, your heart couldn’t contain Him. You would burst
with joy—not that you are deaf, but that He’d given you so much joy. You would thank
your deafness for allowing you the privilege of bringing others into the
kingdom.
God has given each person many gifts. He has given you a gift of
writing. If you want God to use you to help others, you need to claim one gift
which you have not yet unwrapped. You need to claim His gift of salvation.
You have figured out how to live in this world marginally happy, but
you know there is something missing. You are using the freedom God gave you to reject
Him—His love for you and His salvation for you—forever. Forever is a very long
time. If you die as a believer, you will be given a new body with perfect
hearing. The greatest gift you will receive in heaven will be your appreciation
for what you never had here. I believe my greatest gift will be the
unconditional love of Jesus—the assurance that He will never leave me—I fear
being abandoned.
What we don’t have here for God’s glory will be magnified in heaven,
poured out, given with such generosity it will be as the stars that shine down
on us or the sands that cover the seashore. If God lavished us with those
perfect gifts here, would we really appreciate them? How many people have died
lonely and broken—seemingly who had everything? How many truly happy people
live in Hollywood? It is out of our need that God fills us, for then we know
without Him, we are needy. The nothingness is what draws us to Him and enables
us to be used by Him. We become His witness, His voice, His legs, His eyes, His ears, and His servants. We become part of the Great Commission.
Ask yourself: How can I use my deafness to draw people into a
relationship with Jesus Christ? Use the one thing you don’t have to glorify
Him—and you will find that your greatest suffering and need will become your
greatest asset and joy.
Remember also, God loves you. He loves you more than you can imagine.
Someday you will stand before heaven’s gates—will they open and allow you to
enter? Don’t let anyone take away your desire to know the truth. As the Bible
says, the truth will set you free. The search for answers will lead you down
paths that only God can answer, that won’t be found in bottles of wine or quick
fixes that lead to death.
I want to share a short excerpt from my book, Seventh Dimension – The Door, about a young girl who spent her
whole life bullied and rejected by others. She was imprisoned by her worthless and
destructive self-image. Read what the King did and ask yourself, is this not
me?
Then the king turned towards me. I now knew
the king completely—as my heavenly father, the father who loved me, the father
who would never leave me or forsake me.
“Your
sins are forgiven.” He held out his hands and the fresh scars on his wrists
overwhelmed me. Tears flowed freely. He said, “I go to prepare
a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I
will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be
also.”
A birdcage gently floated down from the sky
and landed in his outstretched hands. He took the cage and hung it on an olive
tree. A small bird sat inside the cage. The king opened the door to the cage
and the small creature walked from its perch and alighted on his finger. He
lifted the bird out of the cage, kissed it, and whispered, “You are a daughter
of the king.”
I realized at that moment, he was saying those words to me. I
felt his tender kiss on my forehead. I gazed into the sky as the bird flew into
the heavens. Before I could say anything, the king was gone.
In Luke 4:18, Jesus said, "The
Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for He has anointed me to bring Good News to the
poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind
will see, that the oppressed will be set free.”
You’ve
been a prisoner long enough. Jesus, the King wants to set you free. He has
opened the door to your heart, just as He opened the door to the bird cage for
Shale and set her free. Don’t delay. Invite Jesus into your heart, ask Him to
forgive you of all your sins, receive the Holy Spirit, and begin the first day
of the rest of your life. You have a story to tell that only you can share.
Someone needs to hear it, not the least of which is me. I want to know what
Jesus has done in your life. Please share it in the comments below.
*~*~*
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Tuesday, February 12, 2013
BOOK REVIEW OF SEVENTH DIMENSION - THE DOOR: A Young Adult Fantasy: Amazon Reviewer/Author Melissa Main: “Good Literature Combats Crippling Bullying”
Jasmine McClain, a 10-year-old student,
couldn’t bear the bullying from her fellow students at Chadbourne Elementary
anymore. She hung herself in her bedroom. Unfortunately, her mom did not find
her in time to save her. Bryan Oliver, a 16-year-old student at Taft Union High
School, escaped his torment by using a different method. He brought a shotgun
to school and wounded one of the bullies and targeted another before being
taken down by a teacher.
The effects of bullying plague our
society. Death, violence, and depression destroy the fabric of our society and bullying
destroys the self-esteem of individuals. How can people, especially teenagers,
learn about the dangers of bullying? How can we prevent bullying in our
society? How do we help bullied teens so that they do not commit suicide or
murder?
One way to change society and address
the issue of bullying is through literature. Literature changes the way people
see problems and helps them to become more sensitive to social issues. A famous
example of a book changing society’s views on an issue is Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It changed attitudes
towards slavery and fueled the abolitionist movement.
In today’s climate of bullying, our society
needs books for teens and adults that help them become more sensitive toward
this vital social issue. Seventh
Dimension - The Door, by Lorilyn Roberts, is a book that takes readers into
the mind and thoughts of a bullied teen. They see her torment and her anguish.
They experience her loneliness, and they see how she struggles to cope with the
taunts of her classmates.
Seventh Dimension - The Door: A Young Adult Fantasy is
a coming-of-age story about a bright, but sensitive, fourteen-year-old girl
named Shale who feels misunderstood and isolated from the other students at her
school and in her neighborhood. Judd, a boy at her school, ruthlessly picks on
her and attempts to get her in trouble with the school authorities. At home,
she feels out of place because her mom has remarried and her dad does not have
regular contact with her.
Feeling alone and confused, she wanders
into the woods and finds a seventh dimension. This fascinating land parallels
her life at home but takes place in the first century during the days of Jesus
Christ, a key character in the story. This beautiful, yet violent land forces
Shale to face her inner fears and choose a new direction for her life, including
making choices about her relationship with a handsome young man.
Facing dramatic action and spiritual
warfare, Shale completes her time in the seventh dimension and becomes a
stronger woman. She learns how to face bullying and how to find inner peace during
difficult times.
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