A Little Boat in Constant Readiness

Posted on February 3, 2014 by rstaples2013

“…a vast multitude, hearing all the many things that He was doing, came to Him. And He told His disciples to have a little boat in [constant] readiness for Him because of the crowd, lest they press hard upon Him and crush Him.”

These words, from Mark 3 (Amplified) appear to describe the preparation Jesus made for self-protection and preservation.

At other times, we see Jesus simply walking through an angry crowd and going on his way. (Luke 4:30)

It is beyond the scope of this blog to talk about when and why Jesus accessed supernatural power, thus taking Him out of the scope of natural danger. For today, I want to think about why we might need “a little boat in constant readiness” and how we might secure one.

The “crowds” that threaten me are my thoughts, my memories and my fears. Added to these are feelings of helplessness, conflicting schedules and heart breaking stories. I need to keep three boats within easy reach so that I am not crushed.

The first is the embrace of His Presence. By keeping my eyes focused on the face of Jesus and my ears tuned to the voice of the Holy Spirit I have a refuge.

The second is the promises of God. I need to search His word and find a promise that applies to my “crowd.” If I don’t know what promise to claim, I can ask the Holy Spirit to lead me to one. Then I can “remind” God that this is what He said. We can “Stand on the Promises” as the old hymn says. It is best if we get a grip on one promise that specifically applies and then storm heaven with it.

The third boat is people who will pray. A pop up just came on my computer screen “You are now running on reserve battery power.” That happened to me this morning, emotionally and spiritually. I immediately emailed five friends who are interceding for me today.

I am glad Jesus gave us the picture of having a boat in constant readiness. Let’s check both the availability and condition of our boats. The crowds will keep pressing but we have access to protection.

I’d love to hear stories about your boats.

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Grateful for Heritage

Posted on January 31, 2014 by rstaples2013

Roselyn

My Grandmother was baptized in this church in 1876. It is still standing wrapped by the mountains and waterfalls of Telemark, Norway.

It was my privilege, to kneel at this alter and pray, “Fader var, du som er I himmelen! Helliget vorde ditt navn,” the words of the Lord’s Prayer that she taught me when I was first learning to speak.

She crossed the ocean in 1892 at the age of 16. Famine in this land of stunning beauty forced her father to make the agonizing decision of sending her to America. She worked for her uncle, in this strange land, walking behind a plow, for 2 years at 50 cents a week.

I crossed this same ocean, to find my Grandmother’s home, in the comfort of a relatively short flight. I have been able to visit her country on many occasions, always remembering the first time I stepped off the plane and found myself standing on Norwegian soil. Tears ran down my cheeks with the overwhelming sense that I was “home.”

I am grateful for my heritage and for the blessing of being able to trace my roots.

The story reminds me I have been rescued from poverty into affluence. I am the beneficiary of prayers prayed and a price paid.

As awesome as this story is to me, it pales in remembrance of “Papa God,” sending His Son to Calvary for me. Now I am a joint heir with Him Who intercedes for me.

Thank You, for my heritage.

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Dread No More

Posted on January 29, 2014 by rstaples2013

A common phrase that is used as an attempt to comfort someone is “waiting is the hardest place to be.” There are some who will actually say that bad news is easier to deal with than no news.

Aging opens opportunity for dread. Will I be able to do activities of daily living? What if I end up alone with no one to call? What if I run out of money? What if my memory fails?

Faith responds with declaring there is nothing to fear. This is an easy statement to make but embracing it as experience requires trust. It means that I say “Amen” to the promises of God. It also means that I carefully discern what these promises are.

Where does this leave us with our practical challenges? Do we pray with the man who said to Jesus, “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief?”

A few years ago I had an experience that has potential to disempower dread. I was the object of a search by police in a country where Christian teaching by westerners is illegal. The police believed I was breaking this law.

Because the protocol for justice in that environment was not trusted, the decision was made to hide me. The police were persistent in their search and were closing in on my hiding place. My heart was pounding so hard than I thought it wouldn’t matter if I were captured, as I would die from fear anyway. At the very moment that I was discovered, I was filled with a sense of relief. The story goes on but I’ll save that for another blog.

In reflection on my capture, once released and in a safe country, I wrote in my journal. “That which I dreaded I need dread no more for it was now a reality.”

Please don’t read this as meaning all your fears will be realized, but rather borrow the wisdom of Corrie Ten Boom who said, “You’ll get the ticket when the train comes.”

Most of the things we dread will never happen. Those that do will be accompanied by the power to respond to them in ways that make you wonder why you gave fear so much space in your life.

I invite you to benefit from my experience. “That which I dreaded I need dread no more for it was now a reality,” and with the reality came empowerment.

Let’s honor God’s promises by saying Thank You today for what we trust Him to do tomorrow.

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Near Sighted Faith through Aging Eyes

Posted on January 24, 2014 by rstaples2013

We are reminded in 2 Peter to not be near sighted. Peter is talking about qualities that will keep us from being ineffective and unproductive in our knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

If your eye doctor diagnosis you as near sighted, it means that you are not able to see things far away. You can easily read a book that you are holding on your lap but as you look into the distance things become blurred

How does this work for us who have more history than future? Is there a danger that we may be nearsighted as we look into the rear view mirror of our life?

One of the advantages to aging is the opportunity to recognize that what at first seems like a new encounter with God is actually the next chapter in a story that began years ago. God, sometimes described as the “Hound of Heaven,” (1) has been in pursuit of us throughout the story of our lives.

Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to give us lenses that will enable us to recognize the encounters we have had with Him that are being used to create the weaving we are experiencing today.

Let’s ask us to remember the prayer we prayed years ago that we are living in the good of today.

Let’s remember that the ministry we are called to is one that we have been prepared for though the environments we have been led.

God, let me not be nearsighted as I look into the rear view mirror of my life. May I walk in authority today as I am reminded that you are a promise keeping God.

_______________

(1) “Hound of Heaven,” Francis Thompson

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Following Jesus to the Finish Line

Posted on January 13, 2014 by rstaples2013

She always wheels halfway into the hallway so she can watch me walk away. When I get to the corner I turn and wave. There is one more hall before the elevator. The sadness settles in for me as reflect on the losses my friend has processed.

She was a volunteer ministry assistant with me for many years. A relentless chronic illness is gradually sapping her energy and her abilities. Now she is confined to one small room in this extended care facility.

On this visit she told me that the woman in the next room was dying and nobody cared. She talked of the wife who comes every day and stays all day to be with and feed her husband. There is no conversation at the meal tables. A disoriented man had tried to break into her room. The person across the hall is sleeping. The sound of labored breathing penetrates the atmosphere and stirs uneasiness when it momentarily stops or is interrupted by choking.

The morning after this latest visit my phone rings early. The call is from this friend in extended care. She tells me that after I left yesterday the social worker had come for an assessment. After learning of the above report, an offer was made for transfer to another unit. This would be a place where the patients would be higher functioning and she could feel safe.

My friend asked if she could have a day to decide. She wanted to talk to me, her pastor, before making this change.

She told me she wondered if she should choose to stay in her current environment. She said she sees the decline in the other patients and knows that is her future, but should she not try to be useful for as long as she had something to give/some ways to help?

“Maybe I am where God wants me to be?”

I recognized, as I listened, that we were walking on Holy Ground. My friend was choosing a sacrificial life style because of her relationship with Jesus. Her favorite song is I surrender All and this is what I see her doing. She is denying a more comfortable experience for herself in order to respond to this call.

After praying with her, I said, “The safest place you will ever be is in the center of God’s will. Knowing you, you will get more energy from serving than from being served.”

She said she was hoping I would say that. I told her this was her mission field and we would build a prayer support team for her work.

Our conversation ended with her saying, “This is exciting.”

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Treasures from Our Shelves

Posted on January 10, 2014 by rstaples2013

Many of us are in a season of life where we are looking at the things we have kept on our shelves and finding no reason to keep them. What we at one time valued seems to have lost significance. While this may be true of much memorabilia, there may be another shelf that warrants our attention.

I have been gifted with some “wise beyond their years” friends who are known as “twenty somethings” or roughly the age of our grandchildren. One of them wrote the following words to me yesterday in the context of my leading the prayer ministry at our church.

“God does not take light your experience. God has given His Word, from which we learn of him (Bible) and He has also given us the Holy Spirit, and we seek His direction and guidance, He leads us.

You also have such rich experiences in prayer, many of which may have been put on a shelf – “out of sight, out of mind” none the less, they are very valid and can be drawn upon even as you lead and as the ministry progresses… God has already given you the tools needed to lead the prayer and other ministries. He has also given Himself. He is your sure foundation, and he will allow you to lead upon His foundation. I do believe He will amaze you.”

As I reflect on these words from my young friend, I have been prompted to take another look at my shelves. I am remembering times when I have encountered God in prayer.

These memories strengthen my faith today and I will be watching for how He will give me opportunity to apply them both in the formal ministry of our church and in the circles of people he allows me to encounter in my daily walk.

What do you have on your shelves? Are there treasures there, rich experiences of prayer, that are “out of sight, out of mind” for you.

I would love for you to share some of them by commenting on this blog.

Let’s not leave our treasures on our shelves.

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Do You Know Why You Are Here?

Posted on January 3, 2014 by rstaples2013

To acknowledge that aging is a diminishing experience is easy in the abstract. When it becomes personal it is more difficult. I am walking with a friend for whom an extended care facility has become her only choice. She is no longer able to function in the home she loves.

This friend now lives her life from one small room. The bed is the center of attention. A small wardrobe, a bedside cabinet, a dresser that doubles as a TV stand and one chair occupy the rest of the floor space. This arrangement of furniture is an obstacle course for navigating her wheel chair.

While visiting, I leave the comfort of our casual conversation and risk asking what she is really feeling. She said she never realized how hard it would be to lose personal freedom. By this she means that she is not allowed to move from her chair or her bed without pushing a call button and waiting for assistance (which is slow in coming).

I ask if the staff is competent and kind.

My friend says that they are OK but she has concern that they know so little about her. Every morning they ask her if she knows why she is there.

My memory goes back to the days when I worked as a nurse. I suggest to my friend that maybe they are not seeking information for themselves but checking to see if she is aware of where she is and why. I explain that this is a routine question to see if a patient is oriented to time and place.

I wonder if this is one of the reasons God wants me to pray. He really doesn’t need me to give Him information. He does want me to be aware of where I am and why.

I’m glad He cares enough to ask me everyday, “Do you know why you are here?”

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Standing on the Promises

Posted on January 1, 2014 by rstaples2013

1974
One of my favorite Bibles is at least 40 years old. It is an Amplified version that I have been able to have rebound. I have decided to use it for my regular reading/studying in 2014. It will be fun to compare what I thought worth underlining in 1974 (at age 30) with what I want to underline this year.

I know God’s promises have not changed.

Back in 1974 I claimed these promises. I wonder if, back then, I said Amen to the promises that were evident to me in my experience with God?

This year I will claim these promises again. Today I want to say Amen to them because I am confident in the One Who made them.

This will be full circle to my childhood faith where my trust was without borders. I am now waking up every morning to Oceans by Hillside United. Faith through aging eyes is familiar with “where feet may fail” and becoming familiar with “in oceans deep my faith will stand.” Stand with me on the Promises.

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2013 in review

Posted on January 1, 2014 by rstaples2013

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 6,700 times in 2013. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 6 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

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Make Time Your Friend

Posted on December 27, 2013 by rstaples2013

pine

I am looking at my little pine tree. I captured this treasure from the wooded area of my friends’ farm in the days following his premature death. I wanted something living to protect the memories of our precious times together.

Today the little tree is bearing the weight of heavy snow. It’s posture is determined by its encasement in ice.

Everything in me wants to brush the snow off and melt the ice, but I know this little tree would not survive this “tender loving care.”

I need to make time my friend; wait for the sun to shine, the temperatures to warm and then let the little tree stretch its own branches.

Maybe you feel like this tree today when everyone else is celebrating. Maybe this tree looks like one of your loved ones. Maybe everything in you wants your spouse back, your broken relationship healed, or your health restored.

I listened to a message yesterday entitled. “Nothing Just Happens” by T. D. Jakes. The whole message is “nothing just happens.” We are in a bigger story; God’s story.

I invite you to join me today in making time our friend.

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