Am I Dragging My Ram?

Posted on December 12, 2011 by jroesler728

The story of Abraham trusting God so completely that he is willing to sacrifice his son, Isaac, is one that never fails to challenge me. How can any parent be asked to give their son as a sacrifice? In this case, how can God ask that the one chance for His own promise to be kept be sabotaged?

I have learned that Abraham and Isaac are a picture of God the Father and his only Son our Lord Jesus Christ. I have learned that Abraham’s obedience is a type of test that credits him with faith.

I know that God is a jealous God and He insists on my trust. This means He may ask me to sacrifice that which is most precious to me. Sometimes I am able to start the journey up the mountain in order to demonstrate my absolute surrender. I find, though, that I get very tired as I travel. I wonder, am I dragging my own ram just in case God doesn’t show up?

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God Is Paying Attention!

Posted on December 9, 2011 by jroesler728

We had a first time attendee in our prayer group this week. He is a middle-aged man with prophetic gifts. The group is led by a grandmother in her 80’s. This grandmother poured out her heart’s concern regarding her grandson who is giving an engagement ring this Christmas to a girl who is not yet a disciple of Jesus Christ. As prayers continued to be verbalized the new comer remained head bowed and silent. At one point, the grandmother leader thanked God for this new attendee and then tenderly asked God to pay special attention to his prayers.

At the end of the prayer time, the new attendee told the grandmother leader that during this hour he had  been silently praying for her grandson and girlfriend. God had given him a picture of this girlfriend coming to faith in Jesus Christ and being powerfully used in the kingdom of God. Just as this new attendee was thanking God for this promise revealed, the grandmother prayed that God would pay special attention to the prayers of this man.

Our God is paying attention and weaving our prayers.  We bow in humble gratitude for the adventure of prayer.

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Warning: A funeral procession may be hazardous to your health!

Posted on December 7, 2011 by jroesler728

Warning: A funeral procession may be hazardous to your health! What?

I have come to expect almost daily announcement from newscasts or news posts that research has detected yet another health hazard in our food, our environment or our habits. It is a challenge to know what information to take seriously as many of these dangers have only recently earned the label of being essential to our health.

I was not prepared for what I recently heard as a funeral director was giving closing instructions for forming a funeral procession to travel from the church to the cemetery where the body would be buried.

The funeral director explained that each car must have a flag that would be provided by this director, each car must have it’s lights on bright and each car must follow the car ahead closely.

Then, this warning: Be aware that drivers do not respect funeral processions anymore.  If the car you are following drives through a red light you MUST also drive through the red light. This may mean, however, that a car may come from either the left or the right and drive into your car. It is dangerous, though, to stop while you are driving in the procession because then the car following you will hit you from the back.

It didn’t feel like a comfortable closure for a grieving group.

I think I recommend giving a map and letting people find their way. Or else, just learn to laugh at ourselves.

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She Is Walking!!!

Posted on December 5, 2011 by jroesler728

She came to our Senior Adult prayer meeting. I did not know this woman but I had met her in our prayer room during our weekend worship services. I knew she was from a Middle Eastern country, married to a citizen of that country, and visiting here because her mother was in ill health.

As I welcomed her to the meeting I asked her what had prompted her to come. She said she had hoped we would pray for her mother. She joined a small group where prayer requests were shared and prayers prayed.

The next day she came back to our Senior Adult Fellowship meeting. I was told I needed to talk to her because she had a story to tell. I hope someday to be in a faith posture where this kind of story fails to stun me but today I stand amazed.

She told me that when she got home from the prayer meeting, her mother’s face was glowing. Her mother then got out of her wheelchair and walked. (She had not walked for 5 years.) The family ran to assist her but she pushed them away saying, “Don’t help me, I can walk.” One family member got out a camera to take a video.

After sharing this with the whole fellowship group, this daughter and I sat together for the teaching. After the message I felt compelled to hear her God story. As we talked I learned that she considered herself a Christian by background and was working on knowing Jesus personally. I wanted to be sure that she knew how to access the God whom we had encountered. Her heart was ready to surrender her life to Jesus and invite Him to live His life through her by the power of the Holy Spirit.

This mother is walking physically. This daughter is walking by faith. I hope this week to introduce this mother to the God who healed her.

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Journey of Prayer

Posted on December 2, 2011 by jroesler728

One of the most precious gifts God has given us is a free ticket for the Journey of Prayer. It is the “trip of a lifetime” because God travels with us, leads us to His heart and speaks into ours. It is a stunning reality that God wants to talk to me and He is interested in what I have to say. The journey of prayer is an adventure that God and I can share together.

He loves intimate times where it is just the four of us (Father, Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit and me) but also welcomes the times when I bring my friends and we all take turns listening, asking questions, singing together, thanking Him for who He is and what He has done, asking Him for help for that which we cannot manage, asking Him to teach us what the journey looks like from His view.

It is never too early or too late to start this journey. I have often said that if I could have only two friends one would be a child and the other someone who knows she is dying. I think this is because they are the ones for whom the journey of prayer is both essential and natural. They are powerful teachers.

We learn to pray by praying. We learn to pray by praying with each other. We have a free ticket for the Journey of Prayer. Let’s enjoy this experience together and tell each other often what we are learning from our adventure.

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It’s Not Because He Doesn’t Care

Posted on November 30, 2011 by jroesler728

My cell phone made the sound that lets me know I have a message. As I listened I found myself hoping I was misunderstanding what I was hearing. But, as I listened again there was no denying that my friend was on her way to the ER of the heart hospital.

She had gone to Urgent Care because of dizziness and the work up there pointed to a heart problem. In the message she told me not to come, but as her reality settled into my mind my hands were reaching for my car keys.

I found her in an ER room looking healthy but with a heart monitor recording her rhythm, IV dripping and oxygen flowing. She had already had a CT scan and was waiting for results. Her daughter, who is a young adult, was sitting with her.

After a brief “update” and a prayer I asked her where her husband was. Her daughter said he was at home. She said she had called him and he said he would probably take a shower. Trying to hang this in the best possible “light,” I reminded the daughter that cell phones don’t work in ER rooms so he probably had tired to call.

My friend then, in a tone of deep confidence and intimate knowing said, “It’s not because he doesn’t care.”

Thankfully, the test results of this ER work up revealed good news. No heart issues were found. But I left, having been challenged by my friend’s trust in her husband’s care and her acceptance of his not showing up. She knows who he is and she doesn’t measure his caring by prescribed expectations.

I want to honor God in the same way my friend honored her husband.

God may not be meeting my expectations of what I want Him to do today.  But this I know: IT IS NOT BECAUSE HE DOESN’T CARE!!

God grant me the grace to rest in this truth.

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I Didn’t Know We Were Poor

Posted on November 28, 2011 by jroesler728

I didn’t know we were poor.

I had a long conversation today with a friend from my childhood. Her reflections on her growing up years reminded me that I knew back then what I still know now; her family was poor. They lived in a house without paint or plumbing.

I wonder what justice would have looked like then? I am sorry, in hindsight, that we didn’t share more of what we had, but then it seemed that we needed what we had.

In addition to life long financial stress this family has had more than its share of illness and death. Even today her medical history fills pages while mine is almost blank.

How is this fair?

But an even more perplexing question is why does she laugh more than I do?

When asked directly, my friend acknowledges that a glass “half-full” attitude is not always easy to maintain. But, she adds, my mother was somehow able to do it.

We had a wonderful childhood, she said. I would not have been able to tell you we were poor because I didn’t know it. I knew we ate a lot of potatoes but for me, everything was just fun.

I am left with two deeply personal questions. The first is, now that I have more than I need, what do I give to her? The second is, how and what do I receive from her?

Do I know that I am poor?

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Black Friday

Posted on November 25, 2011 by jroesler728

by Jean Roesler

Today is what we now call “Black Friday.” For retailers it marks the first day of the Christmas shopping season and the day that brings them from operating in the “red” to the “black.” You might say Black Friday “saves” the day for retailers. Since 2003, with the exception of 2004, Black Friday has been the busiest shopping day of the year.

There is another black Friday when the skies turned dark at noon and Jesus breathed his last. That Black Friday enabled us to be saved from our sins and have life eternal. The cost was great but priceless for those of us who believe in Him. We call it Good Friday.

If you are out shopping today, I hope you enjoy your experience. As Black Friday passes and Cyber Monday approaches and the shopping season begins in earnest, let us remember for whom this Christmas Season is really about and the other Black Friday that made it possible.

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My Thanksgiving Prayer

Posted on November 23, 2011 by jroesler728

I thought it would be easy to write a thanksgiving prayer but I am finding it hard.

It is hard to know how to start. It doesn’t feel rightt o say “thank you” to God when I use this same word for turkey and football.

I can’t make a list of people and things I’m thankful for because it would be too long.

I am sad that I need a day to remind me to be thankful. I want to learn to live a life overflowing with thanksgiving; one where when I am bumped thankfulness spills over the edges of my life.

What can I say to God today that would bring Him joy?

I am going to borrow a sentence that brought me joy this week.

My cell phone rang and the number was an unusual series of digits.  To my delight the call was from a young man whom I had met a couple of years ago. I have connected him to a prayer relationship with “grandparents” from our Senior Adult group. He is prayed for everyday and his picture is on their refrigerator.

This phone call was the first time I had heard his voice in two years. I didn’t know it was possible for him to call from the country in which he is living.

After “catch up” conversation he said, “Aunty, there is something very important I want to tell you.”  I listened attentively. “Aunty, it’s very important.”  I listened, now braced for anything.

With deep conviction he slowly said, “ I want you to know I am so glad I met you.” My heart flooded with joy.

As I ponder this powerful conversation I want to make it my Thanksgiving prayer.

Abba, Father, Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, I have something very important to tell you. It is this: I am so glad I met you. Amen.

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Is “Died” the Best Word?

Posted on November 21, 2011 by jroesler728

Last week a veteran missionary who was loved by many died. It was not a sad death. This lady had wanted to die for a long time. In fact, many of us had been praying that she could be released from her body and be free from the suffering she was experiencing in her last days here on earth.

The death of a Christian who has lived a long life faithfully serving our Lord Jesus Christ is really not sad. In fact, the Bible says, “Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of His saints.” Yet, I struggle to know what to say when it is up to me to tell others that someone died.

In the case of this missionary, I wanted to send an email to our staff. I didn’t want to say, “She died,” so I said this: “Friends, we have learned that her longing, to leave her body that had stopped working and be in the Presence of her Lord, was met last night. I can imagine her meeting all the leaders she has trained from Congo and with her contagious laughter say, “I think I feel a story coming on.” Plans are pending but there will be a Memorial Service at her home church at some later date when the family can all be together.” The response I got from a couple of staff members (yes, they were male) was “Well, did she die or not? We couldn’t tell from the email.”

Some people say, “She passed,” some say, “she was born to eternal life,” and hospital records will say, “expired.” It gets even more complicated when we remember that as Christians eternal life begins when we trust Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and when we stop breathing we don’t really die but move in a mysterious way into the Presence of the Lord where at some point we will get a new body.

I guess I could have said that she left her tent but that might have begged the question, “I thought she was too sick to go camping?” The Bible says we are to grieve but not as those who have no hope. What are the best words to communicate this mystery?

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