Prayer

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2016: Page 43

While all pages of this journey of life are technically the same length, some just feel longer than others.  In an attempt to avoid being at work seven days a week, Fridays usually find me working both ends of the day and often through the middle as well.  I was greeted by a pleasant surprise as I headed out the door a little before six this morning . . . there was no fresh snow on the ground, the temperature had risen to 16 from the 4 degrees it was when I went to bed, and there was no frost to scrape off my windshield.  Sometimes it doesn’t take a lot to brighten a day.  🙂  While there was no snow to clear from the sidewalks, yesterday’s snow meant that the floors inside needed extra attention this morning so I was doing good to have the building ready by eight today.  

Once the building was ready for the day, I began to reflect on the conversations that took place a couple of weeks ago at the Christian Camp Leaders’ Conference about devotional material for summer camp staff.  While my 31-day devotionals went over well with the camp leaders, it seemed like there was a need or desire for something a little different.  As I was spending time praying and considering this, a flicker showed up outside my window to help himself to some seeds from the sumac heads.  He seemed to take only what he needed and when he had his fill he moved on.  Out of that came the idea to sort through the weekly prayer guides I have written over the past few years and see if I could come up with an assortment to serve as outlines for daily devotions with a working title for the series being, “Devotions for Those Who Serve”.  I quickly came up with 13 different prayer guides that I could easily use the daily prayer points from as the foundations for some devotional thoughts and questions without it becoming cumbersome or too lengthy for a daily staff devotion time.  

From there, the thoughts began to lay out in book format that could become a daily devotional guide for 13 weeks with a new topic every week and a new point of that week’s topic each day.  Then I remembered the flicker taking just what was needed and realized that very few, if any, camps had summer staff on site for 13 weeks any more.  What if I took each week’s topic and made a series of short 16 – 20 page booklets that included the devotional thoughts and questions I planned for the book as well as some space for journaling?  By creating a separate booklet for each topic, camps, or anyone else for that matter, could choose just what was needed in both time span and topical content.  This would also allow the series to grow at a more moderate pace by simply adding another booklet to the collection as God gives resources and direction.  As I began to consider that possibility, the thought hit me — who said it had to be one or the other?  Perhaps both formats have merit for different purposes.  Anyhow, it is one of those ideas that has been planted in my mind and is a part of today’s page.  What God wants to do with it, if anything, is yet to be seen.  So I continue to pray and listen with a confidence that God will provide clear direction as He already knows if this idea has any usefulness for His kingdom.

In the midst of all of that process in my mind, a group of guys met at the church and we went out for lunch together for an enjoyable time of fellowship.  It was a welcome break from the day and I pray an encouragement to all who participated.  Once the building cleared out for the day, it was time to start getting it ready for the weekend.  Cleaning in the quietness and preparing the building for our Sunday worship gathering is a great opportunity to spend time in prayer and listening.  Usually in the middle of the cleaning tasks I take a break to let the floor scrubber recharge.  This gives me time to sit for a while or, in tonight’s case, do some writing.

While today’s page isn’t fully lived yet, I’ll wrap up the writing of it so I can finish my work and head for home.  I’ll leave with a photo of the flicker who taught me today that having what is needed really is enough.

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2016: Page 42

Just after my alarm went off this morning I checked my cell phone for messages and my iPad for a weather report and potential delay or closing information.  The weather had improved overnight with no advisories still in effect and only one school in the entire region was on a two-hour delay so it was unlikely that would spread here.  So, off to work to clear the sidewalks of the snow that had fallen overnight and to make sure everything at the building was ready for the day.  During snowy weather it is always a welcome sight when I arrive at the building and the guys are already there clearing the driveway and parking areas of snow so I don’t have to worry if people will be able to make it up the drive before it gets cleared.  

Once the building was ready for the day, I went online to get information about the upcoming CCCA conference that I will have a prayer ministry display at.  This led me to check where I stood with book inventory so I can be prepared with an appropriate amount of resources to take with me.  As I counted books, I was asked if I could check out the internet connection in the school office as they could no longer go online and get needed information.  While working on that, several teachers came in to report that they and their students couldn’t get online for research projects they were working on.  After resolving the internet issues I began to think about our constant thirst for information.  It’s not that information is necessarily a bad thing, the question we ought to be asking revolves more around what we are doing with the information we seek.  I fear that far too often we have become like the people Paul wrote to Timothy about who “are always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.”  God has given us adequate information through His Word, through creation, and through His Spirit, among other means, that it is reasonable to expect that we would acknowledge Him as the source of all truth.

Unfortunately, many Christians have become good at obtaining information about God without learning the application of knowing Him.  With instant access to endless information, many have given up the element of faith that is required to please God and only trust what they believe they can learn completely.  Many have abandoned the faith they once professed because they now claim to be “enlightened” by greater information than what they could get from the Bible alone.  I tend to take a different route and the more I learn, the more I come to an understanding of the truth of God.  The information I understand confirms the truthfulness of God’s Word.  The information I don’t understand increases my faith in a God who can speak everything into existence — I mean, who really understands that except through faith?

I pray that you and I always come to an understanding of the truth in all of the seeking of information and knowledge that we do.  I pray that we learn to daily walk by faith as God calls us to trust Him.

After I finished up work I took advantage of the lengthening days to head down to Potato Creek State Park for a winter hike through the snow.  It was a beautiful day to be out with a perfect mix of clouds and sun for taking some scenic photos.  As I walked by an outdoor bulletin board, the sun caught my eye and the picture below came into my mind.  I didn’t know at the time that today’s page would focus on information, but God knew. 🙂

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2016: Page 41

The snow had begun falling at the end of page 40 and the forecast was calling for significant accumulation so I planned on an early start to page 41 in order to get the inside and outside work done before the start of school.  I was up a little after five and sure enough there was snow on the ground and it continued to fall.  As I got ready for the day I kept an eye on the local news listing for a possible delay or closing.  Finally it came — two hour delay, so back to bed for an extra hour of rest before needing to go in to work.  I arrived at work to a fresh canvas of white snow covering everything.  The snow was deep enough that it was time to break out the snowblower for some serious walk clearing.  There is something strangely peaceful about hearing the sound of the snowblower and watching the arc of snow that showers from the chute to the ground leaving behind a snow-free sidewalk.  After making my way completely around the building to clear all the walks and entryways, I find out the two hour delay had been changed to being closed for the day.  Oh well, I guess the snow needed moved sometime and sleep can be overrated.  🙂

Throughout the morning the lake-effect snow squalls would come and go so I tried to keep up with them to keep the snow from accumulating back on the cleared walks.  In between trips outside, I worked on some writing and research as well as cleaning the building so it is already done to save me some time tomorrow.  The view from my office was beautiful throughout the day as the snow fell and hung in the trees.  It made me think of the beauty we gain when God clothes us in Christ.  We have an inherent beauty about us because we have been created by the Almighty in His image.  However, the sin that we allow to take up residence in our life begins to tarnish that beauty the moment we begin to entertain sinful thoughts.  The longer we linger in those thoughts, the more likely it is that we give in to the thing that tempts us.   Before long, the bright glistening creation we were made to be has become dull and gray — stained by the pollution of sin.  It is when we confess our sins to God in repentance that He not only forgives our sin but cleanses us from all of the unrighteousness that has stained us.  We are restored in His sight to the beauty that He created us to have.

I pray that you and I live with the beauty God has created us to have.  I pray that we seek, and allow, Him to wash us whiter than snow from all of our transgressions.

As I considered the beauty of the snow, I was reminded of a 2008 conference where I first began to use a camera to capture images of the beauty of God’s creation as a part of my personal worship of God.  This photo of a columbine blossom is from that first “unstructured worship” assignment which opened my mind further to the incredible nature of God through His creativity.

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2016: Page 40

Earthdate: 20160209 — These are the ramblings of one traveler’s journey on earth as he makes his way toward a heavenly home.

The snow finally began falling overnight so that meant my day started extra early to make sure the sidewalks were cleared and the building cleaned and ready for the day as well.  The snow had started out very fine and wet so while there wasn’t a lot of it, what did remain was frozen to the concrete.  With a little scraping and some ice melt, the walks were in good shape for the day.  When I went to my office to change out of my outdoor gear to begin the inside cleaning, a parade of 10 deer walked by my office window in the pre-dawn darkness of the day.  While too dark for photos, I always enjoy seeing the deer as they casually stroll by on their way to the next destination for the day.  After I watched the deer for a moment, it was time to finish the inside cleaning and then play musical hats for the rest of the day.  

As I thought about my day, it seemed most of my tasks required some level of persistence to get them done well.  From the snow that was frozen to the sidewalks to the cleaning and disinfecting of the bathrooms and touch surfaces to the network administration and computer IT work, it all required some effort and attention that was focused specifically on the task at hand.  There were no shortcuts today.  No “good enough” would be good enough.  Each task needed done with a diligence in overcoming the obstacles that made accomplishing it more difficult that usual.  Our spiritual life is much like that.  There may be days where it seems we can breeze through life on auto-pilot because everything is going our way, but in my experience there are more days that require the persistence of overcoming the obstacles that try to trip me up in my walk with Christ.  It is nice when you can just “dust” the filth of the world off, but more often it clings to us like this morning’s frozen snow and we must make a deliberate effort to remove it from our life.  We want to avoid the “sickness” of sin but are we willing to constantly disinfect our life with the power of repentance and forgiveness through the blood of Jesus?  We like our “systems” to run efficiently and with no problems but do we operate them within the parameters of God’s Word and the instruction of His Spirit that He has put within us?

I pray that you and I have counted the cost of being a disciple of Jesus, have surrendered fully to His lordship, and are living in a way that we will be found faithful when He returns.

While it was too dark to get any photos this morning, this is one of my deer friends in the snow a year ago. 🙂

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2016: Page 39

After a day trying to recover from the bug that took hold of me, today began much earlier than planned with the sound of Susan having a seizure — actually for me it was the sound of my wife trying to keep our daughter safe as she had her seizure.  Once she was through it and we were all back asleep it seemed like no time at all until the alarm went off meaning I needed to get up for work.  Fortunately the snow they keep talking about hadn’t arrived overnight so I could focus on doing the inside cleaning to get the building ready for the school day and not have to worry about the sidewalks.  With Susan having a tough night, we decided I would go in and get the cleaning done and then come home to be with Susan while MJ went in to work.  As I finished the cleaning and headed home I could tell I was losing energy fast and wasn’t completely recovered from the weekend illness.  As MJ and I traded places, Susan was still sleeping off her seizure so I went back to bed and fell asleep quickly.  In the middle of a dream that was not turning out to be pleasant, I was awakened by the sounds of Susan having another seizure.  

As I held her and tried to comfort her through the grip of something she has no control over, I thought about the things we allow to seize our hearts and minds that we do have the ability to say no to.  I thought about Paul’s instruction to “throw off the sin that so easily entangles us” as we seek to walk with Christ every day.  I thought about the early church being seized with fear after Ananias and Sapphira were struck dead for lying to the Holy Spirit.  I can’t count the number of times that I know fear has seized me to the extent that I did things I shouldn’t have or didn’t do things I should have.  For Susan, the longer her seizures last, the harder it is for her to break free of its grip.  The same seems to be true of the things that find a way to control our thoughts and actions.  The longer they stay in control, the harder it is for us to break free and live as we ought.  God wants our life to be controlled not by harmful, sinful, or distracting things, but by the presence of His Spirit within us.  As a parent, physical seizures are difficult to watch someone go through but we’ve learned to handle it and deal with it the best we can.  We comfort, we protect, we try to find ways to help her brain wiring reconnect in a working manner.  

I pray that you and I always seek to help those who live a life seized by something that should not have control of them.  May we be prepared to comfort, protect, and help them find ways to return control back over to God.

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2016: Page 38

Earthdate: 20160207 — These are the ramblings of one traveler’s journey on earth as he makes his way toward a heavenly home.

Some would call it a lazy Sunday afternoon.  I prefer to think of it as a time of restful recovery.  I woke up this morning feeling fairly well considering how sick I was just 24 hours before.  As I was going over the text and sermon I planned to share this morning I received a message that the church I was headed to was without heat and water so they would not be meeting.  Missing opportunities to preach is usually discouraging for me but this time I seemed to have a greater peace that God was still in charge and could use this for His good either in my life or in the lives of others.  As a result, I was able to be in my home church this morning when some dear friends announced they would be moving out of the area this week so this would be their last Sunday with us before that move.  It was good to be able to pray for them as we closed the morning worship gathering.

When I got home from lunch I left the car parked outside with the thought that we would go out and do something later — the weather forecast seemed to indicate this was the nicest day we would see for a while.  As it turned out, my energy level was still depleted and an afternoon nap ended up being the activity of the day.  In a fast paced and on-demand world, the idea of being still and waiting seems like such an unproductive use of time to most people.  We read passages of scripture that talk about God working all things together for our good and that He has plans to prosper us and we start thinking that the good and prosperous things should be taking place immediately.  When we start thinking that, we completely ignore not only the history of the entire “hall of faith” that we read about in Hebrews but also the direct context of the “all things work together for good” and “plans to prosper you, not to harm you” passages.  God’s perspective is always an eternal one.  Ours often is not.  Much of the time the only way for us to get a glimpse of God’s eternal perspective is through time spent waiting.

I pray that you and I spend appropriate times of rest as we wait in God’s presence for His perspective in our life.

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2016: Page 37

As with many books, page 37 picks up where page 36 left off.  As I finished writing last night I was at work and trying to get home after becoming rather sick.  Whether I picked up a bug or ate something that disagreed with me, the result was the same — a sickness worse than I can remember having for a very long time.  After sitting in my office for a bit I thought the worst of it was over so I headed for home with the idea that a hot bath and sleep would do me a world of good.  No such luck.  I was barely upstairs before it hit again and the rest of the night was spent emptying my body of more content that I knew it could hold.

It was a violent sickness unlike any that I can remember from my past but this is one that I hope not to remember long so I couldn’t say for certain if I’ve experienced anything like it.  With sensitivity to my readers I will try to not be too descriptive but even in the midst of this my mind went to the scripture where Jesus states in Revelation that He wishes the church in Laodicea was hot or cold but since they were lukewarm He would spew them from His mouth.  Last night gave me an image of Jesus being so sick of our wavering that He simply could hold us in no longer.  No will-power, might, decision, or desire could keep us from being expelled by force.  I thought of Joshua’s challenge to the people to make a choice — to decide if they would serve the Lord God or serve the gods of the people.  It is in that context that Joshua declares, “as for me and my household we will serve the Lord.”  God calls us to make a choice and He is not satisfied with a half-hearted part-time commitment to Him.  

I also thought about Elijah on Mount Carmel and his question to the people of how long will they waver.  Scripture tells us they said nothing.  They were trying to keep their options open as they were undecided between whether Baal or God could be of more benefit to them.  I believe that is why when Elijah proposes a contest where the god who answers by fire would be the god they would follow, all the people thought that was a good idea.  Far too often we live in that “lukewarm” state where we choose the god we will serve at any given time based on what we believe will give us the greatest immediate benefit.  I pray that you and I would be fully devoted to God in all things.  I pray that we would be constantly on guard against living a life that would lead us into a lukewarm relationship with our God.

The “spewing” ended by 6 this morning so most of the day has been spent resting and trying to recover from what my body endured overnight.  As I thought about my wife’s trip to the store to get some ginger ale and provide what care she could, I also thought about God’s care for me.  He says that he provides the things that the birds need and reminds us that we have greater value to Him so we should learn to trust Him for a greater care than we could receive elsewhere.  I choose to live for Him and accept His loving care.

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2016: Page 36

Earthdate: 20160205 — These are the ramblings of one traveler’s journey on earth as he makes his way toward a heavenly home.

Some nights it is easy to write that day’s “page” and other nights the words seem to be stuck in my head somewhere.  I think one of the students may have left their bug in the building today and it is trying to ride home with me.  Either that or a long day is catching up with me.  I still have a little work to do yet today so I’m trying to write and recharge while the floor scrubber recharges as well.   

The day began crisp and clear with no weather related issues to deal with for a change.  After doing the regular cleaning for the day and taking care of a few minor issues, I spent some time with God refining the list of daily topics for my next book and working on the cover layout.  With the title of “Living Free”, I think I will use one of my photos of the eagles at Potato Creek.  As I went through a couple pages of things the Bible says about living free, I was reminded that God’s purpose in giving us His Word is so we would know Him and have true freedom by following what it says.  Yet the freedom isn’t based so much on keeping the rules as it is in having a relationship with the One who has given them.  Many times we think freedom means there are no rules, we can do whatever we want.  With the freedom we have in Christ, half of that is true.  In a living relationship with Christ we can do what we want because what we want will be to obey His commands.

I guess today’s page will be shorter as I’m not feeling much better and I need to head home before I create a mess where I’ve already cleaned. (Never mind, I guess I’ll be here a while yet but I still think the page is done.)  I’ll leave you with a potential cover spread and the Table of Contents pages from this next book I am working on, “Living Free: Gazing Into the Perfect Law of God’s Word”.