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Prayerful Pondering

~ by Pat Luffman Rowland

Prayerful Pondering

Monthly Archives: September 2013

Hearing from God

16 Monday Sep 2013

Posted by Pat Luffman Rowland in communication with God, communion with God

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communication with God, communion with God, faith, God's direction, God's presence, hearing God, inisght on scripture, love, study scripture, wisdom

When the Spirit does not open the Scripture,

the Scripture is not understood even though it is read.

–Martin Luther

The Amplified Bible says that Selah (often used in the Psalms) means “to pause and calmly think about what you’ve read.” When we do this, we digest the words and their message, rather than move across them in rote fashion. Practicing Selah adds richness to our time with God. We go beyond a discipline and linger with Him while pondering. We allow nourishment to flow into our souls.

The intention of scripture is to reveal the Lord and teach us His ways. It should be a matter of reverence for us each time we read God’s word, for we are opening communication with our Maker. To hear, we must keep still and pay attention to what is being said.

When God’s word has our full attention, we will hear. An unfamiliar scripture may suddenly have a particular word for us, maybe one of encouragement or explanation of a trial we are going through. A recognizable passage may show us something we haven’t seen before, some broader way of thinking. That is the Holy Spirit in action! He is speaking to our hearts, our needs. And that is when we need to practice Selah. To take time to ponder God’s teaching moments and ask what is He saying that applies to us in a very specific way. I treasure these times and like to note the date and maybe a few words beside the scripture. On seeing this later, I may or may not recall why it helped me that day, but the one thing I will remember is that it was an intimate moment with God.

That same kind of intervention of the Holy Spirit can come through Bible teachers. Dr. Charles Stanley says it this way: What we hear from teachers will be different because the Holy Spirit gives us what we need to hear. Isn’t that wonder-filled?  That God is not just able to speak to each of us individually, but that He desire it? I recall the time a pastor visited and I told him how much I appreciated something he had said from the pulpit. He asked what that was and after hearing it, he shook his head and said he didn’t remember it at all, but he got this feedback often–different people taking away different things from his messages. It is evidence of the Holy Spirit moving over us to bless us just as we need.

God doesn’t give us this personal attention without divine purpose, however. He does it that we may be in relationship with Him. R. C. Sproul, in The Holiness of God, said The call to holiness was first given to Adam and Eve. This was the original assignment of the human race. We were created to shine forth to the world the holiness of God. This was the chief end of man, the very reason for our existence.

In a society of self-centered people, it is sobering and necessary to remember that it really isn’t “all about us” and never will be. It is about Almighty God and our relationship with Him. It is about submission and obedience so that we may experience the love of God in the abundant ways He has planned.

Let me leave you with these words of John Wesley:

To candid, reasonable men,

I’m not afraid to lay open what have been the inmost thoughts of my heart. 

I have thought, I’m a creature of a day,

passing through life as an arrow through the air.

I am a spirit come from God, and returning to God: 

Just hovering over the great gulf;

til a few moments hence, I am no more seen;

I drop into an unchangeable eternity. 

I want to know one thing – the way to heaven;

how to land safe on that happy shore. 

God himself has condescended to teach the way;

for this very end He came from heaven.

He hath written it down in a book, O give me that book! 

At any price, give me the Book of God.

Advance Directives Give You Control

08 Sunday Sep 2013

Posted by Pat Luffman Rowland in end-of-life decisions

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advance directives, living will, power of attorney for healthcare

Advance Directives Give You Control

Mr. Randall stood by his wife’s bed and watched.  She had been in a persistent vegetative state for weeks, but he had been unable to accept her condition.  Her doctor did his best to explain, but love and hope overruled.  On occasion, Mr. Randall talked about taking his wife off life-sustaining equipment.  Once he asked that I notify her physician, but by the time Dr. Speer arrived, Mr. Randall had changed his mind.  He simply could not get peace about what to do.  For five months this went on:  the faithful husband visiting almost daily and experiencing a roller coaster of emotions.  Then one day it was over; her body finally gave up.

I knew many situations like the Randall’s.  Some scenarios included family conflict.  A spouse decided to remove life support and the children took issue with it.  Anger would take over, bitter words would be spoken, and grief was added to grief.  It happened with the Randalls.  By the end, the children were no longer speaking with their father and had long since stopped visiting their mother.

There is a way that much of this kind of distress can be avoided, and that is by the use of advance directives.  Advance directives advise your physician of what you want when you are no longer able to speak for yourself and you can only be kept alive through artificial means.  In Tennessee, those forms are called (1) the Advance Care Plan, more commonly known as the Living Will, and (2) the Appointment of Health Care Agent, earlier known as the Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care or the Medical Power of Attorney.  The Living Will gives clear direction on how you want decisions made for you.  There are sections where you can be very specific with what you do and do not want.  The second form provides authority to someone of your choosing to make decisions for you.  You can download these forms, free of charge, at http://health.state.tn.us/AdvanceDirectives/index.htm.

In September 2011, my husband had a stroke.  It was massive, and he deteriorated quickly.  When I was asked if he had a Living Will and I answered yes, the nurse gave me thumbs up.  During a very unexpected and difficult time, I didn’t have to wonder about what Richard would want—he had put it in writing.

My husband and I had taken time years back to discuss what we wanted for ourselves in the way of end-of-life decisions.  We each had experiences to draw on to help us make our decisions and that was unquestionably a huge assist.  Neither of us wanted to be held on through artificial means, nor did we want a decision made for us by the other when a time was tumultuous and emotional.  We signed our directives, called our children and talked with them about our wishes, then mailed them copies.

Having Richard’s decision in writing didn’t make my implementation of his Living Will easy, but it did take away any concern about what he wanted.  The whole purpose of what he had done was to ensure that his last wishes were carried out as he desired when he could no longer speak for himself.  He trusted me to stand firm, and he backed the Living Will up with the Medical Power of Attorney, naming me as proxy.

I encourage others to take time to do what we did.  Have a discussion with your physician.  Ask him or her to explain how physicians come to decisions about end-of-life and probable outcome.  Ask what kinds of things might be done and what purpose they serve.  Ask every question you have so that you can make an informed decision with a calm and clear mind.  You may also want to discuss it with a clergy member of your faith.

After you’ve made your decision, do the next important thing and talk to family members—at least your children.  The most prevailing argument I heard between children and parent was that the children had never heard their mother or father say what they wanted, and, therefore, they questioned the decision one parent was now making for the other.   It can tear families apart. I saw it happen too many times.

(Other than my husband’s, names have been changed.)

Closing Thoughts on Jesus’ Healing Ministry

01 Sunday Sep 2013

Posted by Pat Luffman Rowland in healing

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Tags

faith, God's presence, healing, mercy, power, study scripture

How many people did Jesus heal in His days on earth? We have the stories of just a few (I count 26 separate individuals whose stories have been written), but there are scriptures that tell us the accounts reported in the gospels were a very small number of the entirety.

In Matthew alone, there are eight references to Jesus healing multitudes of people with various diseases and afflictions. (See 4:23, 8:16, 9:35, 12:15, 13:14, 15:30, 19:2, and 21:14.)

Hear Matthew 4:23: “News about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and He healed them.”  And Matthew 15:30 says “Great crowds came to Him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at His feet; and He healed them.”

Healing_the_Blind008 How could we possibly imagine the total sum of people healed by our Lord? He healed all who asked of Him, every single one.  The last thing the disciple John said in his gospel was this: “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (John 21:25). We are told about 26 specific healings. It gives us some idea of who and what our Lord healed, but I suggest it is only that—an idea.

We can’t close out without a mention of the one healing that would have been in higher number than all the rest. It was the most important healing then, and it is now. Spiritual healing. We can be sure that as bodies and minds were healed, so were souls. That which gives us quality of life is valuable, but it is spiritual healing that goes with us into all eternity.

It was faith that released the power of the Lord. Over and over we hear Him say it is faith that brings about healing. Sometimes it was the faith of the one afflicted, other times it was the faith of the one bringing the one in need to Jesus.

John Wesley said “When we have learned the process of faith for receiving healing, we have learned how to receive everything else God promises us in His Word.”

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The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 ESV

If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9

God has not given us a spirt of fear, but of power and love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalm 100:4-5

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

© Pat Rowland and Prayerful Pondering, 2010 - 2013.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pat Rowland and Prayerful Pondering with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Hope must be in the future tense. Faith, to be faith, must be in the present tense. Catherine Marshall
Everything over your head is under his feet. Dr. Tom Lindberg
What an excellent ground of hope and confidence we have when we reflect upon these three things in prayer--the Father's love, the son's merit and the Spirit's power! Thomas Manton
Our Christian hope is that we're going to live with Christ in a new earth, where is not only no more death, but where life is what it was always meant to be. Timothy Keller

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