YOU ARE MORE THAN THESE

I woke up freezing. The ice storm of last winter had left us without heat,
light, or cable, and broken limbs on many of our beautiful trees. The wonderful willow tree near our back door was the nearly destroyed.

The power company cut out the damaged branches leaving a totem pole. Bill had to cut the remaining wood down. He dropped the tree top to about five feet off the ground, then made a cut all the way around the stump and ran the chain saw down the middle, all in an effort to stop its growth.

But, the life inside the tree would not die. It had been heavily laden, bent, broken, cut down for the fire, injured at its very base and told it would never grow again. Then came the Spring rain, the sun, and the life breath of the living God who created a miracle in that which had been defeated just months before. My dear, dear friends, are we not more than these?

Let us pray:

“Oh Healer of the broken, those cast aside and told they have no worth to mankind, you are greater than our fear, any shame, any voice or opposing force. Holy is your name. May you blow into our hearts like a wind on the sea and set us safely ashore to your vision of our lives, regardless of our circumstances. We pray today for all those in pain of heart, mind, body, or spirit. You can restore us to be the glorious children you intended for us to be, just as the tree came to life again in the Spring. Let today be our Spring and the wind of change be your breath, healing and reclaiming us unto you. Forgive us when we have given up, for we know that is not your nature nor the nature of the life that flows through us. Give us strength and new purpose, fresh energy, and new life, that we may live to your amazing glory. In the precious name of your son, our savior Jesus, we pray. Amen.”

Doris
Copyright 2009 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.
“God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine”

CUTTING BEETS

This morning I pealed and cut a huge beet into smaller pieces for cooking. When I finished, I noticed a little red staining on my fingers and I thought, “That’s okay. Beets are a good thing.” Then I thought about the marks I leave on people around me as I go through my day. What counts is the manner in which we talk and deal with people. A Christian attitude should leave permanent marks, but, those marks should bear the shape of the Cross not the whip. Do we stain those around us or color them beautiful? Let us pray:

“Holy Father God, you are beautiful beyond anything we can ever imagine. We pray that we will be able to see you purely when you call us home. And, we ask that others see you when they are with us. You know that we are human and frail and do not shine as brightly as we could. We humbly ask that we leave your mark on all we encounter that they may see you more clearly. Forgive us when we have left blemishes rather than marks of the Lord on others. We ask that you shine through us each day, meeting the needs of those around us as we walk through this life. May we do no harm but always lift up you to our fellow walkers on the path. In the precious name of Jesus, our Savior and Lord, I pray. Amen.”
Doris
Copyright 2009 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.
“God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine.”

WHERE THE WILD BIRDS FLY

Do you ever feel booked up, tied down, or ridden hard and put away wet? In a way that is a good thing, a blessing, especially if you’re busy with the Lord’s work. I can’t imagine an unchallenged life of boredom. But, I’ll have to admit, sometimes I wish I could be bored for about ten minutes. What I have forgotten, and perhaps your experience is similar, that I no longer know how to find God’s peace in the midst of life’s chaos. I don’t even have to search far for his gift. All I have to do is calm down and ask. If I believe God will give me peace, it will happen. Remember, God heals those who believe in him. We don’t have to be certain. Yesterday’s Sunday school lesson quoted writer Flannery O’Connor’s description of faith, “You arrive at enough certainty to be able to make your own way, but it is making it in darkness. Don’t expect faith to clear things up for you. It is trust, not certainty.” That is what I pray for myself and for you, enough faith to be able to find peace in the darkest night, or the most stressful day. Let us pray:

“Holy Father, lover of my soul, author of all truth that has been spoken or written, creator of all that has come into being, I praise your holy name. May I walk in your presence and your peace every day of my life, as do the angels in Heaven. I ask for your Holy peace and calm, even though the darkness remains all around me. I thank you and praise you for the night, the lack of clarity, the walks with eyes closed along pathways bathed in wonderful scents, filled with soft pedals to touch, and the amazing song of the wild birds that fly above my head like homing pigeons directing my way home, because then you, my holy God, are there to guide me. Forgive me when I have demanded clarity before faith, since a clear vision is on the other side of life. Then a strong faith never came because the darkness remained. I no longer want to seek certainty, just faith in you. I will try never to whine or grumble to you but will only lift up praises to you, for you do not live in the complaints of your children, but within the praises we sing. To you I will always give honor and glory and praise. In the name of Jesus Christ, your son, my Lord I pray. Amen”
Doris
Copyright 2009 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.
“God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine.”

DAY OF DISCOVERY

This is truly a day to celebrate discovery! We recognize the day of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the Americas as October 12, 1492 on the Julian Calendar and October 21, 1492 in the modern Gregorian calendar. It has been celebrated by all people in the United States, by the Hispanic race, by people in Costa Rica, the Bahamas, Spain, in Uruguay, and Venezuela since the late eighteenth century. Some would have us devalue Columbus’s bringing Western European influences to the New World, claiming the negative effects of merging several races and cultures. Today . . . let us celebrate Discovery!

In 2009 most areas of our planet have been touched by modern man. Perhaps we are finally ready to discover God in unique and wonderful places of our lives; to discover our friends and family whom we have merely brushed by in our daily walk; and to finally get to know ourselves. Since the beginning, the focus has been outward. Maybe now, our attention can turn to the spiritual and the relational. Let us pray:

“Oh Father God, we call you Abba, Daddy, with no awareness of your (and our) true family around us. We are indeed all connected in familial relationship to you here on earth as we will be so attached in Heaven. We have delved into genealogy far enough and deep enough to see the branches reaching out and connecting to generation after generation, growing, branching, and flowering in the world. You told us we all came from one mother, Eve, and one father, Adam and we have accepted that spiritual fact without acknowledging the closeness we have with our brothers and sisters. We pray on this day of celebrating discovery that we can see with new eyes and feel with renewed hearts that we are all one family, living and breathing in unison on this living planet you created for our earthly home. I pray that we discover our sisters and brother and welcome them into your family, the family of God. I pray also that we get to know ourselves better in order to change what offends you and develop the talents that praise you and give you glory. Forgive me when I have turned a blind eye to your children in need. Let me recognize them as my beloved sisters and brothers. Lay on my heart the big and little things I can do to help. You are glorious and we ask to see your glory in others. We praise your name and give all honor to you. In the name of our brother, your son, Jesus we pray. Amen”
Doris
“Copyright 2009 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.
“God gives us stories that testify to his love. Let me tell you mine.”

WITH NEW EYES

Wow! Did you know that the sky is as brilliantly blue as the gorgeous marble we see hanging in space from the shuttle window, and that the clouds are hung in the sky on various ribbons of air that stream across the sky? Did you also know that the span of your vision can spread out beyond your central view to include the periphery all around you? I thought I knew, but I didn’t. Some of you know that I had cataract surgery on each eye in the last few weeks. Since then, all of these new visual blessings have flooded my eyes with amazement. My eye doctor tells me I have better than 20/20 vision in my right eye and nearly that in my left. I need little tiny readers for reading. But what really amazes me, is another phenomenon. Many times a day, my thought is, I’d better go get my glasses or I won’t be able to see what I’m doing. I was so blind and dependent on my glasses for so many years, my habits and self-talk tell me I still need them in order to be able to see. That is the lie of my thinking, not the truth of my sight. It seems to me, that may also be how I am with God. The truth of God’s promise is that I can see Him walking with me in every scene of my day and receive his blessing and power in every circumstance of my life. But, the lie of my wayward habits and the constant disbelief of my internal chatter is that I don’t have the proper glasses, the open eyes, to see Him. The truth of this life with Christ is that we can see Him, in fact we DO see Him every day, but we believe the lie of the world that says, Of course you cannot see God. Who do you think you are? The world, however, does not define me, God does. And, He tells me I am His precious child, inheritor of all He has, through His grace and the blood of the lamb, Jesus Christ. If we are going to live in the Kingdom of God, then we have to believe the King, not the lies of the other world. Let us pray:

“Our father God, King of my Kingdom and lover of my soul, you are Holy beyond anything my poor mind can imagine or my physical eyes can see. I ask this very day that you open a special door into your Kingdom where the blind in spirit, like me, can enter. I know with my whole heart, that once inside, my eyes will be open and I will be able to see without the world’s glasses of deception and lies. I have seen with new eyes what color and beauty is in your world and I know that is only a veiled glimpse of Your true glory. I close my eyes now and step through the portal of belief and into your Kingdom! Words cannot express the beauty of your world since your Kingdom is outside of the world’s experience and expression. Thank you, thank you, my God, for opening the eyes of my heart, that I may see you. You are more than all I could have ever imagined. I thank you and praise your Holy name. I pray that I may dwell in your Kingdom forever. In the name of your son, my Savior, Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.”
Doris
“Copyright 2009 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.
“God gives us stories that testify to his love. Let me tell you mine.”

ONE SIZE FITS ALL

Isn’t it wonderful that our God is big enough for all of us? Some people believe they know all there is to be known about God and if someone disagrees with them, they believe the other person is therefore wrong. Some denominations are like that. Unless you do as they do, speak as they speak, believe exactly as they believe, you are doomed to wander the face of the earth, separated from our Father. How arrogant and dangerous! It is dangerous for their own soul to claim they have cornered the market on truth and are therefore equal to God. Thankfully, it’s the converse that is true. God is big enough to include all of us, regardless of our quirky, self-serving grandiosity that tricks us into believing that we are the important ones, that we alone know God and the will of God. Just think what the world would be like if we got out of the way and let the true God shine through, not our distorted fantasy of God. Our God is bigger and more wonderful than anything we can hope for or imagine. One true God does fit all. Let us pray:

“Oh loving God, father of our Lord Jesus, you are holy and magnificent, far greater than my mind can grasp. The angels in Heaven know your greatness but I only pretend to know all of you to make myself feel important. No matter how big my mind may try to make you, you are more glorious. You were here before the earth was formed and are outside of time and my ability to know you. You are not like me. You are other. You are . . . God! If I can let go of my need to be the important one, I may become a little like you. Use me, oh God, to be or say what someone needs to experience or hear today. Let me not know when or where, under what circumstances or with whom I am touching so that I may have no reason to boast. Thank you for being big enough to be God of all who seek you. Forgive me when I have kept you small and confined within my God-lives-here box I have kept you in. If I could, I would set you free. But, my self-centered mind cannot figure out how to unlock the box you have willingly lived in because of your love for me. I cannot open the box but I am willing to live in it with you. You are so big, the world inside that box is probably huge and wonderful too, because you are there. When you think I am ready, you will open the box and let me soar to the heavens with you, because you are God. Or, you will create a new Heaven for me inside the four boxy walls, for where you are, that is heaven. For all of who you are and all of who you are that I do not know, I thank you. In the name of your son, my Savior I pray. Amen”
Doris
“Copyright 2009 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.
“God gives us stories that testify to his love. Let me tell you mine.”

REMEMBERING

A few minutes ago, I forwarded a wonderful email of a Romanian newspaper columnist’s remembrance of the United States’ tragedy of 9/11 and I started remembering too. Someone told me one time that I dwell on the past because I remember things that were said or have happened. Yet, God has gifted me with remembering only the good, not the bad. He has allowed me to live all of my life, inside out, up and down, backward and forward. Some embarrassing moments of the past have no power over me, because I choose not to reinflict pain upon myself by rehearsing those sad or difficult times. Some people, recall over and over the most minor situations that have hurt them. They have become accustomed to the roll of victim and are afraid to lay it down or don’t know how. From that perspective, I encourage you to recall the good from your lives and lay day the difficult, hurtful memories. Make a list of all the happy times in the past, however long or short it may be. Then, think on those things when pain hijacks your thoughts. Better yet, give the pain to God. Mentally, wrap your pain in a beautiful package, tie it with a bright, colorful ribbon, and lay it at the altar of God. He will see your sadness as a wonderful gift and bless you by releasing you from that pain. Then dwell on that scene. Will you totally forget the hurt? Of course not. But, it will lose its power to bring you suffering and will replace the pain with the joy of having trusted the Lord our God. Let us pray:

“Our loving father, how magnificent is your name. The very utterance of the word, God, can calm our fears, drive out our anger, and heal our pain for those who believe it is so. Oh God and Father, on this very day, I am placing all my pain, anger, and fear in this lovely white box. It is both sturdy and holy, Father, and I know it is strong enough to contain all the bad things of my life. I now put a lid on the top and wrap it tightly with golden ribbon with splashes of flowers and joy. With your power, I can pick up my package, willingly offered, and carry it to the altar of your love and lay it down at your feet. I can feel your blessings falling all around me like diamonds from your treasure of gifts, and know I can turn my eyes toward you and away from the gift I have just given you. How very amazing that you could possibly see my junk as your jewels, but you do. For that mystery, I thank you and give you all praise, glory, and honor. In the precious name of your son, Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen”

Doris
“Copyright 2009 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.
“God gives us stories that testify to his love. Let me tell you mine.”