Friday, March 24, 2023

The Prayer Helper for the Child of God


(This post is yet another chapter from my book that I published in 2014.  The book was written to encourage family caregivers and is entitled, 

Dear Cargiver Reflections for Family Caregivers.)


As we have said numerous times, care-giving for a loved one with a serious disease is one of life’s greatest challenges. Only those who have been or currently are family caregivers truly understand the emotional and physical difficulties associated with care-giving.

In the midst of care-giving responsibilities, it is important to focus on the Lord and to turn to Him in prayer. Sometimes in the overwhelming moments we do not know how to pray about our situations, however. At such times, the Holy Spirit helps us in our prayer life. Romans 8:26 promises us that the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. We often do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us in a way that words cannot express.

Have you ever tried to pray about your care-giving situation and felt so overwhelmed with some heartache that you did not know how to pray? Have you ever felt that you could not find the words to express in prayer the depths of your feelings and needs in your heart? God understands our weaknesses and has provided us a helper in our prayer lives. That helper is the Holy Spirit Himself!

The Holy Spirit prays in and through us. He also prays for us, especially during those times when we are too overwhelmed with heartache to find the right words to express our pain to the Lord in prayer. The Holy Spirit understands our sorrows and is our prayer helper. The Holy Spirit Himself pleads and intercedes for us before the Heavenly Father! The Holy Spirit is our perfect intercessor before the Heavenly Father,  because He intercedes for God's people in accordance with God's will (Romans 8:27b).

Praise the Lord for His infinite blessings! He is our salvation. He is our source of strength, promise, and hope. He provides for every need in our lives for time and eternity. The Lord provides us the Holy Spirit to help us to live for the Lord and to help us in our weaknesses. Finally, the Lord even provides the Holy Spirit as our prayer helper and advocate! What a glorious God we serve! Praise His name!


(This post as stated above is a chapter from my book.  In this blog I have often written new posts.  I also sometimes have included chapters from my book, as I did today.  If you are a family caregiver consider ordering my book.  If you know a family caregiver consider ordering my book for them.  Below is the link to ordering my book from Amazon. My book is also available through Barnes and Noble and elsewhere on the internet.  The Amazon site says there is only two left in stock.  That is rather meaningless.  It just might take a day or so longer to come, if you order.  You can further get a book directly from me by contacting me at jesuschild54@hotmail.com and asking me for specifics.)



If you did not read my post of last week speaking of not living in fear, you can read it by clicking on the following link:  https://christiancaregiving.blogspot.com/2023/03/do-not-live-in-fear.html


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Saturday, March 11, 2023

Do Not Live in Fear


(The post below was oringinally posted at this blog site a few years ago.  It was written a few years after my first husband's death and before my Mom's graduation to Eternity and my sister's recent going to be with the Lord.  Before that it was the final chapter from my book published in 2014, Dear Caregiver Reflections for Family Caregivers.)


Care-giving and watching my husband decline in his health and then his death in January of 2011 has been one of my life’s most difficult tests. Knowing I could trust that God loved me and was in control in the midst of the confusion and grief of it all made and continues to make all the difference in the world.

God is sovereign and in control. Nothing happens to a Christian caregiver or his or her loved one that is not filtered through His love. This is true even in the heartbreaking events which often accompany care-giving and sometimes their death. This is a difficult truth to accept. When this truth is accepted, however, it a soft place to land when one is overwhelmed with life’s difficulties.

God is good. Circumstances may be bad, but God is good. God is the very definition and essence of goodness. He proved that by sending His son on the cross. He can help caregivers who are struggling to keep emotional and spiritual equilibrium in the midst of the heartaches of seeing their loved ones decline in their health. He can also slowly emotionally heal caregivers, when and if their loved ones are not healed on this earth.

Joy can coexist in the midst of the heartaches and grief that often accompany care-giving and possibly losing our loved ones. This is because joy is not based on circumstances which are favorable or perfect. Rather it is based on a relationship with the Lord. If the Lord takes your loved one to Himself sooner than you would like, dear caregiver, He will be with you each step of the way then also. There is deep hurt and grief in the loss of a love one.  It involves a process that takes much time and deep crying out to the Lord and depending on Him.  There is a scar that never goes completely away. Yet, the Lord's faithfulness will be with you all the way, and the joy of the Lord will return. Do not live in fear of the future, dear Christian caregiver. Never forget that the Lord loves you, and He is good. He is in control.

(This post as stated above is a chapter from my book.  It is in fact the last chapter of my book.  In this blog I have often written new posts.  I also sometimes have included chapters from my book, as I did today.  If you are a family caregiver consider ordering my book.  If you know a family caregiver consider ordering my book for them.  Below is the link to ordering my book from Amazon. My book is also available through Barnes and Noble and elsewhere on the internet.  The Amazon site says there is only one in stock.  That is rather meaningless.  It just might take a day or so longer to come, if you order.  You can further get a book directly from me by contacting me at jesuschild54@hotmail.com and asking me for specifics.)




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Encouragement For Our Lives

When life becomes difficult,God's precious promises in His Word are so precious.   I found two encouraging pictures posted on Facebook a couple years ago.  This will be a short post, but a simple picture can convey much truth.  I hope you will be blessed and helped, as you view these pictures.



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Friday, March 3, 2023

Lament and Hope


Recently our church had a service of lament and petition.  I was not able to be at that service, but found it a blessing when I watched it later.  I found this especially true, since I had just returned a couple days before from my sister's funeral.  

Lament is defined as "a passionate expression of grief or sorrow."  In the Psalms of the Old Testament lament is often expressed by the psalmists.  Laments like "How long, O Lord?" (Psalm 13:1), and pleas like "Come quickly to help me, O LORD my Savior" (Psalm 38:22) are often heard.  God welcomes our honest laments and prayers for help.  There is much to lament in this sin tinged world, be it the sickness or death of a loved one or the turmoil and immorality in our country and the world at large.

Yet as believers there is hope.  The biblical word for hope does not conote a wishful thinking type of hope with no basis in certainty.  Biblical hope conotes a certainty of promises made by the Lord which perhaps still has not been fulfilled,  It involves an attitude of waiting on the Lord.  Psalm 33:20-22 says, "We wait in hope for the LORD; He is our help and our shield, for we trust in His holy name.  May Your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in You"

Hope is also a certainty of eternal life which comes to those who are his children.  The veil between this life and the next is so fragile, and that life is so very close.  In spite of lamenting the sorrows in this life, there are many joys in the Lord even in this life.  What is more important Eternity for a child of God will be free of all sorrow and tears.  Most importantly, we will be in the Lord's wonderful presence forever.  We shall behold Him face to face. 

Here are the lyrics to the beautiful song, "We Shall Behold Him."  (A recording of that song sung by my sister, Nancy, singing that in her own words at her funeral was a wonderful.)  Here are the words  for that song for your blessing as well, dear reader:  

The sky shall unfoldPreparing His entranceThe stars shall applaud HimWith thunders of praise
The sweet light in His eyes, shall enhance those awaitingAnd we shall behold Him, then face to face
O we shall behold Him, we shall behold HimFace to face in all of His gloryO we shall behold Him, yes we shall behold HimFace to face, our Savior and Lord
The angel will sound, the shout of His comingAnd the sleeping shall rise, from there slumbering placeAnd those remaining, shall be changed in a momentAnd we shall behold him, then face to face
We shall behold Him, o yes we shall behold HimFace to face in all of His gloryWe shall behold Him, face to faceOur Savior and LordWe shall behold Him, our Savior and LordSavior and Lord!

 



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