Innermost Being Blog

Word Games

by Innermost Being, posted in Word Prompts

Do you play in your daily life? What says “playtime” to you?

I am a Wordle addict. (As of this morning, I’ve played 690 daily games.) By the time I get up in the morning, my brothers David and Ross have already played and shared their results on Facebook.

David likes to give hints after playing, as does my friend Brian. I prefer to solve Wordle without hints, but my sister Cindy uses them to her advantage. In just the past week, she solved one game in two guesses and three games with one guess! The average number of guesses is four.

I asked Cindy if playing with clues feels like cheating because that’s how I feel. She said no; she still has to figure out what David’s hints mean. Cindy is very competitive (and shameless!).

Since you can only play Wordle once a day, I found more daily word games to play every day – Quordle, Quordle Sequence, and Octordle. They’re all more challenging than Wordle.

Word games wake up my brain every morning.

Changing seasons

by Innermost Being, posted in Word Prompts

What are your biggest challenges?

Last June, I fractured my shoulder and had rotatator cuff surgery, followed by three months of physical therapy. It was challenging to regain my range of motion.

I went to a client’s board meeting in July. Schlepping my bags around the airport with one arm in a sling was challenging. The board approved a couple of changes to the company’s business plan. I did not look forward to implementing the changes.

That business trip triggered my decision to retire this year. My retirement day will be the start of a new season in my life.

My job will be challenging for the next few months. My busy season as an accountant goes from January through March or April. Multiple deadlines and worries about how I’m going to get everything done on time are stressful.

I don’t look forward to the challenge of training a replacement to do my challenging job. What if he or she can’t handle it?

My biggest challenges have been short-term and seem insignificant compared to the challenges other people face.

Preparing Spiritually for 2024

by Innermost Being, posted in Faith and Culture

I remember the Y2K fears of the late 1990’s. People were afraid that computer systems would not handle the year 2000 correctly because programmers used a 2-digit year. At work, I was tasked with contacting service providers to ask about their preparedness for the year 2000.

Recently, I watched a political program about threats to US democracy. The commentator warned the audience that 2024 is going to be a difficult year.

I was not prepared for the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. I was shocked to hear that over 80% of “evangelical” Christians voted for a man who is the complete opposite of Christ.

For me, preparing for 2024 isn’t about preparing for a political battle but for a spiritual one. How does one prepare spiritually for a year that promises to be tumultuous and perhaps even life changing?

1. Choose to be on God’s side.

When I recommitted my life to Christ, it was because I saw the destructive power of hate and darkness, and I wanted to be on the side of love and light. God revealed his goodness through Jesus.

Which side do you choose?

– Hate or love

– Deception or truth

– Selfishness or charity

– Vengeance or forgiveness

– Grievance or gratitude

– Discord or peace

– Division or unity

– Pride or humility

– Self-interest or the interest of others

– Lawlessness or accountability

All of us behave in ways that do not reflect God’s goodness. But I will have nothing to do with the perverse of heart.

The perverse of heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with what is evil.

Psalm 101:4

2. Stand firmly with God’s protective armor.

The Apostle Paul described how to prepare for spiritual battles (Ephesians 6:19-18). Put on the full armor of God – the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit (God’s word), with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

I struggled with Paul’s description of footwear. Obviously, you don’t go into a battle with bare feet. To stand firmly in God’s armor, you need sturdy shoes.

But why mention the gospel of peace? Well, it is because salvation brings peace that surpasses all understanding. In other words, when we are saved, we can be at peace in all circumstances.

In an article on the shoes of peace, Stacey Salsbery pointed out that the enemy wants to steal our peace. He wants us to be anxious and afraid. If we worry about bad things that might happen, we won’t focus on advancing God’s kingdom.

Christine Batchelder made similar observations. She wrote that the Greek word for prepared, hetoimos, means sure-footed, established, ready to go. We should be so established in peace that we are prepared to share the good news.

3. Trust in God’s sovereignty.

We may get so distressed about current events that we ask, is God in control? He is omnipotent, so why doesn’t he prevent bad things from happening?

God permits Satan and man to act. Man has free will. John Piper explains that permitting man to act is part of God’s ultimate design and final control. He allows us to make bad choices, knowing He can work them into his overall plan for human redemption.

God is my help and my shield. I trust his holy name. His purposes are good. He has pulled me through every challenge I’ve ever faced.

But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.

Psalm 33:11

4. Be alert and pray.

Be on your guard against the wiles of Satan. Don’t let him steal your peace.

Pray about your worries and concerns. Pray for God’s will to be done. Pray for God’s kingdom. Pray that God will use whatever happens in 2024 to bring people to him.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for my salvation. Thank you for pulling me through dark and distressing times. Keep my eyes focused on you and your will for my life. Make me an instrument of your peace and prepare me to share the good news.

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.

by Innermost Being, posted in Testify to the Truth

On Sunday, in lieu of preaching a sermon, my pastor invited a member of the congregation to share his testimony. Pete’s story was that of a man enslaved to sin. If anyone needed redemption, it was Pete, a drug addict and convicted thief.

Since hearing his testimony, a song has been on my heart, and these words have been on my mind:

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so…

Psalm 107:2 KJV

Pete described his life as that of a cartoon character with good and bad voices in his ear. He chose to listen to the voice of the devil because alcohol, drugs, and “fast money” were too tempting.

The world had such a powerful grip on Pete that he resisted God for years. God continued to make His presence known through all his struggles. Pete recalled watching the movie The Passion of Christ the last time he got high. When he finally had enough, he surrendered his life to God.

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.

I found Jesus in a Sunday school class when I was just a child, about nine or ten years old. I don’t remember the details of the gospel lesson that day, just the feeling of joy and peace.

The hardest years of my life followed my decision to give my heart to Jesus. My parents divorced. We were on welfare. We moved several times. Those years would have been much more difficult without the presence of my Savior and friend. God knew I needed Him.

As a young adult, I didn’t follow God faithfully. I yielded to the temptations of my flesh. I didn’t go to church for many years. Just as God pursued Pete for years, He didn’t let me go. He used a community tragedy to bring me back to Him.

I am redeemed. Jesus set me free.

****

Redeemed, Big Daddy Weave:

All my life I have been
Called unworthy
Named by the voice of my shame
And regret

But when I hear You whisper
Child lift up your head
I remember oh God
You’re not done with me yet

I am redeemed, You set me free
So I’ll shake off these heavy chains
And wipe away every stain
Cause I’m not who I used to be

Setting Expectations for Healing Prayers

by Innermost Being, posted in Prayer

This summer, a mile and a half into a trail race, I suddenly fell forward and landed on my right shoulder, dislocating it. Another runner made a sling out of her jacket and walked me back to the trail head. She then drove me to the nearest ER, 45 miles away.

The ER doctors had to put me under twice to get my shoulder back in place. When I followed up with an orthopedic doctor, I learned that I fractured the bone. The doctor didn’t think surgery would be successful at my age, so he had me wear a sling for a couple of weeks to see if the bone would stay in the right position. If the bones were displaced, I would have to have surgery, possibly even a shoulder replacement.

I rarely ask anyone to pray for me, but I added my name to my church’s weekly prayer list.

Two weeks later, x-rays showed that my bone fragment had moved. The physician’s assistant recommended that I have surgery two days later. The physician was out of town, so the PA referred me to a doctor at a different practice. That doctor had no concerns about my age. Post surgery, I am well on my way to recovery.

Although God didn’t intervene by keeping my bone from moving, I still believe He worked things out for my good, putting me in the hands of a well-respected surgeon.

In my experience, the overwhelming majority of prayer requests are related to physical health issues. Philip Yancey made a similar observation in his book, Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?

Do prayers for healing make any difference? I believe they do, but I believe we should keep our expectations realistic.

Yancey has heard from many people who question why God did not answer prayers for healing. He wrote that although there have been accounts of miracles, miracles are rare.

Natural laws make our world predictable. For miracles to happen, natural laws must be reversed or suspended. God rarely intervenes in the physical world that way. We learn to adapt to natural laws like gravity, and if we don’t also adapt our prayers, we will surely be disappointed.

Prayer doesn’t stop the aging process. It doesn’t eliminate death, and it doesn’t reverse genetic defects. (In my case, it also didn’t keep bone fragments from moving.)

Prayer can help you deal with stress. It can give you comfort, hope, and peace. These positive feelings can impact your physical health “because the mind regulates the body’s natural healing systems.”

God created our bodies with amazing self-healing powers. He gave humans the intelligence to discover treatments for physical ailments. He gave doctors, nurses, and other professionals the skills to diagnose, treat, and rehabilitate us.

How can we pray for people with health issues?

  • Praise God for the healing agents of the human body.
  • Pray for wisdom and guidance for medical professionals.
  • Pray for other caregivers.
  • Pray that the person will fully use the resources of their body, mind, and spirit.
  • Pray for relief from pain.
  • Pray for peace for those near the end of life and for their loved ones.

My heart goes out to those who suffer from chronic health issues. God loves you and hears your prayers. He will be with you in your suffering.