Month: May 2017

Protection

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Seven Minutes with God: Daily Prayers for the Chronically Ill

Protection

As I face the challenges of applying a yucky tasting prescription steroid gel inside my mouth twice a day and using a compounded prescription “magic mouthwash” that has a cocktail of four different prescriptions I find myself growing weary of treating my oral lichen planus.

Remembering to use the magic mouthwash at the right times is critical. Swishing and spitting after meals, not before meals is essential where I don’t swallow the mixture’s medicine with food or drink. It is not for internal use. The steroid gel is applied to gauze and then placed inside the mouth in the appropriate location for fifteen minutes.

Even under a physician’s care, it was hard for me to place something in my mouth marked external use only. After removing the gauze the mouth feels like I still have the gauze inside of the mouth for about an hour. Plus there is that terrible taste. Add to that I made the mistake of going to a forum on the disease and treatment. It was scary as I read about people claiming to have lost the sense of taste from using the medication. It made me cry out for God’s protection.

Today’s Bible verse:

Psalm 3: 3-4 King James Version (KJV), “But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah.”

What the verse means:

What the verse is saying in today’s English is that God shields me like a force field. His protection is three hundred and sixty degrees. around me.  In Christ, I am both grounded in the reality of the situation and able to hold our head high. I know I am not alone. With all my strength I shout to the Lord. My cries do not go unanswered. He voice thunders His answer from His holy mountain. 

Praying using the verse:

  1. Heavenly Father, I pray to You and You alone. I confess You are our shield.
  2. Lord Jesus, You are our glory.
  3. Thank you for being the lifter of our head.
  4. We rejoice knowing we can cry to You and You answer our cries.

Photo Source: Francisque Millet [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons; Page URL; File URL.

Jimmie Aaron Kepler is a novelist, poet, book reviewer, and award-winning short story writer. His work has appeared in over twenty venues, including Christian publications like Deacon Magazine, Church Leadership Magazine, Discipleship Training Magazine, and Sunday School Leader Magazine as well as secular publications like Bewildering Stories, Beyond Imagination, Poetry & Prose Magazine, and The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature. He is a former Captain in the US Army. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in History with minors in English and Military Science from The University of Texas at Arlington, Master of Arts and Master of Religious Education degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, as well as the Doctor of Education degree. His blog Kepler’s Book Reviews was named a 100 best blogs for history buffs. His books and collections are available on Amazon. This blog post is from his forthcoming book, “Seven Minutes with God: Daily Prayers for the Chronically Ill.”

Prayers for the Chronically Ill – Rest

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Today’s Scripture tells us to rest – be still and knows I am God.

Today’s Bible Verse:

Psalm 46:10 (KJV), ” Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”

What the verse means:

Part of learning to deal with a chronic illness is learning to rest.

Praying using the verses:

  1. Heavenly Father, help us be still and know you more intimately, feel your presence.
  2. Lord Jesus, please help our loved one and yourself to get physical rest when possible.
  3. Pray that our loved one would find his/her rest in the adequacy of God.

Photo Source: Pixaby

Jimmie Aaron Kepler is a novelist, poet, book reviewer, and award-winning short story writer. His work has appeared in over twenty venues, including Christian publications like Deacon Magazine, Church Leadership Magazine, Discipleship Training Magazine, and Sunday School Leader Magazine as well as secular publications like Bewildering Stories, Beyond Imagination, Poetry & Prose Magazine, and The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature. He is a former Captain in the US Army. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in History with minors in English and Military Science from The University of Texas at Arlington, Master of Arts and Master of Religious Education degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, as well as the Doctor of Education degree. His blog Kepler’s Book Reviews was named a 100 best blogs for history buffs. He is an author. His books and collections are available on Amazon. This blog post is from his forthcoming book, “Prayers for the Chronically Ill.”

Writing: Yea, this post is about writing.

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I’m going to try an experiment over the next few weeks. On Wednesdays, I will write about writing and how I got where I am.

Let’s see, let me begin with my bio. Just kidding, who cares about a personal biography except for the bio writer and maybe his or her mother.

Just like the bio, that I am not sharing, we all share some common experiences. Before we’re even born our mother, and the baby daddy gets these wild dreams for our lives. The mom and dad have visions of us becoming a physician or lawyer or even president of the United States of America. We know their dreams are wild because they visualize that kind of future for us when we have their genes and DNA. About this time we should expect a song from the Man of La Mancha’s soundtrack to start playing in the background. The song’s title? The Impossible Dream.

Come on folks, be realistic!

As if our parents weren’t bad enough we head off to school. It matters not if it is a public school, private school, or Catholic school. The teachers and counselors chime in and try to direct us to the job that matches our interests and aptitude. People we date or marry follows suit trying to get us to the right job with the best income. Ultimately, we find a day job employer telling what to do, how to do it, and when to have it done.

Welcome to Life 101. And it’s because of the above that those chasing the writer’s life rarely reach their dreams.

The sad truth is most of us only set our own hours on the weekend or if we’re lucky enough to have paid time off. It’s the way of the world.

From what I read and hear from going to writer’s conferences people trying to make it as a writer are their own worst enemies. The want to be writers can’t manage their time or get the work done because no one is managing their schedule or setting their priorities for them. Rarely are they capable of being self-managed.

This post is about the organization and structure most writers must have. Without the secret ingredients of organization and structure, few want to be writers will ever finish even the first draft of their memoir or whatever book they are working on. They will never see their byline or name on the spine of a book, even an indie published book.

Let me add that organization and structure doesn’t make you a robot. It doesn’t take away your creative freedoms or suck the life out of you. What it will do is decrease but not remove panic and worry from your life. It gives you purpose and direction.

I can hear you mumbling about now. You’re saying but I have a life and a family (this might not be your biological family but the people you live and play with). Exactly. I understand you have a life. So do I.

Organization and structure help you set your priorities which include family, leisure time fun, taking care of your health, and paying the bills. In simple terms, most people want to be paid for their work, to have played in their leisure time, and from time to time to get laid to meet their emotional and physical needs. They also want to be healthy enough to participate in the three aforementioned activities.

While I have been freelancing and selling my work since the first year of the Ronald Reagan presidency, only in the last couple of years have I seriously considered supporting myself by writing. And the baby-steps that I have been taking to move in that direction are what I’ll share in the next post.

Photo Credit: Pixaby

Jimmie Aaron Kepler is a military brat. In his youth, he worked in a grocery store, warehouse, a folk-rock band as a rhythm guitar player, vendor at a major league baseball stadium, and for a milk distributor. He has enough degrees to use as wallpaper and even served his country in the US Army for a few years. Working in IT has paid the bills the last two decades. He’s been freelancing since Ronald Reagan was president. He’s even won an award for short story writing. Google his name. You’ll find his work and can even buy a few novels with his name on the book’s spine. He lives with his cat and cancer-battling wife in north Texas.

Prayers for the Chronically Ill – Prosper

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Today’s passage speaks on our mental health and general well-being

Today’s Bible Verse:

3 John 1:2 (KJV), “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”

What the verse means:

John the author is addressing Gaius. The prosperity referred to here is mental health and general well-being.  John wants Gaius to prosper and have good health equal to his spiritual health.

Praying using the verses:

  1. Heavenly Father, we pray that we may prosper, that is, be healthy fiscally.
  2. Lord Jesus, we pray that we would be in physically good health and that health would mirror our spiritual health.
  3. We pray for rest and peace of mind.

Photo Source: Pixaby

Jimmie Aaron Kepler is a novelist, poet, book reviewer, and award-winning short story writer. His work has appeared in over twenty venues, including Christian publications like Deacon Magazine, Church Leadership Magazine, Discipleship Training Magazine, and Sunday School Leader Magazine as well as secular publications like Bewildering Stories, Beyond Imagination, Poetry & Prose Magazine, and The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature. He is a former Captain in the US Army.  He holds a Bachelor of Arts in History with minors in English and Military Science from The University of Texas at Arlington, Master of Arts and Master of Religious Education degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, as well as the Doctor of Education degree. His blog Kepler’s Book Reviews was named a 100 best blogs for history buffs. He is an author. His books and collections available on Amazon. This blog post is from his forthcoming book, “Prayers for the Chronically Ill.”

Prayers for the Chronically Ill – Live or Die

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In the world, most people live for themselves and live for today. The live for now lifestyle is different from how a Christian should live. The purpose of the Christian life is to do the Lord’s will and promote his glory by our life. This doesn’t mean you cannot have fun. On the contrary, it allows you to have fun without regrets or feeling ashamed.

Today’s Bible Verse:

Romans 14:8 (KJV), “For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.”

What the verse means:

The purpose of the Christian life is to do the Lord’s will and promote his glory by our life. A Christin should do this because they belong to God. Not only do we belong to God in this life but we belong to him even as we are dying and after we die. The passage provides a reminder that the soul does not cease to be conscious at death. We are still the Lord’s.  Even when the body is in the grace, we are the Lords.  2 Corinthians 5:8 (KJV) reminds us, “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

Praying using the verses:

  1. Heavenly Father, if we live, we live to the Lord. Help us live to the Lord. May you be glorified though our life.
  2. Lord Jesus, if we die, we die to the Lord. Help us to die to the Lord. Help us to remember that even in the grave we are yours.
  3. We proclaim to the world whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lords. Thank you, Lord for the security we have as Believers in the Lord.

Photo Source: Pixaby

Jimmie Aaron Kepler is a novelist, poet, book reviewer, and award-winning short story writer. His work has appeared in over twenty venues, including Christian publications like Deacon Magazine, Church Leadership Magazine, Discipleship Training Magazine, and Sunday School Leader Magazine as well as secular publications like Bewildering Stories, Beyond Imagination, Poetry & Prose Magazine, and The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature. He is a former Captain in the US Army.  He holds a Bachelor of Arts in History with minors in English and Military Science from The University of Texas at Arlington, Master of Arts and Master of Religious Education degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, as well as the Doctor of Education degree. He is an ordained minister and deacon. He is an author. His books and collections are available on Amazon. This blog post is from his forthcoming book, “Prayers for the Chronically Ill.”

Prayers for the Chronically Ill – Trust

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When dealing with a chronic illness sometimes it is tough to maintain focus or have peace of mind. The person battling the illness often finds themselves dwelling on what is happening to them physically, fiscally, and thinking if they’ll even have a future. It can be hard. Today’s verse gives us hope as it tells us peace of mind is available. The way to peace is to focus on God, not your problem. It is to trust God.

Today’s Bible Verse:

Isaiah 26:3 (KJV), “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”

What the verse means:

The key word trust. We have a requirement to trust God. Trusting in God, when our mind is focused on Him, not our troubles allow us to kept in God’s perfect peace.

Praying using the verses:

1. Heavenly Father, help us to keep our mind steadfast on You.

2. Thank you for the peace of mind that can only come from God.

3. Lord Jesus, help us to take our refuge in You.

4. God, we know you are our only hope in battling our chronic illness.

Photo Source: Pixaby

Jimmie Aaron Kepler is a novelist, poet, book reviewer, and award-winning short story writer. His work has appeared in over twenty venues, including Christian publications like Deacon Magazine, Church Leadership Magazine, Discipleship Training Magazine, and Sunday School Leader Magazine as well as secular publications like Bewildering Stories, Beyond Imagination, Poetry & Prose Magazine, and The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature. He is a former Captain in the US Army.  He holds a Bachelor of Arts in History with minors in English and Military Science from The University of Texas at Arlington, Master of Arts and Master of Religious Education degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, as well as the Doctor of Education degree. He is an ordained minister and deacon. He is an author. His books and collections are available on Amazon. This blog post is from his forthcoming book, “Prayers for the Chronically Ill.”

Prayers for the Chronically Ill – Hearing

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When we face a chronic illness too often, we rush in and try to accomplish everything in our own power. We manage this. We plan that. We listen to friend A or to family member B. We may hear different recommendations from our healing team, that is the doctors, ministers, and caregivers. We need to seek God and listen for his voice. We do this through prayer, Bible reading, and listening to sermons. Sometimes were are in such a rush to get to a solution or get things under control that we miss hearing from The Great Physician. We need to remember the words of Psalm 46:10 (KJV), “Be still, and know that I am God:” Sometimes we need to be still before we can hear God.

Today’s Bible Verse:

Psalm 143:8 (KJV) “Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.”

What the verse means:

As we face trials and hardships, we can find ourselves overwhelmed. When we become inundated by fear, grief, depression, and self-pity, it becomes hard to hear God. Today’s verse reminds us to spend time with God, to begin our day with God.  As Christians, we can trust God. We can ask him to both guide us and to lift us up.

Praying using the verses:

  1. Heavenly Father, draw us to you in the morning where we can hear thy righteousness.
  2. Lord Jesus, we place our trust in thee. Help us to always put all our trust in Thee.
  3. We ask your Holy Spirit to speak to our spirit to guide us in the way we should walk.
  4. We pray you would lift our her soul unto thee.
  5. Pray for our children and grandchild to be drawn to You, experience You and choose to attend worship services.
  6. Pray for a day of rest.

Photo Source: Pixaby

Jimmie Aaron Kepler is a novelist, poet, book reviewer, and award-winning short story writer. His work has appeared in over twenty venues, including Christian publications like Deacon Magazine, Church Leadership Magazine, Discipleship Training Magazine, and Sunday School Leader Magazine as well as secular publications like Bewildering Stories, Beyond Imagination, Poetry & Prose Magazine, and The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature. He is a former Captain in the US Army.  He holds a Bachelor of Arts in History with minors in English and Military Science from The University of Texas at Arlington, Master of Arts and Master of Religious Education degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, as well as the Doctor of Education degree. His blog Kepler’s Book Reviews was named a 100 best blogs for history buffs. He is an author. His books and collections are available on Amazon. This blog post is from his forthcoming book, “Prayers for the Chronically Ill.”

Prayers for the Chronically Ill – Fear

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A normal feeling for one facing a chronic illness is fear. The unknown and uncertainty are scary. The very word cancer often has death or at least its possibility confronting us.  If it is rheumatoid arthritis you picture pain and decreased mobility or use of joints.

Today’s Scripture reminds us that God is with us. We do not face today or tomorrow alone.

Today’s Bible Verse:

Isaiah 41:10 (KJV), “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

What the verse means:

The verse’s meaning is best seen when examined in context with two preceding verses. Isaiah 41:8-10 (KJV), “But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

The whole passage is one of great tenderness. I am with thee (that is, God is with you). I (God) will strengthen you (now and in the future). I have strengthened you (in times past). There is a reminder that God has chosen you). We see a declaration of past favors as well as prophetic words for future favors since God is unchanging.

Praying using the verses:

  1. Heavenly Father, we fear not because You are here with us as we fight our affliction.
  2. We are not heartbroken or dismayed because we know You are our God.
  3. We rejoice and claim Your promises that You will strengthen us.
  4. We rejoice and claim Your promises that You will help us.
  5. We rejoice and claim Your promises that You will uphold us with the right hand of Your righteousness.
  6. We continue to pray for a hedge of protection for our loved one or even ourself, both in the workplace and during treatments.

Photo Source: Pixaby

Jimmie Aaron Kepler is a novelist, poet, book reviewer, and award-winning short story writer. His work has appeared in over twenty venues, including Christian publications like Deacon Magazine, Church Leadership Magazine, Discipleship Training Magazine, and Sunday School Leader Magazine as well as secular publications like Bewildering Stories, Beyond Imagination, Poetry & Prose Magazine, and The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature. He is a former Captain in the US Army. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in History with minors in English and Military Science from The University of Texas at Arlington, Master of Arts and Master of Religious Education degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, as well as the Doctor of Education degree. His blog Kepler’s Book Reviews was named a 100 best blogs for history buffs. He is an author. His books and collections available on Amazon. This blog post is from his forthcoming book, “Prayers for the Chronically Ill.”

White Heat: The Friendship of Emily Dickinson and Thomas Wentworth Higginson by Brenda Wineapple

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White Heat

He had seen men enslaved, and seen death in battle on a terrible scale. So when a young, unknown poet named Emily Dickinson wrote to ask whether he thought her verse was “alive”, Thomas Wentworth Higginson – a critic for The Atlantic Monthly and a decorated Union veteran – knew he was seeing poetry that lived and breathed like nothing he had seen before.

Higginson was immediately awed by Emily Dickinson and went on to become her editor, mentor, and one of the reclusive poet’s closest confidantes. The two met only twice, but exchanged hundreds of deeply personal letters over the next twenty-five years; they commented on each other’s work, mulled over writers they admired, and dazzled each other with nimble turns of phrase. After she died, he shepherded the first collected edition of her poetry into publication and was a tireless champion of her work in his influential Recent Poems column for The Nation.

Later generations of literary scholars have dismissed Higginson as a dull, ordinary mind, blaming him for the decision to strip some of the distinctive, unusual structure from Dickinson’s poems for publication. However, Brenda Wineapple offers a portrait of Higginson that is far beyond ordinary. He was a widely respected writer, a fervent abolitionist, and a secret accomplice to John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry; wounded in the first year of the Civil War, he returned to service as colonel of the first federally authorized regiment of former slaves. White Heat reveals a rich, remarkable friendship between the citizen soldier and the poet, a correspondence from which Dickinson drew tremendous passion and inspiration – and which she credited, more than once, with saving her life.

Brenda Wineapple is the author and editor of five books, including the award-winning Hawthorne: A Life and Sister Brother: Gertrude and Leo Stein. Her essays, articles, and reviews have appeared in The American Scholar, The New York Times Book Review, Parnassus, Poetry, and The Nation. She teaches in the MFA programs at Columbia University and The New School in New York.

Prayers for the Chronically Ill – Deliverance

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The Bible does not flatter us with the false hope that goodness will secure us from trouble. Instead, the Bible warns us over and over to expect tribulation while we are in this body. Our afflictions come from all directions and at any time. They challenges are many but with Jesus Christ, we can face each day. There is no promise they will go away in this lifetime. However, the Lord will guide us through or lift us out of them.

Today’s Bible Verse:

Psalm 34:19 (KJV), “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.”

What the verse means:

The Treasury of David explains it this way. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, etc. Be our troubles many in number, strange in nature, heavy in measure; yet God’s mercies are more numerous, his wisdom more wondrous, his power more miraculous; he will deliver us out of all. Thomas Adams.”

Praying using the verses:

1. Heavenly Father, we know the afflictions of the righteous are many.

2. Lord Jesus, we find some comfort in knowing hardships and trials are the norms.

3. We confess we don’t like them but trust in you.

3. God our Father, we give you thanks for the promise of deliverance.

Photo Source: Pixaby

Jimmie Aaron Kepler is a novelist, poet, book reviewer, and award-winning short story writer. His work has appeared in over twenty venues, including Christian publications like Deacon Magazine, Church Leadership Magazine, Discipleship Training Magazine, and Sunday School Leader Magazine as well as secular publications like Bewildering Stories, Beyond Imagination, Poetry & Prose Magazine, and The Dead Mule School for Southern Literature. He is a former Captain in the US Army.  He holds a Bachelor of Arts in History with minors in English and Military Science from The University of Texas at Arlington, Master of Arts and Master of Religious Education degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, as well as the Doctor of Education degree. His blog Kepler’s Book Reviews was named a 100 best blogs for history buffs. He is an author. His books and collections available on Amazon. This blog post is from his forthcoming book, “Prayers for the Chronically Ill.”