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Our hearts are burdened, our minds constantly thinking of the Rye family, we weep in personal grief and in mourning for the family - so we pray.
Pray, my church family, and then pray some more knowing that our Sovereign God who brought Rick home also brings His blessings and grace to earth through the prayers of His people. Your prayers are not wasted! For the family, pray that the writings of the Scriptures would be written deeply in their hearts: The righteous cry, and the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. (Psalm 34:17-19) Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:25-26) For the funeral - that the hope of Jesus Christ would be on the move. All attending believe in Heaven, many are not on their way. Pray that I can preach and people will hear and believe this message: Our confidence that Rick is now safe and uncondemned is not that he was innocent, but that he was forgiven and he was counted righteous because of Jesus Christ. The Bible is very plain that we are saved from our sin and from God's punishment by grace through faith in Jesus Christ who died in our place and rose again from the dead. Pray, my brothers and sisters! Pray with me and may we know that our prayers are a significant part of being ambassadors for Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20).
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Much has gone on in the last 24 hours following yesterday's house fire at the Roffs. Here's a brief update:
- Jen is home from the hospital and doing well physically; emotionally she struggling; spiritually she is leaning on Christ - Jay has been transferred down to the burn center in Milwaukee - he's expected to be there for a week to 10 days - he's in a lot of pain with first and second degree burns on his arms, neck, and face. Jay's brother Billy is travelling today to be with him. - The kids are doing well - the children had no injuries - The house has extensive damage and is in the process of being reviewed by the insurance adjusters Please pray for the following things: - For strength and wisdom for Jen as she is striving to work through the entire process of recovery from a house fire as well as be separated from her injured husband - For Jay as he is in much pain from the burns and is incapable of leading his family through the recovery process - For the kids to find Christ to be their Rock as they recover from the trauma of this all - For health insurance for the Roff family - it just so happened that they were in between health insurance coverage and are not certain if their current coverage had been approved We will update you with any needs the Roff's may have. I listened to an interview with Pastor Tim Keller this week. In it, he was asked, “How do you preach the gospel to yourself every day?” This may seem an odd question to some. In essence, to preach the gospel to yourself means that we Christians take time to remember the accomplishments of Christ on our behalf, and make sure they are being applied through the flurry of life and its many distractions. His answer was very helpful to me. I hope to implement something like it in my own life. Here’s his answer (taken from Steve McCoy’s attempt to transcribe the answer):
I try to do petition in the morning. I try to do repentance in the evening. So I try to pray in the morning and in the evening. In the evening I look back on what I did wrong and repent. But in the middle of the day I try to catch myself and I look for four kinds of emotions. I always pray in the morning, “Lord make me happy enough in the grace of Jesus to avoid being proud, cold, scared, and hooked.”
Here is a great, short prayer that I have slowly worked through this morning.
It comes from Francis Chan’s book, Crazy Love. Jesus, I need to give myself up. I am not strong enough to love You and walk with you on my own. I can’t do it, and I need You. I need You deeply and desperately. I believe You are worth it, that You are better than anything else I could have in this life or the next. I want You. And when I don’t, I want to want You. Be all in me. Take all of me. Have Your way with me. |
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