Total Cardiac Rehab: It takes a Village...

February is American Heart Month. How appropriate since February is also the month of Valentine’s Day, celebrating the heart’s favorite emotion — LOVE.

Well, these past Februaries,  "American Heart Month" has taken on new meaning because the “love of my life” had a heart attack several years ago.  So the last few years have brought lots of changes to both of our lives, but especially his.  And cardiac rehab had played a big part.   As many heart patients know, cardiac rehab takes a village…

It took a village of medical personnel.  There were the paramedics who responded when we called 9-1-1; the doctors who did the heart cath; the nurses who cared for John in the hospital; the physical therapists and technicians who exercised and educated him so he could find his “new normal”…and the list goes on and on.

Then there were the neighbors, family, and friends who prayed, jumped in to help, and emailed, facebooked, called, and sent cards with words of encouragement. There were also fellow heart patients, past and present, who empathized and spurred John on.

It has taken all of these folks using their expertise, gifting, and care to enable John to recover from a “widow-maker” level heart attack.  Now he can live in relative good health for as long as God ordains.  We thank God for the village He’s provided.

All of this makes me think of the village the Lord has provided for our “spiritual cardiac rehab.”

Through our personal heart relationship with the Lord Christ, we have received a new heart and new spirit, so we are complete in Him.

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you….And I will put my Spirit within you…  Ezekiel 36:26-27

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.  2Cor 5:17

But while we are living in our broken humanness on this earth, we need our minds, affections, and wills continually renewed.  And in God’s eternal plan in Christ Jesus, it takes a village…the Body of Christ, the community of believers, His church.

Our minds get darkened by the enemy’s lies.  Our affections get wooed by the “sweet-talkin’” world.  Our wills are weakened and pulled away from God and His ways.  And all of this even while we have the indwelling life of God in Christ through the Spirit.

Oswald Chambers (July 12, My Utmost for His Highest) says it well:

THE SPIRITUAL SOCIETY “Till we all come . . unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:13

Rehabilitation means the putting back of the whole human race into the relationship God designed it to be in, and this is what Jesus Christ did in Redemption… The rehabilitation of the human race on Jesus Christ’s plan means the realization of Jesus Christ in corporate life as well as in individual life.

Jesus Christ sent apostles and teachers for this purpose – that the corporate Personality might be realized. We are not here to develop a spiritual life of our own, or to enjoy spiritual retirement; we are here so to realize Jesus Christ that the Body of Christ may be built up. Am I building up the Body of Christ, or am I looking for my own personal development only?

The essential thing is my personal relationship to Jesus Christ – “That I may know Him.” To fulfill God’s design means entire abandonment to Him. Whenever I want things for myself, the relationship is distorted. It will be a big humiliation to realize that I have not been concerned about realizing Jesus Christ, but only about realizing what He has done for me.

So our growth in Christ not for our own spiritual “pleasure.”  We all need each other for our “spiritual cardiac rehab” on this earth.

How does this work?

1. Connect to a community of believers who know and love the Lord, His Word, and His people. Today, there are many options:  from small groups to house churches to mega-congregations; from contemporary & casual to formal and even liturgical. The important thing is…where does GOD want you.  No matter what you choose, it won’t be perfect.  As one Bible teacher I know used to say, “If you find the perfect church, don’t join it…because you’ll ruin it.”
2. Give to & receive from others in the body of Christ. I love the story in John 13 where Jesus washed His disciples feet.  Most of us immediately get the lesson that we are to “wash each others’ feet” by serving them. But tucked in that passage is the added lesson that we need to let our feet be washed by our brothers and sisters.  When Peter protested about the Lord washing his feet, Jesus responded: Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.   John 13:8 It dawned on me one day when reading that verse that perhaps part of what Jesus was saying was…if you don’t let your brothers and sisters serve and minister to you, you are rejecting ME…”no part with ME!”
3. Use whatever gifts the Lord has given to build up one another and glorify God and His grace. One of my favorite Bible words is “manifold.”  It means various, multi-colored, variegated (like yarn), multi-faceted (like diamonds)…and it’s used in my favorite verses about spiritual gifts: As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 1Peter 4:10-11

So each of us is a “facet” in the brilliant diamond of God’s glorious grace when we serve in the fulness of the Spirit in the gifting He’s given us.  What a privilege!  And what a protection as we walk through this sin-cursed world.

Don’t try to do it on your own, dear brothers and sisters.  We need each other in the Body of Christ!  As a friend once said when going through some dark trials in his family, “The Body of Christ is at its best when a believer suffers!”  Why?  Because we are part of each other.   And the Lord’s multi-faceted grace ministers through His people!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Bible Students:

If you would like to read and study further about spiritual gifts, look at these additional passages:

Romans 12:3-13

1 Cor 12:4-31

Eph 4:7-16

Be sure to note what the goal or purpose (anticipated outcome) of the gifts is in each of these passages.  Our unity in diversity is a beautiful thing to behold!

Our Today, a preparation for our Tomorrow? a back-story...

Our TODAY is important...our right here, right now. Why? Because it is the place where we encounter God...right here, right now, in our Today!  And none of us is promised another Today...

BUT...

...if we are, by God's grace, given other Todays, our Today may be a preparation for another Today...and another...and another...

And they may form the back-story of some of our most difficult days, weeks, months, even years.

Let me illustrate...

After 1998, the infamous year of crises with our children's health -- Jeremy's cancer and Beth's cancer scare -- I started to realize that the Lord had taken me through some experiences with Him that were lessons I would need, not just for my Today, but for the days of trial that, unbeknownst to me (but of course known to HIM), were up ahead.  One such experience I call my Supper Story, or better, my Breakfast Story, and you'll see why.

Back in spring 1997, I was teaching through the Gospel of John in a Precept study.  One particular week, I was preparing a lesson in the familiar passage in John, chapter 13, the story of Jesus washing the disciples' feet.

That week I also happened to have a breakfast date with a dear friend of mine who lives out on a farm in New Carlisle, OH.  Our usual breakfast place was a fun, local-color place called Sam & Ethels up in Tipp City.

So that lovely spring morning, as I was driving north through the country roads to pick up her up, I was meditating on John 13 (and perhaps listening to it on CD in my car-- I can't remember).  But as I reflected on the story, I began to notice, as if for the first time,  Christ's interaction with the apostle Peter...how I love that brother!  He is so out there...in this passage, even refusing to let Jesus wash his feet, yow!  What is that about?

Well, just see for yourself..

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself.

Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.

So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.”

Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!”

Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”

Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.”

Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean...

So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them,

“Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am.

If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.

Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them...

Now here was the clincher for me...

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”

Wait a minute...if I don't wash you, you have no part with Me...whomever I send receives Me...and Him who sent Me!

The Holy Spirit began to speak to my heart,

Jan, you need to not only wash your bothers' and sisters' feet, but you also need to graciously let them wash YOUR feet.  Otherwise, you may be missing what I want to do for you through your brother or sister.

Oh my!  That was a lesson I needed, because I had a tendency to always be doing the giving...maybe it was having been in leadership, maybe it's my type A personality, maybe it's pride. But the Lord was telling me to let my feet be washed  and graciously receive it as HIM!

So I continued driving, picked up my friend and arrived at Sam & Ethel's.  As we sat in that quaint little restaurant and opened our menus, my friend said to me,

Today, I'm paying the bill!

Now I have to tell you that this precious sister does not have much extra cash. And so when she said that, I began to think of how she was probably using some birthday money or such at great sacrifice to herself.  I was ready to protest, when the Lord said to me,

Don't be like Peter...receive this as a gift from Me!  Let her wash your feet!

And so I did!

And this wonderful experience of the Serving Christ, that spring day in 1997, prepared me to receive in multitudinous ways from brothers and sisters in our time of suffering, just 9 months later.  I was able to receive Christ's washing in the form of meals, notes, scriptures, advice (yes, even unsolicited advice), house cleaning, the presence of "strangers," and of course, prayer, prayer, and more prayer!

And so, dear brothers and sisters, siblings in the family of God, could you too be missing out on Christ meeting you and ministering to you in your specific need in your today by not being willing to let your feet be washed?  Think about it!

On other side, has the Lord been moving you to wash someone's feet in a specific way, but you've been holding back thinking it's not a big deal?  It IS a big deal...Jesus wants to serve your brother or sister through YOU!  Yield to Him and just do it!

Because...

We are His Hands

We are His hands We are His feet We are His people Children of the Lord We share the hope We share the dream Believers in Jesus Children of the King His Spirit lives within us Flowing like a river Filling us with strength So that we can reach out for our brother Help one another Some of us build, some are teachers Some can sing like angels But all of us can love Like He loved, pure and simple So warm and gentle

[youtuber youtube='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em-Qzmo19t8']

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

You might also like to look at the "one another" verses

And the fun back-story at Am I my Brothers' Keeper?  Stories about the crazy boys at right, my darling grandsons...

Total "Cardiac Rehab"--It takes a Village..

February is American Heart Month. How appropriate since February is also the month of Valentine’s Day, celebrating the heart’s favorite emotion — LOVE.

Well, these past Februaries,  "American Heart Month" has taken on new meaning because the “love of my life” had a heart attack a year and a half ago.  So the last eighteen months have brought lots of changes to both of our lives, but especially his.  And cardiac rehab has played a big part.   As many heart patients know, cardiac rehab takes a village…

cardiac rehab

It has taken a village of medical personnel.  There were the paramedics who responded when we called 9-1-1; the doctors who did the heart cath; the nurses who cared for John in the hospital; the physical therapists and technicians who exercised and educated him so he could find his “new normal”…and the list goes on and on.

Then there were the neighbors, family, and friends who prayed, jumped in to help, and emailed, facebooked, called, and sent cards with words of encouragement. There were also fellow heart patients, past and present, who empathized and spurred John on.

It has taken all of these folks using their expertise, gifting, and care to enable John to recover from a “widow-maker” level heart attack.  Now he can live in relative good health for as long as God ordains.  We thank God for the village He’s provided.

All of this makes me think of the village the Lord has provided for our “spiritual cardiac rehab.”

Through our personal heart relationship with the Lord Christ, we have received a new heart and new spirit, so we are complete in Him.

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you….And I will put my Spirit within you…  Ezekiel 36:26-27

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.  2Cor 5:17

i2 hearts with faces

But while we are living in our broken humanness on this earth, we need our minds, affections, and wills continually renewed.  And in God’s eternal plan in Christ Jesus, it takes a village…the Body of Christ, the community of believers, His church.

Our minds get darkened by the enemy’s lies.  Our affections get wooed by the “sweet-talkin’” world.  Our wills are weakened and pulled away from God and His ways.  And all of this even while we have the indwelling life of God in Christ through the Spirit.

Oswald Chambers (July 12, My Utmost for His Highest) says it well:

THE SPIRITUAL SOCIETY “Till we all come . . unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:13

Rehabilitation means the putting back of the whole human race into the relationship God designed it to be in, and this is what Jesus Christ did in Redemption… The rehabilitation of the human race on Jesus Christ’s plan means the realization of Jesus Christ in corporate life as well as in individual life.

Jesus Christ sent apostles and teachers for this purpose – that the corporate Personality might be realized. We are not here to develop a spiritual life of our own, or to enjoy spiritual retirement; we are here so to realize Jesus Christ that the Body of Christ may be built up. Am I building up the Body of Christ, or am I looking for my own personal development only?

The essential thing is my personal relationship to Jesus Christ – “That I may know Him.” To fulfill God’s design means entire abandonment to Him. Whenever I want things for myself, the relationship is distorted. It will be a big humiliation to realize that I have not been concerned about realizing Jesus Christ, but only about realizing what He has done for me.

So our growth in Christ not for our own spiritual “pleasure.”  We all need each other for our “spiritual cardiac rehab” on this earth.

How does this work?

1. Connect to a community of believers who know and love the Lord, His Word, and His people. Today, there are many options: from small groups to house churches to mega-congregations; from contemporary & casual to formal and even liturgical. The important thing is…where does GOD want you. No matter what you choose, it won’t be perfect. As one Bible teacher I know used to say, “If you find the perfect church, don’t join it…because you’ll ruin it.”

2. Give to & receive from others in the body of Christ. I love the story in John 13 where Jesus washed His disciples feet. Most of us immediately get the lesson that we are to “wash each others’ feet” by serving them. But tucked in that passage is the added lesson that we need to let our feet be washed by our brothers and sisters. When Peter protested about the Lord washing his feet, Jesus responded: Unless I wash you, you have no part with me. John 13:8 It dawned on me one day when reading that verse that perhaps part of what Jesus was saying was…if you don’t let your brothers and sisters serve and minister to you, you are rejecting ME…”no part with ME!”

3. Use whatever gifts the Lord has given to build up one another and glorify God and His grace. One of my favorite Bible words is “manifold.” It means various, multi-colored, variegated (like yarn), multi-faceted (like diamonds)…and it’s used in my favorite verses about spiritual gifts: As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 1Peter 4:10-11

So each of us is a “facet” in the brilliant diamond of God’s glorious grace when we serve in the fulness of the Spirit in the gifting He’s given us.  What a privilege!  And what a protection as we walk through this sin-cursed world.

diamond

Don’t try to do it on your own, dear brothers and sisters.  We need each other in the Body of Christ!  As a friend once said when going through some dark trials in his family, “The Body of Christ is at its best when a believer suffers!”  Why?  Because we are part of each other.   And the Lord’s multi-faceted grace ministers through His people!

reading the Bible

Bible Students:

If you would like to read and study further about spiritual gifts, look at these additional passages:

Romans 12:3-13

1 Cor 12:4-31

Eph 4:7-16

Be sure to note what the goal or purpose (anticipated outcome) of the gifts is in each of these passages.  Our unity in diversity is a beautiful thing to behold!

It Takes a Village...

February is American Heart Month. How appropriate since February is also the month of Valentine's Day, celebrating the heart's favorite emotion -- LOVE. Well, this year American Heart Month takes on new meaning because the "love of my life" had a heart attack six months ago.  So the last six months have brought lots of changes to both of our lives, but especially his.  And cardiac rehab has been a big part of these past six months.  As many heart patients know, cardiac rehab takes a village...

It has taken a village of medical personnel.  There were the paramedics who responded when we called 9-1-1; the doctors who did the heart cath; the nurses who cared for John in the hospital; the physical therapists and technicians who exercised and educated him so he could find his "new normal"...and the list goes on and on.

Then there were the neighbors, family, and friends who prayed, jumped in to help, and emailed, facebooked, called, and sent cards with words of encouragement. There were also fellow heart patients, past and present, who empathized and spurred John on.

It has taken all of these folks using their expertise, gifting, and care to enable John to recover from a "widow-maker" level heart attack.  Now he can live in relative good health for as long as God ordains.  We thank God for the village He's provided.

All of this makes me think of the village the Lord has provided for our "spiritual cardiac rehab."

Through our personal heart relationship with the Lord Christ, we have received a new heart and new spirit, so we are complete in Him.

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you....And I will put my Spirit within you...  Ezekiel 36:26-27

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.  2Cor 5:17

But while we are living in our broken humanness on this earth, we need our minds, affections, and wills continually renewed.  And in God's eternal plan in Christ Jesus, it takes a village...the Body of Christ, the community of believers, His church.

Our minds get darkened by the enemy's lies.  Our affections get wooed by the "sweet-talkin'" world.  Our wills are weakened and pulled away from God and His ways.  And all of this even while we have the indwelling life of God in Christ through the Spirit.

Oswald Chambers (July 12, My Utmost for His Highest) says it well:

THE SPIRITUAL SOCIETY "Till we all come . . unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." Ephesians 4:13

Rehabilitation means the putting back of the whole human race into the relationship God designed it to be in, and this is what Jesus Christ did in Redemption... The rehabilitation of the human race on Jesus Christ's plan means the realization of Jesus Christ in corporate life as well as in individual life.

Jesus Christ sent apostles and teachers for this purpose - that the corporate Personality might be realized. We are not here to develop a spiritual life of our own, or to enjoy spiritual retirement; we are here so to realize Jesus Christ that the Body of Christ may be built up. Am I building up the Body of Christ, or am I looking for my own personal development only?

The essential thing is my personal relationship to Jesus Christ - "That I may know Him." To fulfill God's design means entire abandonment to Him. Whenever I want things for myself, the relationship is distorted. It will be a big humiliation to realize that I have not been concerned about realizing Jesus Christ, but only about realizing what He has done for me.

So our growth in Christ not for our own spiritual "pleasure."  We all need each other for our "spiritual cardiac rehab" on this earth.

How does this work?

1. Connect to a community of believers who know and love the Lord, His Word, and His people. Today, there are many options:  from small groups to house churches to mega-congregations; from contemporary & casual to formal and even liturgical. The important thing is...where does GOD want you.  No matter what you choose, it won't be perfect.  As one Bible teacher I know used to say, "If you find the perfect church, don't join it...because you'll ruin it."  :)
2. Give to & receive from others in the body of Christ. I love the story in John 13 where Jesus washed His disciples feet.  Most of us immediately get the lesson that we are to "wash each others' feet" by serving them. But tucked in that passage is the added lesson that we need to let our feet be washed by our brothers and sisters.  When Peter protested about the Lord washing his feet, Jesus responded: Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.   John 13:8 It dawned on me one day when reading that verse that perhaps part of what Jesus was saying was...if you don't let your brothers and sisters serve and minister to you, you are rejecting ME..."no part with ME!"
3. Use whatever gifts the Lord has given to build up one another and glorify God and His grace. One of my favorite Bible words is "manifold."  It means various, multi-colored, variegated (like yarn), multi-faceted (like diamonds)...and it's used in my favorite verses about spiritual gifts:

   As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

So each of us is a "facet" in the brilliant diamond of God's glorious grace when we serve in the fulness of the Spirit in the gifting He's given us.  What a privilege!  And what a protection as we walk through this sin-cursed world.

Don't try to do it on your own, dear brother and sister.  We need each other in the Body of Christ!  As a friend once said when going through some dark trials in his family, "The Body of Christ is at its best when a believer suffers!"  Why?  Because we are part of each other.   And the Lord's multi-faceted grace ministers through His people!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Bible Students:

If you would like to read and study further about spiritual gifts, look at these passages:

Romans 12:3-13

1 Cor 12:4-31

Eph 4:7-16

Be sure to note what the goal or purpose (anticipated outcome) of the gifts is in each of these passages.  Our unity in diversity is a beautiful thing to behold!