Look and see what God has done

by Laurie Rambo on Nov 30, 2011 in Devotion | 0 comments

Praise the Lord, my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life… I will sing praise to my God as long as I live… How good it is to sing praise to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him! Praise the Lord! I will extol the Lord with all my heart [give thanks with everything I’ve got]… Praise the Lord, you his servants; praise the name of the Lord. Let the name of the Lord be praised both now and forevermore. From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised! -Excerpts from Psalm 146, 147, 111, 112,113

The Psalms in today’s readings all begin with these imperatives to praise the Lord. Each Psalm goes on to tell of the works and nature of God that cause us to praise Him. In the midst of this season of Advent it is good for us to look back and see what God has done, not only in us, but through us, and all around us; to remember His might that brought the world into being and remember His grace that brought us to Jesus. As we remember the sacrifice that Christ made for us, first in humbling Himself, the King of heaven taking on the form of a helpless baby, and then humbling Himself for our sake, to death on the cross.

Ann Voskamp, in her best–selling book One Thousand Gifts, speaks poetically of how our thanksgiving is necessary to a vital Christian life. Some reviewers have criticized her work saying that her emphasis on thanksgiving makes it a requirement for salvation. I think they have misunderstood. In her book, she speaks of how God brought her from a place of brokenness to a place of wholeness in Christ. The fact is that Christ by His life, death and resurrection has done all that is needed to save us and it is only His grace that restores us and makes us holy. It is only right and good that a life of praise and thanksgiving should be the response of one who has been made alive through the precious blood of Christ. It is He who has come to heal the broken-hearted and “lift up those who are bowed down.” Our lives should be a daily outpouring of thanksgiving and praise to the One who poured out Himself for us. He has given us all of Himself and we should give thanks with everything we’ve got!

During this season of Advent, look back on what God has done and through Christ, and because of what He has done, “let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.” Hebrews 13:15

Today’s Readings: Psalm 146, 147, 111, 112, 113, Amos 1:1-5, 13-2:8, 1 Thess 5:1-11, Luke 21:5-19

Laurie Rambo is a past president, board member and active volunteer at Delanco Camp. She hosts a first Friday prayer for the camp each month at her home in Mantua Township.

Put prayer night on your calendar

by Laurie Rambo on Oct 3, 2011 in Upcoming Events | 0 comments

Put prayer night on your calendar!

October 7
November 4
December 2

6:30 p.m. for dinner at the Rambos, followed by a time of prayer for the camp and those connected to the camp. Please rsvp to laurierambo@gmail.com. If you can’t be there, perhaps you could gather some people where you are and join us in prayer for the camp.

Lent Reflections – Resurrection power

by Laurie Rambo on Apr 18, 2011 in Lent Reflections | 0 comments

Today’s Scripture Readings
Psalm 51, 69:1-23
Jer 12:1-16
Phil 3:1-14
John 12:9-19

Once upon a time in a faraway season of life filled with children, homeschooling, church activities and Junior Camp I was involved in a small Bible study taught by a woman who was Titus 2:4 in the flesh. One day, in a more private conversation, she asked what I prayed for myself, what my spiritual goals were on a personal level, not as a wife or mother or Pioneer Club leader. I told her that there were verses from Philippians that had recently been my prayer: “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings…” She told me to be careful how I prayed.

Three months later, on Elisa’s fourth birthday, I received a cancer diagnosis that gave me a 50 percent chance of living to see her fifth birthday. Clearly that was an answer to my prayer as I needed to know Christ and trust Him in a way I had never trusted Him before. And in that He taught me and loved me, and invited me over and over to know Him more… not just know more about Him, but to know Him more deeply. Time and again in our lives, Jesus invites us to know Him intimately even as He knows us.

Psalm 51 in today’s readings reveals how deeply God knows us, and what the psalmist knows of God, the one who knows our sin and still loves us and saves us by His grace. This is how we first know Christ, as Savior. We know Him as our righteousness, our hope. But we cannot stop there. We need to press on in our walk day by day and know Him fully so that we may be transformed into His image. We need to learn to call Him by name through the ups and downs of life as we experience Him as our peace, as our provider, as our strength, our present Lord, our sanctifier. In knowing Him we can share in His resurrection power and share in the suffering that continually refines us and draws us into deeper relationship with Him.

How is it that we know Christ today? Do we know the fellowship of sharing in His suffering? Do we know Him as the Coming King? Do we know His victory? Or perhaps you once proclaimed Him the Christ, the Son of God, and now. like Peter, say, “I don’t know Him.” Do we know Him at camp and forget Him when we are home? Or are we pressing on in knowing Him, press on in understanding who He is, in trusting Him to always be who He says He is, and do what He says He will do? Jesus longs for us to know Him intimately and will faithfully teach us who He is as we give ourselves to Him and seek to know Him even as we are known.

Lent Reflections – Sweetly Broken

by Laurie Rambo on Mar 29, 2011 in Lent Reflections | 1 comment

Today’s Scripture Readings
Psalm 75, 76, 23, 27
Jere 5:20-31
Rom 3:19-31
John 7:1-13

A current contemporary worship song has these words:
In awe of the cross I must confess
how wondrous Your redeeming love and
How great is Your faithfulness.
At the cross You beckon me, You draw me gently to my knees;
I am lost for words, so lost in love, I’m sweetly broken, wholly surrendered.
(“Sweetly Broken” by Jeremy Riddle)

When I think of the great love and faithfulness of God demonstrated on the cross of Christ, the gracious salvation He offered us, it sometimes overwhelms me and brings me to a place of surrender, a place of being so empty before the Lord that I can do nothing unless He fills me with His sweet Spirit.

There have been several pivotal times in my life when I have been brought to that place of brokenness, times when I had to choose complete surrender to God’s will in my life, or choose despair. These have been times when my brokenness left me clinging to God as my rock and my refuge; times when He has so clearly shown me that He alone is my light and my salvation. I’ve learned in those times to pour out my heart to Him for He alone is trustworthy and to wait for Him to show His goodness and faithfulness.

In the midst of this season of Lent, I find myself once again in that place of surrender, clinging to the cross and choosing to trust in God’s goodness and faithfulness. Some of you know that I am the mother of four. My oldest two children have both married people devoted to Jesus and in that devotion both couples have been called to serve Jesus in Uganda, East Africa. Between the two couples, we have four grandsons. After two long years of waiting on God’s timing, and for Him to prepare our hearts for this time of departure, they are all scheduled to leave on May 15.

It is such a deep joy to know that my children want to follow hard after God, no matter where that takes them, but there are times when the grief of the coming separation is almost like a physical blow that literally sends me to my knees. In those moments I have no words, only the confidence that Jesus knows my heart. There on my knees Jesus sweetly breaks my spirit and reminds me of His great love, shown to me on the cross. He reminds me of His constant faithfulness and His goodness and mercy. In those moments I hear this question: If I have been offered such gracious salvation, how can I do less than offer Him all that I am, all that I have even when that means an ocean of separation from my children and watching my grandsons grow up in Africa?

Sweetly broken, on my knees, I wait on the Lord. There He gives me strength to support my children as they make their plans to minister in Africa. Humbled and broken at Jesus’ feet I find the grace to rejoice in their excitement and share as they prepare for this adventure.

All of us face times when life seems to consume and shake us- hard times that make us look hard at our faith and ask ourselves if we truly trust in God and his goodness. During this time of Lent, a time of introspection and self-examination, I would ask, when was the last time that you found yourself sitting at Jesus’ feet, sweetly broken as He gently invites you to draw closer to Him? These times of challenge, moments when we must choose to trust or despair, are Jesus’ personal invitation to us, inviting us to draw closer, to trust more fully and love more deeply, so that our heart is changed. In accepting that invitation we can live wholly surrendered and lost in His love.

First Friday Prayer

by Laurie Rambo on Mar 28, 2011 in Past Events | 0 comments

Dear Friends of the camp,
I would like to invite you to my house to share a meal and a time of prayer for the camp on Friday, April 1. Dinner will be served at approximately 6:30 with a time of prayer following at about 7:30. Please let me know if you can join us, and feel free to invite others who have a burden to pray for the camp. Just let me know if you will be coming so that I can prepare adequately or for address and directions. (laurierambo@gmail.com)

Plan ahead! First Friday Prayer on May 6 will be held at the home of CJ and Carrie Caufield, at Delanco. Watch for more details.