NCFI Cares

bi-monthly devotions for health care providers through NCFI

NCFI Cares: Heavenly Promises

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Our seal of the Holy Spirit not only secures us as God’s own possession, it is also a deposit or down payment for our future inheritance (Ephesians 1:11-14). Our inheritance is eternal life or heaven as described in Revelation 21:1-4 and other scriptures. Even though, we are heavenly bound and hope for our eternity with Jesus Christ, it is hard to stay eternally focused. We can become weighed down by current troubles. Conflicts with coworkers, overwhelming workload of patient care and administrative duties are combined with the daily grind of caring for families and managing a household. Instead of having a spring in our step from the promised joy of eternity, we collapse into bed at night from exhaustion. We can also become distracted by the Lord’s abundant provisions and not really look longingly for an eternity with Jesus.

Billy Graham in his book, Death and the Afterlife shares his personal thoughts on living today while in expectation of our future:  “I’m not afraid to die, for I know the joys of heaven are waiting. My greatest desire is to live today in anticipation of tomorrow and be ready to be welcomed into His home for all eternity. Will you be making the journey with me?” (p. 192)

May this heartfelt insight and rich wisdom guide our hearts and minds in fixing our hope on the Lord’s heavenly promise.

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NCFI Cares: Our Seal of Hope

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An amazing miracle happens every time a person comes to salvation through Jesus Christ. They receive a mark or seal. In an instant, they not only receive righteousness through the forgiveness of sins, they also receive the seal of the Holy Spirit. As one bible expert explains, this is a seal of ownership (Eph. 1:13-14). Like a seal on a document in New Testament times the mark identifies and indicates its owner, who would “protect” the document. So too, in salvation, the Holy Spirit confirms Christians are identified with Christ and are God’s property, protected by Him (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

This infinite marking, unseen by human eyes, provides evidence of our true identity in Christ Jesus. We may have doubts about our relationship with God or may be fearful. No matter what feelings or experiences we have, we can stand in confidence that we are the Lord’s precious child. In Psalm 139, the writer contemplates all the places he might hide from the Holy Spirit. He concludes by saying, “you will be there…your right hand would grab hold of me” (vs 7-11). This touching assurance of our security is a recount of our intimate relationship with the Lord. For the Lord not only seals us as his possession, he secures us as blessed children.

Prayer: “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” amen (Romans 15:13)

NCFI Cares: Our Radical Hope

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       The room is quiet as Jesus communicates his final instructions to the disciples. He senses the anxiety and insecurity of those he has called “friends” for the last three years. As Jesus works through the important points he knows the disciples’ world will be turned upside down with his torture, death and resurrection. In the years to come, they will face persecution and suffering as they live out his gospel message. Jesus is not only concerned about the disciples future he is providing important instructions for future generations of followers. Thus, Jesus assures them by saying, “I will not leave you as orphans. I will be with you always.”(John 14:18) How can Jesus ensure his continued presence? “For I am sending the Helper, who speaks for me.”(John 14:25)

            This radical hope is the Holy Spirit. He is our promised Helper, Counselor and Advocate. The disciples waited until Pentecost to receive their promised Advocate, yet we receive our Helper immediately with salvation. Our hope rests on knowing that we are never alone. We don’t need to run to gurus nor prophets to understand what the God of the Universe wants for us. Instead we go to scripture where the Holy Spirit brings to our heart and mind truth, teachings, and the way of righteousness (Ephesians 1:13, John 14:25-28). We should seek out pastors and mature believers to guide us in living out these truths while depending upon the discernment of the Holy Spirit to illuminate individuals as a community of believers and the body of Christ (I Corinthians 2: 10-15; 12:13,27). This is truly the miracle of Emmanuel, God with us. As we seek to reveal the teachings of Jesus in our personal and professional lives, we are secured in the radical hope of the Holy Spirit’s continued presence.

Prayer:  “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” amen (Romans 15:13)

NCFI Cares: Our Confident Hope

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            One of our first hopes as Christians is the hope of our
salvation through Jesus Christ. As sinners, we come to Christ with nothing to
offer, yet needing so much. Similar to a patient needing medical care, we
present our self to Christ bearing many wounds and illnesses. Some of us come
from previous life experiences that left us bruised and broken; some of us come
from other religions where the worship and practices of various philosophies
and beliefs have caused trauma and scarring. Or, some of us come carrying the
heavy weight of good works and righteous behaviors found in religiosity. None
of us come healthy. We are all in need of the sacrificial blood of forgiveness
and healing.

Then
through God’s perfect timing, we accept the free gift of salvation through the
redemptive work of Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:19-23); and experience the
completeness of forgiveness. We now possess a changed heart, a new life, and a
restored relationship with God the Father.

         Unlike other
gods, healers, and self-help ideals that offer shame, fear, and insecurity, our
gift of salvation pulls us off the treadmill of self and works to rest in the
confidence of our Savior. We stand firm that “It is finished!”

Prayer:  “Now may the
God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound
in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)

NCFI Cares: FaitHope

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         I recently wrote an article for Journal of Christian Nursing entitled the Importance of Hope (April-June, 2014) reminding nurses of the hope we have as Christians. Through NCFI cares devotional, I will be discussing in-depth the facets of our Christian hope found in scripture.

            Whenever we think of the concept of hope in Christianity we start with Jesus, our redemptive Messiah–the source of all hope. While doing research on hope, I discovered Jesus did not necessarily teach on hope–for he is Hope. As one Bible scholar puts it—Jesus is certainty! Instead, Jesus taught and demonstrated why we should believe in him as the hope for all mankind (John 3:14-16); as well as how to live out Hope found in him.

            Which brings up an important point, scripture melds faith and hope together. Faith without hope is meaningless; whereas, hope without faith is fleeting like the weather. As Romans 8:24-25 teaches “For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with endurance.”

            As we seek to bring hope to our patients, families, and colleagues, we need to first merge our faith and hope into one. Do we truly believe the promises found in God’s word? Or are they religious statements dry from overuse? Are we a hopeful person, community, family? In other words, if your family and friends were questioned, would they say you are hopeful and confident in trusting God the Father to provide, like the birds of the fields? Inspiring hope for our patients begins with us rooted in the firm foundation of the Alpha and the Omega and the promises found in scripture (Revelation 22:13).

Blessings, Carrie

Importance of Hope article in JCN

Importance of Hope

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JCN cover        If someone were to ask you, “What is the one word to describe Christianity?” How would you respond? You might say Jesus, love, or trust, but would you use the word hope? I have to admit, I would not have previously explained  Christianity using the word of hope.
Hope is the basis of Christianity, for without the death and resurrection of Christ, our faith is meaningless and we are without hope (1 Corinthians 15:4).
The article “Importance of Hope” in the Journal Christian Nursing  can be a basis for a bible study for building a strong foundation of hope in Christ and in the promises of God:
  • look up each scripture cited in the article
  • spend time in prayer and meditation
  • seek the Lord to open your heart and mind to the truth contained in the passage
  • explore ways to live out hope personally and professionally
  • examine your life for areas of insecurity, worry, fear etc (evidences of a lack of hope)
  • conclude your time by thanking the Lord for his hope, rooted and found in Him
NCFI Cares will be encouraging international nurses to “overflow with hope” (Romans 15:13) with devotionals exploring the facets of hope. You can receive NCFI Cares via NCFI facebook page,  subscribing to the category NCFI Cares, or follow me on Twitter!
My prayer for you:
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13), amen.

NCFI Cares: 40 Days of Kindness

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Depending on your
faith tradition, you may mark the 40 day Lenten season by fasting from food or
refraining from a specific pleasurable activity (no chocolate, no watching,
t.v, etc). At the same time, when we seek to somehow impart the love and grace
of Christ louder during this season, the sacrifice of doing something positive
can impact our colleagues and patients. In fact, these simple acts of kindness
with purposeful presence exemplify the living Christ (Ephesians 5:1). Thus,
instead of just sacrificing our personal pleasures, lets reach-out daily for
the work of Christ during Lent.
The
following are suggestions to be done daily–choose one!
  • simple
    acts of kindness to your colleagues (helping, completing a task, buying a
    coffee or tea, etc…)
  • a
    private prayer for every patients, students, colleagues in your care
  • pray for
    NCFI daily OR pray for one person in your region every day!
  • use
    social media, texting, email, etc to share/send a kind word
  • say a
    kind word to someone (let the Holy Spirit bring them to you!)

      The above list is just a sampling, thus feel free to do
something else. These acts are also, not a substitute for how you participate
in the Lenten season through your church. Instead, it is a way to open our
heart to new ways the Lord works in our lives while sacrificing personal
comfort (Lamentations 3:22-23)

Grace & Peace,

Carrie

NCFI Cares: One More Tool

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As nurses we encounter times when we have run out of healing
interventions. Chemotherapy and radiation are no longer working for a patient with
cancer; or a dying patient is suffering in pain. Medical and surgical
interventions have been exhausted to save a victim of severe trauma or drowning.
All our resources and skills will not save an unborn child and mother. Or the apparently
hopeless client who has countless readmission’s for substance abuse, depression,
or schizophrenia.

Whenever these and other desperate situations occur, we can
remember there is still a tool left in our box of nursing supplies. This tool gets
buried under innovative technologies, complex surgical procedures, and evidence
based interventions. The tool is just as effective today as it was in Genesis,
yet the tool is used less. This is especially true where medical advancements
pave the way for a quicker, more efficient healing.  As nurses, we may forgo honing the skill for
using this tool, for more certifications and degrees. Yes, knowledge has pushed
this tool down to the bottom of patient care treatments. Even though this tool
is an integral part of our Christian faith it may not even be in our nursing tool
box or part of our personal life.

Have you guessed what the tool is? Prayer—lets reach down
into our tool box of nursing knowledge, skills, and procedures, and bring it to
the top. For then we will be reminded to use it first instead of last. (James
5:15 The prayer of faith will heal the sick)

NCFI Cares: God is Love

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  1 John 4:8 tells us that God is love. We intellectually know
this truth. We memorize verses and sing praises of God’s love. We pray for his
love to penetrate our soul and reach through our heart and hands to touch
others. At times, as we experience earthly trials our prayers for love come
from desperation for healing. One way we can bring the living word beyond our
mind is to personalize God’s word. Here are my changes to 1 Corinthians 13:4-8:

            Heavenly Father is patient and kind. He is
not envious. Almighty does not brag, nor is He puffed up. Adonai is not rude, nor
self-serving, Elohim is not easily angered nor does He keep records of wrong
doings. Most High is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth. LORD bears
all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. YAHWEH
never ends.

            Rest in the promise of God’s
word which reveals the reality of how comprehensive God’s love is. My prayer
personal prayer for each of you is … “may ________ (insert your name)
comprehend with all the saints, what is breadth and length and height and depth
is the love of Christ, so that ______ (insert your name) may be filled up with
the fullness of God!” (Eph 3:18-19)

Grace & Peace

Carrie 

NCFI Cares: Our Christmas Miracle

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Luke 1:35 The angel spoke to Mary, “The Holy Spirit will
come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.”

It was the most joyous miracle! God came upon a young woman
and created a child. Not just a human being, but the incarnate of God himself.
This amazing miracle we celebrate every Christmas is the manifestation of the
same Holy Spirit that indwells within each of us. We may not become pregnant
and be so honored to parent the Holy One (thank goodness!), but the Holy Spirit
comes into our lives and performs miracles.

This Christmas season, my prayer for you is two-fold: First,
that the Lord would manifest himself in each of you in amazing ways. Each one
of us need something, a miracle, that only our Lord can supply. The second part
of my prayer is that we would recognize this miracle. Miracles happen every
day, as all health care providers can testify to. Yet, many times we miss the
seemingly little miracles: a changed heart, a kind word, a met need and a
triumph over sin. Open your heart and mind to the daily miracles in your life
this season while celebrating the most amazing miracle!

Merry Christmas from everyone at NCFI!

p.s. better late than never