Category: One Focus Blog

Stain Removal

by StephanieBBlake • June 24, 2014

I have two categories of clothing. My work clothing gets so stained that I accept those stains as inevitable and become complacent about them.

I prefer to keep stains out of my good clothing. When one appears, it is best to remove it as soon as possible. The longer a stain stays in fabric, the harder it is to get out. Thankfully, often putting the item under running water will remove the stain.

There are many stain removal products on the market. In every case, the instructions state that the fresher the stain, the easier it is to remove.

Sin is the stain that separates us from God. No matter how hard we try, we cannot remove it on our own. Only Jesus, the Living Water, can do that. His sacrificial death on the cross, the shedding of His blood on our behalf, cleanses those who trust in Him. …Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:25-27).

Christ’s blood completely and eternally cleanses His disciples. Christians still need to be diligent about removing anything that interferes with their relationship with God. On this road of life, Jesus said we need to wash our feet. Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you” (John 13:10).

It is possible for a child of God to treat sins – anything displeasing to God – like I do the stains on my work clothes – ignore them and become complacent. Just as I need to continually examine my good clothes for stains, my “sin” laundry needs to be examined as well and dealt with immediately. The longer I wait, the harder it is.

… but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:7-9).

One Focus Blog

Drone Images

by StephanieBBlake • June 12, 2014

Viewing Nova’s “Rise of the Drones” perked my interest and caused me to do a little extended research.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or drones come in various shapes and sizes. Although generally controlled by someone on the ground, they can also be operated by onboard computers.

The Robobee – weighing less than a tenth of a gram and half the size of a paper clip – was designed to help with the declining bee population. These robot bees would be capable of flower pollination, climate mapping, traffic monitoring and surveillance. uav-delfly-explorer-afp-lg

The Dragonfly DelFly (another very small drone) has a vision system consisting of a tiny computer and two cameras. The computer processes the images from those cameras in much the same way humans do, essentially giving it 3D vision. Intended uses include everything from detecting ripe fruit in greenhouses, mapping abandoned buildings to masquerading as fairies at a theme park.

U.S. Air Force 030813-F-XX000-006.JPG

The most recognizable and combat-proven Unmanned Aircraft System is the Predator. It is the first weaponized UAS, features precision air-to-ground weapons delivery capability and is extremely reliable. Its performance is greatly enhanced by its Electro-optical/Infrared video cameras. However, those cameras have a limited field of view and details of key objects can be lost when objects get out of range.

The Argus-IS (Autonomous Real-Time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance Imaging System) moves several steps forward. Its highly defined camera – developed by combining 368 imagining chips (like those in a cell phone camera) – results in a 1.8 billion pixel image stream. It can be attached to the belly of an UAV like the Predator resulting in an incredibly detailed view of a large area such as a medium size city. From 17,500 feet up (roughly equal to 3-½ miles), objects as small as 6″ can be seen. On display, it is possible to open a window showing a detailed area while still maintaining the broader context.

Scientists will continue to develop highly refined cameras that can see smaller objects from longer distances with clarity. Regardless of one’s opinion of the desirability of this kind of surveillance, it is here and will inevitably be used for good and for bad.

I try to remember that what I see is just part of the picture. There is a broader context to my life and yours. God sees everything – big and small. We are never out of range. His perspective is unique. At the same time, He knows every detail and the whole story – the beginning and the end. His purposes are pure and good. I’m grateful He is in control.

“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to who we must give account” (Heb. 4:13, NIV).

One Focus Blog

Weeds or Flowers?

by StephanieBBlake • May 28, 2014

Yard maintenance is a must in the spring – especially in the flower gardens. If a few days go by before I work on removing weeds, they can easily overtake the plants I want to keep. Unfortunately, there have been times I have waited too long. Occasionally when I pull a weed, a good plant comes out with it. Their roots had become intertwined. I also have learned that I must dispose of the weeds by bagging them up for trash removal or burning them. If I just toss them aside, I have to deal with them again later.

I have noticed that not everyone pulls the same plants as weeds. I was at a friend’s house recently and her garden had several plants in it that I pull out of mine. On occasion, my husband will call something a weed that I thought was a flower.

So…some weeds are flowers to some people and some flowers are weeds to others! It takes knowledge and a discerning eye to know the difference.

I guess it is a matter of personal preference and what kind of garden you want to have. It is a case of “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

God does not have the same issues we do with our gardens. He knows exactly which items should be destroyed and which ones should be kept. He is, for now, allowing them to grow together. When harvest time comes, He has readied an army of angels with discerning eyes to sort them all out.

“The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’

He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let them grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.’ (Matthew 13:24-30).

One Focus Blog

Perfect Timing

by StephanieBBlake • May 12, 2014

I have been fascinated with the range of photographs that have been included in collections of perfect timing images. A photograph taken in the right place at the right time at a great angle can have some surprising results.

Some pictures taken of an animal and a person give the illusion of an animal head on a human body because of the position of the animal. Some are pictures with surprise backgrounds – such as the Olympic rings sitting on top of the moon or a man appearing to step onto the moon.

Some pictures presented in a string of perfect timing photos were actually accidentally timed that way. The photographer was surprised at the image he caught with his camera. He may have been unaware of something in the background or that he was catching a special reflection. Occasionally the surprise was in the foreground such as the comical image of a ground squirrel becoming the focus of a “selfie” of a vacationing couple. The squirrel popped into the shot at the last moment. His image was crystal clear and the couple’s image was cloudy.

I even surprised myself when I was playing around with the camera feature on my e-reader and took a picture with the setting sun making a beautiful reflection on the water. Two things were surprising about this photograph. I’m a terrible photographer and the picture was taken backwards because the camera on the Kindle Fire is basically designed to be used with SKYPE (or maybe to take a “selfie”).

Other perfect timing photos have been painstakingly orchestrated. The NASA telescopes have produced some amazing images, but the personnel sometimes waited for months or years to get exactly what they wanted.

Discovery in Orbit
Discovery’s cargo bay over Earth’s horizon was photographed by one of the seven STS-114 crew members as the Shuttle approached the International Space Station.
Credit: NASA

What is not accidental is God’s timing. In our impatience, we may think He is not working or that He has forgotten about a specific need or request of ours. The truth is, His timing is always perfect. His timing may be a surprise to us, but it is not to Him.

You may pray for years about something just to realize that if He had given it to you before the right time, everything else would have been all wrong. He can coordinate perfect timing for you, your family, your friends and everyone else all at once.

When I am tempted to think that God is not working or is late, I remember that He has a totally different perspective that I do. I am slowly learning to trust His timing.

Chaos at the Heart of Orion
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/STScI

To every thing there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven…I said in my heart, ‘God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time there for every purpose and every work’ (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 17). My times are in Your hand (Psalm 31:15a). But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:31). NKJV.

One Focus Blog

Precious Nails

by StephanieBBlake • April 17, 2014

Nails are so common today few people realize how precious they once were. Although I sometimes think a box of nails is expensive, at one time they were valuable enough to be used as a medium of exchange. Until the 18th century nails were made by hand using a very slow process. A fairly common practice during those days was to burn down an old house in order to retrieve the nails. They were that scarce.

In 1794 Thomas Jefferson added a nailmaking operation to his blacksmith shop at Monticello. In 1795, he wrote a letter to Jean Nicolas Demeunier informing him of this new enterprise. “In our private pursuits it is a great advantage that every honest employment is deemed honorable. I am myself a nail-maker…. My new trade of nail-making is to me in this country what an additional title of nobility or the ensigns of a new order are in Europe.”

Jefferson purchased one of the first nail cutting machines in 1796. Several inventors spent large sums of money producing various cutting machines. It has been estimated these men spent over $1,000,000 before a machine made in 1810 was able to produce about 100 nails per minute.

Cut nails are still being used, but after the invention of a wire-nail-making machine in 1851, wire nails are common today because they are so much cheaper. Nails went from being rare and precious to being mass-produced and relatively inexpensive. That fact enables my husband to buy them to build or repair something.

Satan intended the nails that pierced Jesus on the cross to destroy His life, but they were really used to create new life for those of us who trust Him. Jesus took my place on the cross. Through His blood He repaired the relationship between God and man that was marred when sin entered the world (Colossians 1:13-23). Without His allowing those nails to penetrate His innocent hands and feet, I would be facing judgment. Those nails cost Him dearly but it was a price He was willing to pay for my salvation – and yours.

Those nails represent God’s sacrificial love and eternal life. They are most precious to me.

As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so continue to live in him….When you were spiritually dead because of your sins and because you were not free from the power of your sinful self, God made you alive with Christ, and he forgave all our sins. He canceled the debt, which listed all the rules we failed to follow. He took away that record with its rules and nailed it to the cross. God stripped the spiritual rulers and powers of their authority. With the cross, he won the victory and showed the world that they were powerless (Colossians 2:6, 13-15 NCV).

One Focus Blog

The Culture Mix

by StephanieBBlake • April 7, 2014

Years ago, when my husband and I were driving along the coastline on the island of Oahu, Hawaii we saw a small kiosk on the side of the road called “Pablo Goldstein’s Taco Stand.” For some reason, a man with a Hispanic first name and a Jewish last name selling tacos on the tropical island of Oahu struck me as a little humorous.

In many countries where we travel for ministry, we teach among a cultural mix. Several times, I have spoken to women’s groups and asked them how many different nationalities were represented. The results have been as little as three and as many as twenty-something. I am always amazed at how well people with different backgrounds blend together.

Of course, that is not always true. The news and history are filled with stories of cultural clashes. Wars have been fought and borders have been redrawn because of those differences.

After the Second World War, the United Nations was established for the purpose of promoting international co-operation. Hopefully, because of the United Nations, some conflicts have been held in check, but even with 193 member states, cultural conflicts continue throughout the world.

The difference, I believe, in looking past cultural differences and working together or having those differences become a source of conflict is based in one’s attitude toward mankind as governed by a belief system. When I am traveling and teaching, it is among Christians. Christ came to save all men and women.

International groups and churches that I have been a part of certainly have had adjustment issues, but because of Christ, they were usually worked out. Often, the mix of cultures gives an interesting flavor to the worship services. In some churches, for example, the music teams are rotated between different cultural groups.

My life has been greatly enriched by exposure to cultures other than my own.

For God so loved the world that He gave HIs only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28). Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him” (Acts 10:34-35).

One Focus Blog

Big Little Things

by StephanieBBlake • March 29, 2014

Life is full of the little things. The momentous occurs occasionally, but the mundane, the little things, happen every day.

It is the small things that can erode a relationship. Many couples who go in for counseling have a list of small things that have irritated them for years about their spouse. “He always does…” “He never does…” “She always says…” “She never thinks…” “Why can’t he…?” “Why can’t she…?”

Little things add up. If you neglect to take care of yourself each day – no exercise, an undisciplined diet, fail to brush your teeth or take a bath – eventually it will catch up with you. If you do not pick up after yourself, wash your dishes or your clothes, clean your floors, etc., the result could be an uninviting place for you to live and others to visit.

Col. Chris Hadfield, who wrote An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, advises one to “sweat the small stuff.” During jet training, he blew a ride. Thankfully, although it was very unusual, the instructor only gave him a warning and did not demand a re-ride (which would have been a black mark on his record). After that incident, Col. Hadfield tried to figure out what had happened. He said the problem was that he had already decided he was a pretty good pilot, good enough that he did not need to fret over every detail. That near re-ride made him rethink his position. He said if you are striving for excellence – there’s no such thing as over-preparation. He said, “In my next line of work, it wasn’t even optional. An astronaut who doesn’t sweat the small stuff is a dead astronaut….It’s all small stuff.”

Don’t neglect the little things. They can become very big indeed.

Solomon gives an example of how the little things can sneak up on you “like a prowler.”

I went by the field of the lazy man, and by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding; and there it was, all overgrown with thorns; its surface was covered with nettles; its stone wall was broken down. When I saw it, I considered it well; I looked on it and received instruction; a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest; so shall your poverty come like a prowler, and your need like an armed man (Proverbs 24:30-34).

One Focus Blog

All About Family

by StephanieBBlake • March 11, 2014

We are all family oriented. If our childhood family experiences were positive, most of us adapted to adulthood without major psychological or emotional issues. If childhood experiences were negative, many of us feel we missed out on what we should have had.

Everyone wants to be part of a caring, nurturing family.

When we have a family of our own, we make a choice. We can duplicate what was modeled before us as children, good or bad, or we can use those examples as a springboard and modify our own behavior to become the spouse and parents we think we should be.

Family members have an incredible amount of influence on our lives. Even now as a grandmother, comments my father, mother or sister said when I was younger keep ringing in my ears. It is my responsibility to sort through them. Some of those comments were good advice. Some were not.

God is all about family. He created the first family and gives guidelines in His word about how to relate to and show love to family members. He identifies Himself as our heavenly Father and Jesus calls Himself our brother. All followers of Christ are part of His family.

So, my family members include those with a common DNA as well as those who share in my trust in Jesus Christ as Savior.

For several years, I have been a penpal with someone in another nation. We have exchanged emails, letters, gifts and pictures, but we have never met face to face. I know I will someday meet her because we belong (as she put it) to an international family. If we do not meet this side of Heaven, we will meet there.

My family also spans the ages. Every child of God is part of my family. One day, I will have the opportunity to speak with Abraham, Moses, Elijah and David. I am looking forward to visiting with Mary, the mother of Jesus. I want to meet Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Andrew Murray, C.S. Lewis, Betsy and Corrie ten Boom and A.W. Tozer. I know I will have the chance because they are all my brothers and sisters.

God really is all about family – earthly and eternal.

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name; who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:12-13). Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the children of God! (1 John 3:1).

One Focus Blog

The Benefits of Cover

by StephanieBBlake • February 13, 2014

I think a lot about the English word “cover” – especially in winter. Possibly because I am so cold natured, I am always looking for a cover – a blanket, coat, sweater, or jacket – just about anything to keep the warmth close to my body. When it is cold enough, I even want to cover my head with a hat, my neck with a scarf and my hands with gloves.

I am a writer and a reader and pay attention to book covers.The cover protects the pages of a printed book from damage and covers – even e-book covers – should give a good clue as to what is inside.

A covering may be physical or figurative. What is covered generally benefits from support or protection.

I know of churches and people’s homes where there are no walls or just one wall. The main part of the structure is just a covering. The tin roof helps protect against the elements.
Many people are covered by an insurance policy that should come through if their house is damaged, their automobile is in an accident or they have health issues.
Paint can cover stains, flaws and hairline cracks on a wall.
Temporary workers cover for employees on holiday leave.
People may “head for cover” when a tornado strikes – in a storm shelter if they have one.
Although I am cold natured, I am often grateful for a cloud cover when working outside in the hot summer. My skin and eyes need protection from the glaring sun.
A policeman may go “under cover” in order to expose crime.

There are also spiritual implications.

Just like a false storefront that is a cover for an illegal operation, Satan attempts to cover up his true intentions by masquerading as an angel of light. A believer should be able to recognize his deceptive ways because God’s Spirit exposes him.

Without God as our covering, we are on our own – stuck in a life of sin without protection from the dangers of this world.

Thank God, His covering brings salvation, refuge and joy.

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered…. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge. His truth shall be your shield and buckler (Psalm 32:1; 91:4). I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10).

One Focus Blog

Dependable Power Grid

by StephanieBBlake • January 30, 2014

I travel to many countries where electricity is undependable.

In one country, for instance, it is so unreliable that even the hotel rooms are without power for several hours during the day. The hotels may have generators but they won’t run them very often because of the expense. When my husband and I stayed in a hotel for two weeks, I couldn’t understand why it went dark every afternoon. I finally learned from a shop proprietor (not from someone in the hotel) that this was deliberate. They were trying to save electricity!

Not only was it inconvenient, but the power was actually tied to our hot water source as well. My husband was speaking every evening and wanted to take a shower before leaving for the conference, but there was never any hot water. Finally I complained and a hotel attendant appeared at the door with a bucket of hot water! That’s what they expected him to use to bathe with. That situation never got fixed. We had to learn to live with it.

In another country, lights turned off and on periodically. That’s when our host laughed and said, “Electricity is regularly irregular here.” As we toured through the city, he showed us power lines leading into apartment buildings. They were not only a mangled mess, but he said that the tenants were expert at learning whose line was whose and theft of someone else’s electricity was common.

Even in well developed countries like America, an ice storm, tornado or hurricane can wreck havoc with the power grid. I have had food spoil in a refrigerator and had to light candles to see at night during such storms.

Thankfully, what I know I can depend on is God’s power. His Holy Spirit is never weakened by inadequate power or theft. What He requires us to do He will provide the power to accomplish it. Praise Him and His wonderful power source!

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8). … and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power… (Ephesians 1:19).

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