Day 23 Sharing My Faith Story

I'm just doing what Jesus told me to do.  Like the disciples untying  a donkey.  It doesn't make sense but this is what God said to do.  Many people ask, what are you doing? I'm just following instructions and being obedient to what Christ asked me to do.

I can't share about this past year without talking about my personal relationship with Christ.  I don't know why God choose me to get cancer. I do know that it has deepened my faith and my relationships to those I am closest to.

Psalm 73:28  I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge and I will tell of all His works.

I vowed at the beginning of this journey to not waste my cancer. So it would not be right for me to take this opportunity to give you an opportunity to accept the free gift of salvation.  So that you too can have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  God's love is so big, so crazy, so consuming.  He desires a relationship with you.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Romans 6:23  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 3:3  I tell you the truth no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.

John 14:6  I am the way the truth and the life. No noe comes to the Father except through me.

Romans 10:9-11  That is if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Revelation 3:20  Here I am!  I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me.

Pray with me:
Admit
Believe
Confess

Please let me know if you prayed this for the first time!

Day 22 Be Thankful

Life is messy.  Stuff happens.  Words are spoken that you can't take back.  Circumstances are UN-controllable.  Here is a definition I like for thanksgiving:  Thanksgiving is the evidence of our acceptance of whatever He gives -- thanksgiving is the manifestation of our yes to His grace.  It's choosing the have a thankful heart and live in a way that reflects gratitude regardless of circumstances -- yes, even cancer!

1 Thessalonians 5:16  Be joyful always. Pray continually.  Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

I'm still learning this.  But the crazy thing is this: discovering joy and the freedom that comes from having a thankful heart is changing me.  I am learning to not complain and to recognize the things I can not change.  All means all.  All the time we are to be thankful -- you can fill in the blank...

Day 21 Renew Strength & Grow Stronger

This last year has been like having a sabbatical.  All of my so called "normal" every-day chores were just impossible for me to accomplish.  I had to learn to let go of my to-do's and hang onto God in a brand new way.  I did a lot of waiting.  I did a lot of counting.  I counted days.  My days consisted of waiting till the next treatment or lab results...waiting.

Isaiah 40:29  God gives strength to the weary and he increases the power of the weak.

12 rounds of chemotherapy later I have learned what it means to wait on the Lord.  Through it all I discovered I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13).  It's not about me, but about Christ in me, that's how I made it through...daily...moment by moment.

Day 20 Wrestle

I have learned it's okay to ask the hard questions.  Why me? Why now?  One must come to a place in their own personal spiritual journey and accept the sovereignty of God.  He is good -- all the time.

Ask God  questions like, Isaiah 40:27 Why do you say O Jacob and complain, O Israel, my ways are hidden from the Lord, my cause is disregarded by my God.?  Another words, ahhh God it's me..don't you see me?  Well don't you see that I have a life going on right now, a son to take care of, chores, friends and family...I'm busy!  They say it's cancer God...Don't you see my pain?

"The only ones we can rest in God are the ones who have wrestled with God...I will not let go until you bless me...There is no tighter embrace than the grip of the wrestle." Ann Voskamp

Day 19 Trials

Trials are an opportunity to prove the faithfulness of God in our lives.  Cancer has been the hardest thing I've had to face in my life.  I've heard it said that God won't give us more than we can handle.  I don't believe this anymore.  I think He gives us more so that we can reflect Him and His power to others.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves received from God.

Ephesians 3:20 To Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us.

This gives us the opportunity to share with others the power given to us by Christ.  It doesn't make sense to those of the world.  A believer has the ability to rise above their cicumstances and even display joy and peace.  This is only possible when an investment in the Kingdom has been made.  By this I am reffering to spending time in the Word.

Psalm 1:1-3 "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.  He shall be a like tree planted by rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season.  Whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper."   

Picture the tree, standing tall next to the river.  It's roots go down deep, tapping into a vast water resource for nourishment.  When the wind blows it is not moved.  When storms pass by it's leaves do not wither.  In the right season it bears fruit.  This is a picture of a believer.  During the good and bad times growth is going on beneath the surface.  The roots of a believer are sinking deeper into the Word.  The Living Water quenches all thirst. Now the storm begins.  The believer is unmoved and stands strong.  More amazing than just being able to stand is the demeanor of the believer.  They have an unexplainable joy lifting them above circumstances.    This joy is a fruit. This peace is a fruit.

Good berean's know all about God's character and are able to let His overwhelming glory override the pain of their circumstances.  True happiness is controlled by your allegiance.  Having an allegiance to Christ gives you the golden ticket to true happiness despite the presence or absence of storms in your life.

Day 18 Laugh

Laugh.  Yes learn to laugh at yourself.  Laugh at life.  Live to enjoy each moment.

So Cal look at baseball game

Dustin always  makes me laugh!

Kisses from the Lab!

Having a squirt gun fight

Day 17 How to Answer the Question of Why

Do you have unanswered prayers?  Do you ask why to God?  I have and I still do.  There is no problem in asking the why questions.  We may never totally understand or even get an answer this side of heaven.  The one thing I have learned is the answer to all the whys lies totally upon Jesus Christ.   I know this sounds rather obvious to most of us.  The reality is it is true and I will prove it. When we can't see through the fog, the pain and frustrations we must trust in His abundant love for us.  I have spent many hours sitting with my Bible open, pen in hand and journal laid upon my lap.  Searching and reading and re-reading the words over and over.  Trying to find answers to my deepest hurts.  The hurts that keep you awake at night.  The pain that suffocates your ability to put one foot in front of the other.  The constant nagging of circumstances.  Yes I have been there.  We have an amazing story in the Bible about real people who experienced unanswered prayers, long nights and family drama.  I am referring to Lazarus, Mary and Martha.

Read John 11

After reading this passage of scripture I have many more questions rather than answers.  Why did Jesus wait so long to go to this family?  Why did Martha run out of the house and meet Jesus, while Mary sat inside?  Ultimately we learn from this story that Jesus' ways are just plain different than our ways.  He ultimately had a purpose for everyone involved to see how His ways work best.  To the disciples who didn't want to travel back to Judea, for fear of being stoned to death to raising a man from the grave.  Jesus had a plan.  It was a great plan.  His timing is always best.  It did not seem like it to this town and certainly not to Martha and Mary.  Why would Jesus let their brother die?  Jesus loved Lazarus.  Even Jesus was moved to weep over his death.  Yet He was here on earth to do the will of the Father who sent Him.  The purpose of Lazarus death was to prove to those questioning His authority that Jesus Christ had power even over death! So that they would believe in the resurrection power of Christ.  One of the great "I Am" statements in the book of John is penned in the twenty-fifth verse. 

"Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live." And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" John 11:25-26

I am sure the 4 days leading up to Jesus arrival were filled with why questions and no answers.  For both Mary and Martha say to Jesus when he does arrive, if only you had been here. What Mary and Martha did not know during the previous four days is that Jesus was there.  He was waiting for the perfect time to arrive to make a case and display His power.  When I am tempted to dwell on the why questions I must force myself to focus on the character of Jesus.  To know His heart and accept His will.  He is all about love and wanting what is best for me.  That doesn't mean it turns out the way I think it should.  I am forced over and over to to catch myself in this why game, then I stop myself and remember Jesus words to the Father:

 "And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said [this], that they may believe that You sent Me." John 11:42

Jesus does things according to what the Father wants.  The words of my why questions fade.  I realize Jesus lives to intercede on my behalf to the Father. (See Hebrew 7:25) I want His will.  Lazarus was in the grave four days, yet he lived again.  I'd say that is a huge answer to a why.  So others would believe in Jesus.  So maybe when some of my whys don't turn out the way I think or they just take too long, it's because God wants others to believe Him through my "death."  I say "death" not meaning in a literal sense but just plug in whatever circumstance you are questioning. Others see my life and have opportunity of their own to draw closer to the Father or turn away.  I hope and pray that through the experiences I have been through others are encouraged to draw closer to the Father.