Day 413 Be Careful What You Ask For

Probably not many people find much humor in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament.  This morning I was studying Numbers and I had to stop and laugh out loud.   God's response to the people of Israel was so unexpected to me and yet so typical of any parent.

Let me set the stage.   Poor Moses is in charge of over 600,000 men plus women and children.  That alone is an improbable task.  They've left Egypt and been camped at Mt. Sinai for over a year and have finally completed the Tabernacle under God's direction and are starting to move toward the land that God promised their forefathers.  Can you imagine the number of whining complaints that Moses had to deal with every day?  But God always provided.  When they were thirsty and whined to Moses, God provided sweet clear water.   When they were hungry and complained to Moses, God provided manna six days a week with extra for the seventh.  Now, after months of a steady diet of manna, they were back at Moses' tent with more complaints.  Moses was so worn out from all the complaints that he told God to just take him then because he couldn't stand it any longer.  It was his sort of "Calgon, take me away" moment.

The children of Israel wanted meat.  They were sick of manna.  They wanted meat.  Oh, why did they ever leave Egypt. They had all they wanted to eat in Egypt and it was free. The Lord, at that point, was getting tired of their whining too and told Moses that if they wanted meat to eat, they were going to get meat to eat.  They were really going to get meat to eat.  They were going to get so much meat to eat that it would come out their nostrils and they would be sick of it!  I started to laugh at that point because even though that really didn't sound like a "Godly" answer, it certainly sounded like the answer a weary parent would give a whining child.

Even though most of us are parents and know what it is like to deal with a complaining kiddo, it is still so comforting, regardless of our age, to remember that we are also children.  We are children of the Most High and He loves us in a way that far surpasses the love that we have for our own children.  When we complain and when we whine, He hears us.  He may not respond in the way that we wish or in the timeliness that we want, but He is there for us, behind the scenes, preparing the way for us.  What a great and awesome God we serve.

Precious Lord, Jehovah Rapha,
You are such an amazing God and we thank You for the loving care You show us each day.  Thank You for providing and for meeting all our needs.  Thank You for preparing the way for us, the way for hope and the way for healing and the way for salvation.
Father, You are the God who heals.  We ask healing mercies today for Your young children, Sadie and Bryce and Tony, who are waging a valiant battle against the enemy, cancer.  Tony is in the hospital with appendicitis and because of a suppressed immune system cannot have surgery.  Lord, just touch him today, ease the pain, boost his immune system to fight the infection and wrap Your comforting arms around him so that he knows You are with him every step of this journey.
Thank You, Lord.  Thank You.
In Jesus' precious name we pray.
Amen

Day 412 You Got It All Wrong!

How often have you heard someone say they would rather ask for forgiveness than for permission?  They were saying that they were determined to do what they wanted to even though something was telling them they shouldn't.  So, they would just ignore the warning, go ahead and it would be okay because they could ask for forgiveness later.   Doesn't work that way. 

In 1 Samuel 15  we are told that

"To obey is better than sacrifice." 

Sacrifices are how God established a way to forgiveness for sin in Moses' day.  It pointed the way to the supreme sacrifice of Jesus Christ hundreds of years later.  In this passage He is telling us through Samuel that God is much happier with obedience than with asking for forgiveness.  Asking forgiveness for something may erase it from God's memory but, guess what, it doesn't erase it from our own.

Have you ever done or said something that hurt another person?  Even though that person may have forgiven you and God has forgiven you, it doesn't leave your conscience that easily.  Often it lingers and the event replays itself in your mind over and over and you feel those pangs of regret and embarrasement over and over for what you have done. 

Have you ever said this?   " I know better than to eat this but I'm going to anyway."  Unfortunately, I have.  The result.... I don't feel well after.  Maybe I feel lethargic or my tummy swells or I have heartburn.    Or maybe for others it is that second or third or fourth drink or another cigarette.  "Knowing better" or "I know I shouldn't" means STOP!   

God is so gracious in giving us that builtin firewall past which we shouldn't go.  He also gave us free will so whether we do or don't do something is up to us.  We are shown over and over that obeying Him is so much more satisfying than not obeying and having to ask for forgiveness later. 

Precious Lord, Jehovah Rapha,
Thank You for showing us the limits past which we should not go.  We thank You for forgiving us but we thank You even more for teaching us what to do in order to live for you.  Thank You for showing us what to eat and how to treat our bodies so that we are better able to serve You.  Thank You for showing us how to treat others so that we are always a reflection of Your love and grace.
Lord, today we are asking special healing mercies for another young man fighting the enemy.  Tony Colton is so very sick right now and we are believing that You, Jehovah Rapha the God who heals, are strengthening his body for this battle and empowering his immune system to destroy every cancer cell in his body.  Let Him be an example of Your hand at work as he grows in You through this journey.
We ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ, the name above cancer, the name above all names.
Amen

Day 411 Cancer Schmancer

Don't you love it?   That's Fran Drescher's term for cancer.  No more elevating it to a supreme bugaboo.   Put it under our feet where it belongs.

Saturday night I looked at "Favorites" on my computer.  It is a list of websites that I've bookmarked over the last few years.  I was surprised and excited to see some and others ..........  not so much.  So, I began to edit.

Colorectal Cancer ....................  Deleted!
Stages of Colon Cancer ...................Deleted!
Treatment for Colon Cancer ....................Deleted!
Chemotherapy for Colorectal Cancer....................Deleted!

COLON CANCER............DELETED!!

That was cleansing.  Then I found something, a song I had saved for several years and that I had forgotten about.  It is one of the most touching and loving sounds I have ever heard.   It was exactly what I needed at the time I first discovered it and it still brings me huge comfort.  So, turn up the volume, settle back, maybe grab a tissue and enjoy.

"He Loved Me Then, He Loves Me Now."

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Precious Lord, Jehovah Rapha,
You have given such amazing words and voice to some of Your children and we are so grateful when they share it with the rest of us.  Thank You for loving us, no matter what.  We love You too.
Lord, today we ask special healing mercies on Bryce who is still having trouble keeping food down, even though he is through with chemo.  Give him the strength today to absorb all the nutrients of food that he is given.
We ask special healing mercies on our friend Lisa.  She starts the process this week of totally suppressing her immune system so the healthy stem cells can be reimplanted.   It is a painful and debilitating process.   Let her know, Lord, that You are there with her.  Surround her with Your love and comfort in such a tangible way that there is no doubt that she is one of Your beloved children.
We ask that these two are soon able to put cancer under their feet, to tread on it and that they are soon able to delete it from their lives.
In Jesus precious name.
Amen

Day 407 A Coincidence? I Think Not

God is so amazing and I just love Him so much.  Yesterday I wrote in my journal about Joshua and Caleb seeing past any fear of the giants that were facing them to the victory that God has assured them was theirs.  It's a wonderful story and hearing Jesse's experience makes it more real than ever.

This morning I woke about 2:30am.  Now, for me, that is a little bit too early to read or study so I moved to my favorite couch where I spent the better part of last year and turned the tv on with the volume low.  I watched cooking shows and late news shows and early news shows and then switched to a random Christian station and promptly fell asleep.  That was God sending me back to sleep because He woke me, refreshed, at precisely the time when the subject of discussion on a particular show was the rest of the story that I wrote about yesterday.

Sounds a little like Paul Harvey, doesn't it?  The rest of the story.............  It may have been coincidence for me to wake at that exact time but then I've always heard that coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous.  Anyway, back to the rest of the story.  Before attacking Jericho, which stood in the way of the Israelites reaching the promised land, Joshua sent two spies to check things out and they went directly to the home of Rahab.  She knew who they were, hid them and told them that the people of Jericho were "melting with fear."  Can you imagine?  Here the Israelites were frightened of the giants and the giants were melting with fear of the Israelites.  God was setting up Jericho for the defeat that was coming.  He was quietly, anonymously, working in the background for the victory of His children.   His words to them are just as reassuring today as they were then.

"Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."  Joshua 1:9

Precious Lord, Jehovah Rapha,
Thank You for Your word.  Thank You for reminding us that no matter how large the giants look right now for those dealing with cancer, that You are quietly working in the background, working out the way for their victory.  Thank You for showing us that we don't need to be afraid or discouraged because You are with us wherever we go.
Lord, today we hold up young Bryce to you.  He has finished a grueling round of chemo and is now having a hard time keeping food down.  We ask, Father, that you calm his stomach, strengthen his body and give him the stamina he needs to defeat every cancer cell in his body so profoundly that it will soon be only a distant memory in his life.
We also hold up my friend, Jo, to You.  She is fighting lung cancer for a third time and is growing weary.   Lord, You have healed her twice.  Three is such a powerful number and we know that her third healing will be a complete one.  Please give her the strength and fortitude to withstand whatever is required so that she can continue to worship You and be a shining example of Your healing mercies.
These things we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, the name above cancer, the name above all names.
Amen

Day 406 Against All Odds

I recently read the most powerful definition of the word Faith.  Faith is trust against all odds.   Wow!  That just says everything right there.  Trust in God, against all odds.  No matter what is going on around you, no matter what the medical reports are saying, just trust against all odds.

When I read this, my mind went almost immediately to the Israelites  leaving Egypt.  Just try to imagine what that must have been like.  First of all, God's presence had hardly been known for over four hundred years.  They had been in slavery for so long that none of them had lived anywhere other than Egypt.  That was home.  Probably most of them worshiped the same gods the Egyptians worshiped.  Those were convenient gods to worship because all one had to do was worship and there was nothing required in return.

Then all of a sudden Moses shows up.   What a charismatic person he must have been, even with his stutter.  He tells them he's going to take them away from Egypt to a land of milk and honey.  Then God starts to show up with plague after plague on the Egyptians.  Probably most of us would have run for cover, but the people of Israel followed Moses.  Yes, there was mumbling and grumbling.  Probably lots of it.  But they put their faith in Moses and in God.  And despite all odds, being stuck between an angry army of the Pharoah and the Red Sea, they could have simply given up and gone back.  But there had to be a huge amount of faith - of trust against all odds - for them to take that first step into the dry bed of the Red Sea.  Even Moses had doubts at times but still he trusted against all odds and obeyed.

Jesse Turner on Sunday told the story of being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  After beating cancer of the kidney and bone cancer where part of his arm and shoulder were removed, he received the word that there was a spot on his pancreas, which is usually fatal.  The doctors told him to get his affairs in order and return to the hospital for a particularly grueling surgery.  On his way home that day, God spoke to him in the wonderful way that God does.  For some reason, God reminded Jesse of Numbers 13 and 14.   It was the story of Joshua and Caleb who went with spies to see what the Israelites would be up against in getting to Canaan.  The spies came back with a report of huge people and fortifications that couldn't be breached.  Joshua and Caleb said that victory was theirs.  Jesse realized what God was telling him.  He trusted God against all odds and chose not to have the surgery.   Three years later the spot on his pancreas has not changed and he is continuing to do God's will and spread His message everywhere he goes.

There is an old gospel hymn that goes:

Trust and obey,

For there's no other way

to be happy in Jesus

than to trust and obey.

 

Precious Lord, Jehovah Rapha,

We thank You today for the trust You have put in us to show us the wonder and glory of Your love.  We thank You for showing us who You are and what You are, our Creator, our Saviour, our Love.

We ask Your help in growing stronger in our faith each day.  Help us to be able to see beyond the odds that are surrounding us to the trust that we can have in You.  We know You are there for us through everything the world might throw at us.  We know You are there for us through cancer regardless of the odds the medical reports are giving.

You, Father, are our everything and we are grateful.

In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.

Amen

Day 405 Study, It's Good for the Soul!

Over the past few years I have spent time reading the Bible.  But time spent reading the Bible is not necessarily the same as time spent studying the Bible.  After being diagnosed with cancer last year and having more down time when I didn't feel like painting or doing much of anything, I spent more time studying.   Joel Osteen opens his services with an affirmation that includes, "My mind is open....."  That is what study of the Bible is about.  It requires an open mind to see much more than simply what is written there, special insights that speak to us in a way they might not to others.  I believe God allows us to see what we need to see at any given time, even if it is contrary to common interpretations.

My morning study time, which I love, has lately been focused on Mark.   Mark wasn't one of the Twelve but his writing was one of the first written after the death and ascension of Jesus and it is thought that, since he traveled with Paul and Barnabas, it was written mostly from Paul's perspective.  Whether he was an eye witness or not, the words are just as powerful.

In the first chapter, Mark writes:

"...Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.  'The time has come,' He said.  'The kingdom of God is near.  Repent and believe the good news!'"   Mark 1:14,15

In reading this passage before, in my mind's eye, I saw the people downcast with heads hanging low, shoulders bent with the weight of guilt as they repented and that Jesus was warning of judgement day.   Beware.  That was a total reflection of my first encounter with the Bible and Jesus through "fire and brimstone" preachers.  In studying this morning, my mind was open and I received an entirely different view of this passage.  First, I think that Jesus was saying that the time has come to open our eyes and realize that the kingdom of God is near, is close at hand, is ours if we just want and ask for it.  It isn't some far off seemingly unattainable state of being.  He was sharing the good news that anyone can be a part of the kingdom of God.  All they have to do is repent.  Repent simply means to change one's ways.  I now see joyful people with their heads held high, rejoicing in the knowledge that they are leaving the old ways behind and coming into the glory of being one of God's children.

The key to all of this, I believe, is to want it.  How do we begin to want it?  For me, it was when God placed a Christian woman in my path.  No matter what she was going through and she was going through a lot, she was calm and always secure in her beliefs.  First I wondered about her and then I began to admire her and then I wanted to be like her.  That led me to truly want to know more.   I wanted to know more than just the Sunday School and superficial messages about Jesus.  I wanted to really know Him and I wanted to know more  about the kingdom of God and I wanted to know more about me.  I can only hope that God will use me as He used that woman and that maybe I can inspire some other person to want what I have in the Lord.  Because it's really wonderful and it's really easy.  All you have to do is ask.

Precious Lord, Jehovah Rapha,
First of all, I thank You for this gorgeous day here on the beautiful earth that You breathed into existence.  What a privilege to live in a nation where I can freely worship You and freely write of Your greatness.
I thank You today for all the people that You have placed in my life as shining examples of what I can strive to be as one of Your blessed children.
Lord, today I ask special healing blessings for our friend Frank.  We prayed with Frank through a bout with lung cancer that has been defeated.  The doctors are now turning to a mass on his kidney.   I just ask that You continue his healing so that the mass can be defeated as well.  We are believing for Your loving mercy as he meets with his doctors this week to go over test results.
Thank You for being the loving Father that You are.  Thank You for being there for us, to calm and guide and reassure us through whatever trials we have to go through here on this earth. 
I ask continued blessings and mercy for friend Lisa as the doctors prepare her body for reimplanting the stem cells that have been harvested to rid her body of multiple myeloma.  Let these two children of Yours be triumphant examples of Your healing grace.
In Jesus' precious name, the name above all names.
Amen

Day 404 Surviving

Yesterday, June 2nd, was National Cancer Survivor Day.   How appropriate it was that the guest pastor at church was Jesse Lee Turner who has defeated cancer three times.   At the end of the service, Pastor RO asked that everyone with cancer, cured of cancer or those standing in for someone with cancer come forward for annointing and had Jesse pray over them.  It seemed like a quarter of those present came up to the altar.  It is sometimes almost overwhelming how many people have been or will be touched by cancer in their lifetime. 

This past Friday, I was at Methodist Hospital bright and early to check in for out patient surgery to finally have my port-a-cath removed.   I have put that off for about 3 months longer than I had to waiting until I was sure that I was cured and would no longer need it.  My oncologist was sure I was cured and my gastroenterologist was sure I was cured and God was sure I was cured but I wasn't.  Lord, please forgive my unbelief.  I hung on to it like a security blanket.

Like the good Christian that I am, during quiet time by myself in the prep room, I prayed and thanked God for bringing me through this storm and to the point where I am now.   Like the good Christian that I am not, I had an immediate negative reaction to the anesthesiologist who was going to put me under for the procedure.  She was fairly young, attractive but with a flat affect to her face and voice, no smile even though I smiled at her and I just did not like her.  Wow!   Your anesthesiologist  probably is not the person you want a bad relationship with going into surgery. 

In the past year, I've been put under five times.  I was assured this would be light anesthesia yet I ws out for three hours and could hardly talk the rest of the day due to a sore and bruised throat.  Do they put a tube down your throat for light anesthesia?   I don't think so.  Of course, I blamed her.   I didn't even like her name.  In my mind, I was calling her Dr. Kervorkian.   I am writing about this because I am thinking now that maybe my negative feeling toward her resulted in the negative experience with the anesthesia. 

So, since Friday, the tape of my conversation with her has been replaying in my mind.   Yesterday, I had to recognize it and deal with it before I could take Communion.  I asked for forgiveness for being so judgemental.  Pastor RO reminds us almost every Sunday that we don't know what other people are going through.  Maybe something was going on in her life and I didn't pick up on it and just thought in terms of myself.

A church that I attended years ago stressed the fact that Christ abides in each and every one of us and that we need to recognize the Christ in others.  I sometimes forget that each person I deal with is a child of God and that He loves them just as He loves me and that I need to be a reflection of that love.  So, since yesterday I have been sending love to that Dr. and blessing her.  Has it helped?   Maybe a little bit.  But I know that if I continue to see her in the light of God's love, those tapes will leave my mind and she and I will both be better for my prayers. 

"..I am in my Father, and you are in me and I am in you."         John 14:20
"Remain in me, as I also remain in you."         John 15:4

Precious Lord, Jehovah Rapha,
Thank You for opening my eyes to my failures so that I can ask forgiveness and correct them.  I am so blessed to be a child of the Most High.  Remind me daily, Father, of your love for others and show me how I can better share that love with others. 
Father, I thank You for the service yesterday and for the prayers of healing that were bestowed on each cancer warrior and on each cancer victor.  We each know what it is to stare into the face of the enemy and to come out on the other side and that it is only through Your grace and favor that we are led to that side. 
You are the one true God. 
In Jesus' healing name.
Amen