The last two weeks have been sort of up and down for me. I was scheduled to have blood work done on Wednesday to meet with my doctor today for a diagnosis on what is going on with my liver. After ordering 10 blood tests that required six, yes SIX vials of blood, it turns out that the tests take longer than usual and I won't be able to see the dr. until Thursday.
After being upset, feeling abandoned and in a deep funk for a few days, I am out of it, feeling good and back where I need to be spiritually, emotionally and, I think, physically. I know that the chemo is damaging and on occasion I can feel remnants of it still in my body and I feel that is what is causing the elevated enzymes in my liver. It is not hepatitis C. I feel too good for it to be anything like that. I've been through too much with the chemo to have a condition that requires meds with similar side effects. Enough already.
Yesterday at church was so fulfilling. Ann sang a beautiful song about "More Lord" and wanting more of Him. In the afternoon I was reading and this verse in Matthew came up.
"Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him." Matthew 13:12
Jesus made this statement when the disciples asked why He was speaking to the people in parables. I have looked up several commentaries. Some says it refers to the grace and knowledge of God. Some say it refers to prosperity. I sort of lean in the direction of the study and knowledge of God, the seeking for more knowledge being rewarded with even greater understanding and grace as opposed to those who have no interest in knowing God.
As with most things this past year, I also look at almost everything in relation to health. God has given us so much knowledge about how to keep our bodies healthy and is giving us more and more knowledge every day of the healing in the foods He has given us. We have distorted those foods, injected them with harmful dyes and chemicals, fattened and drugged them and we wonder why cancer is invading like a virus. I just feel like the more we strive to learn about how to care for and protect the bodies He gave us, and put that knowledge into practice, the more we will be rewarded with improved health. Reject or take no interest in that knowledge and we run the risk of losing whatever good health we have. I don't know about you, but I want more good health.
I told you last week that friend Frank went on Wednesday for a catscan. He'll be meeting with his doctors today. Please join me in praying for a good report for Frank that will amaze his doctors and everyone except those who know that Frank is a child of the Most High and that God is still in the miracle business.
Thank you for praying with me and don't forget to slow down and take time to just love Him.
Precious Lord, Jehovah Rapha,
We thank You that Your hand is with Frank today as he meets with his doctors. We know that Your healing mercies are moving mightily within him and he has come a long way already in his healing.
We thank You also Lord for another day on this gorgeous earth that You spoke into being. You established an order that included healing. Let us honor You each day as we study to learn more about how to keep our bodies healthy and to practice those things that add to our health and not that destroy our health.
We love You Father and give You all the praise, honor and glory.
In Jesus' precious name.
Amen
Monday, March 11, 2013
Friday, March 8, 2013
Day 320 Live Long and Prosper
Wonder where you've heard those words before? Your answer might be Star Trek and that might be right. Wonder where the writer of Star Trek got those words? From Deuteronomy!
I was still reading in the Old Testament this morning to get to the fall of Jericho so I'll be caught up and ready for Part 2 of The Bible on the History Channel on Sunday. Deuteronomy is one of five books attributed to Moses and it is part of the Chronology of the Bible from Genesis right through Esther.
Two verses stood out for me this morning and that is what my prayer time was centered on. The first is Deuteronomy 30:16
"For I command you today to love the Lord, your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commands and laws; then you will live and increase and the Lord will bless you in the land you are entering to possess."
Even before He expects us to obey His laws and commands, He want us to love him. It comes first. For me, the land I am "entering to possess" is one of good health. Then I looked back at Deuteronomy 5:30 and it says if I walk in the way the Lord has commanded (to love Him and obey His laws), I will live and prosper and prolong my days, in other words I will love long and prosper. Thank You Father.
I wrote last week of God speaking to me while I was reading a scripture. I came to the word "love" in the scripture and He flashed this thought in my mind: "Slow down and just love me." Here in Deuteronomy He again tells me to love Him. I think He is wanting me to feel that love, to just close my eyes and feel love emanating from my heart to Him and to everything He has created. My prayers now always start with my deepest professions of love for Him and I feel it and it is as comforting to send out love as it is to feel His love coming back to me.
Father God, Jehovah Rapha,
Thank You for Your Word. Your Word comes to us inspired and written and handed down through generations and it comes to us new and fresh and imprinted on our minds, reminding us that the most important thing we can do is to love You. Jesus said that the most important commandment was to love You with all our heart and this we do.
We thank You for your promises of healing, good health, and long days if we love You and we stand on those promises today. We stand on them for the healing of cancer in every one of Your children fighting that enemy. We stand on them as You give us the land of good health and long life that we are entering to possess.
Thank You, Father, for loving us and for caring for us and for giving us Your Word so that we may know the right way to go.
In Jesus' precious name, the name above all names.
Amen
I was still reading in the Old Testament this morning to get to the fall of Jericho so I'll be caught up and ready for Part 2 of The Bible on the History Channel on Sunday. Deuteronomy is one of five books attributed to Moses and it is part of the Chronology of the Bible from Genesis right through Esther.
Two verses stood out for me this morning and that is what my prayer time was centered on. The first is Deuteronomy 30:16
"For I command you today to love the Lord, your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commands and laws; then you will live and increase and the Lord will bless you in the land you are entering to possess."
Even before He expects us to obey His laws and commands, He want us to love him. It comes first. For me, the land I am "entering to possess" is one of good health. Then I looked back at Deuteronomy 5:30 and it says if I walk in the way the Lord has commanded (to love Him and obey His laws), I will live and prosper and prolong my days, in other words I will love long and prosper. Thank You Father.
I wrote last week of God speaking to me while I was reading a scripture. I came to the word "love" in the scripture and He flashed this thought in my mind: "Slow down and just love me." Here in Deuteronomy He again tells me to love Him. I think He is wanting me to feel that love, to just close my eyes and feel love emanating from my heart to Him and to everything He has created. My prayers now always start with my deepest professions of love for Him and I feel it and it is as comforting to send out love as it is to feel His love coming back to me.
Father God, Jehovah Rapha,
Thank You for Your Word. Your Word comes to us inspired and written and handed down through generations and it comes to us new and fresh and imprinted on our minds, reminding us that the most important thing we can do is to love You. Jesus said that the most important commandment was to love You with all our heart and this we do.
We thank You for your promises of healing, good health, and long days if we love You and we stand on those promises today. We stand on them for the healing of cancer in every one of Your children fighting that enemy. We stand on them as You give us the land of good health and long life that we are entering to possess.
Thank You, Father, for loving us and for caring for us and for giving us Your Word so that we may know the right way to go.
In Jesus' precious name, the name above all names.
Amen
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Day 319 www.LoveYourButt.org
No, don't worry. I'm not promoting a porn site or a weight loss or exercise site. www.loveyourbutt.org is the website for Chris4Life, a charitable foundation donated to colorectal cancer awareness. As a matter of fact, March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. If you were following me way back when, you know I was a little frustrated over the fact that colon cancer had none of the pretty pink ribbons and bling and high profile spokespersons that breast cancer has. I worried that if there was a symbol, it would probably be an ugly brown ribbon. Wah wah. Well, I'm happy to announce that there is a colorful beautiful symbol and here it is.
Please join me in prayer for her and her family as she continues her fight at home. I just learned that Sadie is only home until March 23rd and then it'll be back to St. Jude's for more treatment. And remember Valerie Harper who played Rhoda in the old Mary Tyler Moore Show. She has been given a short time to live because of brain cancer after defeating lung cancer several years ago.
I was reading in Exodus this morning as a followup to seeing The Bible on Sunday night. The Israelites had to fight the Amalekites over and over and over. It was sort like the cancer that can reappear at a time of weakness. The note in my study Bible said this:
"Like many of the challenges of our lives, the enemy is not destroyed in a single battle but through a series of encounters over a long period of time."
My prayer today is that when God destroys cancer in any of us, that it be so completely obliterated that it never returns.
Thank you for praying with me today and don't forget..... slow down and just love Him.
Precious Lord, Jehovah Rapha,
Thank You for this beautiful day. Thank You for your unending love that guides, heals, prospers and comforts us every day of our lives. You are our everything and we couldn't make it through without You.
Today Father, we thank You for the healing happening right now in Sadie's body. We thank You that the healing is so complete that every cancer cell is totally destroyed never to return. Bless her and her Mom as they travel home safely and help them get their lives back to normal quickly.
Lord, once cancer has invaded our lives, it is hard to take the focus off of it. Help each of us that has ever been touched by it to be able to completely turn that focus on to You and to honor You daily with taking better care of the body You have given us, the body that was bought and paid for by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
We love You Lord. We love You. We love You.
In Jesus' precious name we pray.
Amen
The theme is to get a colonscopy, that it's much easier than chemo and I'm here to testify that that statement is so true. At church last night, Pastor RO asked if I could have made it this far without God in my life and I answered truthfully that, no, I couldn't have done it without Him. But I was reminded too that a couple of times I had called my daughter crying that I was so sick that she could just drop me off at hospice and let me die. Uh oh, here I go with the pity party again. And then there's Sadie. Nothing like the bravery of a child fighting this horrible enemy to really put things in perspective.
Precious Sadie has finished her treatment at St. Judes for brain cancer and is headed back home to Texas. This picture was taken her last evening at the Ronald McDonald House.
Please join me in prayer for her and her family as she continues her fight at home. I just learned that Sadie is only home until March 23rd and then it'll be back to St. Jude's for more treatment. And remember Valerie Harper who played Rhoda in the old Mary Tyler Moore Show. She has been given a short time to live because of brain cancer after defeating lung cancer several years ago.
I was reading in Exodus this morning as a followup to seeing The Bible on Sunday night. The Israelites had to fight the Amalekites over and over and over. It was sort like the cancer that can reappear at a time of weakness. The note in my study Bible said this:
"Like many of the challenges of our lives, the enemy is not destroyed in a single battle but through a series of encounters over a long period of time."
My prayer today is that when God destroys cancer in any of us, that it be so completely obliterated that it never returns.
Thank you for praying with me today and don't forget..... slow down and just love Him.
Precious Lord, Jehovah Rapha,
Thank You for this beautiful day. Thank You for your unending love that guides, heals, prospers and comforts us every day of our lives. You are our everything and we couldn't make it through without You.
Today Father, we thank You for the healing happening right now in Sadie's body. We thank You that the healing is so complete that every cancer cell is totally destroyed never to return. Bless her and her Mom as they travel home safely and help them get their lives back to normal quickly.
Lord, once cancer has invaded our lives, it is hard to take the focus off of it. Help each of us that has ever been touched by it to be able to completely turn that focus on to You and to honor You daily with taking better care of the body You have given us, the body that was bought and paid for by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
We love You Lord. We love You. We love You.
In Jesus' precious name we pray.
Amen
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Day 318 Another Word for Me
Today's word came through my morning study. Since I watched Part 1 of The Bible Sunday night, I have been reading the part of the Bible that was covered in that particular show. Monday and Tuesday I read through Genesis and this morning started in Exodus. As usual there was a verse that jumped out.
"He said, 'If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His eyes, if you pay attention to His commands and keep all His decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians for I am the lord, who heals you.' " Exodus 15:26
Then later on in another reading, I read this.
"I am the Lord your God who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go." Isaiah 48:17
When I put the two together, it tells me that He heals but He also teaches us what we should do not to need that healing. Some cancer is hereditary but even with that, there are so many things we can do to shore up our immune system, so many things we can avoid in our diets and daily activities that give cancer an opening from which to jump in and take over.
I know for myself all the things I have done. A colonoscopy years before could have saved me surgery and chemo and, believe me, that would have been much easier. Even though I knew better, I thought because I was strong and healthy, I could still eat the foods that weren't good for me and escape the consequences. Not so, Little Grasshopper. There is a consequence to pay for everything we do that doesn't in some way enhance the good health that God gave us.
Father, forgive me for not honoring You in taking better care of my body. My life here on earth is a gift from You and I promise to be aware daily of what I am doing to keep it healthy so that I may better serve you.
Since I'm back on track this week after floundering in a puddle of self pity last week... Monday was 2 miles on the treadmill. I'm doing better since I started this after finishing chemo. The first trips I couldn't walk a mile without having to stop. Getting stronger. Yesterday was gentle yoga. My core feels stronger this morning and my posture is much more erect. Yay.
Today is bloodwork for my next Dr. visit to see if the liver enzymes have started going back toward normal. I am believing that they have and, if not, that there is just an inflammation of the liver from the chemo and it will be quickly healed. Thank You, Father.
I want to catch you up on friend Frank who was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer late last year. He has gone through chemo and radiation and is scheduled today for a cat scan to decide what direction to go with his treatment now. Please join me in prayer for Frank that the scan reveals that cancer is on its way out and God's healing is taking place in his body right now.
Thank you for praying with me and remember to slow down and just love Him.
Precious Lord, Jehovah Rapha,
We thank You for the wonderful person that Frank is...a great husband and father and a child of yours. We thank You today for the healing that is taking place in his body right now and thank you for the good news that You bring to him and his family through his doctors.
Lord, we are so grateful for another day here on this beautiful earth. Thank You for teaching us. Thank You for healing us. Thank You for loving us. We love you too.
In Jesus' precious name, the name above all names.
Amen
"He said, 'If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His eyes, if you pay attention to His commands and keep all His decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians for I am the lord, who heals you.' " Exodus 15:26
Then later on in another reading, I read this.
"I am the Lord your God who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go." Isaiah 48:17
When I put the two together, it tells me that He heals but He also teaches us what we should do not to need that healing. Some cancer is hereditary but even with that, there are so many things we can do to shore up our immune system, so many things we can avoid in our diets and daily activities that give cancer an opening from which to jump in and take over.
I know for myself all the things I have done. A colonoscopy years before could have saved me surgery and chemo and, believe me, that would have been much easier. Even though I knew better, I thought because I was strong and healthy, I could still eat the foods that weren't good for me and escape the consequences. Not so, Little Grasshopper. There is a consequence to pay for everything we do that doesn't in some way enhance the good health that God gave us.
Father, forgive me for not honoring You in taking better care of my body. My life here on earth is a gift from You and I promise to be aware daily of what I am doing to keep it healthy so that I may better serve you.
Since I'm back on track this week after floundering in a puddle of self pity last week... Monday was 2 miles on the treadmill. I'm doing better since I started this after finishing chemo. The first trips I couldn't walk a mile without having to stop. Getting stronger. Yesterday was gentle yoga. My core feels stronger this morning and my posture is much more erect. Yay.
Today is bloodwork for my next Dr. visit to see if the liver enzymes have started going back toward normal. I am believing that they have and, if not, that there is just an inflammation of the liver from the chemo and it will be quickly healed. Thank You, Father.
I want to catch you up on friend Frank who was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer late last year. He has gone through chemo and radiation and is scheduled today for a cat scan to decide what direction to go with his treatment now. Please join me in prayer for Frank that the scan reveals that cancer is on its way out and God's healing is taking place in his body right now.
Thank you for praying with me and remember to slow down and just love Him.
Precious Lord, Jehovah Rapha,
We thank You for the wonderful person that Frank is...a great husband and father and a child of yours. We thank You today for the healing that is taking place in his body right now and thank you for the good news that You bring to him and his family through his doctors.
Lord, we are so grateful for another day here on this beautiful earth. Thank You for teaching us. Thank You for healing us. Thank You for loving us. We love you too.
In Jesus' precious name, the name above all names.
Amen
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Day 317 Zephaniah? What's that?
One of the devotionals I read in the morning had a verse from Zephaniah. I really didn't even remember that Zephaniah was a book in the Old Testament. Shows how much I don't know about the Bible. Anyway, it's a short book and I thought I should probably read it.
Zephaniah was a prophet who preached the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians. As I read through, as with many of the prophet books, there was a lot of pain and suffering but always redemption by the Lord.
"....He has turned back your enemy." Zephaniah 3:15.
I know who and what my enemy is.
"The Lord your God is with you. He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over You with singing." Zephaniah 3:17
Even in the remotest and least read parts of the Bible are promises of God's love, protection and healing. I am happy to report that my spirit is settled about last week's tests and the reports to come. I know that I serve an awesome God, a living and loving God who knows every hair on my head and who has great plans for me. This morning I feel excited to see what He has planned next for me. I know that His plans are for good. As I study and grow in His word, I remember His word to me ...... to slow down and just love Him. And, I do.
PreciousLord, Jehova Rapha,
I love You. You have given me a life that is filled with daily wonders and new discoveries of Your loving kindness and I am grateful. I bow down before You in gratitude for another day here on this beautiful earth where the breezes blow and the Son shines.
I ask Your healing mercies today on everyone fighting the enemy, cancer. It seems like there are more and more people every day involved in this battle. Thank You for showing us how to better care for our body as we prepare to keep the enemy at bay.
Thank You, Father, for all You do for us every day.
In blessed humility, we bow down before You.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen
Zephaniah was a prophet who preached the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians. As I read through, as with many of the prophet books, there was a lot of pain and suffering but always redemption by the Lord.
"....He has turned back your enemy." Zephaniah 3:15.
I know who and what my enemy is.
"The Lord your God is with you. He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over You with singing." Zephaniah 3:17
Even in the remotest and least read parts of the Bible are promises of God's love, protection and healing. I am happy to report that my spirit is settled about last week's tests and the reports to come. I know that I serve an awesome God, a living and loving God who knows every hair on my head and who has great plans for me. This morning I feel excited to see what He has planned next for me. I know that His plans are for good. As I study and grow in His word, I remember His word to me ...... to slow down and just love Him. And, I do.
PreciousLord, Jehova Rapha,
I love You. You have given me a life that is filled with daily wonders and new discoveries of Your loving kindness and I am grateful. I bow down before You in gratitude for another day here on this beautiful earth where the breezes blow and the Son shines.
I ask Your healing mercies today on everyone fighting the enemy, cancer. It seems like there are more and more people every day involved in this battle. Thank You for showing us how to better care for our body as we prepare to keep the enemy at bay.
Thank You, Father, for all You do for us every day.
In blessed humility, we bow down before You.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen
Monday, March 4, 2013
Day 316 Back on Track
Last week was a loss after Wednesday, feeling sorry for myself over the possibility of hepatitis brought on by the chemo for colon cancer. I never cried over having cancer, only over feeling so bad from the treatments. I was still a little weepy when I got to church yesterday but as usual, God knew exactly what I needed to hear. Pastor RO spoke on miracles first of all which just sort of settled my spirit. Then he spoke on enlarging our territory and I gave testimony about this online journal and the people that are following from all over the world. I am so privileged to have this platform from which to share what He has meant to me through this journey and how He has brought me through it.
As God commanded, I was annointed with oil by the elders of the church who prayed for me. I went home feeling so uplifted. If anyone reading this does not have a church, please pray and let God guide you to one that ministers to you. Or, if you are in a church where you aren't being filled with His teaching and the Holy Spirit, ask God to guide you to one where you will be. It is so important to your healing.
This morning's devotional started with the words: "Evil never surrenders its grasp without a tremendous fight." I know that the enemy has had me in it's sight for a while but I have stayed faithful and will always stay faithful. God is my love, my savior and my all. Sometimes I feel like Job. I know that letting that glimmer of fear enter my mind gives the enemy a foothold so I am quick to deny it and affirm God's healing whenever it works its way into my thoughts. I know that I will come out of this a shining example of His love.
Job 23:10-12 says:
"But when He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.
My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to His way without turning aside. I have not departed from the commands of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread."
He is such an awesome God. Don't forget to slow down and just love Him.
Precious Lord, Jehovah Rapha,
Thank You for another glorious day here on earth. Thank You for Your Word so that we have somewhere to turn when we are in fear or despair. Thank You for the healing You promised and thank You for loving us.
Lord, I kneel before You in loving acknowledgement that You are my all. Without You Lord, I am lost with no idea of which way to go. Thank You for Your guidance, the hope You instill in my heart and the strength to fight the enemy which is trying to destroy all of us.
In the precious name of Jesus Christ, the name above all names.
Amen
As God commanded, I was annointed with oil by the elders of the church who prayed for me. I went home feeling so uplifted. If anyone reading this does not have a church, please pray and let God guide you to one that ministers to you. Or, if you are in a church where you aren't being filled with His teaching and the Holy Spirit, ask God to guide you to one where you will be. It is so important to your healing.
This morning's devotional started with the words: "Evil never surrenders its grasp without a tremendous fight." I know that the enemy has had me in it's sight for a while but I have stayed faithful and will always stay faithful. God is my love, my savior and my all. Sometimes I feel like Job. I know that letting that glimmer of fear enter my mind gives the enemy a foothold so I am quick to deny it and affirm God's healing whenever it works its way into my thoughts. I know that I will come out of this a shining example of His love.
Job 23:10-12 says:
"But when He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.
My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to His way without turning aside. I have not departed from the commands of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread."
He is such an awesome God. Don't forget to slow down and just love Him.
Precious Lord, Jehovah Rapha,
Thank You for another glorious day here on earth. Thank You for Your Word so that we have somewhere to turn when we are in fear or despair. Thank You for the healing You promised and thank You for loving us.
Lord, I kneel before You in loving acknowledgement that You are my all. Without You Lord, I am lost with no idea of which way to go. Thank You for Your guidance, the hope You instill in my heart and the strength to fight the enemy which is trying to destroy all of us.
In the precious name of Jesus Christ, the name above all names.
Amen
Friday, March 1, 2013
day 313 Pity Party of One
I went to the gastro on Wednesday. He said that the elevated enzymes were almost three times what they should be. I, of course, have been all over the internet asking for info on elevated liver enzymes following chemo and all the personal responses I found were from patients with colon cancer who had the same treatment I had. Dr. Manji confirmed that and thinks it is chemo induced hepatitis, either B or C. I haven't researched the difference yet or the treatment.
He sent me for an ultrasound yesterday and I'll have bloodwork again on the 11th. I guess at that point I'll find out for sure what's going on. I came home from the ultrasound yesterday and curled up in a ball on the couch and stayed there for the rest of the day.
Poor poor me. There is a downside to working out of my home. The upside is that if I want to spend one hour, two hours, three hours with God in the mornings, I can do that. The downside is that if I don't want to pray or study and just want to lay in a stupor feeling sorry for myself, I can do that too. So that's what I did yesterday. I thought I was through with doctors and meds. Not another challenge. By nightime, I knew that one day wasted was more than enough and had to ask forgiveness for that with plans to get back to normal today.
This morning I opened the little daily devotional that I usually start my study time with. Since I didn't read it yesterday, I went there first. "PACK UP YOUR SORROWS". Oh my goodness, the Lord always knows exactly what I need.
"Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows....He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement for our peace was upon Him and by His stripes we are healed." Isaiah 53:4-5
Then I turned to today's reading and the heading was "EXPECT GREAT THINGS".
"Hebrews tells of those 'who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong' " Hebrews 11:33-34
How awesome is this God I serve that He never fails to provide the encouragement that I need if I just let Him. He reminds me that whatever it is I face, it is nothing compared to what He dealt with and because of that I am healed. No matter the outcome, I am His child and He loves, protects and inspires me every day of my life and I am grateful.
He also reminds me to slow down and just love Him.
Precious Father, Jehovah Rapha,
I love You so much. Sometimes I am so filled with love for You that it is hard to contain. I thank You for showing me how important it is to just sit and feel that love, to bask in it and then to send it out to the world that You thought into being.
Lord, precious Bethany, the 12 year old girl with liver cancer that we prayed for in the last few weeks, has gone to be with you. We ask that Your comforting arms enfold her family as they deal with living without her in this world.
Father, You know that cancer is the enemy. It is proliferating like a virus among Your children. You have given us authority over all the powers of the enemy and we take authority today as we command cancer to take it's hands off Your children. Show us the way to care for our bodies to protect against it in the same way that we care for our souls, keeping You in mind and the sacrifice You made of Your body for ours.
These things we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, the name above all names.
Amen
He sent me for an ultrasound yesterday and I'll have bloodwork again on the 11th. I guess at that point I'll find out for sure what's going on. I came home from the ultrasound yesterday and curled up in a ball on the couch and stayed there for the rest of the day.
Poor poor me. There is a downside to working out of my home. The upside is that if I want to spend one hour, two hours, three hours with God in the mornings, I can do that. The downside is that if I don't want to pray or study and just want to lay in a stupor feeling sorry for myself, I can do that too. So that's what I did yesterday. I thought I was through with doctors and meds. Not another challenge. By nightime, I knew that one day wasted was more than enough and had to ask forgiveness for that with plans to get back to normal today.
This morning I opened the little daily devotional that I usually start my study time with. Since I didn't read it yesterday, I went there first. "PACK UP YOUR SORROWS". Oh my goodness, the Lord always knows exactly what I need.
"Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows....He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement for our peace was upon Him and by His stripes we are healed." Isaiah 53:4-5
Then I turned to today's reading and the heading was "EXPECT GREAT THINGS".
"Hebrews tells of those 'who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong' " Hebrews 11:33-34
How awesome is this God I serve that He never fails to provide the encouragement that I need if I just let Him. He reminds me that whatever it is I face, it is nothing compared to what He dealt with and because of that I am healed. No matter the outcome, I am His child and He loves, protects and inspires me every day of my life and I am grateful.
He also reminds me to slow down and just love Him.
Precious Father, Jehovah Rapha,
I love You so much. Sometimes I am so filled with love for You that it is hard to contain. I thank You for showing me how important it is to just sit and feel that love, to bask in it and then to send it out to the world that You thought into being.
Lord, precious Bethany, the 12 year old girl with liver cancer that we prayed for in the last few weeks, has gone to be with you. We ask that Your comforting arms enfold her family as they deal with living without her in this world.
Father, You know that cancer is the enemy. It is proliferating like a virus among Your children. You have given us authority over all the powers of the enemy and we take authority today as we command cancer to take it's hands off Your children. Show us the way to care for our bodies to protect against it in the same way that we care for our souls, keeping You in mind and the sacrifice You made of Your body for ours.
These things we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, the name above all names.
Amen
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