Keep us, O Lord,
while we tarry on this earth,
in serious seeking after you,
and in an affectionate walking with you,
every day of our lives;
that when you come,
we may be found not hiding our talent,
nor serving the flesh,
nor yet asleep with our lamp unfurnished,
but waiting and longing for our Lord,
our glorious God for ever.
Amen.
– RICHARD BAXTER (ENGLAND/1615-1691)
I seem to be keeping fairly busy lately. Not blogging as much as normal, although normal is not all that much. Nevertheless, the last few days I’ve spent a good deal of time getting acquainted with my newest grandchild Isla Mae since her arrival Saturday October 24th. Isn’t she beautiful! I have ten other grandchildren just as wonderful. Once again I am reminded that: God is great! Life is good! I am blessed!! Life just doesn’t get any better this side of eternity.
During the recent Catalyst Conference in Atlanta Chuck Swindoll shared “10 Things I Have Learned During 50 Years in Leadership. These can be found at Out of Ur Newsletter. Because I’ve followed Swindoll’s ministry for years and have deep respect for him, here they are:
Soong-Chan Rah writes:
The expression of excessive individualism in local church life is rooted in the excessive individualism of Western evangelical theology. Evangelicalism’s idolatry of the individual has crippled the church’s ability to view sin and salvation outside of the narrow parameters of a personal faith. Evangelical theology becomes exclusively an individual-driven theology instead of a community-driven theology. In an individual driven theology, individual sin takes center stage. Read more »
Reading Pete Greig’s book, God on Mute: Engaging the Silence of Unanswered Prayer I came across the following in reference to Romans 8:38:
Not angels and not demons. Not cancer wards and not concentration camps. Not loneliness and not fear. Not bankruptcy, not bereavement, not barrenness. Nothing we endure has the innate power to tear us away from the ultimate reality of the fact that we are loved eternally by Abba, Father.
Prayer
Abba, Father, I know all this stuff about Your love in my head, but my heart gets hard to it and I’m tired. Please do whatever You’ve got to do (and I mean whatever) to unclinch my fists. Pry open my eyes so that I can see Your tears and soften my heart so that it moves me deeply. I don’t understand why You don’t just answer my prayers, but I do choose to trust that You have heard me, that You actually do care and that You’re somewhere out there on my case. Abba, Father, thank You for all the ways You have blessed me. I honestly don’t know what I’d do, where I’d be or even who I’d have become without You. Abba, Father, I am going to try to trust You today. Amen [page 56].
Tell me what you think about money, and I can tell you what you think about God, for these two are closely related. Men and women’s hearts are closer to their wallets than almost anything else. The hardest thing for you to give up is your money. It represents your time, your energy, your talents, your total personality converted into currency. But the Scripture teaches that we are only stewards for a little while of all we earn.
– Billy Graham
I’ve been basking in the words “Cancer Free” voiced by my oncologist August 24th following seven months enduring chemotherapy and all the stuff that goes with it. Needless to say these are the words Linda and I desperately wanted to hear; more than words themselves can describe.
Thoughtfully musing, and pondering this whole experience has reminded me once again of the wonderful goodness of God; maybe in a deeper, more real way then in previous times. God is good all the time even in the not-so-good times.
What if we had not heard the words “cancer free,” but something else which honestly I was half expecting. After all, my cancer was at stage three, plus it was an aggressive form. Is God’s goodness only real when good things happen and not the bad such as sickness, disease, trials, tribulations and what some would describe as godawful?
Tuesday morning a day after hearing the good news “Cancer Free,” I spent some time reading in Psalms. I came across the following Psalm and found it to be somewhat biographical this last eight months. I share it here because it blessed me and refer to it now as the “Happy Dance” Psalm.
1 I will exalt you, LORD, for you rescued me.
You refused to let my enemies triumph over me.
2 O LORD my God, I cried to you for help,
and you restored my health.
3 You brought me up from the grave, O LORD.
You kept me from falling into the pit of death.
4 Sing to the LORD, all you godly ones!
Praise his holy name.
5 For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime!
Weeping may last through the night,
but joy comes with the morning.
6 When I was prosperous, I said,
“Nothing can stop me now!”
7 Your favor, O LORD, made me as secure as a mountain.
Then you turned away from me, and I was shattered.
8 I cried out to you, O LORD.
I begged the LORD for mercy, saying,
9 “What will you gain if I die, if I sink into the grave?
Can my dust praise you? Can it tell of your faithfulness?
10 Hear me, LORD, and have mercy on me.
Help me, O LORD.”
11 You have turned my mourning into
into joyful (happy) dancing.
You have taken away my clothes of
mourning and clothed me with joy,
12 that I might sing praises to you and not
be silent.
O LORD my God, I will give you thanks
forever [Psalms 30, NLT]
Just to let everyone know, this morning Linda and I visited my Oncologist Dr. Miklos Simon who gave me a Cancer Free diagnosis following what seemed like an eternity of Chemotherapy treatments. Dr. Simon and his staff at the Cancer Center have been great care givers and support through out the entire process. With people all over the world encouraging us, loving us, caring for us as well as praying, I really felt like I was being carried along through this entire journey. Definitely this journey and the outcome is a great testimony to God’s healing grace. PRAISE HIS NAME! Even if the diagnosis would have been different.
For you who prayed I (we) are eternally grateful. We believe that our God is behind all healing and it is by His mighty power that I can say CANCER FREE! After several hours it is beginning to really sink in that I am CANCER FREE.
This whole journey has been a learning experience in trusting God to do immeasurably more than anyone can ask or think. I’ll probably be blogging on this experience in the near future, but for now I wanted to share the good news with you all and thank you so much for your love and prayers.
Joining Linda for another Happy Dance.
I look up to mountains;
does my strength come from mountains?
No, my strength comes from God,
who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.
He won’t let you stumble,
your Guardian God won’t fall sleep.
Not on your life!
Israel’s Guardian will never doze or sleep.
GOD’s your Guardian,
right at your side to protect you–
Shielding you from sunstroke,
sheltering you from moonstroke.
GOD guards you from every evil,
he guards your very life.
He guards you when you leave and when you return,
he guards you now, he guards you always.
Psalm 121 (The Message)
