Poor Substitutes

Mind, body and spirit; these three make up who we are inside and out. Oh yes, the mind is the portal for expressive thoughts on the beauty that surrounds us. The mind can also be an arena in which the conscience wars over loyalty toward God or self. Our culture is inundated with practices aimed to claim the mind while proposing to calm the spirit and relieve the aches in the body. When the body is suffering side effects from chemo treatments, the mind can succumb to seeking relief through poor substitutes for real help, and in turn unwittingly open up the spirit to ungodly doctrines.

The God of the Bible is a jealous God who teaches definitively and consistently in His Word we should have “no other Gods before Him” (Exodus 34:14) No other Gods – none.  While it’s appealing to want to take advantage of what the world has to offer to ease the weight of cancer treatments it’s not only disadvantageous, it’s dangerous. Once a person opens the door to false teachings emanating from eastern religions and performed in yoga, reiki and transcendental meditation, help from the One True God dissipates. It’s to our advantage to put God first and put away any poor substitute. Listen with your heart to what happens to folks who allow strange gods into their daily walk.  “They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods; with abominations they provoked Him to anger. They sacrificed to demons, not to God, to gods they did not know, to new gods, new arrivals that your fathers did not fear. Of the Rock who begot you, you are unmindful, and have forgotten the God who fathered you. "And when the Lord saw it, He spurned them, because of the provocation of His sons and His daughters. And He said: 'I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end will be, For they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faith. (Deuteronomy 32:16-20)

Those foreign gods that hear not and speak not could care less if you get well. They make terrible servants and are even worse masters. False doctrines are always based in the amount of work the devotee does and that can be a very deep well. Biblical Christianity is founded in and upon the eternal, finished work Jesus did on our behalf when He died upon the cross. The believer in Jesus can have peace in all circumstances and the comfort of the Holy Spirit because the promise of eternal life is secure. Furthermore Christians have the added benefit of fellowship with like-minded persons who express the love and truth of God and rush to aid others in need. This fervent love isn’t out of duty but as a response to the grace they’ve found through their relationship with the living God.

Without a doubt, cancer developed in me a closer walk with Jesus. In grappling with a life and death situation like cancer, the truth is there is nothing I can do but pray to the Lord for help and healing. I am convinced even if I wasn’t healed, God would still be God; my view of Him wouldn’t be altered. As the body ages, the joints creak and crow’s feet deepen, the fact is a glorious day; a wonderful sinless perfect place awaits me. I have wholeheartedly believed the ransom Jesus paid on my behalf. Any other way to live, any other hope to have is definitely at best a poor substitute. Hope in the Lord is the real thing!

 For more posts from Comfort in Christ Cancer Support go to http://comfortinchristcancersupport.blogspot.com/

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Going Deeper...

Not being much of a swimmer, I’m relying on what I was taught about the effects of pressure on the body during deep water diving. The weight of the water above a diver exerts pressure on his body. The deeper a diver descends, the more water he has above and the more pressure it exerts on his body. The pressure a diver experiences at a certain depth is the sum of all the pressures above him, both from the water and the air.

As I recall my desire to go deeper with the Lord after awaking from my lung removal surgery, I remember thinking it won’t be easy. It never is. Seeking hard to follow after Jesus means having the compulsion, the innate and overwhelming desire to know Him and make Him known. The conviction to stand out from the crowd, go against the grain and swim upstream (figuratively speaking in my case) goes with the territory. The world seeks moral relativism. Jesus teaches He is the absolute truth, the life and the way to Heaven. (John 14:6) The world seeks to silence the voice of the Lord in the public arena. As Jesus was riding into Jerusalem He answered those who told him to keep His disciples quiet by saying, "I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out." (Luke 19:40) Disciples of the Lord are supposed to be enthusiastic about their King, not to earn points or win favor, but because they love Him.

I’d hoped my trial with cancer and the Lord’s determination to essentially resurrect me from the dead would resonate so much so by those who witnessed it that they too would want to know more about this God I serve. Not necessarily. There are many examples of people in the Scriptures who offended others by speaking the truth about God and some were even killed for it, like the deacon Stephen in the first century church. (Acts 6) Going deeper with God entails pressure to keep pressing on, knowing the love of God never fails. Some may think, ‘oh you’ve been through all cancer can throw at you – isn’t that enough?’ It’s important at such a juncture to remember we will have trouble in this world but fear not – Jesus has overcome this world (John 16:33).

If you, like I, have seen God work an awesome miracle in your life it’s a reflexive response to tell others what He has done for you. Rely on what I call the stones of remembrance in your journey thus far. Ask the Lord to bring to mind all the times He has helped you ‘swim up to the surface’ when the pressure of the water made it slow going. If your time of tribulation has seemed to keep your body bound by the effects of disease or other life concerns, remember Jesus said His kingdom is not of this world and though this body of flesh will wear out, Heaven is a place without crying, pain or death. (Revelation 21:1-9) Though we live in the world, we are not to be “of the world.” Those who belong to Jesus Christ are supposed to be different; a peculiar people. Why? Because we preach the good news that One Man, God in the flesh, Jesus Christ paid the sin debt for all men on the bloody cross. As we are dying to self and the things of the world, we are to let the Holy Spirit rule and reign in us, remembering our citizenship is in Heaven, convinced that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:33-39)

Yes, I want to go deeper with God no matter what because it’s so worth it for the sake of the One who set me free from sin and death; the greatest miracle of all! Lord, help me to remember You are there each step of the way. Amen.

For more posts from Comfort in Christ Cancer Support go to http://comfortinchristcancersupport.blogspot.com/

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Content In All Circumstances

Depending on one’s definition of contentment the concept can be more or less elusive and perhaps seemingly impossible to attain. For most people being content renders images of money enough to retire on, being surrounded by loved ones and maintaining ideal health… forever. Such goals are reasonable within the human perspective on life. We look for security in the things we can see, touch and feel. Hoping to be happy based on gratitude given by others is clearly a natural aspiration. What if…what about - when these circumstances change? What then? Is contentment more elusive than ever?

I hope in speaking for myself, more than one reader can identify with my regret over being foolish with finances and ruining the notion of early retirement. Having lived long enough to recount a number of bad decisions about relationships, I may have reduced my circle of love. One reason to write this blog is to share trials with cancer in hopes to encourage others, so clearly good health can’t be my source of contentment either. It seems to me contentment must be defined as a state of satisfaction, which can’t be altered by outside conditions. But can we be content in ALL circumstances? As a Bible believing Christian I am confident lasting contentment is attainable inasmuch as we desire to know Jesus; the One who keeps and delivers our souls.

Today, I had an exercise in learning to be content. As I sat in the doctor’s office waiting to find out if the two dense spots they found on a mammogram last month were anything to be concerned about, I considered the state of my heart. Anxiety wanted to creep in. Worry was waiting at the door. What would be the point of worrying about the outcome of the test? Jesus put it this way: "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?” (Matthew 6:25-27) I prayed to the Lord again today to help me be content no matter what the test showed; positive or negative – “let me praise You Lord Jesus because You are so good to me.” I never met the technician before today, but I was elated when she told me I just had simple cysts – nothing to worry about.

As one of my doctors is given to say about cancer; “Once bitten twice shy.” It is a real possibility that though cancer is now in submission, it may reappear. To live in fear of any disease is far from biblical. “Perfect love casts out fear.” 1 John 4  To live in fear that my life may end sooner than later is a waste of the precious time God has allotted. Oh to be content always, in a constant state of dependence on the Lord! How much better that would be!

The apostle Paul wrote these words for our benefit: “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:  I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:11-13) Paul did not just arrive at this pinnacle of peace without first suffering loss. Of his tribulations he writes: “Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness-- besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches. (1 Corinthians 11:25-28)

All this Paul endured for the sake of Christ, for the privilege of knowing and proclaiming the One who set him free from sin and death! He was content I think because he knew that this world was not his home and a “better country” awaited him. Until I reach my heavenly habitation, I expect to wrestle against worry and at times find true contentment elusive. As Jesus replaces fear with peace of mind and perfect love I expect to be less encumbered by the world and look ever forward to the day when I meet my Lord at the door to His mansion above. With God all things are possible!

For more posts from Comfort in Christ Cancer Support go to http://comfortinchristcancersupport.blogspot.com/

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Worship in Trial

How much can be endured? Why must we suffer at all? Last night after church service, one of the elders of the church gathered some others to pray for me because I had shared that a recent mammogram had shown some density that needs to be re-imaged. (See - James 5:14)  It’s been almost 16 months now that I’ve been treated for lung cancer with chemo, surgery, radiation and more chemo. After sharing this brief summary with one of these fine gentlemen he said, “Are you the daughter of Job?”

Not so amazingly to me anymore, the daily devotional I received in my email this morning was about the book of Job, chapter 1 to be specific. Job was being tested in his faith and in the process this man of great wealth lost all his sons and daughters, livestock and servants. His response is awesome! The scriptures say he "tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord." (Job 1:20-21)

The scriptures are jammed packed with figures from history that have endured many trials. Hebrews 11 illustrates the lives of prophets, kings and everyday people who were mocked, put in chains, stoned, sawn in two, tortured and so on for the sake of the gospel; because they saw in their hearts the God that was yet unseen with the naked eye. They desired “…a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.” (Hebrews 11:16) There is a tendency to look to these martyrs as our example to the point of forgetting Christ alone is the example of faith to follow. May it never be! Yet, such sacrifice made for the sake of Jesus is inspiring and looking at the suffering Job endured has been especially meaningful to me. His trial drew him closer to the Lord and much less dependent on the things of the world. How needful it’s been to find deeper peace of mind and spirit as the body I’ve known for many years is altered by drugs and incisions. Wisdom and true perspective on the point of life has certainly been the best by-product of suffering in the flesh.

The word of God says this: “Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.” (1 Peter 4:1-2) The point of life for all of us is to live in the will of God. Because of our pride He must tear us down to build up His life in us so He can work through us to reach others. Without doubt I’m a far cry from reaching the point of total submission to the Lord. There remains far too much that I try to control and pride is subtle. Admittedly I can’t do without the Holy Spirit operating through God’s Word and fellowship with His people to rein me in, tame my tongue and change my mind to be more like Christ. Oh, how I want to be more like Him – to press on toward the upward call of God. It is so much better than being tethered to a world that is most evidently passing away.

A friend of ours named Kyle Peart told me the other night “It’s good for you to die, but not good for those who don’t know Christ.” If I didn’t know the God of my salvation that statement might have offended me but I do know Him and understood exactly what Kyle meant – not that I should die but should in effect adopt the attitude Paul expressed: “to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak.” 1 Corinthians 9:17-27 The best attitude is contentment in all circumstances and a heart of worship. This can be done because Jesus in the “heavenly country” is the focal point; the prize that awaits. He so wants to have vessels that are pliable and fit for His use to declare with tears at times, “my God is mighty to save.”    

For more posts from Comfort in Christ Cancer Support go to http://comfortinchristcancersupport.blogspot.com/

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