The Finish Line

The Apostle Paul states…. “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 had it rough yet he was content. When he speaks of being abased he was not kidding. He was beaten with rods, stoned, and shipwrecked just to name a few trials he suffered for the sake of the Gospel. (1 Corinthians 11:25-28)  

Everyone’s road is different. Some suffering is brought about while actively sharing God’s Word and some is simply from living in this broken world.  I have learned that God uses even cancer to challenge me to grow and share His Word with a lost and dying world.  A few days ago I found out the results of the recent PET scan which showed two new cancerous nodes. Not again! I was almost there – nearly done with treatment at least for awhile. Grrrrr! I also learned that the genetic test that could have resulted in a new, more convenient drug was not a match.  So I begin IV chemo again this Monday. All this news was delivered in the usual detached fashion I’ve become accustomed to, but as I’ve said before I will not give anyone an excuse not to believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ because of cancer in my life.

Suffering in this life is to be expected. We cannot get to Heaven unless we first die on earth. All we’ve endured is nothing compared to the incomprehensible agony Christ Himself experienced.  Jesus was beaten by men, took the weight of sin on His shoulders and on top of that He was separated from the Father while He hung there on that cross for you and me. I reflect on this passage from Hebrews 12:3-4 – “For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.” 

Can we take solace in remembrance that no matter what hardship we suffered Jesus endured so much more for our sake? The book of Hebrews also states the following about how the Lord understands our trials: “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb 4: 14:15) Yes he understands what I’m going through! It was not His will for me to be in this spot facing down big bad cancer. The reality of disease is evidence of a world broken by sin and that is what He died for.

So… now what? The ever present fact that life is short makes spending one’s days pleasing the Lord all the more imperative. As my husband likes to point out “no one is promised tomorrow.” Whether in plenty or in want; whether afflicted or healed, the motivation is contentment and the goal is Jesus Christ. He’s there at the finish line waiting for us and when we see Him face to face we can confidently say of disease – not ever again!

As the chorus to the old hymn goes…“Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”

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

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All Things for Good

(I decided to re-post this one with a new title because it's a tribute to all the people whose lives intersect during a crisis and how the Lord works it all to the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28) 

 ‘Where are you from?’ ‘What are you in for?’ So go the conversations that can start up by folks cooling their heels at one of the cancer centers in town. All of us have different reasons for being there and yet share a common detour in our lives. So here we sit, waiting to have various tumors irradiated or simply annihilated by way of a chemo treatment. Gowns on, determined to keep our spirits up we wait for the next dosing delivered through various means of conveyance.  

Coffee, tea and other light snacks are offered to take the edge off the experience. Being escorted to our treatment rooms is a pleasant walk with quite kindly people; knowledgeable in their areas of expertise.  Once in the room all the numbers have to line up before “it’s a go,” whether its exact placement on the radiation table or the right reports on blood levels compatible with receiving chemo. It all has to be perfect, at least as perfect as can be this side of eternity. We wouldn’t want to have the body even a millimeter out of alignment with the radiation beam. That would be useless not to mention potentially catastrophic. We lie on our tables or sit in our chairs, putting another mark on the wall as it were, counting off the number of times we’ve been there. Those of you who’ve had these treatments know this familiar terrain.  

I’ve been told and I suppose rightly so that only those dealing with cancer can adequately understand and have compassion on others in the same boat. That’s what originally prompted me to seek out the Lord’s will and wisdom in starting this new cancer support group at Calvary Tucson. The scriptures command us to “Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2) When burdened, the typical response may be to run and hide, but hopefully instead afflicted saints will choose to share their trials, as the Lord reveals to them what it is He would have them learn. Christians bearing cancer possess eternal hope in the Lord Jesus Christ and are blessed beyond measure knowing though our earthly tents are wearing out one day we will meet the Lord face to face, and what a day that will be! I like this passage from Hebrews 10:23-25:  “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” 

A few men of God come to mind who gladly shared their burdens with one another. One example is Jonathan who surely shouldered David’s anguish over being exiled from the kingdom and hunted by Jonathan’s father Saul. Here is the prelude to Saul’s attempted murder of David: “Now Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David; but Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted greatly in David. So Jonathan told David, saying, "My father Saul seeks to kill you. Therefore please be on your guard until morning, and stay in a secret place and hide. And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak with my father about you. Then what I observe, I will tell you."  Thus Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father, and said to him, "Let not the king sin against his servant, against David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been very good toward you.” (1 Samuel 19:1-4)

Jonathan put himself in harm’s way more than once for David’s sake. Because of his great love, the King in the line from whom our Messiah would be born was saved. It’s often been said we don’t know how far reaching may be the affects of our faithfulness to God through our love for our neighbors. Remember the angel Gabriel said to Mary, “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end." (Luke 1:31-33) May we follow the example of Jonathan and of Jesus Himself to first love God, and then to show that love by bearing one another’s burdens no matter what afflictions may befall us.  (For me, one intersection has been this waiting room at UMC.)

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

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The Real Princess Bride

“Someday my prince will come. Someday I’ll find my love and how thrilling that moment will be.” Woman was made to love and honor Man and the natural proclivity is to search for the that one true and charming man who will ride in on that white horse, swooping in to rescue us from the boring, mundane sometimes evil valley below. The scene depicted is riding off together to live happily ever after. The groom is exceedingly strong, yet endlessly gentle. The bride is adorned in pristine white garments, the picture of wide-eyed purity. Oh yes, the search for true love is not for women only.  Though men quite certainly have different presumptions about how to know when love is real, the quest to fill that desire is equally as strong.

As a girl, I grew up sugar and spice, but not necessarily all things nice. So the search for Prince Charming was on. The emphasis to be beautiful enough to secure Mr. Right started innocently enough; with tightly wound golden locks adorned with a plastic crown. Transitioning from teenager to young adult heightened the need to be loved by someone special. To quote another musical that took scripture out of context, my search could be summed up with “any dream will do.” (Comment if know that musical.) Rescue me – come on and rescue me from this low income, lost hope way of living life. It’s interesting how far anyone will go to find what they think will make them happy; what will make life complete. Most of the time that concludes with a downward spiral, which forces one to wake up to reality: but not always.

It’s fun to play dress up, get on the “Sunday best” and look like a lady. Sometimes little girls just don’t want to grow up and innocently perpetuate the myth of the princess bride in various ways. Upon coming to a saving faith in Jesus Christ however we see the true deliverer devoid of fantasy wrapped up in sorcery, wicked stepmothers and evil queens. In the kingdom of Christ we won’t find talking crickets that with the initials J.C. that act as spirit guides or ascended masters on the African plain.  As Christians we are committed to allowing Jesus full rein to reign in our lives as the Prince of Peace and the lover of our souls. Instead of gazing into the looking glass, being deceived into thinking it measures our value, “we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 3:18) It is Jesus we are longing to see, His image we desire to reflect.

It was jarring to have my little girl bubble burst, but oh so worth it to acquire in its place a greater understanding of what it means to live true life, the Christian life. “For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” (2 Corinthians 4:5-7)

The Lord wants us to use our time, talent and treasure to search for and serve Him – to be used by Him. Remember how He says He will come for His church at a time not expected? (Matthew 25:11) His people need to be ready, filled with His love, adorned with our wedding garments. We are His Bride. He says this in Ephesians 5, “Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” (24-27) Since the image of my natural body is marred due to the ‘ravages of time’ and the effects of cancer treatments, the way the Lord sees me on the inside must be satisfying enough.

As a wife I look to, lean on and love my husband, but He cannot in any way take the place reserved for Christ my heavenly husband to whom I am eternally joined. All members of the true church described for us in Scriptures are the ‘Real Princess Bride’, clothed in pure white. We will be called one day by our husband Jesus Christ to “come up here” and be joined together forever with Him. “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, Write: 'Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!' And he said to me, These are the true sayings of God." (Revelation 19:7-9)

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

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Afar Off

How close do you want to get to God?  Pausing for thought on that? Truth be told, often we want the fringe benefits God can provide: lasting health, wealth and safety, but naturally tend to keep God Himself on the periphery. Charlatans prey on our skittishness about holiness, pretending to be God's voice by promising temporal earthly treasures, but fall short when their prophecies fail to come true. Sadly, these wolves in sheep’s clothing think nothing of fleecing the flock. Near-sighted sheep will follow these false prophets, squandering their lives and fortunes believing their poisonous promises.  One wonders why? Approaching God’s throne personally and intimately should be an amazingly enticing prospect. To draw near to the Creator of the Universe and walk with Him in the cool of the day. What could be greater?!

Adam and Eve had it that good, didn’t they? But they quickly traded it away for a taste of the power to know good and evil. Seeing how evil can manifest itself it's clear they made a very bad trade. Upon rebelling, a wall of separation instantly went up between God and man. God cannot walk, stand or sit in the presence of sin. Oh how He pitied His creation! How He must have mourned over the loss of fellowship! 

Enter Moses 2,500 years later. Moses sees the burning bush, but does he separate himself or draw closer? Wisely, he draws near; he desires to see this marvelous sight. Moses is called out from obscurity where he’s been hiding out in the desert among the Midianites. God gives him the job of returning to his native Egypt and lead his people, Israel from slavery and oppression. But before he could hear this call, Moses had to draw near to the Holy fire of God. 

Just as Moses was told to remove his worn, dirty sandals, (Exodus 3:2) we must cast off our flesh, leaving it buried where it belongs, as we approach our Mighty Deliverer.  After the miracles, after the Exodus, after the manna in the desert the tribes of Israel gathered at the base of the mountain and “witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, "You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die."  (Exodus 20: 18-19) Too often, we resemble the tribes. We just want to keep the Lord at arm’s length. 

The religions of the world are set up to make their followers do something or go through someone else rather than speak with the True and Living God. Praise the Lord He doesn't need to rely on us to reach all the lost sheep. Rather, He humbled Himself to become a man, never stopped being God, to die for sinners, breaking down the wall of separation once and for all! (Ephesians 2:14) Jesus, the perfect man and perfect God did the work we could not do, making the perfect way back to Him. May we never allow the walls of pride, lies, or religion to separate us from coming completely to the Great God and Savior, the Deliverer of our souls, Jesus Christ.  Don’t stand “afar off.” Come near to Jesus, the only true way back to the Father!

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

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