Dana's Christian Journey

musings of a thankful cancer survivor

Author: Dana

  • glorify

    —

    Dana

    One of the statements I memorized in my high school days was this: “The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”

    We know God’s mind is far greater than ours and His ways are much higher than ours, so how do we bring Him glory? I thought the best way for God to receive glory in sickness was for Him to heal me instantly. But signs and wonders are His call, and though I consider today’s health a miracle from above, God chose a far different route than I would have chosen. In the hour of trial, I believe God receives glory if we simply believe what He says. And that is the challenge!

    A little over four years ago, early one afternoon, God told me something: “My grace is sufficient for you.” I was a little puzzled by this familiar Word, not knowing the news I was about to receive. But a few hours later, when my friend the doctor came to our house with the message of cancer, the meaning was clear. God wanted me to know that no matter what was to come, it was enough that He was with me. Could I believe this simple message? In the day of suffering, the devil does not come against you with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, or the pride of life – he comes against you with unbelief! “Where is your God now? He is not with you! Look at you – at the time you need Him most, your God is no where to be found!”

    But if, in that moment of darkness and despair, a soul says, “I do not see Him; I do not feel Him; I do not understand – but I know my God is with me”, the Father is glorified. Even if we cry out, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”, yet we have surrendered ourselves to Him, the Father receives glory. Did not Jesus prove that, even in death, the Father can be glorified?

    So how does God receive glory if I am strong and healthy and full of energy? Is the answer any different? Oh to believe what He says! If I know He is with me until “the very end of the age”, does that change the way I live? If I am confident I am “God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works”, will I be about His business? If “God has poured out His love into our hearts”, does that determine the way I treat my fellow man? If I am a “temple of the Holy Spirit”, does that keep me on the narrow path? It should – if I believe. “Stop doubting and believe.”

    “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:29

    “Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.” John 17:1

  • suffering

    —

    Dana

    Every time I go to the hospital for a day of tests I can’t help but reflect on the age old problem of suffering. (I won’t get Thursday’s test results for a few weeks.) Many have stumbled at the thought of a loving God who permits incredible suffering on this earth. Yet there is a loving God… and there is much suffering. Disease, famine, flood, and war bring extraordinary hardship to multitudes while hidden suffering in broken hearts and tormented minds bring no less pain.

    A simplistic prosperity doctrine can leave one feeling guilty if things aren’t rosy, but the Holy Spirit is wise to give much instruction to believers about embracing suffering. As in the time the New Testament was written, many today suffer for simply wearing the name of Christ. The words of Peter are plain, “Do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering as though something something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you… If you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.”

    Can all who walk in Christ embrace such a mentality about all kinds of suffering? Most of us do not live in a land where persecution is common, yet all Christians have the same enemy. Throughout history, God has allowed difficulty (even the attacks of the evil one) to bring His children closer to Him. No one in his right mind wants to drink a bitter cup, yet we all want to grow in our trust in the One who sees and understands all things. “So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.”

    Matt Redman wrote a song of praise containing the mindset that pleases the Father: “Blessed be Your Name, when the sun’s shining down on me… when the world’s ‘all as it should be’, blessed be Your Name. Blessed be Your Name, on the road marked with suffering… though there’s pain in the offering, blessed be Your Name.”

    Jesus told us we each would have a cross to bear. Jesus told us we would have trouble in this world. Jesus dreaded His cup and prayed it could pass, yet He trusted His Father and with “the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame.” Paul understood that when he suffered, he participated in what was “lacking in Christ’s afflictions.” Perhaps that’s why he longed to know “the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings.”

    I don’t grasp this mystery, but we all know hardship can produce good as we trust the Lord. So let us encourage one another in faith. In humility, let us pray for one another and bear one another’s burdens. Let us keep our eyes on Jesus,”the Author and Perfecter of our faith.” And let us follow His example.

    “To this end you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. ‘He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.’ When they hurled insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” I Peter 2:21-23

  • lavish

    —

    Dana

    We appreciate so many that have prayed for baby John and his mom, Terri. On Monday Terri is coming to live with us a while. We are all excited that a mother and son are going to be together. We want Terri to see how her little baby has blessed so many people. Our church family, our neighbors, our school, and so many friends have lavished God’s love on this little boy. Oh if everyone could see that this extravagant love is what God is all about!

    “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are!” I John 3:1

    This time of year, I always remember the love that was lavished on our family in a time of need. On Thursday I go back to Emory to have the yearly barrage of tests. I have been in remission for three years, and though quite often I am reminded of the terminal nature of my type of cancer, I feel like the most blessed man on earth to have had this season of health. I feel I can encourage people without reservation to enjoy every day the Father gives us. He lavishes His love on us… so let us pass it on.

    Thanks for your prayers.

    “For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”  Ephesians 3:14-21

  • rushing wind

    —

    Dana

    What if my heart does not feel like an ark of the covenant? What if my body does not feel like a temple of the Holy Spirit? Our feelings often work against faith, so the great need is to simply believe what God says.

    Living out the life God has given us often corresponds to what we truly believe. Is it just theory that God writes His law on the minds and hearts of His children or has He really done it? Is it just theory that my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit or does He really live in me?

    Satan has no right to any part of God’s temple. We have been bought at a great price and our Master has all authority. Zeal for His house (us) still consumes Him!

    “In the temple courts he found men selling cattle sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of chords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, ‘Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market.’ His disciples remembered that it is written: ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’” John 2:14-17

    May we be bold enough to give Him free reign over every part of us! Then we can honestly sing the old hymn by Adelaide Pollard:

    Have Thine own way, Lord, Have Thine own way
    Thou art the Potter, I am the clay
    Mold me and make me after Thy will
    While I am waiting, yielded and still.

    Have Thine own way, Lord, have Thine own way
    Hold o’er my being absolute sway!
    Filled with Thy Spirit till all shall see
    Christ, only, always, living in me!

    The late Keith Green sang this prayer:

    Rushing Wind blow through this temple, blowing out the dust within
    Come and breathe your breath upon me, I’ve been born again.
    Holy Spirit, I surrender, take me where you want to go
    Plant me by your Living Waters, plant me deep so I will grow.

    Jesus, You’re the One who set my spirit free
    Use me, Lord, glorify Your Holy Name through me

    Separate me from this world, Lord, sanctify my life for You
    Daily change me to Your image, help me bear good fruit.
    Every day You’re drawing closer, trials come to test my faith
    But when all is said and done, Lord, its been worth the wait.

    Jesus, You’re the One who set my spirit free
    Use me, Lord, glorify, Your Holy Name through me.

    “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.” Acts 2:2

  • arks & temples

    —

    Dana

    “Have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you…” “Have them make a chest of acacia wood… There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony, I will meet with you…” Exodus 25

    The Ark of the Covenant was housed in the mobile tent Moses was commanded to build. People knew God was there. Those that did not treat the ark or the tabernacle with great respect perished in dramatic ways.

    For nearly five hundred years the tabernacle was the dwelling place of God. Then King David proposed a more permanent structure. Though God did not permit David to be the builder, his son, Solomon, erected a magnificent Temple in Jerusalem.

    Once a year, the high priest went into the presence of God, behind the curtain in the inner sanctuary called the Most Holy Place. There, at the Ark, atonement was made for the sins of the people. Year after year the priestly duties were performed. After about five hundred years, Someone walked by the temple and made a startling prediction: “I tell you the truth, not one stone will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” Earlier, this same Jew had made an even more outrageous statement: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will build it back.”

    The One who said these things knew a radical change was at hand. No longer would the Presence of God be in the Most Holy Place of a building built by men – the Presence of God was in Jesus! He knew He was to be the perfect Sacrifice offered once for all men. He knew that when He died the thick curtain that protected the Ark of the Covenant would be “torn in two from top to bottom”. He knew He was providing the way for all men to have access to His Heavenly Father. Jesus also knew His body was the Temple that would not stay in a tomb.

    We know these things, but do we keep in mind God’s ongoing story? Today the new covenant established by God is not contained in a holy chest of wood – it is written on human hearts! “I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they all will know me, from the least of them to the greatest.”

    For centuries archeologists have searched for the Ark of the Covenant. Yearly, thousands of tourists visit the Temple Mount in Jerusalem only imagining how beautiful that building must have been. But arks exist today! The arks are the hearts of those who believe in the Son. And temples live today! Each member of the Body of Christ is the dwelling place of God. Let us thank and worship this One who has given us so much.

    “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” I Corinthians 6:19-20

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