Dana's Christian Journey

musings of a thankful cancer survivor

Author: Dana

  • warnings

    —

    Dana

    Recent news reports state that officials may have failed to heed warnings of potential terrorist strikes prior to September 11. Since that date, many cautions have been given, but as time passes it seems warnings lose their impact.

    I don’t know that we like warnings too much, but that does not stop God from giving them. The very people who miraculously crossed the Red Sea on dry land grumbled when they got thirsty. The Israelites who received water from a rock and bread from heaven tested God by complaining. The men and women who were most knowledgeable of God’s holiness committed open sexual sin. And the people who witnessed the judgment of all the false gods of Egypt erected a golden calf to worship. Why are these failures and their tragic consequences recorded so frequently in Scripture? (see I Corinthians 10:1-10)

    “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” (I Corinthians 10:11-12)

    Though His spokesmen may be ignored or scorned, God has never ceased sending warnings. He shouts as a loving father who sees his children in danger. God wants everyone that walks the earth today to know He has never changed. Yet people who have been given incredible blessings still grumble and complain. People who know of God’s holiness still surrender to the lusts of the flesh. And people who have been bought with the blood of a perfect Son still put other things ahead of the one true God. These are the sins that have trapped man in every generation, but the Lord wants us to know we don’t have to fall.

    The One who sends the warnings also sends a promise. We will never be tempted beyond what we can handle. Though temptations will come, the Father always provides a way of escape for His children. He wants us to keep standing.

    “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (I Corinthians 10:13)

  • Good Hope

    —

    Dana

    Susan gave me a framed photograph and a card on Valentine’s Day. The picture is of a white-haired man with hands in his pockets standing on a huge rock looking out into the ocean. It looks as if he is expecting to find something he has been searching for.

    I wasn’t aware someone took my picture, but I know where it was taken. I was standing at the Cape of Good Hope on the southern tip of Africa.

    The card contained a hand-written Scripture reference and word of encouragement that brought tears to my eyes. “Exodus 33:21 – May you always stand on the rock!” Where else is there to stand? I’ve lived long enough to know that everything else this world has to offer is shifting sand. There is only one true Rock and if we stand there we can look into the distance with joyful expectation.

    The Scripture reference comes from the life of Moses. For quite some time this servant of the Lord had experienced the provision and power of an almighty God. He had witnessed the plagues, he had walked through the Red Sea on dry land, he had received bread from Heaven and water from a rock. But Moses was looking for more. Perhaps the longer we walk with God the more we will desire Him. The mature pilgrims learn to pray as Moses did: “Teach me your ways so I may know you.” Perhaps one day we’ll come to the place Paul reached – realizing there was only one thing that mattered. “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (see Philippians 3:7-16)

    “Show me your glory,” Moses prayed. What does the Father do with such a prayer? Did Moses not know he would die if he looked into the face of God? This is where Exodus 33:21 is found. These instructions played out in the physical for Moses, but they hold no less meaning for us. “And the Lord said, ‘There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock.’”

    Our Rock provided the water for Moses in the desert. Our Rock is the Living Bread from Heaven. In our Rock there is Good Hope.

    “They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.” I Corinthians 10:3-4

    “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” John 6:35

    “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.” John 6:51

  • beauty

    —

    Dana

    The mountains surrounding Capetown, South Africa look barren from a distance. But climbing one on New Year’s Day revealed some hidden wonders of God’s creation. Plants grow on these mountains that are not found anywhere else in the world. At one place my brother pointed out a beautiful orange flower. “That bloom can only come out after a fire,” he informed me. We could see that, indeed, a fire had recently swept through the area. But there grew one of the brightest and prettiest flowers I have ever seen.

    I know a beautiful family. Joe, Sybil, Ben, Matt, Pete, and Mary McReynolds have unselfishly served our family for a number of years. They have not just served me. It is rare to visit their home without meeting a person they are helping. I have often witnessed a beauty that can only come from the Father above. I am also aware of many fires that have swept through their lives.

    Last week, Sybil learned that she has breast cancer – a type that is quite aggressive. As I sat in worship Sunday and watched tears stream down the faces of friends and family members, I wondered about the upcoming struggle. God hears our cries and understands our pain, but I don’t know what lies ahead. We know he is not surprised by the things that surprise us, but our human minds struggle to understand. I am praying and I ask you to pray that God will heal Sybil, but I have no clear word about our hurting bodies.

    I will predict one thing: As this fire rages, rare beauty will start to appear. Refined and purified faith will rise in a family that already models faith to many. Honest, passionate prayers from thousands of people will be lifted to a Father of mercy and compassion. The wonderful love of God in the Body of Christ will surround and serve the wounded and hurting. And the Lord, Himself, will be a Refuge in the midst of the storm.

    “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” II Corinthians 4:16-18

  • a good soldier

    —

    Dana

    As soldiers, they have no choice but to obey their commanding officer, but these men want to follow. They have heard the stories about their leader. He fought in battles before they were born, he followed his leaders into places of danger, and with uncommon valor he often risked his life for others. This officer’s past heroics and present position now impact a whole company of young soldiers. The willingness these men have to follow their leader goes much deeper than duty.

    “Endure hardship with us as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs – he simply wants to please his commanding officer.” (II Timothy 2:3-4)

    Our Lord will require no steps He was not willing to take. “Abandon all.” “Deny yourself.” “Pick up your cross.” What could He ask that He has not done? And is there not a purpose for sacrifice? As there was purpose for our King, so there will be purpose for His followers. We may not always understand, but by faith we persevere – believing what we have not seen, trusting what we cannot touch, and risking everything on Jesus being who He says He is. He is the One I want to follow.

    This Man entered battles we don’t even fathom. Because He obeyed, the enemy has been defeated. Death came before resurrection, however, and so it is for those who want to follow. His past has impacted all mankind. He took the sins of the world on Himself. In fact, the Scripture says, He actually became sin – for a purpose. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (II Cor. 5:21) And there is an even deeper mystery: When He died, I died – the old me, that is. Now I am a new creation and somehow I am a part of Him. It is hard to believe sometimes, but this is God’s truth. And I had better believe what my commanding officer says.

    “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin – because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.” Romans 6:3-7

    “Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” II Timothy 2:11-13

  • one step at a time

    —

    Dana

    Looking out the back of my brother’s apartment in Capetown, South Africa, one can see the majestic mountains that surround the city. One peak is within walking distance of Brian’s place, so early New Year’s Day, my brother, another younger missionary, my children, and I set off to climb a mountain.

    For some reason, the mountain always looks easier to climb when you’re sitting in a chair, looking out a window, than when you’re on the actual journey. After about a half-mile walk, we reached a set of steps that led us to the beginning of the trail at the foot of the mountain. By the time I climbed those stairs, I was exhausted! How was I ever going to climb the mountain before us?

    I’ll share the uncomplicated answer that helped me complete the hike. I realize this answer is simplistic, but it helped me keep going. Here it is: Take one step at a time.

    My desire this year is to follow Jesus wherever He leads. When you read of His followers in Scripture, you see the Good Shepherd lead by still waters and you see Him lead through the valley of the shadow of death. Surely, when we think the mountain before us is impossible, the Lord would say, “Keep your eyes on Me and take one step at a time.”

    With New Year’s Day fresh on my mind, I thought I would write about the importance of that first step. If it is not taken, there is no journey. But as I begin to think back on my life to pinpoint that first step in following Jesus, I realize my analogy is flawed. You see, I did not take the first step. Jesus did. The step He took enables there even to be a journey. Without Him, the smallest hill is impossible to climb, but because of Him, all things are possible.

    Every step Jesus took on this earth reveals the secret to life. He simply listened to His Father and obeyed what He heard. And because He took that walk to Calvary, the impassable mountains of sin we all have accumulated came crashing down so a Father could receive His own. What great joy to realize the first step any of us could take toward the Father has already been accomplished in the Cross! This is why no man should ever boast of his own steps. Our journey should simply be a response to what has already been done.

    How can I say “No” to the One who laid down His life for me? Jesus does not promise the journey will be easy, but He does promise to be with us. How thankful I am for the peaceful walks with the Master. But one day He may call me out of the boat into a storm that seems impossible. If I can just remember what the Lord has already accomplished and if I can have the faith to keep my eyes on Him, then, perhaps, I can even walk on water – one step at a time.

    “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:6-8

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