Dana's Christian Journey

musings of a thankful cancer survivor

Author: Dana

  • madness

    —

    Dana

    img_0958I recently found an old journal entry dated March 12, 2001 which was a few weeks before my first stem cell transplant. I smiled as I read about a high school championship basketball team, knowing the point guard was sitting with my wife downstairs. Sherill has lived with us this past year while coaching at a local university. Last week she made Susan and me fill out an NCAA tournament bracket. With March Madness in full gear, perhaps this journal entry is a good reminder:

    I’ve discovered a sure way to get in the newspapers: retire from coaching, discover you have cancer; then watch your old team win a state championship. I’m so proud of the girls and coaches for their great accomplishment this season. It is a little different sitting in the stands… but I kind of enjoyed it.

    With present circumstance, my thoughts seem to quickly shift to eternal perspectives. As I was walking to my seat before Saturday’s championship game, I heard one fan say to another: “Now this is what it is all about.” I know what he meant and I’ve probably made similar statements, but the truth of the matter is – no basketball game is what it is all about.

    In Hebrews 11 we find many heroes of faith, imperfect humans like us who knew God existed and believed He rewarded those who earnestly pursue Him. Some were victorious here on earth; some were martyred; all were praised. In chapter 12, the author says we are surrounded by a “great cloud of witnesses.” Like the host of fans who cheered for our team Saturday, I wonder if the “witnesses” are cheering for us. If they could give advice, what would they say? Here’s my guess:

    “Children of God walking the earth… listen to us! We have been where you are and we are now where you want to be. We all endured difficult trials, but know this: it is worth it. Your life on earth is a vapor… but life here is forever. You know the truth… but you must live what you believe! Remember what life is all about!

    “If you are confused about what it is all about, the enemy has an edge. God does not want His children to be confused. He loves with an unfathomable love… a love that surrounds us now. By faith you can know this love on earth as you remember how He saved you through Jesus. Look to the Author and Perfecter of your faith… in Him you have life! As you put your faith in the Son you gain access to every blessing needed to live victoriously. In Christ you are free to bring glory to God… in Christ you find what life is all about.

    “You are the player; Jesus is the Coach. Do everything He tells you for He knows what is best. He may call you to do things that seem impossible, but the One who calls you will empower you. He has given you the Holy Spirit who comforts, counsels, and instructs. Listen to the Spirit and walk by faith.

    “You know you are closer to the return of the King than anyone who has ever lived. In your day there is much darkness. People are living like ‘the visible’ is what it is all about. But you know ‘things seen’ are temporary while ‘things unseen’ are eternal. Live in the eternal! Put on the full armor of God each day. Each one of you is given a race to run. Your race may look different from your neighbor’s, but the destination is the same. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.

    “Endure hardship as a good soldier. Do not lose heart; do not grow weary in doing good; do not get distracted by the lesser things. Keep your eyes on a different Country. There is nothing on earth worth more than your soul. Be totally abandoned to your Creator. As you live by faith, you will find He is faithful and true. One day He will bring us all together. No one can imagine all the Father has in store for His children!”

    “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Hebrews 12:1-3

  • secret (4)

    —

    Dana

    (continued from last week)

    Jesus did not claim to teach, work, or live on His own. “Rather, it is the Father living in Me. Believe Me when I say I am in the Father and the Father is in Me.” (John 14:10-11) In the same way, we are not to live on our own. “Because I live, you will live… I am in the Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you.” (John 14:20)

    The apostle John later taught that life in Christ results in love… “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him.” (I John 4:7-9) We are to live through Christ.

    The apostle Paul was charged with the mission of proclaiming the gospel of Christ to Jews and Gentiles while enduring much suffering. The Father revealed a great mystery to Paul which points to the secret of living an abundant, God-centered life.  Paul shared it with us.

    “Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, which is His church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present the word of God in its fullness – the mystery that has been kept for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:24-27) Christ lives in us.

    Jesus was tempted by Satan to operate apart from His Father, but He did not succumb. We are tempted to live apart from Jesus, but we must not fall into the traps of the enemy. The riches are in Christ… and He lives in us.

    “My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine sounding arguments. For though I am absent from you in the body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.

    So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is head over every power and authority.” Colossians 2:2-10

  • secret (3)

    —

    Dana

    (continued from last week)

    The ‘secret of life’ involves taking eyes off ‘self’ and focusing above. Jesus said: “Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you.” (John 14:19-20)

    In Algebra we teach the transitive property of equality: ‘If a = b and b = c, then a = c.’ The same logic helps us understand: ‘If Jesus is in the Father and we are in Jesus, then we are in the Father.’ Paul states it plainly: “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:3)

    I am asking the Holy Spirit to remind me of this every day… when I wake up and when I go to bed: “I am in Christ.” Jesus teaches us with an interesting metaphor: “I am the Vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit…” (John 15: 5)

    A branch is connected to the vine… a branch is a part of the vine… the health and life of the branch depend on the vine… fruit comes from the branch connected to the healthy vine. Likewise: I am connected to Christ… I am a part of Christ… my health and life depend on Christ… good fruit will come because I am connected to the perfect Christ.

    “You are in Me…” “Remain in Me…” “Live in Me…” How often does a branch need to be reminded to abide in the vine? If the branch does not remain attached to the vine, it cannot live. The Holy Spirit wants our understanding to be just as clear. Separate from the Vine, we cannot live. And we are living with other branches in the Vine… dependent on our Source and bringing forth fruit for the Gardener, who is God.

    And what fruit is most pleasing to the Father? “The greatest of these is love…” As we live in Christ, we will learn to love like Him. His love flows through those connected to Him, blessing the world and revealing the Father. “God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given us.” (Romans 5:5)

    Over a hundred years ago, Andrew Murray, a South African pastor of Scottish descent, explained the result of living in Christ: “The believer cannot abide in Jesus the Glorified One, without feeling himself stirred and strengthened to work: the Spirit and the love of Jesus breathe the will and power to be a blessing to others. Jesus went to heaven with the very object of obtaining power there to bless abundantly. He does this as the heavenly Vine only through the medium of His people as His branches. Whoever, therefore, abides in Him, the Glorified One, bears much fruit, for he receives of the Spirit and the power of the eternal life of his exalted Lord, and becomes the channel through which the fullness of Jesus, who hath been exalted to be a Prince and a Savior, flows out to bless those around him.”

    “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” Colossians 2: 6-7

    Quote from ‘Abide in Christ’ by Andrew Murray, ©1985 Barbour and Company, p 173

    (continued next week)

  • secret (2)

    —

    Dana

    (continued from last week)

    “Because I live, you will live. On that day you will realize that I am in the Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you.” (John 14: 19-20) These words of Jesus hold the secret of life. Just a few moments earlier, the Teacher had spoken a truth He thought should have been clear to His disciples.

    “Philip said, ‘Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.’ Jesus answered, ‘Don’t you know Me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in Me? The words I say I do not speak on My own authority. Rather, it is the Father living in Me, who is doing His work. Believe Me when I say I am in the Father and the Father is in Me…’” (John 14: 8-11)

    Jesus then promised the Holy Spirit: “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to help you and be with you forever – the Spirit of truth… He lives with you and will be in you… On that day you will realize that I am in the Father…” (John 14: 16-20)

    Without the Holy Spirit we can’t ‘get it’! Jesus had walked three years with His apostles, doing the works of God and teaching about the Kingdom of Heaven. But the students still didn’t fully understand the secret of His life: “I am in the Father… and the Father is in Me.”

    “I and the Father are one.” (John 10: 30) Can you imagine Jesus ever saying to God: “Today, I think I’ll just go My own way. I know You want Me to do this… but I really don’t feel like it…”? Jesus knew that His Father’s ways were perfect. The Father is love and all His guidance is good. “… I love the Father and do exactly what My Father has commanded Me.” (John 14: 31) Being one with God on earth meant humbly following His Father’s directions.

    The beautiful truth is that we are invited into this wonderful life with the Father, Son, and Spirit. “As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Now remain in My love. If you keep My commands, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commands and remain in His love. I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” (John 15: 9-12)

    Jesus prayed for us to enter the full life where we are one with God and one with each other as we humbly live in Him.

    “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. I have given them the glory that You have given Me, that they may be one as We are one – I in them and You in Me – so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me.” John 17: 20-23

    (continued next week)

  • secret

    —

    Dana

    Over the next few weeks I want to write about the believer’s ‘secret of life’. Jesus spoke these words to His disciples during His last days on earth: “Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you.” (John 14:19-20)

    Because Jesus lives, we live. He is Life. Jesus made this bold claim and offers His abundant life to all who put their faith in Him. “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)

    The apostles witnessed His life on earth and received life from Him. Not comprehending the meaning, they were assured that Jesus would ask His Father to give “another Advocate” to be with them forever — “the Spirit of truth.” (John 14:10-11)

    The Spirit is the Person who helps us understand what Christ has accomplished. He speaks what Jesus gives Him. The Father, Son, and Spirit act in love on our behalf.

    “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify Me because it is from Me that He will receive what He will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from Me what He will make known to you.” (John 16:12-15)

    How does the Spirit bring glory to the Son? He reminds us that we live only because Jesus lives. He helps us understand the true life found only in Christ. And He reveals that Jesus lives in us. This was the message of the apostles as they went into all the world proclaiming the Gospel. They witnessed Life; they heard God; they received the Light of the world; and they proclaimed Jesus as the Way.

    “For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.’ We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with Him on the sacred mountain.” (II Peter 1:16-18)

    On the Mount of Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah joined Jesus who shone in brilliant light (see Matthew 17). Peter proposed building three structures to honor each, but God said: “Listen to My Son!” The Law and the Prophets were subject to Jesus and fulfilled in Jesus. He is King and Savior. May we keep our minds and hearts fixed on this One who lives – Jesus is our life.

    “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” Colossians 3:1-4

    (continued next week)

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