Dana's Christian Journey

musings of a thankful cancer survivor

Author: Dana

  • love

    —

    Dana

    Who can self-generate joy and peace when the world is falling apart? I can’t… and I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who can. But I’ve known people who have displayed unbelievable peace and joy through incredible trials. Jesus offers what we cannot produce. “I want to give you My joy… in full measure. And I want you to have My peace… I am the Prince of Peace so I can give it. You are going to have trouble in this world, but take hope! I have overcome the world!”

    Who can self-generate the ability to love God with every part of mind, soul, heart, and strength? And who really loves his neighbor as himself? And how many followers of Jesus always follow His greatest commandment… to love others the way He loves us?

    Only God loves this way. So without Him, the supernatural love this world needs does not exist. Jesus prayed that the Father’s love would be in us. “Righteous Father, though the world does not know You, I know You, and they know that You have sent Me. I have made You known to them, and will continue to make You known in order that the love You have for Me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” (John 17:25-26) We need His love to love!

    It is our sinful nature that prevents us from loving well, but Paul revealed that when Jesus died, we died. ”For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin – because anyone who has died has been set free from sin… Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:6-7, 11)

    The hope for any of us to love the way God loves is to live in Christ. We can love because His Spirit lives in us. “And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.” (Romans 5:5)

    What does such love look like on earth? There is care for the poor, the sick and afflicted are helped, the grief-stricken are comforted, those in prison are visited, the hungry are fed, the orphans are rescued, wrong-doers are forgiven, prodigals are welcomed, families thrive, mercy and kindness rule… God is seen.

    “My command is this: love each other as I have loved you.” John 15:12

  • peace

    —

    Dana

    “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)

    Not only does Jesus want us to have His joy, He also wants us to receive His peace. This peace is beyond what the world can give. Treaties, agreements, and compromises can have positive impacts on society, but Jesus knows true peace takes place in the heart.

    In the same conversation with His disciples, Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in Me.” (John 14:1) God is the source of true peace. We can trust Him to be greater than our fears, greater than our circumstances, and greater than the enemy of our souls.

    Paul even said that we can rejoice and give thanks in the midst of anything. Writing from prison he encouraged: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-7)

    I need God’s peace to guard my heart and my mind! God wants us to know He is present. We can trust Him; we can talk to Him and ask for help; we can thank Him for everything He gives us; and we can let His peace rule our hearts.

    “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one Body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” Colossians 3:15

  • joy

    —

    Dana

    Jesus experienced joy on earth by bringing honor to His Father. Shortly before He went to the cross, Jesus prayed for Himself and His disciples. “I have brought You glory on earth by completing the work You gave Me to do. And now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with the glory I had with You before the world began… I am coming to You now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of My joy within them.” (John 17:4, 5, 13)

    Earlier, Jesus told His disciples that He wanted to give them His joy… a joy found in the love of His Father. “As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Now remain in My love. If you obey My commands, you will remain in My love, just as I have obeyed 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)

    The world has different understandings, but Jesus’ joy could not be separated from His Father. “In My Father, I have joy. My purpose is His purpose; My life is His life. In Me, you will have joy. Let your purpose be My purpose and your life be My life.”

    Such joy allows us not to be controlled by our circumstances. No one experienced more pain or injustice than Jesus during His last days. But Jesus remained in His Father. “You will leave Me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for My Father is with Me.” (John 16:32)

    When the writer of Hebrews encourages us to fix our eyes on our Savior, joy is a part of the story. “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.” (Hebrews 12:2)

    May the joy of the Lord be our strength.

    “This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10

  • glorify

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    Dana

    Two things bring great satisfaction to any parent: trust and gratitude. God feels the same and His children bring Him glory when they believe what He says and give thanks for every blessing.

    Abraham glorified God by believing Him. “I know this is God’s promise and He will never lie to me. So if He says my wife and I will have a baby, I’ll believe Him… even if we are approaching our hundredth birthdays!”

    “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead – since he was about a hundred years old – and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waiver in unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised.” (Romans 4:18-21)

    If we smile when our children say ‘Thank you,’ what does God feel? David sang, “I will praise God’s name in song and glorify Him with thanksgiving. This will please Him more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hoofs.” (Psalm 69:30-31) The Father is glorified when we are thankful.

    Thanksgiving should overflow from everything God has done, is doing, and will do through His Son. We believe God loved us enough to die for us. We believe Jesus carried our sins and our ‘old selves’ as He died on the cross. We believe He fulfilled the Law completely, knowing that we could never be saved through our own efforts. We believe He has declared us righteous and holy. We believe He was raised from the dead on the third day and that we need not fear death. We believe Jesus ascended back to heaven after forty days on earth as a resurrected Savior. We believe the Holy Spirit was poured out and is given as a gift to the saved. We believe Jesus and the Holy Spirit intercede for us today. And we believe our Lord is coming back again to take us to a place He has prepared.

    “Impossible!” the world cries. “But this is what God says… and He cannot lie. I will trust Him completely… and give thanks.”

    “It is written: ‘I believed, therefore I have spoken.’ With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the One who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in His presence. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.” II Corinthians 4:13-15

  • glory

    —

    Dana

    A fisherman named John (and many others) witnessed the glory of Jesus and received new life. “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

    But not everyone recognized the glory of the Father. “In Him was light, and that light was the life of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” (John 1:4-5)

    Worse, John further explained that the light was rejected because of a love of the opposite. “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19)

    Though God “wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth,” there is an ongoing battle. Paul shared that the light must penetrate the heart for a person to really encounter the glory of God. Satan wants darkness to rule.

    “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God… For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” (II Corinthians 4:4,6)

    Jesus is the Light and the Answer for spiritual darkness. He lives in those who put their faith in Him. Paul calls this God’s mystery: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27) We want to bring glory to our Savior and He wants us to witness His glory.

    May we live for the glory that counts.

    “Father, I want those You have given Me to be where I am, and to see My glory, the glory You have given Me because You loved Me before the creation of the world.” John 17:24

    “But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” II Corinthians 3:16-18

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