Dana's Christian Journey

musings of a thankful cancer survivor

Author: Dana

  • go

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    Dana

    Our college daughter Karlyn and I are taking fourteen high school students to Nicaragua tomorrow so I won’t write next week. We will be working with an organization called Amigos For Christ to help bring water to a community. We would appreciate your prayers!

    We know Jesus told His apostles to go into all the world to make disciples and to baptize and to teach the ways of Jesus. And while it is right to see the Great Commission as an important command, it is also possible to see it as an invitation.

    “I am with you!” What beautiful words! Jesus wanted His love and His death and His resurrection to be known beyond Israel. He wanted those who had never even heard of God to know Him. He wanted the pagans, the savages, and the heathen to see His Father… one who loved the world so much that He sacrificed His only Son.

    Every apostle except John is thought to have died a violent death in his effort to spread the Gospel; John was exiled on the Isle of Patmos. Would they say it was worth it? I think so… and each would say: “Jesus was true to His word… He was with me.”

    He’s with us too!

    I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

    “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

  • enter

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    Dana

    “The Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”

    Jesus not only proclaimed that the Kingdom of God was at hand; He revealed the secret to entering it. The important attitude is ‘humility’, the only entrance is the Son, and the rule of the Kingdom is ‘love.’

    “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”

    “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”

    How can we enter God’s presence except humbly? He created us, He knows all, and He has all power. Only in humility can we recognize and accept the passageway to the Father.

    “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep… I am the gate; whoever enters through Me will be saved.”

    “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

    On earth, Jesus walked in fellowship and in submission to His Father. He lived in the Kingdom and the mark of His life was love. Love led to compassion, healing, truth-telling, and sacrifice. Love flowed from the Father as the Son obeyed. This is the rule of the Kingdom for us. We walk in love as we receive love from our Savior.

    “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” Amen.

    “As the Father has loved Me, so I have 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 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

  • celebrate

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    Dana

    photoLast year, our son Taylor led his volleyball team to the state finals and lost in the championship game. This past Saturday, his team returned to the finals and won!

    I stood at the top of the bleachers most of the match, feeling the excitement and stress a coach experiences in the heat of the battle. After the last point was won, my hands shot up in the air as the celebration began. This was not a premeditated move… it was an automatic reaction to the joy I knew our son and his team was experiencing. They had quite a year.

    The greatest celebrations are those fueled by love. Jesus told a story to a group of people that needed to know God better. When a wayward son came home after a season of rebellion and sin, a father not only ran to meet him, but he completely forgave him and then poured out gifts and blessings.

    The father invited others to join him in the joyous occasion. “’Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate! For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.” (Luke 15:23-24)

    But not all were happy. A jealous older sibling only focused on his brother’s wrongdoing. He challenged his father’s mindset and proclaimed injustice. “Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!” (Luke 15:29-30)

    The older son did not have the heart of the father. He was not motivated by love. He could not understand that sometimes a father cannot help but celebrate.

    “We had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” (Luke 32:32)

  • depend

    —

    Dana

    I don’t want to make too much of batting practice on my driveway, but perhaps there’s a lesson to be learned. After the magnificent hit a couple of weeks ago, there has been no occasion to celebrate. John has been a good hitter for several years (he’s hit two home runs over the fence in little league), but one day last week a horrible slump ensued.

    Players encounter slumps in every sport, so there’s no huge worry, but since prayer factored into reaching a difficult goal, I wondered if John would suggest we pray about his slump. He didn’t… ball after ball I pitched and swing after swing he missed. It was crazy.

    To make matters worse, eight-year-old Charlie who lives across the street, started throwing tennis balls in the air and hitting them with a stick. John just got more and more frustrated. Finally, I could stand it no longer and said, “John, maybe we need to pray like the other day.” He replied, “No… I just can’t hit…” And so the day ended in sad defeat.

    I think John will return to his good hitting form one day, but this reminded me of my own history. Sometimes I depend on the Lord; sometimes I don’t. Occasionally I have the type of faith that believes God will really move mountains (and He has), but other times I don’t even consider praying… and if anyone suggests it, I might think, “You can pray if you want, but nothing is going to happen.”

    Jesus wants me to know that He does not change. He is not wishy-washy… up one day, down the next. He is God. “You can’t depend on your mood… but you can depend on Me.” Paul wanted believers to know Christ so well that they would never neglect to depend on Him. Let’s encourage one another in like manner.

    Paul wrote, “I want you to know how much I am struggling for you… My purpose is that you be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that you may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that you may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge…

    “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 thanksgiving.

    “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of the world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.” Colossians 2:1-10

  • watch

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    Dana

    The disciples did not follow Jesus’ directions in the Garden of Gethsemane: “Stay here and keep watch.” What were they to watch for? But it really didn’t matter; they couldn’t stay awake. “Watch and pray so you don’t fall into temptation,” Jesus encouraged, but their eyes were too heavy and they fell asleep three times.

    They wanted to do what Jesus asked, but they couldn’t. Mark wrote that after Jesus woke them, “They did not know what to say to Him.”

    “No one knows about the day or the hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

    “Therefore, keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back – whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: Watch!” (Mark 13:32-37)

    I watched Taylor coach his volleyball team this week. The crowd was enthusiastic, the game was intense, and our son was on the sideline… it was easy to watch. But it is harder to watch when matters are spiritual and I don’t fully comprehend. I want to watch; I want to be alert; I want to understand the times… but I need assistance.

    The Holy Spirit will help us watch as we depend on Him! We are not left on our own. We can ask the Counselor to help us stay alert and discern. “The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My Name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26)

    This is what I need… a Helper to keep me awake and help me understand. Thank God He helps us watch!

    “When 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 to come. He will bring glory to Me by taking from what is Mine and making it known to you.” John 16:13-14

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