Dana's Christian Journey

musings of a thankful cancer survivor

Author: Dana

  • ask

    —

    Dana

    photo2Starting with Taylor in the early 1990’s, I’ve pitched tennis balls to our kids in the driveway as batting practice. (We have the best neighbors in the world.) For months, ten-year-old John has tried to reach a goal that I was beginning to think impossible. If he could hit a ball as far as a house across the street (the one on the left in the picture), I would take him to get a treat. The first challenge is the distance but the greater challenge is the narrow gap he has to hit in order to avoid bushes, trees, and other obstacles. After literally thousands of attempts, John never reached the goal… until last week.

    After thirty or forty swings, out of the blue, John said, “Dana, I think we need to pray.” I laughed to myself and agreed with him. “Great… go ahead and pray.” John said, “No, you do it.” So I prayed out loud on our driveway that a little boy could hit a ball to a certain place in our neighbor’s yard. Within ten pitches the goal was accomplished. We ran to the spot, confirmed the measurement, and celebrated with great enthusiasm. John yelled, “Thank you God!” After going in the house to tell Susan, we headed to Smoothie King.

    Right in the middle of Jesus’ instruction to love one another, He talks about asking for things of the Father in His Name. “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in My name.” (John 15:16)

    I imagine God knows that as we mature, we’ll care about far more important matters than children’s games, but John took the preliminary step we often omit… he remembered to ask.

    On the road to Jericho, a beggar cried out at the top of his voice when he heard Jesus was near: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Without reading the story we would probably guess that Jesus healed the man. He did… but first He asked a question: “What do you want Me to do for you?” The man replied, “Lord, I want to see.” (see Luke 18:35-43)

    Jesus invites us to ask. Even though we know God sees our situation and knows all things, we are to ask. Ask like a child of God, ask like a persistent widow, ask like a friend of Jesus… ask like a ten-year-old boy.

    “Then Jesus told the disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” Luke 18:1

    “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Luke 11:9-13

  • love

    —

    Dana

    If you have received My mercy; if you have experienced My compassion and goodness; if you realize that I suffered for you and gave My life so you could be forgiven and restored to the Father… listen carefully to what I want you to do: Pass it on. Take what you have been given and share it with others. As I have loved you freely, love others freely. As I received My Father’s love and poured it out, receive My love and pour it out to all who come your way.

    Don’t you see how brilliant our Father is? He gave His Son — Me — as a ransom for those who deserved penalty so the world could see true love. What greater love is there than for one to lay down his life for another? This is what I have done for you! Will you follow Me? Know God’s will… and your mission: LOVE.

    “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. You see, just at 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 demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:5-8

    “My command is this: Love each other the way I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command… This is my command: Love each other.” John 15:12-17

  • obey

    —

    Dana

    These are the invitations of Jesus we have examined so far: come to Me, listen to Me, believe in Me, follow Me, fish with Me, and abide in Me. Now we hear: obey Me.

    This sounds more like a commandment than an invitation. Of course it is a command, but when we grasp Jesus’ understanding of obedience, we see that everything centers in relationship… and relationship always involves choice.

    Jesus explains that the way to abide in relationship is to love… and loving God requires obedience. “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.” John 15:9-10

    We can’t picture Jesus disobeying his Father… because the Son loved the Father and the Father loved the Son. We know that Jesus did pour out His heart in difficult times. He asked that the cup of death pass from Him in the Garden, but His humble conclusion to the prayer was: “Not My will, but Yours be done.”

    In his book Crazy Love, Francis Chan wrote:

    I have so many people ask me questions like, Can I divorce my wife and still go to heaven? Do I have to be baptized to be saved? Am I a Christian even though I’m having sex with my girlfiend? If I commit suicide, can I still go to heaven? If I’m ashamed to talk about Christ, is He really going to deny knowing me?

    To me, these questions are tragic because they reveal much about the state of our hearts. They demonstrate that our concern is more about going to heaven than loving the King. Jesus said, ‘If you love me, you will obey what I command.’ (John 14:15)

    And look at the promise that follows!

    “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see Me anymore, but you will see Me. 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. Whoever has My commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves Me. He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I too will love him and show Myself to him.” John 14:16-21

    Quote from Crazy Love by Francis Chan, ©2008 by D C Jacobson & Associates LLC, p. 86

  • abide

    —

    Dana

    “Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:4-5

    If we could fully grasp these words, I think our favorite invitation of Jesus would be: “Abide in Me.” We are the branches… connected to the most beautiful, the most healthy, and the most productive Vine ever planted. The Gardener has planned it this way and the Vine simply whispers, “Stay in Me.”

    And why would I not want to stay in Him? Without the Vine, I am nothing. Why would I want my identity to come from somewhere else? Jesus is the only source that matters. If I live in Him, why should I worry if my life is going to be productive? Jesus promises that if we remain in Him there will be much fruit… because fruit comes from Him.

    Bruce Wilkinson wrote, “In abiding… you seek, long for, thirst for, wait for, see, know, love, hear, and respond to… a Person.” Everything centers in the Person Jesus Christ, who took our sins to the cross and died that we might be a part of Him. He has risen and He 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

  • fish

    —

    Dana

    In case you’ve not heard, Susan and I are going to be grandparents! Taylor and Emma are expecting their first child in the middle of March. We are all excited!

    Though his fishing time may be diminished soon, I can picture Taylor teaching a little boy or girl how to fish in a few years. Since he was young, our son has loved to fish and God has answered many prayers and taught many lessons on the water. Several of Jesus’ disciples also experienced God’s intervention while fishing.

    When the Rabbi called, “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men,” the fishermen followed. When Jesus invites us to ‘fish’ with him, we see the priorities of the kingdom: people. He came to seek and to save the lost and he invites his disciples to participate.

    Besides knowing all about lures and having a great ‘feel’ for what is happening under the water, Taylor has developed an important skill: he knows how to locate fish. “Cast your net on the other side!” Jesus helped his friends catch a boatload by telling them where the fish were.

    I love the story in Acts 10 of Peter going up on a roof to pray. The Holy Spirit instigated one of the greatest ‘fishing trips’ of all time. He sent Peter to a forbidden zone to seek an unfamiliar ‘catch,’ and the result was the beginning of God’s plan for the Gentiles. II Chronicles says: “The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” Cornelius longed for the Lord… so God sent a fisherman to share the gospel.

    If I desire to ‘fish’ with Jesus I must value souls above everything the world promotes: wealth, position, pleasure, sports, comfort… Then I must have my eyes and ears open to his direction. Finally I must be ready to share the gospel: Jesus came as the Son of God; Jesus lived a sinless life; Jesus hung on a cross and carried my sins; Jesus died as a sacrificial Lamb; Jesus rose from the dead and defeated the devil; and Jesus is now sitting next to the Father waiting to return. He knows how to catch men and he invites us to join him!

    “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.” Romans 1:16

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