Dana's Christian Journey

musings of a thankful cancer survivor

Author: Dana

  • cuidado

    —

    Dana

    We had a great trip to Ecuador. God spoke some very clear things to us during our week in this beautiful, mountainous South American country. As we worked with children in the cities and with kids served by Compassion International and with the indigenous tribes in the Andes and with our Ecuadorian brothers and sisters in Christ, we kept hearing God ask: “Do you care about the things I care about?” ‘Cuidado’ means ‘care.’

    Do you remember the end of the story of Jonah as he sat on a hill pouting about the mercy God had extended to Ninevah? In the heat of the day a vine grew up to give Jonah shade. Then the vine died and the prophet got so upset he said he was ready to die. Here’s what the Lord said in the closing two verses of the book of Jonah: “You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. But Ninevah has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?”

    How easy it is to care more about the temporal than the eternal! Or to make it personal: ‘Do I care more about the things I eat, the place I live, the car I drive, the entertainment I pursue… than the physical and spiritual well-being of the people in my city and around the world?’ We may hesitate to answer this question honestly, but God sees perfectly.

    Last Tuesday I was invited to share in a village church in the mountains. Half the audience was made up of our mission team and the other half was made up of the native Quechuan people. Before I spoke, the pastor had asked us not to forget them when we went back home. His simple plea brought some of us to tears as we understood the heart of God regarding an isolated, forgotten people. I tried to encourage the local Christians with the truth of God’s love, but the verse that seemed to speak to us Americans contained a message I must never forget. Ezekial explained the sin of the ancient city of Sodom that was destroyed by fire in the time of Lot and Abraham. “Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.” (Ezekiel 16:49)

    In preparation for our trip to Ecuador we had studied the first two verses of Romans 12. Often we think of ‘God’s will’ in terms of the decisions we must make in life. Certainly we need God’s wisdom to make daily decisions, but it seems there is a deeper meaning in these verses. When we truly give up self and present our bodies as living sacrifices, and when we determine we will not conform to the pattern of this world, then our minds will be renewed and transformed. We will begin to think like God and we will be concerned about the things that matter most to him. When we pursue and obtain the ‘mind of Christ’ we will clearly see the Father’s will… ‘his good, pleasing and perfect will.’ May we fully embrace such abundant living.

    “Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:1-2

  • I want to hold your hand

    —

    Dana

    Why does God want to hold my hand? One reason is that I need him so. God knows we need his hand of direction, guidance, and discipline. The independent spirit so common in our world forgets how weak and fragile and ignorant and foolish we really are. Like a wise parent, the perfect Father says, “Here child, hold my hand as we cross the street.” We need him more than we can even fathom… and his outstretched hand is our greatest blessing.

    Perhaps another reason for hand-holding is the relationship God longs for us to have… a relationship defined by the deepest love. Susan and I are remembering what it is like to have a six-year-old in the house these days. John Turner’s mom, Terri, lives a distance away, so she lets John stay with us on school nights. It is not uncommon for him to slip his hand into mine while in the house or in the neighborhood. The unspoken message is: “I love you.”

    Does the Heavenly Father feel joy when his children do the same? John sometimes prays like this: “God, I hope you’re having a good day.” I smile when I hear this little one saying “thank you” in an honest way. When we as children realize the great love we have received, we will also give sincere thanks. “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God. And that is what we are!”

    The Father loves to tenderly hold the hand of one He created and rescued. He loves to have fellowship with his children… “beside still waters” and “through the valley of the shadow of death.” When we sin we run away from this fellowship. Adam and Eve hid from God after they disobeyed. It is impossible to hold God’s hand when we independently choose our own path. But the Father is always there. He knows how to discipline and restore; he is full of mercy and grace and wisdom. If we listen carefully, we may hear him whisper, “I want to hold your hand.”

    “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceived my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. You hem me in – behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.” Psalm 139:1-10

    (Our youngest daughter Karlyn and I leave for Ecuador Saturday with a mission group from school, so I won’t be able to write next week. We appreciate your prayers! May God’s hand guide us all!!)

  • here comes the Son

    —

    Dana

    Once after telling a parable, Jesus asked a question: “However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” We know that “faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” We also know that “without faith it is impossible to please God.” (See Hebrews 11)

    Abraham is a great example. His faith led him to believe the impossible and to do anything God told him to do. Will I be humble enough to let God call the shots? James tells us to notice the result of Abraham’s faith. “You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness,’ and he was called God’s friend.” (James 2:22-23)

    The hero in Jesus’ parable was a widow who demonstrated faith by never giving up. She pleaded with an unjust judge for justice. “Something is wrong, sir, and you have the power to change it.” The judge refused time after time, but the woman was undaunted. “Sir, look at this injustice! You have the power to make it right! Will you?” We know the result of her persistence. “Finally the judge said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’” (see Luke 18)

    What is Jesus’ message? “The Son of Man is coming! Will he find faith? My Father is no unjust judge! Don’t you think he cares about justice more than someone who doesn’t even love people? Do you believe he has the power to make things right? Then pray like this widow! Put your faith into action… and never give up!”

    “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.” Matt 24:42-46

  • all you need is Love

    —

    Dana

    Everyone remembers the Transitive Law of Equality from Algebra, right? “If a=b and b=c, then a=c.” So if Jesus is God and God is Love, then Jesus is Love.

    We read verses like: “God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus,” but do we really believe it? “All you need is Love” (or God or Jesus) sounds a bit simplistic but if, as a child, I trust the Father so much that I really believe He is all I need, then I am finally understanding Jesus’ teachings. “Look at the birds and the grass… Are you not more valuable than they? The Father knows what you need! If you ‘evil’ parents know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in Heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (See Matt 6 & 7)

    Our problem comes when the storm rises or sickness lingers or death enters the picture. Mary and Martha thought, “All we need is Jesus,” but their Friend didn’t arrive on time and their brother died. “If You had been here, Lazarus would not have died.” But God’s Love transcends our thinking. Through the death of a friend Jesus revealed himself in a deeper way: “I am the Resurrection and the Life.” And after He made this profound declaration He asked Martha the same question He asks us, “Do you believe this?”

    Our friend Fred Grapes passed away last Friday. Fred was my age and died of liver disease. He’s not been raised from the dead as Lazarus, but he is alive. “He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” (Jn 11:25-26) This truth is a source of comfort for his family and friends. I witnessed Saturday, in a small memorial gathering, how Love is really what we need. The Love of God… and the Love of God’s children engulfed Fred’s family in a powerful way. “God has poured out his Love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.” (Rom 5:5)
    Why does He do this? Because He knows Love is what we need. When we bear one another’s burdens and unselfishly serve one another, we are being Jesus on the earth. He is Love and Love is God.

    “All you need is Me,” the Father said to a lost world. So He sent Jesus to save us and asks, “Do you believe this?”

    “For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemns already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” John 3:16-18

  • hey Jude

    —

    Dana

    “Hey Jude, what’s this we’re hearing about your brother Jesus? Some say he’s become a rabbi?! Some say he’s healing the sick?! Some even say he claims to be Messiah?! What’s going on?”

    Jude, James, Joseph, and Simon heard such questions regularly. After Jesus returned to Nazareth after his baptism, the hometown people asked: “‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary and aren’t his brothers and sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?’ And they took offense at him.” (see Matt 13:54-57)

    Unfortunately, Jude and his brothers were also skeptics. During the Feast of the Tabernacles, they gave Jesus some sarcastic advice: “‘You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.’ For even his own brothers did not believe in him.” (Jn 7:3-5)

    But something changed for Jude. Maybe Mary explained the truth… or maybe it was the Resurrection… or maybe the Holy Spirit convicted a hard heart… whatever happened, Jude became a follower. He wrote a letter to warn Christians of false followers. In his day (as in ours), some “change the grace of our God into a license for immorality” and some “deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.” Jude reminds readers of Old Testament stories recounting foolishness, selfish pride, and sexual sin. Jesus taught that false teachers could be identified by examining the fruit of a life. Jude uses similar words: “They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees without fruit and uprooted – twice dead.”

    Despite these important warnings, there is an interesting ‘mercy’ emphasis in Jude’s writing. “Mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance.” “Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear – hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.” Jude knew he had received mercy. He remembered he had doubted. He realized he had been snatched from the fire. He must have also remembered his Brother’s beatitude: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” Mercy takes a sad song and makes it better. We can thank Jude for a reminder.

    “But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you eternal life.” Jude 20-21

    “To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy – to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” Jude 24-25

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