It is hard to believe, but this is our final week of school… so this is the last writing for a while. Thanks for all the prayers, encouragement, and love you’ve extended to me and my family. I still receive good reports from the doctors and we give thanks for every day.
I recently saw a friend who used to live in Atlanta but now lives in Nashville. A while back he had a conversation with a lady who, when hearing he used to live in Atlanta, said she remembered a man with cancer who shared at a women’s study group at her church. “That was several years ago, so I am sure he is dead by now.” My friend asked if the person happened to be me and she said, “Yes, that was his name.” “Dana is a friend of mine… and he’s still alive!”
“He’s still alive” brings much glory to God the Father who keeps us very much alive in Christ, not only on this earth, but forever.
A few weeks ago, I sat in a familiar room with another dozen cancer patients and a dozen or more caretakers. The patients were all waiting to give blood for our weekly labs, and held buzzers like the kind you get in a restaurant to let you know your table is ready. But these buzzers tell us when they’re ready to collect our blood.
The buzzer held by the man sitting next to me buzzed, and he addressed the nurses’ station: “My wife stepped out… she’ll be back in a few minutes.”
I leaned toward him and said, “You should have gone back with the nurse and given your blood while your wife is out… then you guys could get a good report.” He smiled and said, “No, no, I shouldn’t do that.” A young patient overheard our conversation and laughed. I said to him, “That’s what we all need… someone else’s blood!”
Upon reflection beyond my weekly labs: “We all need Someone else’s Blood!” And at ultimate cost, it has been given! “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” This is the promise the Lord gave Moses as the Israelites prepared to leave the bondage of Egypt. Any blood would not work… it had to be the blood of an unblemished Passover lamb. (see Exodus 12)
Of course, this Old Testament story points to the true “Lamb of God – who takes away the sins of the world.” Our own blood will not suffice, but God lets His Son’s Blood redeem and purify us. “For you know it was not with perishable things like silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you by your ancestors, but with the precious Blood of Christ, a Lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last days for your sake. Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him, and so your faith and hope are in God.” (I Peter 1:18-21)
The Blood of Jesus allows all who receive the Gospel to come to the throne of our Father in Heaven, who loves us more that anyone can imagine. “Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the Blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is His Body, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:19-22)
So, let’s walk in fellowship with the Father, Son, and Spirit. God puts His love in our hearts and invites us to live boldly as we share the Light.
“This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the Blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.” I John 1:5-7