hunger

Posted on August 31, 2017 by Dana

“Mr. Davis, don’t you want to complete your meal before you eat your dessert?” I was not aware that Jell-O was dessert, but Mrs. Harris, my fifth grade teacher, viewed it that way. She was determined that we all learn manners while in her class. My friend Tommy asked a question that must have impressed our teacher: “Mrs. Harris, may I retire to the lunch line to retrieve some butter to refresh my potato?” Tommy’s language ability soared far beyond mine.

Actually, my mom had already taught her children to finish a meal before eating dessert. To this day, I follow the practice, but I’ve realized the reason goes beyond the rules. If I eat sweets, I lose my appetite for nutritional food. I have a friend who always eats dessert first, so all people are not the same, but ‘hunger’ is necessary for me.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matthew 5:6) What if one of the devil’s strategies in this world is to feed people with things that eliminate the ‘hunger for righteousness’? I heard an evangelist from South Africa once say he never wanted to speak in the West because there was no hunger for God. In the villages where he preached in the nations of southern Africa, he witnessed an intense desire to hear God’s Word among the multitudes who had never heard the Gospel.

Do I ever get so ‘filled up’ with sports or politics or work or pleasure that I have no desire for God? It is not that it is wrong to work or to have fun or to play a sport… it is all about where we find our fulfillment. Though I want no person to go through the trials of cancer, ‘life and death’ situations do have a way of clearing the mind of things that don’t really matter. After diagnosis seventeen years ago, I remember thinking: “Why are all these people so consumed with their college team on game day? Don’t they realize one day they are going to die?” But the further I got away from the most critical stages, the more ‘game days’ returned to more of a normal phenomenon.

We hunger for what we desire. God wants us to hunger for Who we need. The Holy Spirit can produce this longing in any soul, but I think we must learn to see with eternal eyes. A huge bonus only satisfies for a season; a big win is only remembered a little while; the pleasures of life are fleeting. But if we hunger for righteousness and discover that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment, we shall be filled. As He brings about His focus, perhaps we’ll help others realize Who truly satisfies our hunger.

“It is because of Him (God) that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God – that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.’” I Corinthians 1:30-31

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presence

Posted on August 24, 2017 by Dana

“The world is deathly ill. The Great Physician has already signed the death certificate. Yet there is still a great work for Christians to do. They are to be streams of living water, channels of mercy to those who are still in the world. It is possible for them to do this because they are overcomers. Christians are ambassadors for Christ. They are representatives from Heaven to this dying world. And because of our presence here, things will change.” Corrie ten Boom — 1974

Even the most toxic environment can be the place where God’s presence shines brightest. If we are to represent Him, we must see Him plainly, let our goals match His, listen to His voice, and do what He tells us. God should not be expected to think like we do; we need to learn to think like He does.

People constantly attempted to draw Jesus into worldly thinking, using logic that ran counter to God’s heart. He often disappointed them, even once rejecting a plan to make Him king (John 6:15). Jesus knew He was already King, and His purpose was to bring men and women into God’s Kingdom. But the Kingdom of Heaven is unlike the kingdoms of this world. The ways and methods and schemes of man are often opposed to the ‘mind of Christ.’

God wants us to operate with the attitude, purpose, and practices of the Son. In 1944, after months of courageously hiding Jews in their Dutch home, the ten Boom family was arrested by Nazi occupiers. After an offer to be released if he agreed to stop his ‘disobedience,’ the eighty-four-year-old father, Casper ten Boom, said, “If I go home today, tomorrow I will open my door again to any man in need who knocks.” He was arrested and died ten days later.

Two of his daughters, Betsie and Corrie, were first imprisoned in Holland, then were moved to the Ravensbrook concentration camp in Germany. The presence of Christ in these sisters changed the atmosphere of the cold, lice-infected, overcrowded death camp. The Holy Spirit brings God’s priorities. Betsy and Corrie realized that to be messengers of the Gospel, they needed to be followers of the Master. They learned to give thanks in all circumstances, to forgive their enemies, to pray for those who mistreated them, and to remember that every soul is eternal — created by God who loves perfectly. Betsy died in Ravensbrook, but Corrie was ‘accidentally’ released before the end of the war. For nearly forty years following, she was a bold witness who kept declaring that there is no darkness so great that Jesus cannot overcome.

Here’s an excerpt from “The Hiding Place”:

As for us, from morning until lights-out, whenever we were not in ranks for roll call, our Bible was the center of an ever-widening circle of help and hope. Like waifs clustered around a blazing fire, we gathered about it, holding out our hearts to its warmth and light. The blacker the night around us grew, the brighter and truer and more beautiful burned the Word of God. ‘Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or peril, or sword?… Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loves us.’

I would look around as Betsy read, watching the light leap from face to face. More than conquerors… It was not a wish. It was a fact. We knew it, we experienced it minute by minute – poor, hated, hungry. We are more than conquerors. Not ‘we shall be.’ We are! Life in Ravensbrook took place on two separate levels, mutually impossible. One, the observable, external life, grew every day more horrible. The other, the life we lived with God, grew daily better, truth upon truth, glory upon glory.

(“The Hiding Place” by Corrie ten Boom with John and Elizabeth Sherrill, A Bantam Book published by arrangement with Fleming H. Revell Company, 1983, pp 194-195)

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lovingkindness

Posted on August 17, 2017 by Dana

School is once again underway and I am happy to be writing again. Susan and I had a wonderful summer and we are very thankful.

I’ve written often of Pastor Manuel, his family, and the brothers and sisters we visit in Ecuador. In July, a group of twelve had the privilege of working alongside those who are serving people, loving children, and proclaiming the Gospel in the mountains and valleys of the Andes Mountains. Gentleness, humility, and faithfulness are fruit we witness that inspire us to allow the Holy Spirit to have His way in our lives.

FullSizeRenderimg_0970John has accompanied me five times to this part of the world. It was a great joy this year to watch Pastor Manuel reach up and hug a growing thirteen-year-old. I saw tears in his eyes as he proudly welcomed John back to his home… and of course that brought tears to mine. Pastor Manuel has always had a special love for John.

Using this reunion as a visual example, I can’t help but think that lovingkindness is what our Father in Heaven wants each human being to experience. The manner in which Pastor Manuel embraced John… or the way I hug my little grandchildren… or how a mother holds a newborn… contain the tenderness and compassion of our Lord.

It is sad that so many in this world do not know the love of the Father. The author of all lies has erected countless barriers to prevent the created from knowing the Creator. But we can tell the truth! We can show the orphan, the outcast, and the suffering lovingkindness. We can befriend the poor, the unknown, and the neglected. What if lovingkindness became the quality that best described the Church? ‘Lord, give us grace to do our part.’

“Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens. And your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the great mountains; Your judgments are a great deep; O Lord, You preserve man and beast. How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light. Oh, continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You.” (NKJV) Psalm 36:5-10

“I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation. Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O Lord; let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me.” (NKJV) Psalm 40:10-11

“But while he was a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him… ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 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.” (NIV) Luke 15:20-24

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blood

Posted on May 25, 2017 by Dana

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

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realize

Posted on May 18, 2017 by Dana

“If you love Me, keep My commands. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to help you and 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.” John 14:15-20

Jesus wants us to live in this realization: He is in His Father, we are in Him, and He is in us. This is the life the Father has given us and it is a blessed life.

Jesus knows everything we go through because He also experienced life on earth. The Son of Man had friends and family and community; He also endured temptation, affliction, and mistreatment. But every step, Jesus knew He was not alone – He was in His Father and the Father was in Him.

“Do not believe Me unless I do the works of My Father. But if I do them, even though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” (John 10:37-38)

Now He tells us that we are in Him and He is in us. If this is true, what can come against us? Of course the same forces that oppose Jesus can oppose us, but in Christ we cannot be defeated.

And why should we be anxious? If we are in Jesus and Jesus is in us, we should be more confident than the sparrows who do not worry about their next meal. “Are you not much more valuable than they?” In Christ, we are safe in the Father’s hands.

But what will I accomplish in life? What good can come from this realization? “You will bear fruit,” Jesus promises… and we should believe Him. We can trust the Gardner as we live in the Vine.

“I am the true Vine and My Father is the Gardener… I am the Vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:1, 5

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39

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