Thank You!

Dear Friends,

Thank you so very much for your prayers on behalf of our friend Steve. He goes in next week for more tests to see if the cancer has spread. Please continue to pray for him and his wife Barb.

Many blessings,
Julie

The Promise of Answered Prayer

This morning I learned that an old friend has lung cancer and will start chemo next week. From other things he said, it looks very serious. I assured him Dick (my hubby) and I would be praying for him.

I love the promise of I John 5:13-15.

"I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God

so that you may know that you have eternal life.

This is the assurance we have in approaching God:

that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

And if we know that he hears us

--whatever we ask--

we know that we have what we asked of him."

What an amazing promise!

I know you're all busy people. But would you take a moment just now to pray for God's will to be accomplished in Steve's life.

And please feel free to include your own prayer requests in the comments. I'm sure others, besides me, will pray for you.

The Promise of Wisdom

Seems like the wisdom of the ages is not appreciated in certain quarters today. Some people even consider the wisdom of the past irrelevant in our times.

However, George Santayana said, "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." In other words we can spare ourselves from disaster by learning from the mistakes of those who preceded us. A beloved pastor once said, "You don't have to play in mud puddles to know they're dirty." My darling mother used to say, "A word to the wise is sufficient."

I'm not interested in repeating the mistakes of others. Are you? The fewer mistakes we make, the more effectively we can spend our time on earth doing God's will.

And speaking of God . . . He has promised wisdom to those who ask.

"If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God,

who gives generously to all without finding fault,

and it will be given to him."

    -James 1:5 (NIV)

Seems like the smart thing to do would be to ask God for wisdom. Don't you agree?

The Promise of Deliverance

Yesterday we talked about tribulation, an unhappy by-product of a fallen world. In the beginning it was not so. The Garden of Eden was a heavenly place filled with every good thing.

If our original parents (Adam and Eve) had only obeyed God in the first place, sin wouldn't have entered the world and we wouldn't have to deal with pain and sorrow. But lest we become judgmental, consider how frequently we make wrong choices. Consider how frequently we disobey God. Best to leave judging to God and stick to our own business. Tribulation is here and there are times we are afflicted by it. 

The good news is that God promises to deliver the righteous out of all their troubles (Psalm 34:19 NKJV).

All their troubles? That's what it says. God loves us that much! And consider this:

"In all these 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 NIV

So bring it on! I can do everything through Him who gives me strength (Philippians 4:13 NIV)

The Promise of Tribulation???

Whether you want to call it a promise or a fact of life, Jesus said "In the world, you will have tribulation." Thankfully he goes on to say, "but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world."

Yet, we don't like to "tribulate." In fact, we often act surprised when things don't go our way. We act as if there's been a cosmic mistake made when bad things happen to good people.

That's why I so appreciate Judy Gann's book, The God of All Comfort! In her suffering, Judy acknowledges the very real comfort she receives from a very real God, comfort she is then able to pass on to others . . . thus bringing good out of evil.

Jesus specializes in bringing good out of evil. Look at his life, his teachings, his miracles, and especially his death. The apostle Paul picked up this theme in Romans 12:21 when he instructed believers, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

Who could use a dose of the comfort you have received from God? How can you bring good out of the evil you've experienced in the world?

The Promise of Power in Weakness!

As we wish one another a Happy New Year along with prayers for peace and blessings, the reality is that many among us live a life of pain and suffering. What can we wish for those people? Healing? Yes, of course. But God does not choose to heal everyone. Witness the Apostle Paul.

Paul prayed three times for his affliction to be lifted from him. Yet how did God respond? "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

This morning I was reading Judy Gann's The God of all Comfort (Devotions of Hope for Those Who Chronically Suffer), Living Ink Books, an imprint of AMG Publishers, 2005. On page 23 she wrote the following:

"I watched as my energetic coworker darted through the children's area of the library (italics mine). Familiar pangs of jealousy pricked my heart. I yearned for even a smidgen of my coworker's vitality."

Gann talks about the sting of chronic illness--both physical and emotional as she wrestles with the pain of limitations and weakness. But quickly she returns to God's promise of grace, even power, that is made perfect in weakness. "Without the thorn of chronic illness, I would miss the daily blessing of drawing on God's strength. When I exhaust my own resources, my thorn spurs me to trust solely in God's power."

So, along with our prayers for healing, let's also ask God to give those who suffer an awareness of His promise of grace so that they may experience His power in their weakness. And when it's our turn to suffer, let's remember this for ourselves.

What has your suffering taught you that you can share with others?

Another Promise of New Beginnings

On this first day of 2010 let's celebrate new beginnings--the beginnings of wisdom and understanding.

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.

And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."

      -Proverbs 9:10

When a city wants to honor an individual, the mayor will present that person with a key to the city. What God offers individuals in Proverbs 9:10 is far greater--keys to wisdom and understanding.

The individual who is endowed with wisdom and understanding will be sought out--at home, at church, in the work force. His opinions will be valued: his stock will go up!

So how do we attain a proper fear of the LORD and knowledge of the Holy One? We must seek wisdom as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then we will understand the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 2:4-5).

Jesus, the Son of God and our advocate with the Father, tells us in Matthew 7:7: "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."  

Today, on this first day of 2010, why not resolve to seek the fear of the Lord--not so much for the added value of your "stock portfolio" but rather for the intrinsic value of having a more intimate walk with God Himself?

What does an intimate walk with God look like to you?