Posted on

Acceptance – Part Three

Not My Will, But Thy Will Be Done

by

“He knelt down and began to pray, saying, ‘Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.’ Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him.  And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.”  (Luke 22:41-44)

Imagine Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane.  He has trained the disciples.  He has concluded His ministry.  I was time to return to the Father, but there was one last task…His death and resurrection.  In preparation, He is coming before His father in prayer.  However, it is a prayer like no other that He has offered…He is asking “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me”. 

Continue Reading »

Posted on

Acceptance – Part 2

May It Be Done To Me

by

Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.”  Luke 1:38

A key factor in accepting God’s plan for us is trust.  Do you trust God?  If so, how far does that trust go?  Too often our trust in God is colored more by our human relationships and our desires for information and comfort rather than the truth about who He is and His promises to us.

Continue Reading »

Posted on

Acceptance – Part One

“You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good”

by

“I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.  For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.  God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.  Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.”  Genesis 45:4-8

When trials hit, our lives are often turned upside down.  What once was, is no more.  We mourn our loss, we wonder how we can continue, and we are anxious about both the present and our future.  In our frustration, we often focus on survival and the disruption of our plans rather than godliness.  We think that knowing what God knows will help…that somehow our small finite minds can adequately evaluate the vast, all knowing mind of God.    In the end, if we are honest, acceptance is really about giving up control.

Continue Reading »

Posted on

When God Calls

by

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones.  Psalm 116:15

God pointed me to this passage many years ago when my college roommate died of colon cancer.  We were both in our mid-30s.  I had just learned weeks before that we had both been enduring many similar GI tests during the fall.  While my illness has added difficulty to my life, his disease took him to be with our Lord. 

Continue Reading »

Posted on

Teaching Our Children

by

Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.  Proverbs 22:6

I realize that many who are facing the challenges of chronic illness may not have children or have children that are grown, but that fact does not diminish our impact on the children around us…even the grown ones.  Training the generations to come, is not limited to parents only.  Many people without children of their own have nieces and nephews, are teachers or have friends with children.  My point is, whether or not we have children of our own, we have an impact on those coming up behind us.

Continue Reading »

Posted on

So That You May Proclaim

by

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” 1 Peter 2:9

Because of my health, I was forced to retire much earlier than planned.  For several years, I could barely function.  My goal each day was to be showered and dressed before my wife came home from work. 

Continue Reading »

Posted on

Are You Immobilized?

Fear, Fatigue and Uncertainty

by

I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry.  He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.  He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; many will see and fear and will trust in the Lord.  Psalm 40:1-3

In 1995 I had a grand mal seizure and was put on seizure medication without a thorough investigation of the circumstances.  We would learn later that I did not need it.  Problematically, if you take seizure medication and don’t need it, it can cause seizures.  Consequently, for the next nine years I endured petit mals or absence seizures.

Continue Reading »

Posted on

Rejoice in the Day

by

“This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  Psalm 118:24

As I write this, I am enjoying a lovely day.  The air is clean after a summer rain, it is warm, the sun is shining, there is a nice breeze and the birds are singing.  So far, it is quite easy for me to rejoice and be glad in this day.

Continue Reading »

Posted on

Looking in the Mirror

by

“But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;  for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.  But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”  James 1:22-25

Mirrors are quite useful in our lives.  We use them to make rooms brighter and look more spacious.  In gyms and dance studios they help us improve our form.  Most commonly, we use them to make sure jewelry and ties are in place, hair is properly styled and generally everything is tucked and straightened to present the best possible appearance. 

Continue Reading »

Posted on

God’s Peace

by

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”  Romans 15:13

Throughout our lives there are many issues that are sources of stress and conflict.  Our normal tendency is the “fight or flight” response that brings with it anxiety and frustration.  Yet as Christians we’re called to be peaceful and encouraged to seek peace.

Continue Reading »