As most of you know, CJ recently had a devastating diagnosis from our doctor. After a wonderful month in Florida, walking the beach and enjoying time with many friends, we returned with the hope that her cancer was under control and we would see a better year in 2020. Her CT scan showed otherwise, and the cancer has returned and is progressing to new areas. Our doctor looked for an hour or more for other possible known treatments, but came up with nothing that promised to stop the cancer. CJ has an extremely rare cancer and her bio-markers are different than other, more common strains. So, her diagnosis was that CJ has 6 months to a year of life expectancy. We came home in shock and many days of tears, but we have resolved to put our trust wholly in God at this point. We are certainly not naïve, and know that when the doctor gives you a diagnosis such as this, in most cases they tend to be correct.

But in spite of the doctor’s diagnosis, we know that God is sovereign over this world and us! He created the world and humanity for good, and he originally designed our bodies to live forever and he would dwell with us in the Garden of Eden. (see Genesis 1 &2) But because of sin (Genesis 3), we were separated from God and we will all suffer physical death. One of CJ’s comforting thoughts through this whole process is that God knows the number of our days, and he knew that before her cancer and that timeline will not change in spite of the cancer! (Psalm 139:16) We know from our experience and that of countless others that God’s plan is always good for us, even if it doesn’t seem that way at this moment. SO, we choose to trust God’s plan for CJs life, and mine as well. It appears the medical options are drying up, but God is not limited to that. So we put ourselves wholly in the hands of God. And where else would we want to be? What could be better than being in God’s loving care and plan?

Knowing that God’s plan is ultimately good, we want you to pray with us that we will discern just how that plan works out.

It may be that the doctor’s diagnosis fits with God’s plan, but it may not! CJ has joked that she wants to go home to Jesus in his timing, but she sure doesn’t want to show up too early! So I ask you pray with us on several fronts:

1) Pray for God to heal CJ!

Now as I ask this, please remember that God heals in many ways…

– He heals through medical breakthroughs.

 Our doctors have been wonderful this past year, and we believe God has used them to bring us to this point. We are continuing to check into things like clinical trials and alternative approaches, and its’ still possible God will open up another avenue here. Anything is possible with God. But right now, it looks like this door is closing up.

– He heals miraculously through his own healing touch!

Let me be clear: we choose this way, if it’s in God’s plan! We know for sure, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that God can heal miraculously. We have seen it, and heard stories all our life of this happening.  I recently studied Mark chapter 5 with my men’s study, which has 3 healings of Jesus. I noticed 3 aspects of Jesus’ healings. The first example was of Jesus healing a man possessed by demons, so many they were called Legion. I believe all sickness is evil, in that God’s original plan for us was to never be sick. Cancer, especially, is evil and insidious as it eats away at healthy cells. Pray for Jesus to cast out these evil cancer cells from her body, just as he did those demons. The 2^nd healing was of a woman with years of bleeding that made her an outcast from society. She reached out to touch his robe in a crowd, and was healed because of her act of faith. Pray that CJ and I (and you also) will reach out daily in faith for Jesus to touch CJ in the same way. The 3^rd example in Mark was the healing of Jarius’ young daughter. Even though his daughter died before they got there, Jesus told him “Don’t be afraid. Just believe”. Then he brought her back to life! Pray that CJ and I will daily not be afraid and anxious, but will “just believe” that God has this under control.

Now, I understand praying for miraculous healing is a big stretch for most of us! I am guilty of knowing God can do it, but often thinking that God probably won’t do it in most cases. Truth is, God usually doesn’t heal miraculously in most cases. But when he does, he always does it for HIS glory and purpose, not just for us. Every time Jesus healed, it was to point to his power and his plan for future redemption from sin and the ultimate restoration of our world and us in his future Kingdom. He always has compassion on us, but his ultimate desire is for us to trust him for the future life that will be so much better than we can ever imagine now.

– God heals through death.

 This is God’s ultimate healing for those who trust in him. All of our bodies will die physically, but for those who trust our lives to Jesus, we know that we will never die! Our souls will be with God, and we are promised new resurrection bodies that will never get sick or die. And we look forward to an amazing life in a new heaven and earth where we will be fully human, living free from the effects of sin, and God will dwell with us. So, as much as we love this life and world, we know that this new life will be much better and beyond our imaginations!

2)  Pray for wisdom to discern God’s plan for healing!

Yes, God WILL heal CJ, but it will be according to his plan. He may choose to heal her through a physical touch, and she will live for a season longer to share the glory of God’s power. In my bias as her husband who wants her around for many more years, this is obviously my prayer! I pray visualizing her sharing the wonderful story of God’s healing in many groups of people, offering them hope and encouragement in their struggles and suffering as well. We would love nothing better than to bring God glory by such a testimony. But God may choose to heal her through death, and we know as believers that this new life with God will be totally amazing. As Jonathan Evans said in a eulogy at his mother’s funeral recently (Google it), God’s answer to our prayer is Yes! Yes, she will be healed, or, yes, she will be healed. Yes, she will live, or, yes, she will live. Yes, she will be with her family, or, yes, she will be with her family!

So pray with us for God to heal CJ according to his plan, because we know that he knows what is best for her. But pray with confidence! James, the brother of Jesus, reminds us of this in James 1:5-8:
⁵  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. ⁶  But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷  That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸  he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

3) Pray for our sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren.

Our family knows the reality of the situation and we have had some good talks already. But please pray that no matter how God decides to work this out, they will actually draw closer to God and feel the peace and assurance that he has already given to us. And pray especially for our 9 grandchildren, that whatever happens, they will see in us and their own parents the courage, strength, and peace that only God can give us as we go through a trial like this. It amazes me that the more you realize all you have left to trust in is God, the more you feel his presence and get the impression that he’s telling you “It’s going to be OK. I’ve got this, and I will take care of you”. Scripture has been vital to us this past year, and one of our favorites has been Isaiah 41:10: So dear not fear for I am with you. Do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”.

4) Pray that CJ and I will remain strong in our faith and at peace with God, and that God will use this whole experience to encourage others in their walk of faith and draw closer to Jesus!

In no way are we strong and courageous on our own! There are still many moments of fear, anxiety, and doubt. But Jesus carries us in our weaknesses, and gives us new strength and hope daily.

So, our dear friends, we need you to pray with us more than ever! We have been overwhelmed by the powerful prayer support you have given us in this past year, and we can’t begin to thank you enough!

Pray for God’s plan to be done….

Pray for God’s healing for CJ…

Pray for our family and for us to be strong and grow in faith…

And pray for God to work through this and bring good from it, advancing his Kingdom and drawing more people into it because of this experience.

At some point in the future, when all us who trust in Jesus are basking in the beauty and power of God himself in his Kingdom, we will look back at these days and perhaps finally understand why God did what he did in these trials in our lives. And all of this will seem as an insignificant speck in our past history.

And we will know that God loves us more than we ever imagined, and that everything is fine and good, just as God intended it to be!

Trust God and let him have your life, surrendering to his plan for you, and may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus be with you all!

CJ and I have the privilege of renting a condo in Florida this month with a balcony view of the ocean and sunrise, as well as a view of the sunset! It is one the 9th floor, the top floor of this unit, and I learned it is a “penthouse condo” because it’s on the top floor. This is our first time with a view of the ocean, and it is truly beautiful! As we look out and hear the constant roaring of the waves (day and night), I recognize that I can see more, and see farther, than most other people in this condo unit, and certainly more than those mere mortals down on the ground! I can see why some people fall prey to getting a little “uppity” when they have penthouse views, and can somehow think of themselves as a little better and more special than those who don’t. Of course, for enough money, anybody can have any view they want.

On the other hand, as I look at out at my privileged view, I also realize I have no power whatsoever over anything that happens below. When the water is calm (which it rarely is) I may be able to see some sharks swimming close to the beach and somehow warn swimmers, but in reality with the crashing waves they probably wouldn’t hear me anyway. The beauty and power of the ocean and sky reminds me of the fact that God created all of this, and it beautiful, it is awesome and sometimes frightening, and always beyond our control of what happens below. Most of us struggle managing our day to day lives, and have no control over the circumstances that will come our way in this coming year. So when we make New Year’s resolutions of better health, happiness, and even wealth, we may work diligently toward those desires, but also know there is no guarantee of any of that! CJ and I walked these beaches a year ago with no idea that she had stage 4 metastatic cancer, and no idea that that I would have gall bladder surgery. To be truthful, most of don’t want to know the struggles, suffering, and unforeseen circumstances we may face this year. If we did, it would terrify us at times and leave us feeling hopeless. So while we all love the ocean and mountaintop views of God’s beautiful world, none of us choose to see the view of our life into the future, and even if we did, we would not have the power or the strategy to deal with it on our own!

So I want to suggest to you a different “view from the top” this year: the one that God has of our lives! God sees and knows everything we do, what we will choose to do, and he knows our future, down to the very moment when we die. This is wonderfully good news, because loves us more than we can imagine, and ultimately wants to redeem us from the chains of sin and give us a new life of peace, joy, and his very presence.  As Paul reminds us: ¹⁷  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! – 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)(And, best of all, He alone has the power to do all of this!) But in order to receive God’s grace and guidance in our life, we must let him be God, and trust him with every aspect and fiber of our lives.

In Isaiah 55: 6-9 it says, ⁶  Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. ⁷   Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. ⁸  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. ⁹  “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

God’s ways and thoughts are much higher than ours, but that means we must recognize three very important implications of this.

1) God’s higher ways and thoughts are NOT the same as ours!

Most people, and even most Christians, began this year with a “best scenario” wish list. We want good health, enjoyment for our work and lives, and families that get along well and prosper. That’s human nature. But according to the Bible, God sees things differently. He knows we live in a world stained by sin and under the influence of evil. So, ALL of us will struggle in many ways. We will have physical ailments, we will have marriage and family conflicts at times, and we will most likely all lose a friend or family member to death. It’s probably very likely that of the millions who read my blog (just kidding), at least one of us will die this year. I know, this seems like a “bummer” of a message to start the new year with!

2) Because God thinks and acts differently than we may wish, are we still willing to let him be God in our lives?

Most people, even we Christians, too often worship a counterfeit God of our own creation! We want a God who thinks and sees the world just as we do. We want him to bless our plans and ideas, and if he doesn’t, we question his intentions! How often do you hear others say (or say yourself?) “I can’t believe in a God who would allow this to happen to me”, or “I can’t believe in a God who would judge people like this! Isn’t he a God of love?”  With questions like that, what we really want is a God of our own creation, a projection of our own wisdom, our own self. But God calls us to worship his glory, which is the combined magnitude of all his attributes and qualities put together. The glory of God is his infinite beyondness, meaning he is more than we can ever imagine or even think of! So as good as our thoughts & plans may seem to us, he has something far better for us in the long view of eternal life.

3) To truly trust God with our lives and plans, we need to recognize his purpose in everything that happens to us, especially the trials and suffering of life!

James, the brother of Jesus, reminds us:  ²  Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³  because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ⁵  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. ⁶  But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷  That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸  he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. – James 1:2-8 (NIV)

James is not saying to be joyful because of trials and troubles! Rather, when you go through trials, recognize and rejoice that God is using that experience as a test of your faith to develop perseverance in you. And as you grow in perseverance, God helps you to mature so that you lack nothing, meaning you will have the tools and resources in God to face any trail or difficulty that will come your way in the future. God want us to trust him fully every day, so we will have his wisdom and understanding that HE is always with us and we are never alone! But when we doubt that, we become spiritually unstable and are tossed around by waves of fear, panic, and anxiety, crashing down just like I see the waves crashing into the beach all day long, totally out of control.

Paul reminds us in Romans chapter 8 that God uses everything that happens to us to draw us closer to him, to make us stronger and more dependent upon him:

²⁸  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ³⁵  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁷  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹  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 8:28-39 (NIV)

So for this new year in 2020, I wish you much more than what you may have thought you desired. Surely God wants us to enjoy the beauty of this world, whether it’s a penthouse view of the ocean or a calm walk in the woods. He wants us to celebrate the wonderful relationship experiences with close friends and family. He wants us to find meaning and purpose and joy in our work and activities. But more than that, God wants us to begin to understand the bigger view of life that he has for us, and wants us to trust him with every area of our life, now and forever!

I pray that you and I both will remember that everything that happens to us this year, the joys and celebrations as well as the suffering and tragedies, can be used by God to draw us closer to him and make us stronger. Max Lucado said “God loves us just the way we are; but he loves us too much to leave us that way. He wants us to become like Jesus”. To “become like Jesus”, God intends to use every experience in life to mold us, to stretch and change us, and to draw us closer to him. Sometimes those experiences will be wonderful; often they will be painful and difficult. But God promises that all of this, the good and the painful, can lead us to a future of hope and joy and peace, a Kingdom that will last forever and be free of sin and death and evil. But to get there, we have to trust him with all of our life: the good, the bad, and the ugly. We have to trust that he sees and knows and loves infinitely more than we can ever imagine.

Are we willing to trust God’s higher and more profound view of our life and world?

Are we willing to let God truly be God in our life?

Or, do we just want a God that thinks and acts like us?

The choice is ours, and it will make all the difference in our life this year!

I pray this year is one of trust in God, purpose, and hope for you!

I am truly thankful to celebrate Christmas this year, especially with my wife and our family! All of you who know of CJ’s cancer journey this year understand why. About 9 months ago, we were shocked to hear that CJ had stage 4 metastatic cancer. Even though we trust God and know he can do anything, our early fears were that they might not treat her and she may only have months to live. Of course, they gave her 6 chemo treatments, did a major surgery, and today almost all of that cancer is gone! We credit that to an amazing God, great surgeons and treatment, and a wonderful army of “prayer warriors” lifting us up before the Lord!

However, a recent CT scan revealed there are still two small cancer capsules behind the liver that they could not get to. So, they will continue to treat them with a drug called Keytruda, and we will have another scan in February to see if they have grown, shrunk, or are gone. We treasure your prayers for God to continue to fight this battle for us and give us peace and assurance of his never-ending love and presence!

So, one the one hand, I am obviously grateful and excited to see CJ feeling well and actually able to celebrate Christmas with our family! Nine months ago, that seemed very unsure to us. (As I write this, I also realize there are many out there who have lost spouses and loved ones in spite of fervent prayers of friends. This is a reminder of the unfairness and the evil effects of living in a world under the influence of sin. For you, I pray God’s Holy Spirit to comfort you and for God to use many supportive friends and family to bring you peace and even joy-giving experiences this Christmas and in the coming year!)

But as much as I praise God to be together with CJ and our family, I’m even more thankful for the actual meaning of Christmas in light of what we have gone through! This evil and destructive thing we call cancer is a great reminder of why Jesus came to earth as a baby 2000 plus years ago.

Let me explain. In the Christmas story in Luke 2:10-11, angels appeared to the shepherds in the fields and told them “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all the people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord”! Jesus did not come just as a great teacher of moral truth; he didn’t come as a military hero to destroy evil rulers and establish justice as we may want it. And he didn’t come to tell us to “try harder, and just be nicer and like each other better”. NO, he came as our SAVIOR, and he came to save us from the destructive power of SIN in our life and our world!

Cancer is an evil and yet powerful metaphor for how sin also works in our lives!

1) Both cancer and sin eat away at us and destroy us from the inside out!

Cancer is an awful disease that eats away at healthy cells, the core of who we are, and if not stopped, can destroy our bodies and cause death.

Sin, like cancer, is a spiritual disease that infects every human being from birth! It eats away at our soul, the essence of who we are. Writer Dallas Willard described the soul as our “operating system” of who we are, controlling our mind, our will, our emotions, our spirit, and our body. Sin, like cancer, is designed to destroy your soul, deceive you, discourage you, and keep you away from God and his desire to rescue you and bring you back to Him where we all were designed to be! In the original Genesis story, God created our bodies to be healthy and for us to  live forever with him in his presence. But because Adam & Eve sinned and disobeyed God, sin, like cancer, infects us all from birth. The result is not only physical death and separation from God’s presence, but all the disease, the hatred and mistrust, the evil actions, division, and thoughts that plague us, and all the resulting effects in life that destroy our minds, our actions, and take away hope for a better future.

2) You and I don’t personally have the power to stop the horrible effects of sin and cancer in our lives!

We husbands have an innate, but often misguided, desire to “fix” everything for our wives and our families. My greatest frustration this past 9 months has been that there is nothing I can do myself to stop this awful cancer in my wife’s body! It has forced me to turn outside of myself to God, doctors, treatments, and merciful prayer of dear friends and many people I don’t even actually know. I have found myself feeling helpless, but strangely peaceful as this has pushed us closer into God’s hands and care.

Sin poses the same dilemma. You can’t overcome sin and its effects by will power and self-improvement techniques. Paul describes the helplessness of our situation by reminding us that we are DEAD in our sins!:

¹  As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ²  in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³  All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.-  Ephesians 2:1-3 (NIV)

3) The “good news of great joy” that came to those shepherds is the plan that God had all along to rescue us from sin and all its effects, including cancer and death!

Paul continues in Ephesians by reminding us of God’s great work through Jesus alone:

⁴  But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵  made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷  in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹  not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰  For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  – Ephesians 2:4-10 (NIV)

Christmas and Easter are intricately linked together. At Christmas, God became human and dwelt among us (Immanuel, meaning God with us). And Jesus came for the specific purpose of fighting against sin and death for us, which was accomplished on the cross at Easter!

So, as you celebrate this year, remember why we focus so much on light, beauty, good will, and hope for a better future during this season each year.

Remember the “3 R’s” of God’s reason for Christmas:

A) Rescue:  Jesus came to rescue us from sin and death, something we cannot do ourselves!

B) Reversal: By His death and resurrection, he will reverse the curse of sin and all the evil, destruction, and hatred that has plagued humanity since the fall in Eden.

C) Restoration: For those who accept his gift of forgiveness, new life, and power over sin, he has promised to return and establish a new heaven and a new earth, where God will dwell among us, we will have new and eternal bodies, and we will live forever with God, just as we were meant to in the beginning!

Methodist hymn writer Charles Wesley captured it well in his beautiful Christmas song “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”:

Hark the herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King,

Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!”

Joyful, all ye nations rise, join the triumph of the skies;

With angelic hosts proclaim, “Christ is born in Bethlehem!”

Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace! Hail the Sun of Righteousness!

Light and life to all he brings, risen with healing in his wings.

Mild he lays his glory by, born that we no more may die,

Born to raise us from the earth, born to give us second birth!

Thank you all for your wonderful thoughts, cards, and prayers for CJ and me over these past 9 months!

They have upheld us and sustained us and are truly a part of God’s hand in our lives. We ask that you will continue to pray for us, and we will also pray for you.

I pray you all have a wonderful and blessed Christmas and New Year in 2020.

And most of all, I pray you have or will now accept the greatest Christmas gift ever, the gift of Jesus, into your heart and life, so that you may experience the great rescue, reversal, and restoration of God for your life now and forever!

God bless you all!

This we week we thank God for all the blessings we have in life: family, friends, freedom, faith in God, a good home and good health care, and great food on Thursday! ( and many others blessings as well)  In our case, we are overwhelmed with gratitude for God’s hand in Claudia’s battle with cancer. About 8 months ago, CJ was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic cancer. We were shocked and unsure about the future. After 6 effective chemo treatments and an amazing, complex surgery, the doctors were able to say “we got everything we could see or touch”! Throughout that journey, we are convinced God’s hand was directing the treatments, guiding the surgeons, and keeping us hopeful and encouraged in our faith through some pretty rough moments. We know with certainly that God used our supportive family and a “vast army” of prayer warriors and your prayers to sustain us and enable us to get to this point. So, we thank God and we thank all our friends and supporters for all your love, support, and prayers!

Today, however, in spite of all that God has done for us, we still face an uncertain future! (And in reality, so does every one of you!) CJ will get her first post-surgery CT scan in a week or so. We are praying it will show no new cancer, but we just don’t know. We do know that this type of cervical cancer can reappear, and we know our surgeon views this more as a case of “managing” cancer, probably for the rest of her life. So, as much as I pray CJ will be and stay in remission, there is nothing I can do to guarantee that. My prayer to God will continue to be for remission and many more years together in this wonderful life we have shared! If I could describe, as a normal human being, the best thing that I would be thankful to God for, that would definitely be it. And every one of you would probably have a  similar prayer! We all hope and pray for good health, a loving marriage, kids that do well and succeed in life, and not too much suffering and tragedy in our life.

Throughout this cancer journey, I have clung to Jesus above all else! He has reminded me of the “big picture” as we have felt fear and doubt about our immediate circumstances. There are 3 major biblical themes that have sustained me and strengthened me, and leave me truly thankful:

1) Jesus knows this world is unfair and hard at times. But he has overcome the power of evil and helps us to do that as well!

³³  “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33 (NIV)

This is a tough world under the influence of evil and the stain of sin. Jesus defeated Satan and evil on the cross, and offers us his own power to resist and overcome that evil ourselves. Paul reminds us in Romans 10 that there is nothing we go through here that Jesus has not already conquered, and that in Him, we are ALREADY conquerors ourselves!Romans 8:37-39 (NIV) :
³⁷  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
³⁸  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹  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.

2) We are never alone. God is always with us!

²⁰ And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” –  Matthew 28:20b (NIV)

God sends his own Holy Spirit to actually live within us when we put out trust in Jesus! This is a major blessing, if we will only allow him to help us.  He can strengthen us, comfort us, and teach us how to face the future with joy and peace!

3) Best of all, he gives us a great future to look forward to!  Jesus came to establish his new Kingdom, which would reverse all the effects of sin in our world. This gives us an unshakable hope for the future, something to look forward to that will be better than anything we can possibly imagine in this world!

In this new Kingdom, to be fully established when Jesus returns to earth, there will be no more sin, sickness, death, hatred, evil, and all the destructive things that keep us from God. And, we will have new bodies that will last forever! And, God himself will dwell among us! Wouldn’t you like to live in that world? Jesus promises that if you trust him with your life and accept him as your Lord and Savior, you will inherit that Kingdom with all other believers!

So, while I will obviously continue to pray for CJ’s healing & remission, I will especially pray for God’s presence, wisdom, understanding, peace, hope, and joy as we all navigate this uncertain and unfair world! I close with Paul’s prayer for the church in Colossae, and for all believers in every time:

⁹  For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. ¹⁰  And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹  being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully ¹²  giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. ¹³  For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴  in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.  – Colossians 1:9-14 (NIV)

This Thanksgiving, let us truly be thankful to Jesus above all else! Using the above prayer, I invite you to pray for family and friends, first of all, that they would come to put their trust in Jesus and surrender their life to his loving hands. Then, let’s pray this for each other as we navigate this tough world:

1. Be thankful for their faith and changed lives (1:3).
2. Ask God to help them know his will (1:9).
3. Ask God to give them spiritual wisdom and understanding (1:9).
4. Ask God to help them live to honor and please him (1:10).
5. Ask God to give them more knowledge of himself (1:10).
6. Ask God to give them strength for endurance and patience (1:11).
7. Ask God to fill them with joy and thankfulness (1:11, 12).

Happy Thanksgiving, and remember the Lord Jesus is with you!