I wish to thank all of you\nwho have been praying for CJ as she has gone through this battle with ovarian\ncancer! We have been overwhelmed with the prayers, cards, notes, calls, emails,\nand Facebook messages. Her Facebook\nupdate page alone has more than 150 people who continue to pray for her healing\nand for God to strengthen and sustain us as we go through this trial. At this\npoint, we are close to meeting with the surgeons and finding out how much the\ncancer tumors have shrunk. Our prayer is that God will guide the surgeons to\nremove the rest of the cancer, followed by 3 more rounds of chemo, and then\nhopefully remission! Of course, we don\u2019t know if that is what will happen, and\nwe continue to realize this battle belongs to the Lord, and no matter what\nhappens, our lives are in God\u2019s hands, and that is a wonderful place to find\npeace and rest in!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, as a pastor, I\nlike to attempt to think in \u201cbig picture\u201d terms and wonder where this all fits\nin God\u2019s ultimate plan for us. While certainly our primary prayer at the moment\nis for the cancer to go away and lead to remission, as I read the gospel of\nJesus I would imagine him to say something like \u201cYes, of course healing right\nnow is what you want with all your heart, but let me tell you I have something\nfar more wonderful than that in store for you and all who believe in me!\u201d In\nMatthew 4:23, it says \u201cAnd Jesus went\nabout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the Kingdom<\/strong>, and healing all kinds of\nsickness and all kinds of disease among the people.\u201d <\/em>A few verses before that it says \u201cFrom that time Jesus began to preach and to\nsay \u2018Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven\nis at hand\u2019<\/strong><\/em>\u201d. And most everyone is familiar with probably the most\nquoted NT verse, John 3:16,“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,\nthat whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n So what is this \u201cKingdom\nof Heaven, and eternal life\u201d? Most people think Jesus is referring just to a destination,\na place we hope to go after we die. But he was also referring to a new quality<\/em> of life, a God-focused and\nChrist-like life that begins now and will culminate when Jesus comes again to\njudge the world and begin his new, eternal Kingdom! God created humanity\noriginally without sin, but now we all suffer the effects of sin, leading to\nphysical death. But Jesus came to save and restore the world to its original form,\na world without sin, disease death, hatred, and all the other horrible\nconsequences of sin! So, praying for healing is vitally important and\nwonderful, and we encourage you to keep praying for CJ and for me! But in God\u2019s\nbigger picture, don\u2019t forget that all healing is temporary, and is just a \u201cglimpse\u201d\nof the future restoration of the new Kingdom. Jesus healed many people and even\nraised some from the dead, but they all died eventually. And so will we!<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, the gospel of the\nKingdom is about an amazing<\/em><\/strong> future<\/strong><\/em>, beginning in part now, for\nthose who accept God\u2019s offer of forgiveness and new life. The Bible says God\nhas put that longing within our hearts: <\/p>\n\n\n\n 11 <\/sup><\/em> He has made everything beautiful\nin its time. He has also set eternity in\nthe hearts of men<\/strong>; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning\nto end.Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV) CJ and I are privileged to\nlive in a beautiful central Michigan resort community called Canadian Lakes. It\nis truly a wonderful place to live, with beautiful lakes, golf courses,\nclubhouses and restaurants, music concerts, and a wide array of clubs and\nactivities. A few years ago our community adopted as its slogan \u201cThe Good Life<\/strong>\u201d. (I know, not very\noriginal, but it really does describe how most people here feel about our\ncommunity!) And if we are honest, most of you who read this probably live in\nbeautiful areas as well, and we all live in probably the top 10% of people in\nthe world as far as income, housing, medical care, and other blessings go. But\nas \u201cgood\u201d as life may be now, we know it doesn\u2019t last, and we long for a life\nthat is more fair, more joyful and permanent than what we have now. As we\nfellowship with folks our age (60-70-ish) and joke about our medications, procedures,\ndoctor visits, and sometimes becoming caretakers for our spouses, etc., we\nrealize that the \u201cGolden Years\u201d are not always that golden!<\/p>\n\n\n\n While most people spend their whole life searching for\nthe \u201cGood Life\u201d as they define it, Jesus offers us a vastly superior,\nnever-ending quality of life that may be called \u201cThe Abundant Life\u201d!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nJohn 10:9-10 (NKJV), Jesus tells us: This is the life in the \u201cKingdom\nof God\u201d that Jesus came to offer to those who want it, and will lead to a\nrestored new earth where we live with God present with us forever! We will have\nnew bodies that last forever & never get sick, and we will be in the very\npresence of God all the time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This life can begin now<\/em> as you trust your life to Jesus,\nreceive his forgiveness, and allow him to change you from the inside out by\nliving in you through his Holy Spirit! God slowly changes us and promises to\ngive us a new heart and a new mind (the mind of Christ). And while we still\nlive on this earth now, even though it is marred by sin, God will enable us to\nsee the Him, the world, and other people in a new and better way, with the eyes\nand heart of Jesus! We will again begin to sense the beauty and wonder of\ncreation. We will see other people as Jesus sees them, and remember that every human\nbeing, no matter how flawed, was created in God\u2019s image and is of infinite worth.\n(Yes, even our politicians!) And we will truly desire to live with a\nconsciousness of God with us, every moment of every day, and a desire to please\nHim in how we think and act. This will change how you see the world and how\neffectively you can impact the world for God!<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of my favorite books\nthis last year is one by Mark Batterson entitled \u201cPrimal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity<\/em>\u201d. It focuses on\nthe greatest commandment, to \u201clove the Lord your God with all your heart and\nsoul and mind and strength\u201d. In a chapter on loving God with our soul, he says \u201cSpiritual\nmaturity has nothing to do with circumstances. It has everything to do with\nconsciousness. A relationship with Christ doesn\u2019t always change our circumstances,\nbut it does change the way we see ourselves, others, and God. Why? Because we\nsee with our souls. We become less self-conscious and more God-conscious. It\u2019s\nalmost like a second childhood. As we recapture a child-like sense of wonder,\nwe perceive everything and everyone for what it really is: a miracle\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, continue to pray for\nCJ and for remission of her cancer! But also pray that we will keep our hearts\nand minds focused on God\u2019s ultimate gift, new life in His Kingdom! We know that\nis the only place where we will find true peace, joy, and wholeness for our\nsouls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I pray that each of you\nthat you would not settle for just the \u201cgood\nlife<\/em>\u201d, whatever that may mean to you, but that you would trust Jesus to welcome\nyou into the \u201cabundant life<\/em>\u201d of his\neternal Kingdom! That\u2019s the ultimate\ngift God is offering to us; joyfully grab on to it, and don\u2019t leave this life\nwithout it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I wish to thank all of you who have been praying for CJ as she has gone through this battle with ovarian cancer! We have been overwhelmed with the prayers, cards, notes, calls, emails, and Facebook messages. Her Facebook update page alone has more than 150 people who continue to pray for her healing and … Continue reading \u201cThe Battle Belongs to the Lord, Part 4: “What is Our Ultimate Prayer For?\u201d<\/span>
\n<\/em>And Paul reminds us in I Corinthians\n2:9 that we have not begun to see or hear or imagine all the wonder, beauty ,\nand joy of life in the new Kingdom: \u201cEye has\nnot seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things\nwhich God has prepared for those who love Him!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n9 <\/sup> I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and\nwill go in and out and find pasture.10 <\/sup> The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to\ndestroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n