This we week we thank God\nfor all the blessings we have in life: family, friends, freedom, faith in God,\na good home and good health care, and great food on Thursday! ( and many others\nblessings as well) In our case, we are\noverwhelmed with gratitude for God\u2019s hand in Claudia\u2019s battle with cancer. About\n8 months ago, CJ was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic cancer. We were shocked\nand unsure about the future. After 6 effective chemo treatments and an amazing,\ncomplex surgery, the doctors were able to say \u201cwe got everything we could see\nor touch\u201d! Throughout that journey, we are convinced God\u2019s hand was directing\nthe treatments, guiding the surgeons, and keeping us hopeful and encouraged in\nour faith through some pretty rough moments. We know with certainly that God\nused our supportive family and a \u201cvast army\u201d of prayer warriors and your\nprayers to sustain us and enable us to get to this point. So, we thank God and\nwe thank all our friends and supporters for all your love, support, and\nprayers! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, however, in spite\nof all that God has done for us, we still face an uncertain future! (And in\nreality, so does every one of you!) CJ will get her first post-surgery CT scan\nin a week or so. We are praying it will show no new cancer, but we just don\u2019t\nknow. We do know that this type of cervical cancer can reappear, and we know\nour surgeon views this more as a case of \u201cmanaging\u201d cancer, probably for the\nrest of her life. So, as much as I pray CJ will be and stay in remission, there\nis nothing I can do to guarantee that. My prayer to God will continue to be for\nremission and many more years together in this wonderful life we have shared!\nIf I could describe, as a normal human being, the best thing that I would be thankful\nto God for, that would definitely be it. And every one of you would probably\nhave a similar prayer! We all hope and\npray for good health, a loving marriage, kids that do well and succeed in life,\nand not too much suffering and tragedy in our life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Throughout this cancer journey, I have clung to Jesus\nabove all else! He has reminded me of the \u201cbig picture\u201d as we have felt fear\nand doubt about our immediate circumstances. There are 3 major biblical themes\nthat have sustained me and strengthened me, and leave me truly thankful:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 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!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 33 <\/sup><\/em> “I\nhave told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you\nwill have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33 (NIV)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n This\nis a tough world under the influence of evil and the stain of sin. Jesus\ndefeated Satan and evil on the cross, and offers us his own power to resist and\novercome that evil ourselves. Paul reminds us in Romans 10 that there is\nnothing we go through here that Jesus has not already conquered, and that in\nHim, we are ALREADY conquerors ourselves!Romans 8:37-39 (NIV) :<\/strong><\/em> 2) We are never alone.\nGod is always with us!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 20 <\/sup><\/em>And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” – <\/em> Matthew 28:20b (NIV)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 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. \u00a0He can strengthen us, comfort us, and teach us how to face the future with joy and peace!<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3) Best of all, he\ngives us a great future to look forward to! Jesus came to establish his new Kingdom, which\nwould reverse all the effects of sin in our world. This gives us an unshakable\nhope for the future, something to look forward to that will be better than\nanything we can possibly imagine in this world!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 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\u2019t 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!<\/p>\n\n\n\n So,\nwhile I will obviously continue to pray for CJ\u2019s healing & remission, I\nwill especially pray for God\u2019s presence, wisdom, understanding, peace, hope,\nand joy as we all navigate this uncertain and unfair world! I close with Paul\u2019s\nprayer for the church in Colossae, and for all believers in every time:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 9 <\/sup><\/em> For this reason, since the day we\nheard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you\nwith the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 <\/sup> And we pray this in order that you\nmay live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing\nfruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 <\/sup> being strengthened with all power\naccording to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and\npatience, and joyfully 12 <\/sup> giving\nthanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the\nsaints in the kingdom of light. 13 <\/sup> For\nhe has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom\nof the Son he loves, 14 <\/sup> in\nwhom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. – Colossians 1:9-14 (NIV) This\nThanksgiving, let us truly be thankful to Jesus above all else! Using the above\nprayer, I invite you to pray for family and friends, first of all, that they\nwould come to put their trust in Jesus and surrender their life to his loving\nhands. Then, let\u2019s pray this for each other as we navigate this tough world:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Happy Thanksgiving, and remember the\nLord Jesus is with you!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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\u2019s hand in Claudia\u2019s battle with cancer. … Continue reading I Thank Jesus For The Really, Really Big Picture!<\/span>
\n37 <\/sup> No, in all these things we\nare more than conquerors through him who loved us.
\n38 <\/sup> For I am convinced that\nneither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the\nfuture, nor any powers, 39 <\/sup> neither\nheight nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate\nus from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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