Grateful

This past weekend we had the opportunity to go to a family wedding. While I was riding in the car, traveling by farmers' fields that have been laid to rest for the winter, I found myself reflecting on the goodness of God. My mind wandered back to my recent blog on thankfulness. There is much to be thankful for in our lives. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to see family again and spend time with them, reminiscing, catching up and celebrating the gift of marriage.

I have another family that I am greatly thankful for and that is my spiritual family, the body of Christ. I am so thankful for my church and the fellowship that is found there.  What would we do without Christ in our lives? What would we miss if their was no fellowship with other Christ followers? Our lives would be void and dark.

As I have journeyed the path of trials and afflictions for more than a decade, I have frequently found myself pondering the goodness of God in affliction. In my deepest aches, when I want to question why, there is that gentle nudge of the Holy Spirit reminding me, "Trust Him, God is good." Just when I begin to fall, the Lord will bring someone along my way who lifts my countenance with an encouraging word or an uplifting verse. We are to bear one anthers burdens and I am grateful for those who have done so in the body of Christ.

So, as I reflect on what it is I am thankful for, I am thankful for my church family. I am thankful for the leadership of our church and their kind shepherd hearts. I thankful for the privilege of sitting under sound biblical teaching. I am thankful for the way the body manifests and uses their spiritual gifts to benefit the body. I am thankful for the many ways each one cares for one another. Happy Thanksgiving to you all dear readers. Take the time to tell one person what you are thankful for this year!

My Heart Is Filled with Thankfulness

So, what are you thankful for?

As Thanksgiving approaches we are more inclined to reflect on what we are thankful for than any other time of the year. Anyone who knows the Tabbuts well are aware that when they see Byron coming their way they need to be prepared for his question,"What are you thankful for today?"

Beyond the Thanksgiving season, thinking and reflecting upon what we are thankful for is a great concept to have rolling around in our minds. Pondering that simple question has a way of taking our thoughts off our present troubling circumstances and shift our thinking onto what is praiseworthy. I don't mean just being thankful for the weather or things going swimmingly well because I am feeling good today, but what are we truly thankful for? Here is my list as I reflect about thankfulness at Thanksgiving.

1. I am thankful for Ephesians chapter 1 and that in Him I have been blessed with every spiritual blessings in the heavenly places, that I was chosen in Him  before the foundation of the world, that I was adopted through Christ according to His purposes, that in Him I have redemption and forgiveness through His blood, that in Him I have an inheritance and that in Him I have the promise and the seal of the Holy Spirit. This truth alone is enough to be thankful for as long as I have breath. To HIM BE THE GLORY!

2. I am thankful that God rearranged and reoriented my life so that once upon a time I would stumble into the man God had designed for me in marriage, and that would be Byron. There were so many distractions in organic chemistry class. It is a wonder I ever passed the class.

3 I am thankful for my family. God has given us just what we needed in our quiver to keep us humble and to conform us into His image. We love our adult children dearly and wait, watch, and pray for them as God is working in each of their lives.

4. I am grateful for the trials and afflictions God has brought our way as a family, and they have been many and varied over the years. God's Word is true, reliable, dependable, and sufficient for the day. The pages of the Bible have come alive in full color to us as we have anchored ourselves firmly in those truths as we have journeyed through some very deep valleys that seem to have no way out but climbing up the hill of difficulty. Do we stumble and slip back down the hill? Of course, and just as we have made headway we fall back. We are learning to trust that the presence of God's everlasting arms are underneath us.

 Fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:10

So, what are you thankful for? I would love to hear from you! Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Meet my friend Janet

I hope you are as inspired and encouraged to persevere under trial as I was when I heard Janet's testimony of God's faithfulness to her in her affliction.

MY CANCER

My heart, this morning, is to express the “joy” I feel about God choosing to give me this breast cancer to teach me important lessons I need to know.

In Romans 15:4 Paul says:

For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Perseverance is from the Greek word “hupomone” that has the sense of remaining under the trial UNTIL God produces a completed work in us ~ that’s what James talks about in James 1: 4.

OK ~ so the Scriptures were written for my instruction and encouragement and hope and they tell me to persevere under trials and to consider them “JOY” ~ because ~ God wants to make me more like Jesus!!!   And He promises to walk with me through ANY trial and He tells me to TRUST Him.

I am a woman who’s been blessed with solid teaching for more than 20 years.  My local church, Ladies Bible Study, Sunday School, multiple translations of the Word of God, countless books by spirit-filled men and women of God, edifying and convicting Christian fiction, amazingly beautiful and scripture based music, radio and internet at my fingertips to research or listen to powerfully accurate messages from contemporary Christian leaders and even those who teach us from the past.

In other words ~ God has faithfully been pouring truth into my life for many years ~ He’s fed me with the food I need to see His Sovereign rule over my life and to know that His ways are BEST, and for His glory, and for my good. 

I can visualize a procession of TRUTHS He’s taught me over these years that cause me to say with Horatio Spafford, “Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul.”

...and to say with Martin Luther, that God is my mighty FORTRESS ~ a bulwark never failing, my helper amid the flood of mortal ills ~ the Lord  Sabaoth ~ the Lord of All of Heavens Armies!!  the One who WINS the battle.

So these are things I “KNOW” ~ by head knowledge.  BUT ~ have they truly been applied when the rubber meets the road? 

I’ve prayed for a long time that what I’m learning in my head would become applicable to my life ~ that the truths would make a difference in my heart attitudes and my actions, and that my witness would say to my family and friends that “‘Jesus is BETTER than anything ~ and that following Him is the greatest privilege and the safest haven for my soul ~ regardless of what my circumstances are.

Our current study “Calm My Anxious Heart” seemed tailor made for the exact testing of my faith that finding a lump in my breast would cause (you know there are no coincidences with God, of course!)

What better verses could I be memorizing than Phil 4:11-13 about learning contentment in any and every circumstance? and Phil 4:6-8 about NOT being anxious for anything, but praying and giving thanks in order to receive God’s peace that passes understanding? and Ps 139:14 about God’s knitting me together in my mother’s womb and making me fearfully and wonderfully and the command to give Him thanks for the WAY He made me?  Each of these verses fed my soul EXACTLY what it needed to trust God’s plan.  To wait on His answers without anxiety.

To refuse to panic.  To refuse to jump ahead to WHAT IF’S.  To refuse to forecast grief.  To let Him be the Blessed Controller.

Ella Spees ~ the missionary we looked at in the first chapter, gave us a seemingly impossible prescription for contentment.  One said to NEVER allow yourself to wish this or that had been otherwise and the last one said to NEVER dwell on tomorrow ~ remember that tomorrow is God’s not ours ~ SO ~ God was preparing me to embrace His truth that MY tomorrows belonged to Him.  They are nestled in His strong arms ~  therefore I can be content.

J. I. Packer’s quote from the book is one I’d written a year ago on an index card and that I’ve referred to often:  

 “Contentment is essentially a matter of accepting from God’s hand what He sends because we know that He is good and therefore it is good.”

In this study we also used Luke 22:39-42 as meditation verses about Jesus in the garden and His intense suffering and His asking the Father that (if He was willing) to remove the cup ~ YET ~ not His own will, but the Father’s will be done.  So ~ once again ~ the Lord provided an illustration of Jesus’ willingness to accept the cup and portion that the Father willed for Him.  I want to pray for the grace to accept the lovingly assigned portion that my heavenly Father has prepared for me!!

He’s been infusing me with His Word and preparing me for this battle from long ago.

During our last study on the book of Hebrews when we watched a radiant Joni Eareckson Tada speak about her latest ambush by breast cancer and chemotherapy ~ I listened with rapt attention, tears in my eyes and a heart that rejoiced to hear Joni’s testimony of God’s sustaining grace through ALL her fiery trials.  She elaborated on His sovereignty and how she clung to Jesus so that she would not grow weary or lose heart.  She refuses to be one that shrinks back and displeases her Lord.  She chooses instead to be one through whom the manifold wisdom of God is made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms ~ from Eph 3:10. 

She reflects on this reality at 2:00 a.m. when she can’t sleep, and when she doesn’t understand, or is surprised by the toughness of the trial...she said:

“ I remember that something dynamic and electrifying is abuzz in my dark room. The unseen world in the spirit realm, all the heavenly hosts, including powers and principalities, they're watching me. They're listening to me. And as I respond, they are learning about God and His character through me—little me.”

“The angelic and dark powers of the entire universe learn how high and wide and rich and deep is His incredible mercy and power and love. They are amazed to see that it is the mighty strength of Christ's resurrection that is giving you the power to say “no” to bitterness and “yes” to grace.”

I’ve had a quote from a commentary by JC Ryle, written on an index card that I keep by my computer.  It’s been there a long time and I read it often and have read it to others who are facing trouble.

It’s truth has been increasingly precious to me since I’ve been made aware of my cancer.

"There is nothing which shows our ignorance so much as our impatience under trouble.  We forget that every cross is a message from God, and intended to do us good in the end.  Trials are intended to make us think - to wean us from the world to send us to the Bible, to drive us to our knees.  Health is a good thing; but sickness is far better, if it leads us to God.  Prosperity is a great mercy, but adversity is a greater one, if it brings us to Christ.

Anything, anything is better than living in carelessness and dying in sin."

~ from JC Ryle commentary on Matt 15

I did a Bible Study by Kay Arthur on the names of God and she stressed a number of points that are cemented in my mind.

One was an illustration about holding a ring in a clenched fist ~ nothing can get to that ring without going thru the fingers ~ and how that is like God holding us in His fist ~ and NOTHING can touch my life except by His permission and UNLESS it has been filtered thru His fingers of love.

Another point she stressed was the choice I’d make on whether I’d trust my circumstances or God’s character!! 

So ~ is WHAT HE SAYS the truth,  or is my current circumstance (my breast cancer) what I need to focus on?

BECAUSE I’m a blood-bought believer in Christ’s sacrifice~  I belong to El Elyon ~ GOD MOST HIGH ~ Sovereign Ruler of all the Universe ~ then ALL of my circumstances (including “bad” ones) are meant for my good and God uses them for my benefit and growth.   He is aware and involved enough to help me deal with anything that threatens to rock my “comfortable” world.

Isaiah 14: 24

The Lord of hosts has sworn saying, “Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand...”

And:

Isaiah 46: 9-11

I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, “My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure...truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass.  I have planned it, surely I will do it.”

And:

Psalm 31: 14, 15a, 19

But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord, I say, "You are my God."  My times are in Your hand... How great is Your goodness, which You have stored up for those who fear You, which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You before the sons of men!

This is a poem I heard last year and sent out to my small group as an application for one of our lessons in the book of Hebrews ~ 

Light Shining Out Of Darkness 

by William Cowper

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,

The clouds ye so much dread

Are big with mercy, and shall break 

In blessings on your head. 

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,  

But trust Him for His grace;  

Behind a frowning providence  

He hides a smiling face. 

His purposes will ripen fast,

Unfolding every hour;   

The bud may have a bitter taste

But sweet will be the flower. 

 Just this past Sunday in church we sang another Gospel Centered song by our own Abe & Liza Phillips.  One verse directly spoke beautiful truth into my soul

O Teach My Heart to Love Your 

Words by Abe & Liza Phillip 

O teach my heart to trust Your Word 

When troubles rise and fears are stirred 

To walk by faith through gain or loss 

And glory only in the Cross I mean ~ that’s just what I’m going through!!  Isn’t God awesome to give me daily “food” to answer when troubles rise and fears are stirred ~ His instruction to walk by FAITH through gain or loss!!I don’t have this figured out yet ~ my flesh will fail me over and over again many times throughout the day.  Just when I think “I’ve got this peace thing going cause I’m NOT worrying but praying instead ~ etc, etc.” ~ that’s when my heart starts trembling or my stomach lurches or my throat gets dry or my head starts pounding!!  And I realize afresh that “I” don’t have any power to do this on my own ~ ONLY ONLY as I lean on Jesus and rely on the power of the Holy Spirit will I be able to walk by faith and not by sight.

These verses form a request I’m praying for myself.  From:

Colossians 4:4-6  ... that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should and that I would live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity.  That my conversation would be gracious and attractive so that I will have the right response for everyone.

It’s amazing how many people I’ve connected with over the past 3 weeks ~ many dear believing family members and brothers and sisters in Christ ~ but also many unbelieving friends that I’ve called to tell them I have this cancer or that heard about it from someone else.  And the Lord has given me a new boldness to share how He’s tenderly, faithfully  giving me peace in whatever He brings my way ~ how I can trust that this cancer is a GIFT from Him and it is BEST for me ~ it’s not just ok that I have it.  He hasn’t made a mistake or fallen asleep to wake up and find out, “O no, Janet has developed breast cancer while I was busy taking care of important world situations.” 

He’s actually purposed this specifically for me at this time and in this place and He has far reaching God-glorifying plans to use it in ways that I can’t even imagine.

I long to respond like Job after he’d heard all the tragic consequences that God had allowed Satan to test him with:  he fell to the ground and worshipped, saying “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.  Blessed be the name of the Lord,” ~ AND through it all he did not sin nor did he blame God.

And then at the beginning of chapter 40 when God is addressing Job,  the Lord said to Job, “Do you still want to argue with the Almighty?

You are God’s critic, but do you have the answers?”

Then Job replied to the Lord, “I am nothing - how could I ever find the answers?  I will cover my mouth with my hand.....”

 I just love that picture of placing my hand over my mouth ~ what could I possibly have to say in answer to what God ordains is RIGHT for me?

 And that thought leads me to the song:

Whatever My God Ordains Is Right

Whatever my God ordains is right,

Holy His will abideth.

I will be still whate’er He does,

And follow where He guideth.

He is my God,

Though dark my road.

He holds me that I shall not fall

Wherefore to Him I leave it all

Whatever my God ordains is right,

He never will deceive me

He leads me by the proper path,

I know He will not leave me

I take, content,

What He hath sent

His hand can turn my griefs away

And patiently I wait His day 

 Whatever my God ordains is right,

Though now this cup in drinking

May bitter seem to my faint heart,

I take it all unshrinking

My God is true,

Each morn anew

Sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart

And pain and sorrow shall depart 

Whatever my God ordains is right, 

Here shall my stand be taken

Though sorrow, need, or death be mine, 

Yet I am not forsaken

My Father’s care

Is round me there

He holds me that I shall not fall

And so to Him I leave it all

 All these scripture verses and songs and quotes from precious saints who’ve been refined by fire ~ and many many more that I can’t begin to share here ~ these have all been given to me as a sacred trust over many years.  God GAVE them to me to prepare me and He’s allowing me to proclaim His goodness and mercy when the world would view my circumstances as “unfavorable.”

I want to end with 2 quotes from Joni’s message on suffering, She said,

 “I know that when I say “yes” to Jesus and “no” to doubts or fear or resentment, it absolutely irritates the devil.”  

  “your suffering, like nothing else, is preparing you to meet God. For what proof could you bring of your love to heaven if this life left you totally unscarred?” 

May He be pleased to use my witness because of this cancer to draw others to His beautiful peace and rest.

 

 

Meet my friend Carol

Trials and afflictions come to us in many shapes and forms. We live in a day of global economic uncertainty and also at a time where the complexity of disease diagnosis and treatment are advancing at remarkable rates.  Advances in technology and communication are breathtaking. In all of this, one thing is constant; pain and suffering is very real. The answers for coping  are found in the word of God and in relationship with Christ. He, alone, has the power to save and provide the power for us to endure the trials that come our way. Our rest, hope, and trust in the promises of God that are yes and Amen in Jesus is our place of quiet rest as the sea billows roll. You will be blessed by Carol's testimony of her faith in God through trial.

It was 2 years ago today that I got one of the phone calls that we all dread. After some fairly routine medical testing, I fully expected to hear the words, "Your tests were normal". Instead, I heard the words, "There is a problem with your tests". Not exactly the words I wanted to hear when I had a one week old grandson. It was discovered that I had a tumor in my pancreas - not good news under any circumstances. I reluctantly got on the roller coaster ride that would involve one medical test after another. The days became a blur of blood tests, x-rays, and nuclear scans. What was I supposed to tell my kids? Or my parents? There was a good chance that I would not see my grandson's first birthday. The odds of my seeing his second birthday were miniscule.

As I look back now, I can see that God had begun preparing me for this experience many months ahead of time. He had started to teach me about His love and His faithfulness - things that I could say with my mouth, but did not truly believe in my heart. He provided for me every single step of the way, from friends who were by my side during the testing, to friends who were there for me on Facebook in the wee hours of the night when I could not sleep. From an ultrasound tech who went above and beyond her job to find my tumor when it was still so small, to an expert surgeon in whom I had total confidence. 

My 6 hour surgery was finished in 90 minutes. My doctor said it appeared that someone had "tattooed" my tumor for him to find. It was in the most accessible spot possible, so he did not have to do nearly as extensive surgery as he had planned. And, against all odds, my biopsy came back as favorably as was possible. I will have to go back for a yearly MRI for the rest of my life, but the odds of it returning are less than the odds that were stacked against me in the first place.

With everything in me, I can honestly say that I would not trade away any part of the experience. It is amazing what God taught me through the entire time. I use my scar to be a daily reminder of God's faithfulness. Yes, God was gracious to spare my life, but it could well be something else tomorrow. His love and goodness are not dependent on a good outcome. No matter what I face in life, I know that God will be there. I know that He loves me. He is good - all the time. And that I can depend on. 

"I will sing of the Lord's great love forever; with my mouth I will make Your faithfulness known through all generations. I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself." Psalm 89:1-2

too long

It has been 2 months since I have posted a blog. Oh my, it has been a very full time, and I have missed the chance to pause, sit at the keyboard and reflect on Christ's presence in our joys and sorrows. While I never stop thinking in that vein of thought sitting down to type it out in words is sometimes another thing.

I have been reflecting  a lot lately on the past 10 years and how far I have come in my understanding of joy and sorrow mingled together in our walk as believers in Christ. I have learned that through some of the deepest valleys I have discovered some of the greatest joys. That could be described as either an oxymoron or the paradox of the Christian life like what Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 1:18-31. Let's listen in a minute to Paul as he speaks about the wisdom of the world and the power of God. Although this passage is not specifically addressing suffering in the Christian life, I think we will see a parallel of reasoning as to the way the world thinks and what the life of the believer in Christ really is.

 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.  For it is written,

"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?  For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.  For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,  but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;  God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. He is the source  of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and our sanctification and redemption. Therefore, as it is written,"Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."

As Christ walked the path of suffering that led to our redemption, so we must follow him on that path. The place where I have found rest, hope, and trust in this seeming paradox is found in Philippians 3:7-11,

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,  that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Dear reader, do you get the connection? This path we follow as believers in Christ is nothing like the path of worldly wisdom. We have a Savior who has gone before us paving the way for us. Every crag or bend, sharp turn or cliff we encounter on the path of life has already been trod for us. We can trust the One who has gone before us completely, so that we can proclaim, as the Psalmist did centuries before us,

My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.

 But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works.

Psalm 73:26-28

I have mentioned in the past that I would like to feature guest writers. Today is a blog moment. I would like to share with you how two friends  have journeyed by faith through trials in their lives. You will be greatly blessed and encouraged by their steadfast trust in God. May you find strength in your weakness and hope and trust in the promises of God.

Lou Fellingham: My God cares - lyric video