Walking in the Word with Breast Cancer

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us).  - Matthew 1:23 When a year draws to a close, our nature is often to reflect on all that has happened during the year...not just the events that have taken place, but how we have changed and grown. We should be able to look back on where we were this time last year and see a difference.  We’re not who we should be yet, we’re not who we could be, but by the grace of God, we should be able to say we’re not who we were.  We should be growing more and more aware of ‘God with us’ with every year that passes.  So many wonderfully kind people have sent me wishes for a better New Year in the last week or so - for a healthier and happier 2018, and it's usually attached to some comment about how 2017 has been such a challenging year for me. I want you all to know that I don’t see it that way at all. 2017 has been a beautiful year for me - 2017 was the year God c

" Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us).   - Matthew 1:23 Immanuel is one of the most comforting names for God because it reminds us He is with us. When our sins made it impossible for us to be with God, He came to us. That truth is incredible to me. God chose to experience the sorrow and the temptation of the world, just so that He could be with us. Absolutely amazing.  As funny as it sounds, it was actually during a song that this realization came to me, when I truly began to understand that God is with us. Jeremy Camp sings about this amazing truth in “Same Power.”  I can see  Waters raging at my feet  I can feel  The breath of those surrounding me  I can hear  The sound of nations rising up  We will not be overtaken  We will not be overcome I can walk  Down this dark and painful road  I can face  Every fear of the unknown  I can hear  All God's children

"Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us).  - Matthew 1:23 The bigger the trial you face in life, the more you begin to understand you can’t do it alone. Our pride makes us think we can handle whatever life throws at us, especially those of us who like to believe we are strong and capable. I’m one of those people. I’ve always been an independent person who believes I can tackle just about any problem on my own. Saying “I can’t” or “I need help” has always made me feel weak, so I’m the person who says “I got this.” But God didn’t design us that way. He wants us to understand we were never meant to do this alone - we need Him to manage. And since He is ever refining us and purifying us, when we struggle with the pride issues of thinking we can handle it all on our own, He will allow trials into our lives that show us our dependence on Him. We need Him to manage in this world.  There will come a

"Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us).  - Matthew 1:23 God knew we would need Him with us because He understood the nature of this broken world we live in. He knew the evil that exists in the world isn’t just on the outside, it exists within us as well. While it’s easy to point at the fallen world as the source of all of our trials, the truth is the wickedness that exists in the world around us is made greater by the wickedness that lives within us. We are tempted by sin because we are sinners by nature. There is an evil that exists outside us and there is an evil that exists inside of us - it is the intersection of the two that causes us to sin. We like to tell ourselves that we are inherently good, especially after we serve or do something kind, we have such a tendency to compare ourselves to others and come out on top. We are not good...but Good does exist within us.  God’s ultimate pla

"Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us).  - Matthew 1:23 If we truly believe that Jesus is Immanuel, then we should live as if God is with us.  Our lives should glorify God in all that we do - we should be God’s representative to everyone we encounter.  Throughout scripture, there are multiple examples of glorifying God. We know the Heavens declare the glory of God, and all of creation sings His name. God named the Israelites as His people, then led and protected them so they would glorify Him. Of course, the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being came down to earth as His son, Jesus, so that we could see God’s glory up close and personal. Jesus showed us how to live a life that glorified God in all that He does.  We have been given the privilege glorifying God with our lives.  What does that look like?  How do we emulate His life through ours?  We can live to

"Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us).  - Matthew 1:23 The message of Christmas is right here - God is with us. He came to us to be with us.  We don’t need to “do” anything to be a Christian, we simply need to receive Him.  Being a follower of Christ is allowing Him to live within us, strengthening us to be all that He’s called us to be. When things get difficult, we can know that the very God of the universe, the God who created the mountains and the oceans, He lives in us. The same power who raised Jesus from the dead lives in us. He is with us. No matter where we go or what we face, God is with us.  I heard a powerful message preached this Christmas weekend about the “us” in this verse. “Us” is a powerful, evocative word.  Hearing the word makes you want to be part of it, whatever it is, it makes you want to belong. The word can even insinuate an exclusion when referencing the “right” k

1 Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! 2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!  - Psalm 95:1-2 On this beautiful Christmas morning, we have so many reasons to worship our King. He came down to be with us as a baby. I was reminded of a CS Lewis quote this morning: God descends to re-ascend. He comes down; down from the heights of absolute being into time and space, down into humanity ... down to the very roots and sea-bed of the nature He has created. But He goes down to come up again and bring the ruined world up with Him. The gifts we have been given in that tiny baby are far greater than anything under our tree this morning - anything we can give, anything we can receive. He is our our only true Christmas gift, He should be the reason we race from our beds to the foot of the tree this morning, He should be the reason we embrace our family and friends, He s

1 Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! 2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!  - Psalm 95:1-2 To prepare our hearts for worship this Christmas, we need to spend time reflecting on the incredible gifts we were given on the day Jesus was born. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace .—Isaiah 9:6. In a tiny little baby, we were sent the One who would be our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince is Peace. Wonderful means amazing, surprising, astonishing, or awe-inspiring - a perfect word to describe the King of Kings. As we contemplate the fact that our God in heaven sent down His only son to be sacrificed for each of our sins should produce a sense of awe and wonder that our hearts are d

1 Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! 2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!  - Psalm 95:1-2 I think one of the reasons many of us have a hard time truly preparing our hearts for worship is that we tend to focus on what God can do for us.  Worship is God-centered, not man centered. Worship is about praising God for who He is, it’s focused on His greatness and His majesty. Far too often when we go to God, we go with a list of urgent requests for what we need Him to do or fix in our lives. Worship is simply about adoring Him, it’s about thanking Him for who He is and what He has done.  It’s important to recognize that this Psalm says us - Oh come, let us sing to the LORD . The 'us' tells us that we are meant to worship in congregation, not just alone. This contradicts the false belief that many Christians do not feel they need to be a regular part of

1 Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! 2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!  - Psalm 95:1-2 In the middle of this Psalm about singing praises to the Lord is a word of caution about hardening our hearts. In verse 7-8, we read: Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts .  The greatest obstacle to worship is when our hearts are hardened. We’re all susceptible to the hardening of our hearts, and even as Christians, we’ve all experienced it to some degree. It’s when we choose our own will over God. When we choose our own way instead of God’s way, our hearts become callous and unfeeling. If we continue to choose our will over His, our hearts grow cold, uncompassionate, unemotional, and unsympathetic. It’s important to pay attention to the ways we become insensitive to God, or where our hearts become hard, especially during the Christmas season.  O

1 Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!  2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!  - Psalm 95:1-2 Psalm 95 is a beautiful reminder of how we are to worship with our whole heart. This reminder is important any time of the year, but especially relevant at Christmas. The week before Christmas can be taken over by our demanding schedules to create the perfect Christmas for our families, shifting our focus to cookie recipes, shopping lists, wrapping paper and off of Him. The focus of our worship can become so worldly amidst a celebration designed for Him. The enemy is sneaky, isn’t He?  But here, in the short Little Psalm, we are reminded of the purpose of worship.  Psalm 95 begins by showing us what worship is ~ singing and making a beautiful noise to the Lord with songs of praise.  The psalmist invites us to come sing to the Lord, reminding us worship needs to

1 Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! 2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!  - Psalm 95:1-2 What a perfect passage to be led to the week of Christmas!  So much about this week should have us making a joyful noise to our Lord. Unfortunately, the world can take over this week and leave us feeling exhausted, with a ‘to do’ list a mile long. Our culture has taken over Christmas - to prepare for the holiday, we have decorating and shopping and wrapping and baking, then there are the parties to attend and attractions to visit. We do need to prepare for the holiday, but nothing in that list is what He calls us to do. He wants our worship - that’s it. If you’re feeling overwhelmed at all you have to do before Sunday, understand that none of it comes from Him. It doesn’t mean the things you have planned are wrong, but if you’re feeling as if you have too much on your

21 Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" 22 Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. - Matthew 18:21-22 God call us to forgive as He forgives us - unconditionally and unilaterally. There are no exceptions to God’s forgiveness of us, there can be no exceptions for our forgiveness. No matter what pain has occurred in our lives, we are called to forgive - that can be hard to swallow sometimes. But it’s clear in this parable, Jesus responds to Peter with “seven times seventy,” meaning our forgiveness is to be limitless.  One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned being married for 25 years is that no enduring relationships exist without an abundance of grace and forgiveness. Doing life with another person means you’re bound to bump up against their expectations of you, and they’re going to bump up against yours. They’re going to see yo

21 Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" 22 Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. - Matthew 18:21-22 Big or small, forgiveness begins with a choice. But it often isn’t just a choice in only one moment, it is a continual choice that must be made day after day. We often must make the choice to live out forgiveness every day of our life.  The choice to forgive begins with acknowledging that the lack of forgiveness in our hearts is sin. We must confess and repent of the sin before God if we can move past the hurt. This step is critical.  Far too many of us skip this step when we seek God for help in letting go of a deep hurt from our past, and then we’re left wondering why we can’t find healing.  Confess the sin of unforgiveness and repent of it before God begins the path to victory.   After confession, name the person and the pain

21 Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" 22 Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. - Matthew 18:21-22 Deeper than the petty offenses we need to let roll off our back, and even deeper than the hurtful offenses we need to roll up to God, are the unspeakable sins committed against us - a deep betrayal, the taking of a loved one's life, abuse. These are the incredible injustices that leave us scarred and can come to define who we are.  Far too many of us have an intimate understanding of the darkness that exists in this broken world, a darkness that is impossible to forgive in our own power.  The kind of forgiveness that releases us from the bondage of a darkness that can shroud our entire lives, can only be found in Him and Him alone. You have to pursue it - you have to be diligent and persistent, but you will find freedom if you choos

21 Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" 22 Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. - Matthew 18:21-22 As believers, we need to get comfortable in the role of forgiving. We’re bound to be offended living in this world, both intentionally and unintentionally, big offenses and small, and if we’re not to hold on to any of them, we need to learn how to let them go. What do we do when we've been offended? I received excellent teaching years ago on forgiveness that I remind myself of frequently - it helps me to prioritize how to respond when I’ve been offended. It’s also taught me to be less easily offended because it has shifted my perspective. Here's what I learned - out of 100 times we are offended, we should let about 90 of them just roll off our back. Let them go as unintentional and not important. I’ve found that the majority