Walking in the Word with Breast Cancer

21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:  22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;  23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  24 "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."  - Lamentations 3:21-24 There is so much truth in this verse for an anxious mind like mine.  These verses are quickly becoming some of my most treasured. If we need hope, we can find the comfort we need right here in these words. When the world is crashing around us and we're overwhelmed with the trials in our lives, we are told to call to mind these truths about God, and we will find hope when all seems lost.  We need to remember His steadfast love for us never ends. His love for us is an unrelenting, ever-chasing, never ending love. He doesn’t give up, He doesn’t turn His back, He doesn’t storm out on us.  He is steadfast, His love is pursuing and unconditional. Just think abo

21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:  22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;  23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  24 "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."  - Lamentations 3:21-24 Oh, there is so much truth in these verses for the anxious mind. God’s mercies are new every morning because each day only has enough mercy in it for that day.   If you're a worrier like me, your mind can quickly end up in the pit when we think on tomorrow.  Despair takes over as we fear the what ifs. But they haven't even happened yet, and God would never call us to live through tomorrow’s trials on today’s mercy. This verse reminds us of this truth. Today’s mercies are for today’s troubles. Tomorrow’s mercies are for tomorrow’s troubles.  We can get caught up in the what ifs of life, worrying about what may happen tomorrow, and they will destroy our

21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:  22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;  23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  24 "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."  - Lamentations 3:21-24 The Lord is our portion - He is exactly what we need, exactly when we need it. When God provided manna for the Israelites, He told them to eat their fill, but not to save any for the next day. Of course, several did because they did not trust there would be more.  Just as we struggle to believe God will provide, so do we. The Israelites woke the next morning to discover what they saved was filled with maggots.  God wants the same thing for us as He wanted for the Israelites. He wants us to trust Him each day for what we need. He wants us to be dependent on Him each morning as we face the day asking our Provider for our portion. Each day. We ask Him to give us

21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:  22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;  23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  24 "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."  - Lamentations 3:21-24 Great is your faithfulness. This is where we should start every morning, just meditating on His faithfulness. In this busy world of to do lists, it's easy to get wrapped up in our own faithfulness. We can have a hard time seeing His faithfulness when we have so much on our plates. We start to whine and complain about the discomforts in our lives, and take the focus off of Him.  In this tragically broken world, He calls us to be people of praise in the midst of our trials and tears, to be people who remember His faithfulness in times of trouble. We should be pointing one another back to Him as we struggle through life together. God’s Word is full of those

21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:  22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;  23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  24 "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."  - Lamentations 3:21-24 Each day is a new day, fresh with His mercies. Every morning we wake, His mercies are new and form fitted for the day in front of us. We have nothing to fear, He's already got everything under control.  Sometimes I can get so wrapped up in the future, specifically for my children. I fear the decisions they will make, and the future those decision will bring. But He's already there, He already knows our future, and He's got mercy for that day we fear. We can get so wrapped up in how we will deal with the future, fearing the worst, when the reality is we're operating on today's mercy...and today's mercy is only for today and what we'

21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:  22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;  23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  24 "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."  - Lamentations 3:21-24 I find such comfort in these 3 verses because there is so much packed into them, so much to cling to when the world is challenging and the enemy is lurking. His steadfast love is always there, unchanging, ever faithful - no matter what we do. It never ceases and He will never give up. A steadfast love is a pursuing, everlasting love that continues to come after us even when we turn our backs on Him. He doesn't get angry and lash out when we hurt Him, He doesn't cross His arms and give us the silent treatment, He isn't fickle, loving us one moment and indifferent the next, He isn't annoyed when we come to Him over and over again with the same reque

21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:  22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;  23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  24 "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."  - Lamentations 3:21-24 One of the great enemies of hope is forgetting God’s promises, so we are instructed in the verse to "call to mind." We are to call to mind all the goodness of God when we feel the weight of the world upon us. We so easily forget this truth and fix our eyes on the things in front of us. If we are going to have hope in this broken world, then we need to remind ourselves that God's great love for us is unconditional, His mercies are new each morning, His grace is never ending, His promises are true, His forgiveness is complete, His sovereignty is over all, and His plan is good.   The mind has great power to "call to mind" what God has sai

21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: 22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."  - Lamentations 3:21-24 We are reminded over and over in scripture that our God is a God of mercy...and in this verse, we are reminded that His mercies are new for us every morning. If we are His child, then every morning we wake up, the mercy He has perfectly crafted for the temptations and challenges of the specific day in front of us, are already there waiting for us. That is just amazing to me.  I am not only already forgiven for the times that I denied His mercy yesterday, but He knows me so well, and is sovereign over all in my life, that He can craft mercies that are specific for me and my day today. But it doesn't stop there. His mercies help me to face and admit how broken I reall

26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. - Ezekiel 36:26-27 God gives us a new heart so that we will see the world as He sees it and we will live for Him. We will have new attitudes and new behaviors, new priorities and new desires. He gives us a new heart so sin and self-focus is diminished, and our eyes are opened to others. We should be growing more compassionate, more caring, more loving, more forgiving, more gentle. Our new hearts should be less critical, less judgmental, less selfish.  Giving us a new heart does not mean we are immediately made new. Instead, it’s something that happens slowly over time. We are not made perfect in the moment we receive our new hearts, but we should be able to say we are increasingly more and more like Him. The peo

26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. - Ezekiel 36:26-27 Our hearts have a difficult time measuring exactly how sinful we truly are. We live by comparisons and rationalizations. Our tendency is to look to others’ sin and to think we’re not as bad, or to rationalize away our sin because we know we’re forgiven. We take our sin too lightly - we don’t understand the severity or the gravity of our sin. We dismiss it. Our prayer time is often more focused on what we would like God to take care of in our lives than on the depth of our sins. We may even confess our sins when we see them, but we are rarely drawn to a place of deep repentance. If I’m being honest, I have a tendency to move through my confessions quickly. It’s uncomfortable to look at how I sin - I

26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. - Ezekiel 36:26-27 We cannot know our own hearts because they are full of deceit, but God does. We are told in scripture that He searches our hearts and knows it. He searched all thoughts and intents of the heart, from the quick and fleeting thoughts to the lingering thoughts we dwell on. He sees the thoughts we try to disguise from others and those we don’t even recognize ourselves. He knows it all. He looks at and judges everything that passes through our minds. But more than judging and knowing, His desire is to grow us to be more like Christ - this is why He gives us a new heart.  Giving us a new heart is a process, not a moment. While I truly wish it happened in a single moment, I have come to realize receiv

26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. - Ezekiel 36:26-27 One of the primary reasons we need a new heart is because our own hearts deceive us into taking sin so lightly. We are not only masters at disguising sin from others, we are masters at disguising sin from ourselves. We just don’t see what we do. We can see other people’s sin just fine, but we cannot see our own as easily. When we do recognize our sin, we have a tendency to downplay it because our hearts are masters at comparison. We compare our hearts to others and come out on top. Our hearts will tell us that it’s not so bad or that God will overlook it because He is merciful.  Make no mistake about it - God does not take sin lightly. Sin is what led His innocent Son to the cross to die a hor

26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. - Ezekiel 36:26-27 Scripture has much to say about our hearts and why we need a new one. Jeremiah 17:9 is probably the most we’ll known verse: The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick. When considering all the deceitful things of this world, the heart is above them all. We want to believe our hearts are good, we try to convince others that our hearts are good, but the reality is that’s a lie. Our hearts are not good on their own. As humans, we have a tendency to lie to ourselves. More often than not, we are fooled by our own hearts, unwilling to see and accept the truth about ourselves.  It’s can be hard to admit we have a problem we cannot solve on our own. It’s so much easier to point the

26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. - Ezekiel 36:26-27 Our hearts were created in the image of God’s own heart. We were designed to seek after God and desire to glorify Him, He made us to love His ways and serve Him, to seek peace with others and righteousness. But He also designed us with free will, which means our heart can choose whatever it desires. God wants us to choose Him, but our hearts often fail. We choose to serve our own needs over others or Him. When we continue to choose our own paths, our rebellious hearts become hardened and turn to stone. A heart of stone cannot repent, it cannot love Him or glorify Him, it can not seek Him.  We desperately need a new heart, but we don’t have the ability to change our hearts on our own. This pass

1 But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.  2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.  - Isaiah 43:1-2 The final attribute we see about God in this verse is that He is patient with us. God promises to be with us through every trial, but it’s important to note that many of our challenges are brought on by ourselves. Not all of them, but many of them. If we’re being completely honest with ourselves, we can trace many of our struggles back to our own foolish or selfish choices. God allows us to endure the consequences for our choices. He’s not going to rescue us from something that will bring about our redemption, but He does promise to be with us. He allows the waters to rise and the fire to burn as an

1 But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.  2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.  - Isaiah 43:1-2 Another characteristic of God that is evident in this passage is His sovereignty. No matter what we face in life, God is sovereign over it all. Sovereignty, by definition, is having supreme power and authority. He is reigning and He is in control over every single thing we encounter. He knows what’s happening in each of our lives and He promises to be there with us. And even though He has the power to stop or change it, He has chosen to allow each specific situation because He has a plan for our good in it. God has the capacity and control to accomplish His will in all things.  Scripture is fill

1 But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.  2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.  - Isaiah 43:1-2 When I read these verses, I am reminded just how faithful our God is. I think this is one of the primary reasons I find such comfort in this passage. Our God is faithful. He has shown up in my life in so many ways that I cannot possibly deny Him. My story is a story of God’s faithfulness to fulfill His promises over and over again. When the road seemed impossible, He showed up to clear the path. When I have faced unspeakable injustices, He has shown up with the truth. When I have needed wisdom, He has shown me the way. When my heart is filled with grief, He has wrapped His arms around me in comfort.

1 But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.  2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.  - Isaiah 43:1-2 Another truth revealed about God in this passage is His love for us. God is loving. We are reminded He created us and we are His. He knows our fears so He reminds us He is with us always.  He even promises His protection in the waters and in the fire. His words are an example of the unconditional love He has for us. He doesn’t ask anything of us here, He just promises to be with us no matter what we face. He loves each one of us intimately and personally, just as we are.  Nothing we have ever done could increase His love for us, and nothing we have ever done could decrease the amount of love He has

1 But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.  2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.  - Isaiah 43:1-2 I think the reason this passage is so comforting to me is because I can return to it again and again and find new things it teaches me about who God is, who I am in God, and how He is changing me.  “I will be with you” reminds me how the God the universe is a very present God. Yesterday, I meditated on how He is a personal God, how He knows me intimately. Today, I am reminded how my personal God is also with me. I can trust He is with me because He knows me so well - He knows what I face, and He knows how my heart will respond so He rushes in to remind me I’m not alone. When we face difficult tr

1 But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.  2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.  - Isaiah 43:1-2 When we read scripture, we should be digging into His Word and reflecting on what He is truly trying to teach us about who God is, what does the passage help me to understand about who I am, and how should these new understandings help me change. Isaiah 43 says some of the most comforting things to me in all of scripture, probably because His Words are so personal. God is speaking directly to me in this passage. He’s not talking to a large group of people here, and His promises are not general - they’re specific and personal. He has called me by name.  We love a God who speaks to me in personal

1 But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.  2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.  - Isaiah 43:1-2 Reading through Isaiah 43 this morning and finding such peace in His sovereignty over every aspect of my life. There is such comfort for me in these words.  Because we are God's children, we can know our lives are never, ever out of control. It may seem chaotic at times, and there may be things happening in that we can’t stop, but we can be sure we have a God who is sovereign over it all.  Our stories have already been included in the greater redemption story of this world.  God has a plan that is bigger than just us.  He has promised to fix everything that sin has broken in this world, to r

9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. - Galatians 6:9-10 It’s hard work continuing to do good. It can be more tempting to serve our own needs over doing what God calls us to do. I could serve the homeless breakfast, but I don’t feel like getting up early. I could go to church this weekend, but my son has a football game. I could get my bible out tonight, but I deserve to relax on the couch after the day I had. It’s hard work continuing to do good - if it wasn’t, Paul wouldn’t be encouraging us to keep on doing good.  His prompting should ignite the Spirit inside each of us. When we accept Jesus, and His Spirit comes to dwell on our hearts, He begins to change our priorities and desires. Before we became believers, we were resistant to change. We were more focused on our own priorities. But when we

9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. - Galatians 6:9-10 “Life is not a game with no lasting consequences. The way we live our lives has eternal consequences.”  I read this in a John Piper sermon this past week, and it’s really had a profound impact on the way I read these verses. As I said yesterday, God is telling us in this passage that our eternal life depends on our ability to continue to do good. These verses are not simply suggesting we become a kinder person - our eternity is at stake here so it’s important we understand what God is asking of us. The way we live out our lives matters, but it isn’t about our ability to do that in our own power, it’s about surrendering our will and allowing Christ to move in us.  So many of us get it wrong so often. We spend our time trying so hard to be a

9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. - Galatians 6:9-10 It’s always important when we read scripture to read it in context, not to isolate a verse and read into it what we want to hear, but to read each verse as it relates to the passage around it. This verse is no different. While it may sound simply like encouragement to continue to be nice when we grow frustrated with the people around us, it’s so much more than that.  When we read the verse that comes just before these two, we see it says: For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. - Galatians 6:8. If you do these things, you will reap eternal life, but if you do not, you will reap corruption. You will not reap eternal life. Let that sink

9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. - Galatians 6:9-10 As we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone. We are to do good to everyone. The fruit of the spirit presented in the previous chapter in Galatians is a guideline for the good we should be doing - we should be loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and we should have self-control.  Reading that list completely humbles me - I can think of times over the past week where I failed at every one of those.  As believers, these words should describe us. They should be the words that come to the minds of the people who are living life with us or around us. Would the people in your life describe you as the most loving person they know?  I’m pretty confident there are people who would describe me that way in my life, but