Walking in the Word with Breast Cancer

1 Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!  2 Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!  - Psalm 105:1-2 If we want the joy that is promised to us in this life, then we need to develop a heart of gratitude. But it must go deeper than a simple gratefulness for the things we have in life. Most of us can find something to be thankful for in every situation, and generally, when reminded, we stop and focus on the gifts He has given us. But our joy doesn’t change because our heart really hasn’t changed. Perhaps we’re momentarily distracted from our struggles by those things we stop and say thank for, but we really haven’t found a lasting joy in our struggles.  These verses seem to include a gratitude much deeper than a simple distraction. The energy and enthusiasm are a deep joy and celebration of God’s goodness. If we want that joy in our lives, we must push ourselves deeper level of gratitude. We are told to

1 Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!  2 Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!  - Psalm 105:1-2 Being thankful is a choice. But let’s be honest...being thankful in some circumstances can be quite challenging. When we’re in our rational minds, and things are going fairly well, we know we should choose to be thankful. We can look at our lives and find reasons to be thankful - we can be thankful we have a roof over her head, food in our bellies, families to love. We know the very reason we take a breath every day is because of the generous gift of life that He has given to us, and most of us will praise Him for these things when we think of it. But true gratitude, the type of thankfulness that the psalmist is referring to in this passage is a much deeper attitude than an obedient and courteous, “thank you, God”.  The problem is that living in this broken world is challenging, it can be downright har

1 Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!  2 Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!  - Psalm 105:1-2 A thankful heart is a joyful heart - this is what God wants for us. When we neglect the sacrifices in thanksgiving, our soul suffers. Have you ever noticed how many times we are reminded in scripture to be thankful?  It is because God knows our tendency to forget, and when we forget to be thankful, we slip into a focus on self.  Being thankful shifts our focus away from our problems, and broadens our perspective. It’s not always easy to give thanks, but it is what God calls us to do over and over in scripture. You simply need to do a bible search on thankful verses to find countless examples in the Old and New Testament. He calls us to live with hearts of gratitude. If we want to see God’s will accomplished in our lives, we must grow in our thankfulness.  A heart of gratitude in the midst of a diff

14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. - 1 Thessalonians 5:14-18 Not only does this verse call us to not repay evil with evil, but it commands us to seek to do good. I have matured enough in most situations that I can walk away and not engage with a person who is hurting me or angering me, but this verse calls me to take it one step further - I am called to do good for those who wrong me.  Seeking good for those who wrong me isn’t something I can do in my own power, though there are things I can do to strengthen my desire to help those who hurt me. When I strengthen the Spirit that lives within me, I increase my desire to live according to His will. I can

 14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. - 1 Thessalonians 5:14-18 Not only are we to be guarding our own responses, but we are to be "seeing that no one" repays evil for evil. That means we have to watch out for one another, lest we be dragged into the snare of the enemy with our emotions.  It's so easy to justify an unloving response when we've been hurt or wronged. The world would have us believe we have a right to be angry, or the other person deserved it. The world will get behind our story of wrong, it will amp up our emotions, and will help us to justify our response. We all have those people who love to soothe us in the pit.  They

14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. - 1 Thessalonians 5:14-18 See that no one relays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another means when people treat you poorly, your response is for their best interest. We all have those difficult people in our lives who seem to know exactly how to challenge us or hurt us. They are often demanding or harsh, inconsiderate or self-focused. These difficult people can play the victim game, or they seem to always be surrounded by drama.  But here we are commanded to repay their hurtful or harsh words, their drama and their challenges with good. This can be most difficult to live out in the heat of th

14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. - 1 Thessalonians 5:14-18 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good - this is God's will for our lives. The problem is it’s often not what our flesh wants to do. Our flesh is ruled by our emotions. It can be so hard to get past the anger or the hurt of damaged relationships to seek another person's good - especially when there is continued, relational pain. I've learned that we can only do this is in God's strength, only by relying completely on Him.   I remember God teaching this lesson to me some years ago. While the specific details are fuzzy to me now, because God has

14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. - 1 Thessalonians 5:14-18 Sometimes it can be a struggle trying to navigate how to interact with different types of people. I can feel like I’m walking a tightrope at times, unsure how to respond. One of the things I love about scripture is that God gives us wisdom on all different types of situations, including how to relate to difficult people.   These verses tell us how to approach three different types of  troubled people we will encounter in life - the idle, the faint hearted, and the weak. The idle is actually translated as unruly in other translations - these are the people in our lives without self control. T

15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. - 1 Thessalonians 5:14-18 Thanksgiving is a choice. And there is nothing that will positively impact your life more than the choice to be thankful. God calls us to give thanks in all circumstances in these verses because He knows when we shift our thoughts away from what we need to what we have, our anxieties fall away, our anger dissipates, and our despair lifts. That’s worth repeating - give thanks in ALL circumstances. Not some, but all. Give thanks for the cancer diagnosis, give thanks for the broken marriage, or the tensions around the table, give thanks for the unemployment, give thanks for the trials.  We spend so much time in life focused on what we want and what we need, rather than being content with what we have. We work an

14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.16 Rejoice always,17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. - 1 Thessalonians 5:14-18 Such words of wisdom I can take into my life in these verses so i thought I would stop here for the week. If my desire is to grow more Christlike, then my responses have to grow more loving. As Pastor James teaches us, where its hardest to love in your life, you're most like our Savior when you choose love as your response.  This verse commands us not to repay anyone evil for evil, so if I am disrespected by my children, wronged by my family, disregarded by my husband, or deceived by a co-worker, I am commanded here to respond in love. I cannot give evil back to them despite the fact that my fles

37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." - Matthew 9:37-38 As I said earlier, it has been an uncomfortable week in this verse. This passage highlights what is most important to Jesus, and compares it to what is most important to me. It's been uncomfortable because they haven't been aligned. I want things comfortable in my life, and Jesus wants people moved for His kingdom. I want Him to answer all my little prayers to fix relationships and health issues and finances, and He wants to bring people to Him. That’s it. His goal is always, only that people would come to know Him.  Jesus wants to know if He is truly our treasure, is He truly our all in all. What is it we labor for all day?  What is it we worry about? And pray earnestly for?  We spend so much of our time praying over things that would make our lives easier, and w

37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." - Matthew 9:37-38 Without God's help, we only live for ourselves. Without the sanctifying work of the gospel, we can't see past our own needs. The gospel saves us by giving us an eternal perspective, and grows us increasingly sick of ourselves. I may have some heartaches here and there in my life, but I have the promise of eternal life with Jesus - that’s the eternal perspective I need to focus on, that’s the eternal perspective I need to share with others.  The problem is that while Jesus has saved me from eternal damnation, I'm still focused on how much I have to do today, or an irritating coworker, or my child's choices. My busy schedule and the people in my life keep distracting my from my bigger purpose. My needs and my comfort continually push my true purpose to the

37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." - Matthew 9:37-38 Labor. We labor in this life.  We labor so much that we can feel quite overwhelmed by the amount of work in front of us. But...are we laboring for the right things?   There are times that reading a passage like this, and being reminded that we are to be earnestly praying for the Lord to send out laborers into the harvest, and we are to be doing the work of the Kingdom, that it can all just feel overwhelming. We already have so much on our plates ~ taking care of our families, our work, ourselves. When am I supposed to fit in Kingdom work?  I am already so busy, I just don't have time to labor for Him this week.  How very sad.  Perhaps one of the reasons the 'laborers are few' is because we're all so busy doing something else. My heart is so guilty of t

37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." - Matthew 9:37-38 Spending a week in this verse has been uncomfortable for me...because it means every day I have to come back to God's real purpose for my life. His purpose isn't to make my life easier or more comfortable, His purpose isn't to answer my pleas for protection of my children or that He would work things out in their lives, His purpose isn't to heal or comfort my Sisters in their trials.   While He may answer my prayers and do all those things because He is a loving God, that's not His purpose for us. His purpose is sanctification - to mold us and to transform us into the likeness of His Son. He sent His Son here to live so that we would have this model for our lives. So, if we take some time to really look at His Son and how we should model our lives, we

37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." - Matthew 9:37-38 Prayer is God's way of winning His victory in the end through His people. Prayer starts by changing the pray-er, then He moves to change the world. This is how the kingdom comes - you can see it throughout scripture, prayer brings down bold Spirit-filled witness to God through His people. We cannot do it in our own power, though we try all the time, we simply cannot.  So many of us are hesitant to share the Gospel because it's uncomfortable - we don't know what to say and we don't like rejection. We reason that we'll leave the evangelizing to people who have that gift or the knowledge, we think we don't know enough in our own right to be able to lead someone to Christ. Or maybe, we reason, they wouldn't listen anyway...they know the gospel, and

37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." - Matthew 9:37-38 There is no doubt when you read this passage that His divine purpose is to reach the nations, and the way it will come to pass is through earnest prayer. We know from scripture that God wants us to pray earnestly and passionately.  God uses our prayer time to grow us. Let’s be clear - He doesn’t need us to pray - He already knows what’s on our hearts and He knows what we’re walking through right now. We are the ones who need to pray.  When we pray, we open up the lines of communication with the Spirit. If we’re truly open in prayer, the Spirit can do an amazing work in our hearts. Prayer humbles our hearts and submit our desires to God, and prayer aligns our priorities with His.  In this passage, I think He's trying to re-direct our prayers to the things that matter

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. - Galatians 5:16 Many of us struggle through our days because we do not feel the presence of the Spirit, but He is there - He is with us at all times. We don't always feel the Spirit because we forfeit His presence with our choices. We cannot act in accordance with the world or the way our flesh desires, and expect to be filled.  We’ve learned we grieve the Spirit when we do things the spirit doesn't want us to do. To grieve is to feel deep pain or sorrow. When I ponder that I bring deep pain or sorrow to the spirit of God, I am filled with sadness. But the reality is that I do, all the time. When I place myself over others, or my agenda over His, when my idols take precedence over Him, like my children or my job, when I covet or do not honor Him with my words, when I do anything I know that is disobedient to Him, I grieve the Spirit. He's always there, but when He is grieving, it is

for we walk by faith, not by sight. - 2 Corinthians 5:7 When we first come to Christ, banners are hailed. Our hearts surrender to Him, the Spirit comes to dwell in us, and our lives are on fire for Him. We know at the end of this life, if we lived for Him, our reward will be in heaven with Him. We look forward to the promise of a reward for a race well run.  But it’s in between the banners and the medals that disciples are made. It’s in these days that can be long and dark, and in-between the beautiful surrender and the great promise. It’s in the heartbreaking days were told to wait, take courage on Christ, keep your eyes fixed on Him, let the Spirit strengthen you, but the reality is, it can feel like we’re drowning. We know we’re supposed to walk by faith,but some days the question is how?  How are we supposed to walk in the Spirit when we feel like our world is crashing around us? It’s in that pain, that God will meet you and draw you closer to Him than you’ve ever been

for we walk by faith, not by sight. - 2 Corinthians 5:7 Many of us struggle to walk by faith because we do not feel the presence of the Spirit, but He is there - He is with us at all times. We don't always feel the Spirit because we choose to forfeit His presence with our actions. We cannot act in accordance with the world or the way our flesh desires, and expect to be filled.  Just as when we quench it, we will not be filled with the Holy Spirit if we grieve it. We grieve the Spirit when we do things the spirit doesn't want us to do. In other words we grieve the Spirit when we commit a sin. Think about grief for a moment- it is to feel deep pain or sorrow. When I ponder that I bring deep pain or sorrow to the spirit of God, I am filled with sadness, but the reality is that I do it all the time.  When I place myself over others, or my agenda over His, when my idols take precedence over Him, like my children or my job, when I covet or do not honor Him with my words,

for we walk by faith, not by sight. - 2 Corinthians 5:7 In order for us to walk by the faith, we must be filled with the Spirit. We simply don’t have the power to walk by faith on our own. Paul tells us in these verses to walk by faith because He knows we have the Spirit living in us. The problem is many of us don’t know how to tap into the power of the Spirit that lives inside of us We don't have a lot that God has promised yet, but we do have His Spirit. If the very same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead lives inside of me, the same Spirit who promises supernatural peace and joy, strength for my battles, freedom from my sins, then why do I continue to struggle?   At the moment of our conversion, we get all of the Spirit. The problem is that the Spirit doesn't get all of us. That's why we still struggle with anxiety, anger, fear, despair, loneliness, and all those other heavy emotions even though we are filled with the Spirit.  When we find we struggle

for we walk by faith, not by sight. - 2 Corinthians 5:7 Walking by faith is not only difficult, it’s impossible in our own power. If we resolve to be more trusting or be more faithful in our own hearts, it will never happen. We’ll try for a little while, but eventually we’ll find ourselves stumbling and failing. It’s simply not something our hearts can do on their own. We react to the things of this world, to the things that are tangible and in front of us, and we will inevitably start walking by sight again.  Walking by faith is only possible when our hearts are filled with the Spirit. It is with His power alone that we can navigate this difficult world, knowing with confidence that God is sovereign over our circumstances and that He is working all things for good. It is only when we are filled with the Spirit that we are able to journey through the heartache, but filled with the peace and joy that come from trusting in our Lord and Savior.  And do not get drunk with wine

for we walk by faith, not by sight. - 2 Corinthians 5:7 Though our hearts wish we could know all the reasons why certain things happen to us, we can find the peace and the rest we’re after when we walk by faith. When we lean in and trust that God is sovereign over all our circumstances, even in the chaos of a heartbreaking trial, He rushes in with an overwhelming sense of peace. He calls us to walk by faith, so intentionally choosing to trust in Him despite what you see in front of you, is an act of obedience. And God abundantly blesses our obedience.  Walking by faith means we are completely trusting in God over our circumstances. That can be so challenging in some trials. But we don’t have to just wonder if God is sovereign over all our trials, we don’t have question if He is for us. We can know He is working all things for our good because scripture tells us He is.  28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called acco