Walking in the Word with Breast Cancer

3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.  4 Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.  - Isaiah 26:3-4 He promises to keep us in this perfect peace - the peace the completed us and makes us whole, the peace that runs deep in our soul, the peace that surpasses our understanding. He doesn’t just promises to bring us peace, He promises to *keep* us in perfect peace.  Many of us can find peace for the moment, but it is often fleeting. We think we’re in a good place, but then someone difficult throws out some hurtful words, something doesn’t go according to plan, or we get that tragic phone call. When our peace comes from the world, it can be temporary and fleeting. It can feel satisfying in the moment, but when our peace comes from a worldly perspective, it will not last.  The peace that comes from above has staying power - He promises to keep us there. Who are the people He keeps in p...

3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.  4 Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.  - Isaiah 26:3-4 Every time I come back to this verse, I am reminded that God made us the most amazing promise through the prophet Isaiah. He doesn’t just promise us peace, He promises us perfect peace.  To truly understand what God promises us through Isaiah, we need to dig deeper into the meaning behind the words perfect peace. Many of us know that the Hebrew word shalom translates in English as peace, but it means so much more than simply peace. Peace is generally defined as the absence of conflict, true shalom refers to an inward sense of wholeness or completeness, a tranquility that runs deep for your core. Shalom comes from the root word shalam, which means to be safe in body or mind. It makes reference of a wholeness so complete that you want to give back.  Throughout scripture, we can find...

3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.  4 Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.  - Isaiah 26:3-4 Every time I come back to this verse, I am reminded that God made us the most amazing promise through the prophet Isaiah. He doesn’t just promise us peace, He promises us perfect peace.  To truly understand what God promises us through Isaiah, we need to dig deeper into the meaning behind the words perfect peace. Many of us know that the Hebrew word shalom translates in English as peace, but it means so much more than simply peace. Peace is generally defined as the absence of conflict, true shalom refers to an inward sense of wholeness or completeness, a tranquility that runs deep for your core. Shalom comes from the root word shalam, which means to be safe in body or mind. It makes reference of a wholeness so complete that you want to give back.  Throughout scripture, we can find...

3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.  4 Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.  - Isaiah 26:3-4 Focusing on trusting Him today and His perfect plan for my life this morning - even if it's not always the plan I have. As I was reading this morning, I was reminded that He has a incredible plan for my life regardless of whether I trust Him. Either way, His plan is still playing out.  Trusting Him, however, is what determines whether or not I have His perfect peace. He is a rock, as unmovable as the mountains, and His promises are true. We can count on that - He promises to work all things for our good, we can know that in our hearts. And if we know that in our hearts, we can have His perfect peace.  Though the world continually tries to take my peace away, I want to live my life trusting that God has a plan for me and that He will reveal it to me perfectly.  Press on ~...

3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.  4 Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.  - Isaiah 26:3-4 This passage tells us where perfect peace is to be found - not a worldly peace that is temporary and superficial, but perfect peace that is true and everlasting. We can find it when our minds are stayed on Him.  Perfect peace.  I love that phrase. As a definition, perfect is "exactly fitting the need in a certain situation or for a certain purpose", or "entirely without any flaws, defects, or shortcomings."  The supernatural peace that overwhelms us in devastating circumstances or an annoying problem is exactly fitting to our situation, it's tailor made.  Perfect peace is not found in trying to figure out the secret will of God, and it is not found in personal attempts to plan and control for circumstances or people in our life. No, the kind of peace that has staying pow...

3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.  4 Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.  - Isaiah 26:3-4 I just love the reminder in this verse. It is essential to our relationship with the only One who can bring us lasting peace. We are promised perfect peace if we keep our minds on Him.  It helps us to understand that the disruption of our own inner peace centers in the ‘mind’, not the body or in external circumstances - it is what we set our minds on. We lose our peace when we fix our minds on the wrong things, it's that simple. Our peace dissipates when we set our minds on the things of the world, or on what we see in front of us.  If we want His perfect peace - the kind of peace that surpasses all understanding, then we need to choose to fix our minds on Him. That's right, it's a choice we make. When those fearful or anxious thoughts begin to creep in, or those angry or bitter...

1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. - Colossians 3:1-2 Foundational to this passage is a trust in God's goodness. If we do not believe He is for us deep inside, that His plan is for us and that it is ultimately for our good, then we will never find His peace. He honors those who trust Him, and He will bless our obedience to put our trust in Him with the peace we so desperately crave.  More times than I can count, I've been on my knees begging Him to work in a situation the way I want Him to work. I struggle because I want things on this earth to work out according to my plan. My heart will fill with angst as I fret over how things will play out, or when they will resolve. It’s in those moments that I lose my self control and my thoughts become chaotic.  But then I relinquish control of the situation...

1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. - Colossians 3:1-2 We were created to be rational beings, and we carry around with us the desire to know and understand why things are the way they are, but we must know that we will never experience that inner peace we so desperately desire simply because all of our questions have been answered. The bible does not dispel all mysteries in your life - it does not answer all the questions we have, and it does not always reveal to you all the things He will do in your life for your good and His glory.  As believers, we can not trust reason more than we trust God, we cannot reject His truth when it doesn't make sense to us. We must accept there will be mysteries that will never be solved in our lifetime.  This passage tells us where the true peace is to be found, it i...

1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. - Colossians 3:1-2 In order for us to have peace, all we need to do is to focus our minds on God; it’s as simple as that. Or is it? Our minds can be easily distracted by all that we see in front of us. One moment we feel our hearts are full of faith, the next moment they are full of fear. Finding that peace comes when we recognize and capture our thoughts. We choose what we think about - we need to think about our thinking, and grab a hold of those negative thoughts when they come, then turn them back to Him.  Here’s the reality - we know how to set our affections on Him, we just don't take the time to do it. Those of us who have been Christians for any length of time know the spiritual disciplines we need to engage in order to set our thoughts on Him, the problem is we fa...

1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. - Colossians 3:1-2 The enemy can destroy our peace in a moment with a simple “What if?” question. “What if the surgery is not successful?” “What if the treatment doesn’t work?” “What if the cancer returns?” “What if he leaves?” “What if the counseling doesn’t work?” “What if he never comes back?” “What if my kids walk away from God?” Satan knows that questions fill our mind and heart with chaos, and he's at the ready to tempt us every single time.   But in this verse, God reminds us how to battle the enemy - we fix our minds on Him and we trust Him. When we trust in the everlasting rock, He chases the chaos away. When we trust, He replaces confusion and questions with peace.  But how do we do that?  By keeping our minds fixed on Him. We have to capture our th...

1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. - Colossians 3:1-2 I just love this verse. It is essential to our relationship with the only One who can bring us lasting peace. It helps us to understand that the disruption of our own inner peace centers in the ‘mind’, not the body or in external circumstances - it is what we set our minds on.  Our peace dissipates when we set our minds on the things of the world, or on what we see in front of us. If we want His perfect peace - the kind of peace that surpasses all understanding, then we need to choose to fix our minds on Him. When those fearful or anxious thoughts begin to creep in, or those angry or bitter feelings crash our thoughts - we can say no to them. When despair starts to pull us down into the pit, we can redirect our thoughts to Him.  As my family is ...

1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. - Colossians 3:1-2 We choose what we think about. That's a truth that needs to be said out loud over and over again. In our culture, people tend to take a very passive view and act as if they cannot control their thoughts. Far too often, we choose to dwell on a dark thought, then claim we cannot control it.   We are told time and time again in scripture that we are to "set our minds" or to "consider" things above. The human mind has the powerful capacity to draw its attention to whatever it chooses - unlike any other animal on this earth. What a powerful weapon against the evil one!   Yet we don't use it as we should...so often we get caught taking a dark thought, a worry, a temptation and rolling it around in our head until that thought has con...

1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. - Colossians 3:1-2 We all think - all day long. And what we think impacts our perspective, our moods, our decisions, our reactions. The question is what we’re thinking about. What do we choose to set our minds on?  Do you think about your thinking? Here we are reminded to set our minds on things that are above and not on the things of the earth. We are reminded to think about our thinking...what are we focusing our thoughts on, what are we dwelling on every day?  Our thoughts can be so consuming - there are so many challenges that can take our attention during the day. But we are told in scripture to take out thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ.  We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every...

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. - Romans 6:11 Salvation happens in the moment we surrender our lives to Jesus and accept Him as our Savior, but sanctification, or becoming "new", is a slow process that happens over a lifetime of challenges living in this broken world. God can heal the damage that lingers from long ago, God can break those patterns of sin and strongholds we aren't even aware of, and God can make us new.  But it happens over time, and it happens when we're in the valleys. The reality is it's much more difficult for God to get a hold of our heart and reveal something to us when we're singing on the mountaintops - not to say that He can't, or that He won't, but God has done the greatest work in my heart in my life when I'm walking through difficult trials.  In the trials, our hearts are most vulnerable to hear the promptings of the Spirit, we are most likely to turn to Him...

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. - Romans 6:11 If you’ve followed Jesus for very long, you know the old things don't become new just by happenstance, by being good, by going to church or by working hard for Christ. Those things didn't save you, and they're not going to sanctify you.  They are all important parts of discipleship, but I know people that exhaust themselves in good behavior or in good works, and they haven't matured much at all. The problem is we often read scripture or hear a sermon about what type of person we ought to be, and we work hard to try to make that happen. We try to be a more patient or loving person in our own power, and it just doesn't work.  So how does spiritual growth really happen?  With an unwavering commitment and submission to Christ, no matter what we face. The reality is, we don't mature much in the easy times. We mature in the trials when it's hard. We are refine...

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. - Romans 6:11 I don't pause on this truth enough - Christ lives in me. The same power that rose Jesus from the dead, lives inside of me. Let your heart consider that wonder today - by grace, we are the temple of God. We are where He chooses to reside. That’s absolutely amazing when you spend any time thinking on it. By grace, He lives within us to complete the work He has started in us. By grace, He fights on our behalf even when we don't have the sense to do so. By grace, He motivates and convicts us to do what is right. By grace, He reveals the lies that live in our hearts, and He leads us to the truth.  He hasn't just forgiven us, He has taken up residence in us, and in that, there is real hope. No matter what you face today, everything you need to fight it already lives inside of you. You may think you don’t have the strength to face the trial in front of you, you may fill with a...

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. - Romans 6:11 Without an awareness of Christ’s presence, we tend to live anxiously. We avoid hard things and are easily overwhelmed because we try to face life in our own power. We need the reminder this verse frequently. We are dead to sin and alive in Christ - that’s our identity, that’s who we are.  When we have a clear sense of our identity and provision in Christ, we have the hope and courage to face the struggles and temptations that come our way. As we go through our everyday lives, we need to remember – we have a new identity, not only because Christ has rescued us, but because He *lives* within us. Our standing has not only been altered for all of eternity, but we have also been filled with the One who rose Jesus from the dead.  Think about that for a moment - the same God who rose Jesus from the dead lives inside of you.  It is the self centered "I" that has been cruc...

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. - Romans 6:11 I have never in my life picked up the Word of God, without distraction, and given it my focus and my faith in a diligent way when it hasn’t fed me and grown in me a new way for God.  I have never gone to His Word in a time I've needed comfort or strength, and not found His peace. I have never gone to His Word for guidance and not found His direction. As I said yesterday, His Word is the single greatest way He makes us a new creation.  It's important to note that I do think people can go to His Word and twist it to make meaning in a way to fit their needs, or I think people come up empty after searching scripture because they don't find what they're looking for. We can look to scripture through the lens of our own selfish desires and needs, and come up empty.  But if we are truly opening His Word with a humble and repentant heart and a desire to grow in Him and b...

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. - Romans 6:11 When you think about this verse, you should think about your own story.   Your story is how you’ve been made alive, and it’s critical you return to that story when the trials hit.  What is the greatest tragedy in your life - the worst thing you could ever face?  Your answer should be eternal separation from God. I think we forget that truth when we’re facing significant challenges in our lives.  We begin to take for granted that He rescued us from the gates of hell. But we can’t. We must return to this truth over and over to remind ourselves that He already rescued us from the greatest trial we could ever face. And if God already rescued us from the greatest trial we will face, don’t we trust that He will rescue us from the one we currently face? You began the Christian life with a message about the Cross; it came out of God’s book and into your heart....

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. - Romans 6:11 Much of this chapter in Romans has been about how we are to “know this,” but now we are to consider - “consider yourselves dead”. Consider means to press your mind down upon, to think about at length. What do you press down your mind on?  What is constantly in your thoughts?  Is it God honoring?  Is it this though - that we are dead to sin and alive in Christ? Dead is not partial, it’s complete and it’s final. You have the power to walk by sin and it’s dead to you. It’s gone. Take note that it says consider *yourself* dead, not consider sin dead. Sin is not dead, you’re dead to it. Those sinful thoughts - those fearful, anxious or angry thoughts, that temptation to eat something or give yourself away to fill a void, the desire to watch tv over picking up His Word - that sin is not dead, but you have the power to walk right on by it because you are alive in Christ....

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved- - Ephesians 2:4-5 We know from scripture that we are often so dead in our sin that we are truly blind to it. We simply cannot see what He sees in our hearts, or what others see in us. Our own pride and focus on self blocks our ability to see the truth. People try to point it out to us, but we grow defensive, justifying our reason for feeling the way we do or acting in a certain way. One of the hardest lessons I’ve had to learn is how to listen to the truths people were trying to share with me about me. It’s so hard to take those truths because we don’t want to recognize that they are who we truly are. We don’t want to hear the truth about ourselves because it hurts. But think about the flip side - it’s pretty easy to see another person’s faults that they struggle to see. If we are to gro...

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved- - Ephesians 2:4-5 We are so dead in our trespasses that we are only vaguely aware of our guilt before God—guilt that requires His mercy. We try to avoid our guilt by looking at others as worse sinners than we are. But, comparing ourselves to anything or anyone other than God and His standards produces a false result. When it comes to measuring up to God’s expectations, the Bible is very clear: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We’re all dead because we’ve all sinned.  But God is rich in mercy—and His mercy flows out of the great love with which he loved us. This divine mercy is personal, intimate, and completely unexpected. God is merciful out of His abundant stores, and lovingly pours mercy over our lives. Every heartbeat, every breath, every hour y...

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved- - Ephesians 2:4-5 Dealing with the heart wrenching trial of loving prodigals, these verses minister to me. For those of you who have a loved one who seems far from Christ, I pray you can see the same Hope in these verses that I find.  The enemy can lie to us when we love a prodigal - especially to a mother's heart. When we have a prodigal child, we can begin to think they are too far away, or that God won't answer prayers for them because they stand in opposition to God, or that He is leaving them in their sin and going to let His full wrath unleash on them. What if He doesn't reach out to my sons?  What if He lets them go because they aren't responding?   The lies of the enemy fill our hearts with fear and send us spiraling into despair as they keep us from believing...

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved- - Ephesians 2:4-5 In the moments of heartache we face, our trials can seem like the greatest crisis we have ever known. But the reality is that while life may throw all kinds of challenging circumstances and heartbreaking situations at us, none of them can compare to the greatest crisis we will ever face - eternal separation from Christ.  Anything we are walking through today is but a blip in the grand scheme of eternity. Until Christ was sent to rescue us, we were condemned to an eternity separated from Him. This is our greatest crisis. But God - who loves us with an unending love, poured out grace and mercy on our broken lives, and chose to save us.  He chose to save us from an eternity in hell, and made us alive together with Christ simply because He loves us.  Pause...

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.  —Ephesians 2:4-5 We are to be humbled by the free gift of His mercy every day. But the reality is that we are often so dead in our trespasses and sins, we are only vaguely aware of our guilt before God—guilt that requires His mercy.  We often try to avoid our guilt by looking at others as greater sinners than we are. We justify our actions by comparing ourselves to the sin of others, leaving us deep in the sin of judging others. Comparing ourselves to anything other than God brings us up short. The world will tell us that we're "not that bad," and so we avoid the guilt. When we are deep in a conflict with a difficult person, we can only see the sin of the other person. We justify our attitude and our actions because of what they did. Or we look at another’s struggle with sin a...

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved- - Ephesians 2:4-5 The most important truth in all of Christianity is stated right here: We are made alive together with Christ. So never think of yourself in any other way - you are together with Christ.  The whole work of the enemy is to get you to disbelieve that truth and convince you that you are just an ordinary individual, struggling through life on your own.  When he gets you to believe his lies, it’s easy to fall into the trap that we somehow have rights to certain things in this world. You try to make it the best way you can, mobilizing all your human resources to try to get ahead of the other people, or looking for your fulfillment in this world. Your focus becomes about your own comfort, your own security, your own needs.  And suddenly you find yourself in a pit,...