A dear friend asked me what the Lord has been teaching me through this journey. I could write on it and still wouldn’t be able adequately encompass all He’s taught & is graciously continuing to teach & reiterate to me but here’s a start...
Lessons from the Lord
Trials have a way of getting our attention and rightly turning it to what truly matters and focus on the One Who is with us & will sustain us through it all!...where it should be always! Therefore I can praise my Lord & Savior for what He will do with the trials He allows in my life.
- NOTHING can separate me from Him or His love for me! (See vs below)
- Cancer can’t conquer me regardless of the outcome, Christ already has!
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?...Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:31-32, 35, 37-39
- My finite feelings don’t change the firm facts of His unchanging character & promises “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”Hebrews 13:8 “Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to His people failed; every one was fulfilled.” Joshua 21:45
- The temporary issues in my life don’t change my timeless treasured identity in Christ. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20
- God is good, good Father & I am
His cherished child “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” 1 John 3:1 “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;”
Psalms 103:13
- The joy of the Lord is my strength. Nehemiah 6:8. Even when I am weak, He is my strength & His grace is sufficient for me 2 Corinthians 12:9
- I can count every trial as a joy & a privilege bc of the work I know He’s going to do in & through it in & through me. I may not be about to do anything about this but God can do something with it for His glory, my growth & others’ good “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4 “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16
- God provides for my every need (not every want) just when I need it. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “ Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Romans 8:14-18
- He’s playing the long (eternal)game, so I am too. He’s teaching me to wait well both for the completion of this treatment plan and for His return-Maranatha!! “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2
- If God is using this to draw me & others into a deeper knowledge of & relationship with Him, it’s all beyond worth it! “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” Romans 5:1-5
- I’m beyond humbled by & grateful for the abundant aid & blessings He’s provided through His people! “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy”Philippians 1:3-4 ”We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people—”Colossians 1:3-4
- If it’s a good or bad day depends on where I put my eyes- focused on Him or myself, my wonderful Counselor or the world, my great God or the garage around me. I choose JOY! Jesus Others Your(my)self “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad.”Psalms 118:24 “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” Colossians 3:1-4
- The Great Physician has ALREADY healed & redeemed my soul for eternity & has a perfect new body waiting for me to enjoy forever! The sure hope of that makes living in this temporal broken body doable “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” 1 Peter 5:10
- Don’t rob others of the joyous gift of being used by God to bless but rather give them the gift of generous gratitude in return!! “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ””Acts 20:35
- I won’t live one second longer or shorter than He’s ordained for me to live. The first & last day of my life have been perfectly planned from eternity past! I want to live every day He gives me to the full, faithfully fulfilling the good works He’s given me to do that day! “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;...all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!” Psalms 139:13-14, 16-17 “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Psalms 90:12
Some favorite, encouraging, life-directing passages...
“Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing...Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”
Psalms 16:1-2, 5-11
“Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”
Lamentations 3:21-26
“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.”
Colossians 1:9-12
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