Category: Encouragement

  • Unexpected – Thoughts on worry

    Mother Sandhill with chick
    Mother Sandhill Crane with juvenile

    Some personal reflection this morning. Today’s image has  nothing to do with the content. I simply like this image of a sandhill crane.

    Just over five years ago, I had surgery to remove a cancerous mass from my left kidney. It was discovered quite by accident (read God’s providence) when I rolled my truck, and the hospital ER was checking out the extent of my injuries.

    Each year, near the anniversary of the surgery, I undergo a series of routine blood tests and have a CT scan to confirm all is clear.

    Last year was my five-year check-up.

    I was feeling great as I awaited my by-phone doctor’s appointment. I would be officially five years cancer-free, and the risk of recurrence was considered extremely low after that point.

    The doctor informed me that all the results from the blood tests were normal. My kidney function was so high that there was no evidence of it ever having had an issue.

    I was feeling great, five years cancer-free. Then, you guessed it, there was a “but”. I have a lesion on the left kidney and spots on the right, which will need further testing.

    I was crushed and depressed for the balance of the day. I had known that such a result was possible and that if something showed up, it would be in the very early stages, so easily treated. I also knew that God is entirely in control, no matter what happened, so that I could face whatever news without fear.

    I promptly forgot all that for the next twenty hours and felt sorry for myself. Then I remembered what I knew about God and His plans and moved forward.

    The next step is an MRI, which, depending on the backlog in our medical system, could take many months to get an appointment. From there, only the Lord knows the next step at this point.

    Is it cancer? Maybe. Am I worried? Not really, for the same reasons I forgot.

    My faith in the goodness of God and HIs love for His children is stronger than my fears. More than 350 times in the Bible, we are told to “Fear not”.

    I know he has my back.


    Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:26-34 ESV

    With Jesus, we can face anything, even if the outcome isn’t to our liking.

    Trust Jesus no matter what and praise His name.

    Be blessed

    Hallelu Yah / Praise God 

    Kevin

    Where do you find faith in chaos

    Some thoughts on tribulation and perseverance

    When the end comes, can you claim you didn’t know?

    Monsters in the mist

    Facing into the wind

  • The Last Goodbye

    Blue sky superimposed with the text "The Last Goodbye"

    Over the past few weeks, I’ve written a bit about life in glory and  our journey to get there (The Journey and Better Than Eden). Those posts generated a fair amount of feedback.

    People are looking forward to their eternal time with the Lord. They don’t necessarily want to go immediately, but there is a deep-seated longing to be in glory and to meet Jesus face to face.

    That longing is hard-wired into us. Adam and Eve walked joyfully with God in the Garden. It wasn’t until sin entered the picture that they began to hide from HIm.

    And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Genesis 3:8

    It was humanity’s choice to be apart from the Lord. He had warned them of the consequences, but they chose to listen to the whispers of the evil one instead. That choice has cost untold suffering and destruction for billions of people and even to the fabric of creation itself. Fortunately, God was not surprised by this foolish choice and did not give up on us. He knew before anything was created that He would need to send His Son to redeem us. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight , making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ. Ephesians 1:3-9 ESV

    The world He has designed for our eternal home will be free from the presence, practice, and penalty of sin. There will be no possibility of us ever falling and being separated from Him again. Perfection and security forever more.

    A dear friend reminded me of something besides sin that will be absent from glory. There will be no more goodbyes.

    When someone dies, there is grief. Those goodbyes are painful even if we know the departed one has graduated to glory. It is even more so when we don’t know, or are sure that they rejected Jesus. Our hearts break doubly at that passing.

    That’s what makes this passage such a delight to read.

    And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:3-4 ESV

    There will come a time when we experience the last goodbye and say so long to death and sorrow. I can hardly wait.

    Be blessed

    Kevin

    Called to be a watchman for God

    The truth of the gospel

    Is it right belief or right living?