I Once Was Blind, But Now I See

Over the last three weeks, God has opened my eyes to many areas in my life that I needed to clean up. It’s a shame that it sometimes takes a traumatic event to open our eyes to our sin, but I heard so many similar stores through the years. The other day, God convicted me of something that may seem quite minuscule to some. All of my life, I have been told to have a hobby to help get away from the “normal” life. It helps with stress, anxiety, etc. The problem is that many hobbies cost a lot of money, and inevitably cause stress. It sounds very similar to Newton's Third Law of Motion, often called the law of action and reaction, states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. I am not here to tell you that hobbies are sinful. By no means. What I am saying is that if I am using the hobby to relieve my stress, then that is wrong. At this point, I have used hobbies in exchange of a closer walk with God. God tells us to cast our cares on him.   I can’t breath withou...

This week, I heard a patient woman at Hope4Cancer tell some people that the Greek word "Sozo" means healing, made whole, etc. This is all correct. Just because someone uses Greek words does not mean that they know what they are talking about. She added in another term to describe the mean of Sozo: "prosperity." She also went on the advertise that she ran a healing ministry in Texas if anyone wants her to pray for them. I know she means well, but the irony of a "healer" at a cancer center. As believers, we desperately have to understand the whole in order to correctly interpret the parts. In a world overflowing with bad vocabulary, it is one of my pet peeves when I hear theological terms used poorly or even completely wrong. Usually bad theological terms are used in conjunction with other bad theology. Although, to be fair, sometimes people have inadvertently been taught wrong, so the blame should fall on the teacher. In light of the opening two paragraphs,...

These past few days have been extraordinary in so many ways. So many opportunities to share the love of Christ. I have noticed that they gradually increase the intensity of the treatments or add more treatments as I progress through the program. It was recommended by my doctor and the founder of Hope4Cancer that I try this intense heat therapy tomorrow. Yesterday, more and more people began to hear about me trying to do this. From nurses, physical therapists, and other patients, this treatment seems to carry some kind of legendary folk lore with it. Last night, I was praying and meditating on God's Word. I was talking to God about how he brought me here to be healed. In order to be healed, we often have to go through an element of being uncomfortable. This is true in the physical life and spiritual life. God takes us through trials to force us to trust in him. At the end of my conversation with God, he brought Job 12:10 back to my attention. He holds my breath in His hands. I was t...

We have been told that we are grieved by various trials in order that our faith might be purified and proven (1 Peter 1:6–7). We are even told that such suffering is necessary for our spiritual growth. In the midst of our difficulties, we can be confident that God is continually working in us to refine our trust in Him. Peter’s repeated emphasis on Christian (1 Peter 3:14–17) makes it clear that the persecution we experience, simply for confessing Christ, is the kind of suffering God uses to strengthen our trust in Him. Before we go too much further, we must define our terminology.  Sickness, death, natural disasters, etc. What is a working definition of a trial? A trial is anything that takes us out of our comfort zone, changes our plans, and forces us to look to Jesus. These are trials, but we must be clear that these should not be considered persecution. No one forced me to take a pill that gave me cancer. Having cancer is a trial. James 1:2-3 " Count it all joy, my brothers,[...

“Behold, God is my salvation;   I will trust, and will not be afraid;  for the  Lord   God  is my strength and my song,  and he has become my salvation.” Isaiah 12:2 So often growing up, I would hear this amazing testimony, and I would be a little jealous. I know. I know. It sounds a little weird. As many of you know, I am the epitome of weird. However, one day it hit me "Am I looking at the testimony, or the one and only God who made that testimony possible?" The problem with this line of thinking is that our testimony is based on us. Sure, we make choices in our life, and some of them are stupid. There is an old saying "If you are going to be stupid, you have to be tough." It is true that our decisions help guide our testimony, it is not true that our testimony's foundation is built on our past. The etymology of guide is to lead. In the sense of our testimony, our choices do lead us in a path. However, this path is much bigger than our choices. Roman...

How can someone withstand trials? Through the cancer in my eye, and now in my liver, this has been something that I have had to wrestle with in real time. From what I see in the Bible, it all comes down to our position in Christ. “There is a danger in preaching a kind of grace that is only a reaction against legalism and gives no thought to licentiousness. Grace protects from both errors by keeping us from the despair of believing that we must merit God’s love, and from the danger of thinking that God has given us no guidance for how to love him and one another.” (Bryan Chapell)  Grace...it is so misunderstood and misapplied. I have heard people ask for grace. I have heard people try to convince people that they deserve grace. I have also heard people try to teach that everyone gets the same amount and same type of grace. 2 Timothy 1:9 [Jesus] who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ ...

Incurable - Beyond the skill or power of medicine. I will never forget the words the doctor said to us "This is your only option, and this cancer is incurable." Thinking through the Bible, God is the miraculous God. He parted the Red Sea. He walked on water. He caused the sun to stand still. He tore down the walls of Jericho. He caused fire from Heaven to consume the water and the alter. He raised Lazarus from the dead. He made a lame man walk again. He healed the blind. He raised a girl from the dead. He fed 5,000 people with a boys lunch.  You say "incurable?" I say, "Let me introduce you to the Creator of the universe." He saved me from my incurable disease called sin. He adopted me as His child. I have the best inheritance awaiting me. " And  the peace of God,  which surpasses all understanding..." (Philippians 4:7) Mercy Me came out with the song "Even If." It is so good. I love the chorus. I know You're able and I know You can...