Daily Devotional - 9/17/15 (11/17/09)

Prayer Focus - Needs


Day 6
Pray for:
One thing that is needed in the world
One thing that is needed in your country
One thing that is needed in your state/region
One thing that is needed in your city
One thing that is needed in your family
One thing that is needed at your work or in your social circle


Focus on how the fulfilled need will help impact people's:
spiritual lives
physical lives
emotional lives
mental lives



Dear Lord - Please open my ears to hear and grant me the strength to obey.




Psalms 77



"I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me. When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted." ( vs. 1-2 )


"I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember Your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all Your works and consider all Your mighty deeds. You are the God who performs miracles; You display Your power among the peoples." (vs. 11-12, 14)


"You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron." (vs. 20)



The keys to spiritual success are to cry out to God unceasingly, remember His incredible power and the ways He has rescued us in the past, remember He works miracles, and follow the people He has put in our lives to guide us spiritually. If we obey God and His directions, He will be able to bless us. I am convinced that to the degree that I obey His word, I will be blessed. The more I obey, the more I open the door for Him to be able and willing to bless me. I do not reward my children when they are disobeying me and having bad attitudes. Neither does God. I wait until they are doing well with what is required of them and walking in communion with me. Is God not like this? Why do we expect good from Him when we are unwilling to give Him what He requires and expects from us. He has laid down precepts that He expects to be fully obeyed (Psalms 119:4). This applies to my marriage, my parenting, my everyday life, my eating habits, and all the rest of my life. There is so much in the Bible for us to learn. Let us go after it as a loving child would go after pleasing their parents. It is worth it.




Prayer for the Day




Dear Lord,


You are the God of miracles. Help us to remember that. Help us to obey more and more each day. We know and believe that You exist and that You reward those who earnestly seek You. We are seeking You. Help us to find You and grant us the strength to obey, now and forever


In Jesus' Name,
Amen



QFT



1. Do I cry out to God unceasingly? Am I determined in prayer or do I pray when it is convenient?

2. How can I improve my prayer life? How can I be more consistent?

3. What miracles have I seen in my life? Do I meditate on God's power and miracles? Or do I focus more on my wants and needs? How can I change my perspective?

4. Who has God placed in my life to guide me right now? Am I following their guidance? Why or why not? Am I following anyone right now in any area of my life? Do I believe mentoring in any form is useful? Why or why not? Is my view in line with God's?

5. Am I obeying God's precepts? Which areas in my life are the most difficult for me to obey in? Why? Which are the easiest? Why? How can I become more obedient in my weak areas?

Daily Devotional - 9/7/15 (11/7/09)

Prayer Focus - Gratitude


Day 2
Pray for:
One thing you are grateful for about the country that you live in
One thing you are grateful for about the state/region that you live in
One thing you are grateful for about the city that you live in



Thank God for the effect that what you are grateful for has on:
your spiritual life
your physical life
your emotional life
your mental life



Dear Lord - Please open my ears to hear and grant me the strength to obey.



Psalms 67



"May the peoples praise You, O God; may all the peoples praise You. Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us. God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear Him." ( vs. 5-7)



These three verses hold a key to the enrichment of our lives. I was so excited the first time I realized what they were saying. We all would like to see blessings in our lives and would like to see our activities and undertakings be successful. Often we go about trying to get the blessing by praying and begging God for it. We ask for help and we ask for guidance, and sometimes we whine and complain about it not happening soon enough and the like. We work harder and we pour ourselves into whatever it is that has captured our attention at the moment. Often we become very self focused and unhappy. We do not receive the blessing, however, or reap the harvest because we are going about it all wrong. These verses begin by saying that we are to praise God and then the land will yield the harvest. We are to praise God first, before anything has happened. What a revolutionary thought.  We do just the opposite.  We try to harvest and then praise God.  God says praise me first and then I will give the harvest and blessings. Once again, God's ways are completely opposite to ours.

This is because God wants us to have faith. To praise God first is truly faith. Hebrews states that faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1). When we praise before we see something occurring, we are expressing our faith in God; communicating that He is able and willing to take care of us and meet our needs. This is what He loves to see; people who are willing to place it all in His care. People willing to be bold in their belief that God exists and rewards those who earnestly seek Him. I have begun praying this way.  Instead of asking for God's help with something or asking God's help for someone, I praise God for what I have already seen happen in my life and the lives of others, and I praise God for what I desire to see happen as well.  For example, I will pray - "I praise You, God, for what I will accomplish today or I praise You for taking care of my children."  It is so different to pray in this way and sometimes I have to admit I feel silly doing this but then I remember the passage above.  Since I have started praying in this manner, I have seen encouraging results as well, and I feel better praising God instead of just asking Him for things.  I feel more confident and faithful too.   The bottom line is this, God wants us to believe in Him.  He wants to bless us.  Praising Him paves the road somehow for Him to be able to do this.  So, let us praise God today and wait and see what happens tomorrow!



Prayer for the Day



Dear Lord,


We are praising You first. We are grateful for the ways that You will meet our needs and for the ways that You will guide us. You know what we need and You know what is best for us. We are so grateful for Your care and praise You for allowing us the opportunity to exist. We praise You for all the exciting things that will happen tomorrow and we praise You for the ways that You will bring us victories over our enemies. We look forward to Your blessings and to the harvest that we will receive from You when we are faithful. We know that it is impossible to please You without faith. We want to have faith. Increase our faith today.


In Jesus' Name,
Amen




QFT



1. How important do I feel praising God is? Do I realize that my praise of God can ultimately lead to others learning to fear God?

2. Do I praise God before I receive something or only after? Why?  How can I practice praising God before anything I desire happens?  Why is God worthy of praise regardless of what I have or receive in my life?  Do I deeply understand this?

3. What areas of my life do I have strong faith in God to take care of? What areas do I have a weak faith about? Why?  How can I grow in faith for these weak areas?

4. What harvests am I waiting for? What blessings do I want to receive? In what ways has God already blessed me and brought me a harvest?  How can I become more grateful for what I already have?

5. Do I have faith in God's ability and desire to take care of me? What makes it difficult to believe that God will bless me if I praise Him first? How can I have more faith so that I can do this?

Daily Devotional - 9/3/15 (11/3/09)

Prayer Focus - Strangers



Day 6
Pray for:
One person you admire or look up to
One person you met/meet today
One person that is in the entertainment industry
One person in politics
One person you always see but have never spoken to
One person that you have read about that is still alive



Pray about:
Their physical needs
Their mental needs
Their emotional needs
Their spiritual needs


Dear Lord - Please open my ears to hear and grant me the strength to obey.



Psalms 63



"O God, You are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is not water. 

I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and Your glory. Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You. I will praise You as long as I live, and in Your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise You.

On my bed I remember You; I think of You through the watches of the night.  Because You are my help, I sing in the shadow of Your wings.  My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me."     ( vs. 1 - 6 )


I have seen the power of God. I have seen Him change me. I have seen Him change others. I have also seen great victories. I know I would be nothing without Him and that He is all that I have that is good. I don't know how I knew this at 17 but I did.  I had been wandering and I was thirsty and weary.  I had great achievements - valedictorian, athlete, popular.  I had been able to travel to Europe and Japan, among other places.  Basically, I had done everything that I wanted had wanted to.  I had accomplished all my goals up to that point, and yet I was dying.  I was so empty.  Life was meaningless to me.  I went from one party to the next trying to fill the ache inside; using and being used.  I made an ultimatum with God.  Show me this is real!  And He did.  When I finally saw the Bible being lived out, then I knew.  I had to respond.  I clung to God because I knew that He was my only hope for a better life and that if I walked away from Him, I would be walking away from the best thing that I ever would have.  I was right.  I have had many wonderful things in my life and even now, life is good; but I still  have never found anything like God.

I must always remember this.   God's love is better than life.  Life is a struggle, God's love is not.  I will be satisfied. I will choose to be satisfied.  Day in and day out.  It is a choice and I will make it.



Prayer for the Day



Dear Lord,



We will be satisfied. We will turn our eyes to You and our hearts to remembering. We have beheld Your power and Your glory. We will remember. Help us when we are faltering and forgetting. Help us when we wander. We choose today to be satisfied. Your love is better than anything that we have.  All our blessings have come from You. You are the great Giver. You are the perfect Father and Husband. We run to You and hide in the shelter of Your wings. Help us. We are damaged people longing to be healed. Help us to learn to sing again and to be mentally, emotionally, physically, and most important of all, spiritually healed so that we might be able to serve You.  We desire to worship You completely and acceptably. We come before You in humble adoration. Please accept us today and always.

In Jesus' Name,
Amen




QFT



1. How am I feeling about life?  Do I feel weary, thirsty, and parched or do I feel refreshed and rejuvenated?  How is my relationship with God?

2. How has God's power been expressed in my life? Do I recognize God's glory? Am I praising Him daily?

3. Do I truly believe that God's love is better than life? How do I know this? How do I show it?

4. Am I satisfied with God alone? What tends to get me feeling dissatisfied? How can I stop allowing these things to distract me from God?

5. Am I clinging to God?  Am I letting God heal me? What do I need to be healed from? How can running to the shelter of God's wings heal me?

Daily Devotional - 9/1/15 (11/1/09)

Prayer Focus - Strangers


Day 4
Pray for:
One person you admire or look up to
One person you met/meet today
One person that is in the entertainment industry
One person in politics


Pray about:
Their physical needs
Their mental needs
Their emotional needs
Their spiritual needs


Dear Lord - Please open my ears to hear and grant me the strength to obey.



Psalms 61

This devotional was originally written in November of 2009.  I have left it as I wrote it then.  The whole year of 2009 was extremely difficult for my family and I.  In January of 2009, my husband was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer which we eventually learned, had spread to his liver.  I struggled to hold our family together through the two surgeries and two rounds of chemotherapy that would consume the entire year.  Writing these devotionals became a therapeutic outlet for me as I re-evaluated my relationship with God and clung to Him moment by moment.  We made it through that year and many more after it.  We have dealt with a reoccurrence of cancer last year and keep struggling on.  God has always come through.  Sometimes I do not see how the victory will come but it does come anyway.  God has always been faithful and no matter what happens, I believe that He has used everything I have gone through to strengthen my faith, my family, and myself.  He truly is the rock that is higher than I.


"Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to You, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For You have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe. I long to dwell in Your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of Your wings. For You have heard my vows, O God; You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name. Increase the days of the king's life, his years for many generations. May he be enthroned in God's presence forever; appoint Your love and faithfulness to protect him. Then will I ever sing praise to Your name and fulfill my vows day after day." ( Psalms 61)


"Listen to my prayer Lord, because I am growing weaker."   Haven't we all been there?   We fight and fight and keep going and keep going and then it just feels like there is nothing left. There is a limit to us and what we can do. Praise God, however, there is no limit to Him. When life is overwhelming, we need to let Him lead us to that rock that we can climb up on and be safe from the waves that are battering us. He is our refuge.

I have to confess, I have been battered lately. I have been struggling with life. My Joelle has been sick since off and on since October 2 with her asthma and a cold/flu. Just when I think she is getting better, she gets worse again. I have been sick as well for about two weeks and then last night, my middle daughter develops a 102 fever. This would usually be not that big of a deal, but since she was exposed to H1N1 by at least two classmates, I was a bit stressed. I took both girls to the urgent care today and was told not to worry too much about Lorelei, and Joelle got a breathing treatment and some stronger medicine to try and get her asthma under control. Now tomorrow, my husband is supposed to start his second round of chemo and I am trying desperately to get my grades done in the midst of all this. I have missed so much work already and am debating if taking tomorrow off would be a good thing or not. My house is an utter disaster area and I am so tired. So these are my waves. This is what is battering me. Now I need to face them and then I need to get up and climb up on the rock that is higher than I.

I do long to dwell in God's tent. I want some shelter. I am tired of doing it all and being responsible for everything. God knows my vows. He has given me the heritage of those who fear His name. I am in good company. This is all just temporary and God has it all under control. I just need to climb out of the water I am sinking in and rest in Christ. Our health will get better and we will move on. I will get my grades done. I always do somehow or other. And God's love and faithfulness surround me and protects me. I will praise God. I will be positive in spite all of this. I will. I will fulfill my vows.



Prayer for the Day



Dear Lord,


Lift us to the rock that is higher than we are. We need You as our refuge. This world is too hard for us alone. We are fading away. Help us to run to You. Help us to get out of the rough water that surrounds us and lift up our arms to You, our Father and our Protector. We have made vows to You and we need You to help us fulfill them. You are able. We search for Your love and faithfulness. We know they are there. We look for You. We long for You. Hear our cry O Lord for without You, we are lost.

In Jesus' Name,
Amen



QFT


1. How is my prayer life?  Am I crying out to God?  Do I really pour out my heart to Him or do I just recite the same things over and over?  How can I revitalize my prayer life?

2. Am I growing faint of working on something or dealing with some issue in my life? What are the waves that are battering me? Am I bringing them to God daily in prayer?

3. Is God my refuge?  If He isn't, what do I take refuge in when I am struggling?  How can I run to God and take refuge in Him? How can I do this more?

4. Do I recognize God's love and faithfulness? How can these qualities of God protect me? How can I be more aware of them in my life?

5. Am I praising God? Am I fulfilling my vows? Which am I better at doing, praising God, or fulfilling my vows?  Why?  How can I grow in these two areas?

Daily Devotional - 8/24/15 (10/24/09)

Prayer Focus - Enemies


Day 3
Pray for:
One person who was mean to you when you were a child
One person who has given you a lot of trouble recently
One person from your family (immediate or extended) that has given you trouble at some point in time

Pray about:
Their physical needs
Their mental needs
Their emotional needs
Their spiritual needs
Your ability to offer complete forgiveness from your heart
Your ability to let go of the hurts and move on whether they will ever apologize or not


Dear Lord - Please open my ears to hear and grant me the strength to obey.



Psalms 54

This post was originally written in 2009.  I have left it much as it was.  My daughter is now a healthy 11 year old and her asthma rarely bothers her.  In 2009, my husband was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer which had spread to his liver.  He had two surgeries and two rounds of chemotherapy.  He was cancer free for four years and then had a reoccurrence in 2014.  This was followed by another surgery and more chemotherapy [see Daily Devotional - 8/22/10 (9/22/09) if you are interested in learning more about his cancer].  Thankfully, he has been cancer free for a year now.  My schedule is still very hectic and long, yet God always provides what I need to take care of all of my responsibilities.  If you are interested in reading the background information which prompted me to start these devotionals in 2009, please see ("Background Information" - published 8/31/09.)



"Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me....I will sacrifice a freewill offering to You; I will praise Your name, O Lord, for it is good. For He has delivered me from all my troubles, and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes." ( vs. 4, 6-7)


God is my help. I have to repeat this to myself daily, hourly, and moment by moment. God is my help. He is the one who sustains me. I can not do this on my own.  There is so much to be done daily.  If I look at my life, I am overwhelmed; if I look at God, I can make it through.  God does supply my daily needs.  However, I must learn to separate the urgent from the important. I must learn to prioritize. I can not do everything and so I must do the most important.  Sometimes I do not even know what that is.  Therefore, I must learn to rely more and more on the Lord who sustains me.

I am learning to look at the worst that could happen and then look at it through God's eyes.  Heaven knows, I am getting quite a bit of practice.  For example, if my daughter should get sick with H1N1, which happens to be something on my mind right now, what would be the worst that could happen? Having asthma, she could get very sick. She could even die. I have had to think of this before. I have thought of this every time I have had to take her to the hospital because she can't breathe.  So if the worst would happen to my child, I have to realize, she would be in heaven. She would be happy and at peace forever. Since she is only five, she would be with God and would be spared all the heart ache that we face living on earth. I would be heartbroken but at least I would know that she was safe and no longer had to suffer. I would not have to worry about whether or not she would grow up to know God. She would be there waiting for me.  Sometimes remembering this helps me to face the uncertainty of each day.  I can make it through the worst, day by day, holding on to God's hand and striving to look at life through an eternal perspective.  And so it is with each problem I face.  I try to keep this focus.  I look at the worst that could happen and then I take that to God, for I do know that He is good.  He has kept me safe this far.

So I will sacrifice a freewill offering to God in gratitude for sustaining me. I will freely come and bring Him whatever I have to offer. Sometimes it is not much but I will bring it.  Like the poor widow that only dropped a few coins in the offering, I will give what I can, what I have ( Luke 21:1-4 ).  God will not have to force me to follow, or to come, or to sacrifice. I am so grateful that I am even allowed to participate in this life.   I would have nothing without God and I look forward to seeing how He will deliver me from all of my present troubles.  He has amazed me up until now with how He has gotten me out of my past troubles. I am certain that I will look in triumph on my foes someday. And what a great day that will be!



Prayer for the Day



Dear Lord,


We look forward to the day that we will be able to look with triumph on our foes. You have delivered us so far and You will continue to deliver us. You are good, always good and we praise You. You are our help. You do sustain us. You get us up and put us to bed. You keep our hearts beating and our lungs pulling in oxygen. You are great and You deserve all the freewill offerings I can bring. Help us to not be like horses or mules that have to be pulled along. Help us to come willingly and eagerly to serve You. Forgive us in our failures to please You. We need You and praise You for Your mercy. Continue to walk with us and carry us when we are weak. We worship You.

In Jesus' Name,
Amen



QFT


1. How often do I think about God actually being with me in each present moment? Do I turn to Him for help in the moment or do I forget He is there?

2. Am I allowing God to prioritize my day and my time? Do I let Him get involved with the mundane areas of my life like house work or do I feel that God is only interested in the "big issues"?

3. What am I worrying about?  What is the worst thing that could happen in that situation?  How can I see this from an eternal perspective?  Does this help me?  Why or why not?

4. How can I bring a freewill offering to God? Is my service and worship a joy or burden to me? What can I change to improve my attitude of joy when I am serving or worshiping God?

5. What are the foes in my life? What am I doing to conquer them? How will I feel when I am delivered and can look at them in triumph?

Daily Devotional - 9/1/10 (10/1/09)

Prayer Focus - Leaders



Pray for:
One leader who inspires you

Specifically:
their physical strength and needs
their emotional strength and needs
their mental strength and needs
their spiritual strength and needs


Dear Lord - I pray that you would open my ears to the messages You want to share with me today. I also ask for the strength to obey.




Psalms 31



"I will be glad and rejoice in Your love, for You saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul. You have not handed me over to the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place." (vs . 7-8)


"My times are in Your hands;" (vs. 15a)



Everything is in God's hands. He has determined the times and places for me so that I would turn and seek Him (Acts 17: 26-27). Nothing is done away from the eyes of God. He has seen everything about my life and has been calling me all along. My times are truly in His hands. When I was 17, I made an ultimatum with God. I had grown up going to church and had gone to a Christian school from 1st through 8th grade. I knew the Bible. I knew what a Christian should be. I had tried at times. I had given my testimony before a large crowd at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes my junior year of high school. I had taught people to pray the prayer. I had tried, but the next year found me at every party I could find, drinking anything I could find. I was a hypocrite and almost everyone else I knew that professed to be a Christian was pretty hypocritical as well. I was done with it.


I went to Europe as a graduation present that year and proceeded to party across the continent. While in utter desperation with my life one night in Paris, I told God that I would give it one more try. I was going to go away to college where no one knew me. I would start over. If I could find people truly being Christians as the Bible said, and if I could actually do it myself and find freedom from the many sins that plagued me, then I would be a Christian and give it my whole heart. If I could not find it, then I would become an atheist. I reasoned that if God was real, He would answer this prayer, although I didn't really believe I would find anything different in San Diego. I would then become an atheist because there was no God and the Bible was false since it offered something that didn't exist. There was no grey area for me. Either God and His word were real and true and really did offer freedom as it said, or it was all a lie and I was going to live my life however I wanted and not worry about it anymore. It would be "eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow I die." I prayed that prayer and I finished my trip out unchanged.


I went away to college at UCSD that September and the first night I was there met someone from the church I now attend. What a surprise! My times were in God's hand! I went to church and was amazed, although I did not like it the first time. These people were truly different I was soon to discover. Initially, I had hope that perhaps I could be different, but I was not convinced. I studied the Bible, and although no one particularly thought I would become a Christian, one person from the church stuck it out with me. I remember one particular study, she challenged me about some issues in my life and I became angry with her. I did not even see her out of my apartment. But when she left, I went and took some inappropriate pictures down off my wall. I sat on my bed and looked at the empty wall for quite awhile. I felt a strange emotion. I felt relief and I was surprised. For the first time in a long time, someone had called me on something that was wrong and I was so happy. Not even my parents were willing to ask me why I had these types of photos up, but here was a stranger that cared enough to lay our friendship on the line. It was the beginning of a great change for me.

I was so grateful to become a true Christian not much later. I had called out to God in desperation and He had truly answered me. I knew that finally. God did exist. The Bible was real. God would not let me be put to shame and God has not let me be put to shame all these years. At the precise time that I was most open, God was there. He put me where I needed to be back then so that today, I would be here where I am now. I praise God for never letting go of me. Despite all the years of ups and downs, there is nothing I would trade my life for. There is nothing I would trade my relationship with God for. I have spent all of my adult life trying to do this. Trying to be a disciple of Christ, and I can truly say with the psalmist:


"How great is Your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you,...Praise be to the Lord, for He showed His wonderful love to me when I was in a besieged city...The Lord preserves the faithful, ...Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord." (vs. 19, 21, & 23-24)


I hope and pray that everyone reading my posts may someday feel the same, if you do not already. Amen.




Prayer for the Day

Dear Lord,

Thank You for continually reaching out to us.  You have placed us exactly where You want us to be so that hopefully we will find You and come to know You.  We are so grateful for Your unseen hand.  A life with You is truly the best life we could find.  We praise You for Your faithfulness.  You are good.

In Jesus' Name,
Amen



QFT



1. How did I become a Christian? Has there been a change in my life? What has it been?

2. Have I experienced God placing me in a particular place so that I might turn to Him and find Him? What happened and how did I become closer to God from this event?

3. How do I feel about God's faithfulness and about the truth of the Bible? What holds me back from trusting completely? What can I do to develop greater trust in both?

4. How do I feel about my relationship with God? What is great about it and what could be improved?

5. Have I ever shared with anyone how I became a Christian?  If not, why?  What would I gain by letting others know about my experiences?

Daily Devotional - 8/22/10 (9/22/09)

This is the post from the day after my husband's surgery last year.  I have left it as it was.  He is now doing better and appears to be cancer free.


Focus Letter - V



Pray for:
Five things that you are grateful for beginning with the focus letter
Five people whose first or last name begins with the focus letter
A place that begins with the focus letter
A characteristic to grow in that begins with the focus letter


Dear Lord - Help me to hear your voice today, all day, and grant me the strength to obey.



My husband made it through surgery and is recovering. They removed the lower right lobe of his liver which had confirmed cancer and, unfortunately, also found another tumor on the left side. This was destroyed by laser. There are still two small unknown masses in the upper right lobe as well. As a result of this, more chemotherapy is recommended. We were sad about the news but are faithful yet. Thank you for all your prayers and support.



Psalms 22



As I sat at my computer, after a long day at the hospital and after receiving the bad news about the spread of the cancer, I felt a bit numb. On opening the Bible to review the psalm for this post, I had to smile. How fitting for this to be the psalm today. The opening words spoke to me.



"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent." (vs. 1-2)


How I have felt this the past year. At every turn, we have received bad news. My husband was diagnosed with cancer in February but we were confident that it would be contained in the colon. After all, he was only 49. My mother had had colon cancer at 61 and hers had been contained; it had not spread although it was about the same size of a tumor. We went into surgery confident. The surgeon told us after the surgery that it did appear to be contained within the colon, but of course, he could not know for sure until the lab work. How shocked we were to receive the call about a week later to find out that it was not contained and that it was in the lymph nodes.


"My God, my God..." I thought.


"Well, at least it was only in two of the 30 lymph nodes they looked at," I said to my mother-in-law who was devastated by the news. Surely it hadn't spread very far. There was that spot on his liver that the doctors had noted before his original surgery. But they had not been worried about it. The doctor had felt that it was probably not cancer. I was confident my husband would do his chemotherapy and be fine.


He went in for a liver test to confirm that the spot was just a benign occurrence, a hemangioma, and we waited, not worried. The results came back. A biopsy was needed. The tumor was not a hemangioma. I remember receiving the call. It was a beautiful day and I was playing Candyland with my daughters. The sun streamed in from the window, creating a peaceful, happy glow in the room. We were laughing.


My husband was out running an errand when the phone call came in. "Mrs. Jacobs, the tumor is cancerous," the doctor said over the phone.


Everything stopped and again in my mind, "my God, my God..."


Six rounds of chemo; so difficult. The embolism to block off the cancerous part of his liver. The surgery prep, all in the hopes that this would soon will be over; that life would soon return to normal. Then yesterday, the surgery, to remove the right lobe of his liver; so that he would be cancer free. At pre-op, the doctor mentioned that if they find something in the left lobe, they would burn it with a laser. I paused.


"But there isn't supposed to be anything in the left lobe," I said.


"Well sometimes it is hidden from the MRI. We are going to check everything out. We will take good care of him."


"Okay," I said, thinking with less confidence now that there would be nothing in the left liver. This warning of his was all precautionary. The surgery was going to be the end of this. Six weeks recovery and then life would go on. It would be this way. I had decided.


At 12 noon, the doctor came out and I approached, eager to hear the good news. "We removed the right lobe, but there was a half an inch tumor deep in the left lobe as well."


"What?"


"The left lobe, a tumor. We destroyed it with the laser but there are still small unknown spots visible on the ultrasound as well. They are too small to know what they are. We recommend more chemotherapy."


"More?" I said sadly.


"Yes, more. Cancer is like a dandelion which spreads its seeds when blown. We don't know, can't know now. Everything else in the abdomen looks clear but the chemo - it is necessary." The doctor smiled at me in a serious, sad way. My heart sank. The chemo... the walking death. It is difficult to explain life during chemo. Lets just say, it is hard.


"My God, my God..." again I begin to think. Why? Why, at every turn, has the road to quick recovery been blocked? What is it we must learn, my husband and I?



And then I read on in Psalms 22, the psalm that goes on to prophecy Jesus' suffering on the cross.



"Yet You are enthroned as the Holy One; You are the praise of Israel. In You our fathers put their trust; they trusted and You delivered them. They cried to You and were saved; in You they trusted and were not disappointed" (vs. 4-5)



It is painful. This is painful. It is not what I wanted. But it is what God has given me. He has given me this, and He has given me Himself to fall back on. I am not alone. I am a part of His plan. This morning, in the calm of the cool, early morning air blowing in through the window, I remember God. I remember to give thanks. I am thankful my husband is still alive. I am thankful that they removed or killed all known cancer in his body. I am thankful he is as alert and well as he is after surgery. I am thankful for the 12 years and the three daughters that I have had with him. I am thankful for all the ways we have grown to be better people through all of this. I am thankful for all the ways that we will grow before this is over.


God has given me the assurance that He will be with me through these difficult times. He will never leave me or forsake me (Joshua 31:6). He has given me a Bible full of good promises, all of which have been given to me so that I will have peace. As He says, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)"


He will deliver me. He will not disappoint me in the end. In the short term, I may have sorrow. I do have sorrow. But God is not in this for the short term. He is the God of eternity. In the light of eternity, I am not let down. Things may not happen as I have planned. It hasn't happened as I had planned, but I have been delivered so far. My husband has also been delivered so far. He is still here. We are still living in faith, and we are better people for all of this.


God is still with me, just as He was with Jesus as He went to the cross; surely not what Jesus had wanted but it was what needed to happen. Jesus suffered immensely, more than any of us ever will, and yet He returned to God and His sovereignty. I must remember His words at Gethsemane, " Not my will, but Yours be done." At times, we may be momentarily disappointed, but in the long run we are never. In the long term, the victory is always ours. In Christ we have the victory. God did not forget Jesus. He did not disappoint Him. There were three dark days and then Jesus arose and brought salvation to all of us. In the same way, God will not forget me either.



"You who fear the Lord, praise Him!...For He has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; He has not hidden His face from him but has listened to his cry for help." (vs. 23-24)


There is a reason for all of this. I am not forgotten and I will praise Him yet.




Prayer for the Day


Dear Lord,

We praise You for the life You give us.  It is Yours to give and take away.  We pray for acceptance and courage in the face of whatever is on the path You have set out for us.  Help us to live lives that are acceptable to You no matter what happens.

In Jesus' Name,
Amen



QFT


1. When have I felt forsaken? Why? How did I deal with it?

2. What has God given me to deal with presently in my life? How am I dealing with it? Am I turning to God, or away from Him because of it?

3. When life does not go as I have planned, how do I react? How can I react in a more trusting manner?
4. What reasons can I see behind some of the greatest crises that have occurred in my life?

5.  What support systems do I have to help me in difficult times? What helps me to feel peace in my struggles?  What verses do I turn to?

Daily Devotional - 8/21/10 (9/21/09)

I wrote this post 11 months ago on the day my husband went into surgery on his liver.  I have left it as it was and added a small commentary at the end about how he is doing now.


Focus Letter - U



Pray for:
Five things you are grateful for that begin with the focus letter
Five people whose first or last name begins with the focus letter
A place that begins with the focus letter
A characteristic that begins with the focus letter



Dear Lord- open my ears to hear, my eyes to see, and my heart to feel. Grant me the strength to obey.


Today is my husband's surgery. We would appreciate your prayers.



Psalms 21


9/21/09


"For the king trusts in the Lord; through the unfailing love of the Most High he will not be shaken" (vs. 7)



How great are the victories the Lord gives. As we go into surgery today, I am remembering the greatness of the Lord. I will rejoice that I have His strength to support me and that I can have joy in His victories whatever they may be. God does not withhold the requests of my lips and He knows the desires of my heart. He gives life. I can do nothing to add or subtract from my life, save for eating and living healthy, which is important. But worrying will do nothing. Worrying will not add a moment to my life and will dissipate the energy that I need to be strong.


Regardless what happens today, I will cling to Gods eternal blessing and be glad in the Lord. He is not changing and He is here with me today. God's love is unfailing; the only thing that is secure and eternal. I will not be shaken today. I will be there for my husband, my in laws, and my children. I will be their strength because God is mine. God will lay hold of my enemies and crush them. God can crush the cancer and even if He chooses not to, I will still trust in Him.


God will be exalted. In my life, God will be exalted. Amen.



8/21/10

"O Lord, the king rejoices in Your strength.  How great is his joy in the victories You give!  You have granted him the desire of his heart and have not withheld the request of his lips." (vs. 1-2)

My husband stopped his chemotherapy right before Christmas last year.  As of his first CAT scan, done in February, the doctors feel he is doing well and there is no obvious sign of cancer.  We are gratefully getting back to life, as normal as it can be, in the shadow of cancer.  God has been good and His victories are great.  He is giving us what we need each day and we have learned to be at peace in a deeper way through it all.  We are also grateful for all the support and prayers of our friends.  His next CAT scan will be in October so I will update you at that time about any further developments.



Prayer for the Day

Dear Lord,

You are great.  We are so grateful for the victories that You give and we are learning to wait on You.  Help us to do this more and more.  We praise You for the prayers that You answer with yes and also those that are no or wait.  We are just grateful to know You.

In Jesus' Name,
Amen


QFT


1. What enemies am I facing in my life today? How could the Lord conquer them?

2. When is it hardest for me to trust in God? Why?

3. What victories has God given me in the past? How has God blessed me?

4. How can God be exalted in my life, even in the difficult times? What can I do differently to ensure that this will happen?

5.  What blessings do I have in my life that I can cling to during the difficult times?  Why are these things so important to me and what would my life be like without them? How can I focus on them more and show my gratitude in a deeper way?

Daily Devotional - 8/3/10 (9/3/09)

Daily Prayer - Focus Letter C


Pray for:
Five things you are grateful for with the focus letter
Five people whose first or last name starts with focus letter
A country, city, or place that starts with the focus letter
An attitude you want to see grow and develop in you or your family with the focus letter
Dear Lord - Please let me hear your ever present voice and grant me the strength to obey.

Psalm 3


"Oh Lord, how many are my foes!  How many rise up against me!  Many are saying of me, 'God will not deliver him.'" (vs. 1)

Most people do not really understand God and waiting on Him. We are impatient and if we do not see it, we think nothing is happening. This is the world we live in. It only looks at the surface of life and believes what is seen. We have all heard the expression - I will believe it when I see it. But for God it is - Believe it, and then you will see it. We also live in a world currently mired in instant gratification. If something isn't happening immediately or in the time frame we map out, then in our minds, it isn't happening and will not happen in the future. But this is not God's way. God is the God of the unseen, of what is not. We must learn to see with new eyes and wait on Him.


"But You are a shield around me, Oh Lord; You bestow glory on me, and lift up my head." (vs. 2)

The key is to look beyond the surface, to know God is working even when we don't see evidence. He is our shield. He is bestowing glory on us. He is lifting up our heads. Although I do not see it now, I know it is happening. This is like the story in the Old Testament of the angel that was delayed in coming. He was coming, and God is helping us but we do not know what is going on behind the scenes in our own lives. We do not know how the trials are changing us and helping us to grow. Only after it is over, sometimes, we can look back and see God's unseen hand that was at work. Often even our friends and families will not understand how God is working if they do not know Him. But we know.

"I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.  I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side...From the Lord comes deliverance.  May Your blessing be on Your people." (vs. 5, 6 & 8)
The fact that we can go to sleep and wake up again the next day is because of God. Our mere existence is constant evidence to the working of God. We put no conscious thought into the most basic and important bodily functions and yet they keep going. Have you ever thought of what we would have to go through if we had to think about breathing or having our hearts beat in order to stay alive. There would be no time for anything else. How complex and amazing our bodies are, our hearts that beat away, and our lungs that draw in the air to give us the energy to function. This is God. This is God sustaining me every minute of every day. So even if His timing is not mine, if His answers do not come when I want, there is evidence of Him all around me if I am willing to look.

So I will not fear - disease, death, debt, clutter, or the faults that plague me - even tens of thousands drawn up on every side. Nothing is too much for God, or me, because I have God with me and His enormous power that can even raise the dead is at work in my life. What a thought!

We just need to call out for His deliverance. It is okay to do this. The psalmist is bold and says "Arise, O Lord! Deliver me" (vs. 7a). He was not afraid to ask. Most of the time, we do not have because we do not ask. We want but we forget to go to the one who can provide (James 4:2-3). We must remember that those who ask will receive (Matt 7:7-8). I will receive something and it will be good and good for me.

Finally, deliverance comes from the Lord. Everything else will fail us or let us down. People die, accidents happen. There are no guarantees except one - that the Lord will deliver - and that in itself should be enough.

Bless us Lord because no one else truly can.


Prayer for the Day

Dear Lord,

We are grateful that You are working even when we can not see anything.  We are grateful that You are in control and that we do not have to fear anything.  Help us to keep our focus on You and the unseen miracles that keep us alive.  Help us to remember that there is a spiritual world around us.  Come to us Lord and deliver us.  Be our shield and bless us.  Yes, bless us Lord, for we need You.

In Jesus Name,
Amen


QTF
1. What are the foes that are rising against me?  Do I have anyone who tends to discourage me spiritually and cast doubt on my ablility to change and grow as a Christian?
 
2. Am I willing to wait for God to work out circumstances in my life or do I tend to force my will?  How can I start to wait on the Lord more?  What situations do I need to wait on right now?
 
3.  How have I seen God deliver me in the past?  How is He working to sustain me right now?  How can this encourage me?  What can I do to keep these victories in my mind during difficult times?
 
4. What do I fear?  What are the ten thousands rising against me now?  In what ways might God deal with these situations? 
 
5.  Am I willing to be bold and call on God when I need Him?  How is my prayer life?  Do I spend more time worrying or praying?  How can I change this?

Daily Devotional - 1/21

Prayer Focus - Personal Transformation

Day 3
Pray for:
One thing that you want to see improved in your relationship with God - (Love God)
One thing that you want to see improved in the way you relate to others - (with all your heart)
One past hurt that you want to see healed and overcome - (with all your soul)


Dear Lord - Please open my ears to Your ever present voice and grant me the strength to obey.



Psalms 81


"Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob!... He says, " I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were set free from the basket. In your distress you called and I rescued you,.." ( vs. 1, 6 & 7a)

Sing for joy. Be happy and excited about God and His strength. No matter what is going on in our lives, we are to rejoice in the Lord. Circumstances will always let us down but God will not. We can always rejoice in Him for He removes our burdens. He frees up our hands from the slave labor of the world. He gives us a new perspective. He rescues us from all that would harm us including ourselves. God answers. God is worthy of our praise, always.


"Hear, O my people, and I will warn you - if you would but listen to me, O Israel! You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not bow down to an alien god. I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it." (vs. 8-10)

Beyond rejoicing, we must listen and obey. There should be nothing that rivals God in our lives and in our hearts; nothing should get in the way to our obedience and worship. Work, schedules, exhaustion, ourselves - these things are not worth serving. Life will go on without us, but will we go on without God? Don't bow down to them. Remember it is God that has brought us here to this point in our lives and will continue to take care of us if we let Him. He brought us up out of our Egypts; our captivity. He is wanting to fill us up. We need to open wide our mouths. Give God the opportunity to work. There is no limit to God and how He works.


"But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices." (vs. 11-12)

The problem though, is that we struggle to listen. We forget God is speaking to us all the time and the world is so noisy that it is hard to hear His voice unless we are focusing intently on it. We need to make a concerted effort to hear and when we ask for something, we need to pay attention for the answer. I think we are often like children who ask questions of their parents and then get so sidetracked that they never hear the answers. We need to be still and listen and we will hear God. Then we need to obey. We have to submit our will to His because He does know best. If we ignore what He is saying, eventually He will let us go our own way. Then we will wander like the Israelites in the desert.

"If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways, how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes! Those who hate the Lord would cringe before Him, and their punishment would last forever. But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you." (vs. 13-16)

He will allow us to go but I think it breaks His heart, just as it would break our hearts to have our own children walk away from us. His love for us is so clear here as He speaks of how quickly He would subdue our enemies if we took His messages to heart. He is speaking to us relentlessly and waiting to bless us and take care of us. If we listened and obeyed, God could and would turn anything around in our lives - illness, debt, clutter, lack of organization, ineffectiveness, bad schedules, bad parenting, bad marriages. God could transform any of these things in a minute. God is waiting. It's up to us now.

Prayer for the Day

Dear Lord,


We long to be filled by You. Help us to rid ourselves of the idols in our lives and the things that we strive after instead of you. Help us to be still and hear Your voice. Help us to be still and know that you are God and we are not. Life will go on without us. We are not indispensable. Our relationship with You is all that really matter and You will take care of the rest. We want to obey. We want to rejoice. Help us. We are opening wide our mouths. We are waiting on You. We will let You lead us.

In Jesus' Name,
Amen


QFT


1. Am I praising God and focusing on all He has done for me? What did He set me free from? What was I in slave labor to and what burdens has He lifted from me?

2. Do I have idols in my life? What do I devote most of my time to? Is it worth it? How can I change my priorities to make sure God is in first place?

3. Am I listening to God's voice? What distracts me from hearing Him? Am I allowing myself quiet time in which I can meditate on His word? How can I incorporate more time for reflection into my life?

4. Am I obeying the voice of God in my life?  Am I allowing Him to subdue my enemies? What enemies do I have that need subduing? Am I remembering God's love for me in all of this?

Daily Devotional - 11/17

Prayer Focus - Needs


Day 6
Pray for:
One thing that is needed in the world
One thing that is needed in your country
One thing that is needed in your state/region
One thing that is needed in your city
One thing that is needed in your family
One thing that is needed at your work or in your social circle


Pray about:
How it will help those concerned with their spiritual life
How it will help those concerned with their physical life
How it will help those concerned with their emotional life
How it will help those concerned with their mental life



Dear Lord - Please open my ears to hear and grant me the strength to obey.




Psalms 77



"I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me. When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted." ( vs. 1-2)


"I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember Your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all Your works and consider all Your mighty deeds. You are the God who performs miracles; You display Your power among the peoples." (vs. 11-12, 14)


"You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron." (vs. 20)



The keys to spiritual success are to cry out to God unceasingly, remember His incredible power and the ways He has rescued us in the past, remember He works miracles, and follow the people He has put in our lives to guide us spiritually. If we obey God and His directions, He will be able to bless us. I am convinced that to the degree that I obey His word, I will be blessed. The more I obey, the more I open the door for Him to be able and willing to bless me. I do not reward my children when they are disobeying me and having bad attitudes. Neither does God. I wait until they are doing well with what is required of them and walking in communion with me. Is God not like this? Why do we expect good from Him when we are unwilling to give Him what He requires and expects from us. He has laid down precepts that He expects to be fully obeyed (Psalms 119:4). This applies to my marriage, my parenting, my everyday life, my eating habits, and all the rest of my life. There is so much in the Bible for us to learn. Let us go after it as a loving child would go after pleasing their parents. It is worth it.




Prayer for the Day




Dear Lord,


You are the God of miracles. Help us to remember that. Help us to obey more and more each day. We know and believe that You exist and that You reward those who earnestly seek You. We are seeking You. Help us to find You and grant us the strength to obey, now and forever


In Jesus' Name,
Amen



QFT



1. Do I cry out to God unceasingly? Am I determined in prayer or do I pray when it is convenient? How can I improve my prayer life? How can I be more consistent?


2. What miracles have I seen in my life? Do I meditate on God's power and miracles? Or do I focus more on my wants and needs? How can I change my perspective?


3. Who has God placed in my life to guide me right now? Am I following their guidance? Why or why not? Am I following anyone right now in any area of my life? Do I believe mentoring in any form is useful? Why or why not? Is my view in line with God's?


4. Am I obeying God's precepts? Which areas in my life are the most difficult for me to obey in? Why? Which are the easiest? Why? How can I become more obedient in my weak areas?