One day at a time

The last posting was about the positive results and that I was taking a break from Chemo treatments for one or two weeks.I felt pretty good and decided to take only one week. Now I am back on Chemo and almost finished my second week already, how time flies by.

One day at a time is easier said than done. I am one of those that tend to run ahead of myself and get hurt by it in the process. I had to experience this again last week when it became obvious that I over extended myself with the move from our old home to the new one. I felt pretty good and lifted some heavy stuff and in the process over exerted my body and now I am paying for it with a lot of muscle pain in the chest. I find it very difficult to watch everybody work and I do little or nothing.

We love our new home and new surroundings, each day it feels more like home. However, I realize every day that this earthly home is just a temporary home and not a day goes past that my thoughts wander to the future, only to remind myself to take one day at a time. I struggle at times with the text from Matthew 6:19 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Dear friends, do you struggle with these things at times that all these earthly things will pass as quoted in Psalm 103:15 As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; 16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. 17 But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children, 18 to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments.

Sure, there are exciting times and times that we cherish with family and friends, yet in all these things I so often see the temporal joy and realize that only real joy will be to be with Christ Jesus. One of those joyful messages we just received from our daughter Stephanie and her husband Chad that they are expecting a baby early next year. Great blessing against all odds, yet by God all things are possible. Will I see that joyful day? I do not know but I am praying that I will. So life goes on, one day at a time. For closing I want to share a beautiful poem written by Annie Johnson Flint.

One day at a time, with its failures and fears,
With its hurts and mistakes, with its weakness and tears,
With its portion of pain and its burden of care;
One day at a time we must meet and must bear.

One day at a time to be patient and strong,
To be calm under trial and sweet under wrong;
Then its toiling shall pass and its sorrow shall cease;
It shall darken and die, and the night shall bring peace.

One day at a time - but the day is so long,
And the heart is not brave, and the soul is not strong,
O Thou pitiful Christ, be Thou near all the way;
Give courage and patience and strength for the day.

Swift cometh His answer, so clear and so sweet;
"Yea, I will be with thee, thy troubles to meet;
I will not forget thee, nor fail thee, nor grieve;
I will not forsake thee; I never will leave."

Not yesterday's load we are called on to bear,
Nor the morrow's uncertain and shadowy care;
Why should we look forward or back with dismay?
Our needs, as our mercies, are but for the day.

One day at a time, and the day is His day;
He hath numbered its hours, though they haste or delay.
His grace is sufficient; we walk not alone;
As the day, so the strength that He giveth His own.

Thank you for the cards, your prayers and cares.
John

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever! Psalm 118:29

Indeed the Lord is good; I did experienced this again yesterday when visiting my Oncologist in Vancouver. Words really fell short when I was given very encouraging news that after using a new type of Chemotherapy that is still in its trial stages is showing a change in my condition.

As soon as the Oncologist entered the room he wasted no time to tell me the following:
No new cancer growth was found anywhere. The cancer in the lung tumor showed no increase in size. The cancer that was found on my spine and ribs showed that it was less dense and showed signs that it was in the process becoming less intense. The biggest change was the cancer that was found two months ago on the Adrenal gland, it had decreased by 50%. The Oncologist commented that he found the result to be very good.

With that I went home for a one or two week break from Chemo so my body can take a rest from the destructive power of Chemo. Destructive on cancer but also on the healthy parts, and that I can really feel. The last weeks have given me some difficult days with little appetite, nausea and being very fatigued.

I look forward to this break and hope to enjoy this time. I have questioned myself, would I have written the same text above this posting if the results would have been the opposite and had the cancer shown progression. I gave that much thought and came to the conclusion that I would have used the very same words from Psalm 118. The Lord is good, and yes I would have giving Him thanks also for the negative results. God has the whole world in His hands, including your and my life and every minute we exist. Whatever God does is good. Pray much that you and I can submit to the will of God, and then we can have true peace in our hearts, a peace that passes all understanding.

Philippians 4: 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
I want to thank you all for your continued prayers for me. So often I meet people at the most unexpected times and places that say, I want you to know we are praying for you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I recently read a devotion that included this verse that was written by Isaac Watts (1719) it touched my heart and it increased my hope, hope in Christ and his unfailing love for sinners.

Within Thy circling power I stand;
On every side I find Thy hand;
Awake, asleep, at home, abroad,
I am surrounded still with God.

May the Grace of our Lord be with you, now and forever.
John

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Today I received an email from our dear friends in Cuba and the congregation with whom we worshipped when we visited Cuba.

These dear people are close to our hearts and with God's help and the help of total strangers we are able to supply them with Bibles and Christian literature. Staying connected with our friends has been difficult until today when we received an unexpected email. Things are slowly changing in Cuba, however this congregation is still worshipping in the open air because they are forbidden to build a church building.

Please pray for them as they often struggle in difficult circumstances. I want to share their email with you that our friends sent to us.

Dear friends, I am happy to hear from you again, we try to communicate in various ways which is very difficult here. Today we have asked the whole church to prayer and we raised a cry to the King of Kings for a complete healing for you, which we believe 100%, because Jesus already paid the price ... Remember that the Lord is with you and all of the church in Cuba is praying for you. Our meeting here was not by chance God has everything planned ... HE IS FAITHFUL. The literature has been a great blessing as it helped us in our preparation to share the Gospel.
We love you, we continue to pray, God bless
E. and J.

That is why I used this Bible text as heading.
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Romans 12:12

Peace with God Through Faith

Romans 5
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die-- 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.  

Grace, Power and Weakness

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9.

How beautiful if we can experience this each day, Gods Grace and Power and that even in our weakness we can see the work of Christ and find refuge in Him. For me there are times when these things appear through a fog, yet when the fog clears these things become clearer. One day we will know as it says in 1 Corinthians 13: 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

Lately I have had my ups and downs, not just bodily but at times Spiritually. Specially when I feel very tired and not well I need to be reminded of the above text and others. The last couple of weeks the Chemo treatments have really taken its toll on my body. After 7 weeks of treatment I am ready for a break which I will get after 8 weeks are finished on August 6. The Chemo builds up in the body to the point that I have difficulty eating, sleeping, and feeling nauseous and extremely tired. However when I get a break for 2 days I perk up quickly, but 2 days does not give me enough time to recover. I am looking very much forward to my break of hopefully several weeks.

On August 7, I also hope to get a CT scan and a Bone scan to see what is happening inside of me in the last 2 months. We are praying for a positive outcome, but those things are in God’s hands. I still have much hope for healing because I know that what is impossible by men is possible by God. I look forward to receiving the results on August 9 and hope to post again that day or the day after.

Lately I have not been too faithful in posting. This is due to us getting ready for a move on August 6. It has been a busy time but thanks to God everything has worked out well. Thank you for your cares and prayers.
Be blessed and be a blessing
John

If you were arrested for being a Christian would they have enough evidence to convict you?

Today I want to share a newspaper article from one of our local newspapers. I asked the writer and  pastor if I could share the article on my blog. He agreed, so here it is.

Our church’s purpose statement reads like this: “Real People, Real Life, Real Faith”. We are trying to do a better job of being the Real Deal. I am challenging believers to be ‘real Christians for a real world’. In our culture being a Closet Christian (one nobody knows about) is profoundly easy. We mostly act like, talk like, and look like everyone else around us. That is not entirely bad… unless they have no idea that we are believers. If they can’t tell, and at best just see us as really nice people (or worse yet as nasty people), then we are not being real Christians for a real world. We have a message that our world desperately needs. When we live like closet Christians we deny our neighbor a chance to hear the great truth that set us free and can do the same for them.

Someone once asked me this question: If you were arrested for being a Christian would they have enough evidence to convict you? Being a Christian in many other parts of the world means taking your life in your hands every day. Muslims that convert to Christianity are often disowned by their friends and families. Sometimes they are threatened or even murdered for it. In fact, there are more people martyred for their faith today than any time in 2000 years of Christianity. Those who decide to follow Christ in those places make a decision that their faith is more important than life itself.

In North America being a Christian often means something completely different. For many it just means we are not Muslim or Buddhist. We get married and will be buried in a church building and we might drop by on Christmas or Easter if we are not too busy. ”Hey, it was good enough for Grandpa.”

Here’s an observation to think about. The Gay community has come out of the closet… and the Christians have gone in. Oh sure, they threw a few stones at each other as they switched locations but even that conflict has pretty much blown over. My point has really nothing to do with the battle for gay rights and everything to do with the fact that you often can barely recognize believers in our culture.

The night that Jesus was betrayed, Peter boasted that he would never forsake his Lord. Jesus told Peter he would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed twice. The next morning Peter was confronted by a mere servant girl and yet denied Jesus three times. What happened next is the most important part of the story and yet most people miss it. When the rooster crowed twice, Peter remembered what Jesus said and wept bitterly. This was a defining moment for Peter. He was overcome by his own shame and disappointment. Though nothing more is said about it in the narrative, it is clear that Peter made a decision that morning that he would never again hide the “life giving” faith he had discovered. It was Peter who on the day of Pentecost stood out in the street and told a skeptical crowd of thousands that they needed to repent and be converted that their sins could be blotted out by the blood of Jesus. Peter lived the rest of his life as a radical follower of Jesus. 

No, our world doesn’t need more church goers that are in the bar Saturday night and in the pew Sunday morning (unless they were there inviting people to church the next day). We need more real Christians for a real world, people that are not ashamed of the fact that Jesus has done an incredible work in their lives. Around the world, Christians face the raising of weapons at the name of Jesus. Here, because we have freedom of religion, the worst response we get is someone raising an eyebrow at us. Why we have such trouble living our faith out loud is a bit of a mystery. Maybe we all need a disappointing rooster crowing experience to get us out of the closet. What do you think?

Glenn Driedger is the lead pastor of Chilliwack Evangelical Missionary Church.

Chicken or Eagle

A man had an eagle which had grown up among the barnyard hens. For a time the bird seemed content to be only a chicken. But one day it looked up into the sky, and something within the eagle, sleeping until now, awoke. Flapping its wings, it soared away toward the sun and never returned.
Just so, too many Christians, meant for the eagle-life, content themselves with a barnyard existence. Now and then they feel something stirring within them, but they are too indolent to make the effort necessary to take their place in the upper air and among the mountain crags. So they spend all their days down in the dust, among earthly things, never waking up to their God given potentials.

"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!" Colossians 3:1-2

J.R.Miller (1840 - 1912)

That my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever! Psalm 30:12

God has given us many things in life that we should be thankful for. Therefore, we should be counting our blessings. We don’t often reflect on what we have instead we dwell on what we lack. We cannot have enough of anything, and always want more. We never get tired of asking for more. It is our human nature.

There is nothing wrong with asking God for good things, as long as we are appreciative of them when He gives us what we want, and submit to His will if He chooses not to give. Perhaps He will give them to us later. God knows what is best for us. Also we might be asking for something that may not be good for us.

 Often we realize and appreciate what we have after we lose it temporarily or after seeing someone who does not have it. For example, it is unfortunate that we don’t thank God enough for our health until we get sick. Then we constantly implore God to heal us. As soon as we feel better, we tend to forget God and may turn unappreciative again. It hardly ever occurs to us that our eyes, hands, feet, and everything we have, are blessings from God until we have problems. Being thankful and appreciative is for our own good. If we choose to ignore the blessings God has given us, and do not recognize God’s hand in our lives, we are the ones who lose.

On a more personal note I often fall short for words of thanks, not only to God but all those that surround me and those that pray for me. I often feel deeply indebted to God who gives me life each day again. To you who read my blog, to you whom I meet in the store, to you whom encourage me time and again and cheer me on, to those who express their feelings in writing, telephone calls and cards. To those churches who pray from me in Cuba, The Netherlands, Australia, Canada and the USA and other places. I am indebted to total strangers who God puts on my path and with whom I can share His Amazing Grace. How long can I make this list? I could go on with much more.

Finally I want to end with the boundless love of my children and grand children whom stand at my side each day again. A hug will never say it all, the words “I love you” fall short of what you do for me. When I hear my grandchildren pray aloud, Lord make Papa better again, it brings tears to my eyes and a smile to my face because I know that God hears the needy when they cry. Thank you for your prayers and every day support, words fall short.

Then lastly and most important next to God is Henrietta my wife, the love of my life whom stands and walks with me through this life and journey with cancer. Through the valleys, over the mountain tops, in sorrow, in joy, in times when you pray for me when I can’t because I feel ill or so tired that I can’t go on anymore, it is then that you are there. How can I ever say the right words to thank you. It is you and all those who are named here and those whom I forgot to name. Thank you, and I pray that God will keep us together yet for more time. I pray for healing, knowing that my God is Almighty and can do it, no doubt at all. To God be the Glory.

Finally just a short update on myself. I am doing ok, although I am often very tired due to the chemo treatments and lately I can feel that the chemo treatments are taking its toll on my body, feeling more nauseated and less appetite. I have no pain and so far my weight remains stable.

We are going into a couple of busy weeks because we have sold our home and are downsizing to a new and smaller home in the area. We talked and prayed about this matter together and so far God has made all things well. Our home sold in 2 ½ weeks and our new home should just be ready to move into on August 6. Although we have many fond memories in this home we look forward to making this move.
Thank you for your prayers.
Be blessed and be a blessing to many.
John