The Lord is My Shepherd - Part 2

Before reading this post, please first read the previous post:

The Lord is My Shepherd - Part 1

In a moment I'll share with you more from the closing half of Psalm 23, but this morning I was also reading from another passage, and would like to share this with you first. Flowing on beautifully from Psalm 23, Psalm 25:4-5 says:

"Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Saviour, and my hope is in you all day long."

This is the cry of the sheep to the Shepherd: "Show me your ways, O Lord, teach my your paths." There are paths that God has set for us to walk; there are ways he wants to guide us in. And whether those ways are through green pastures or beside still waters or even if they run down the middle of a valley of the shadow of death, we must follow the Shepherd, because "you are God my Saviour, and my hope is in you all day long."

Psalm 25:8-10 goes on to say:

"Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant."

This passage reveals the key to walking in the ways of God. Verse 9 says: "He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way" (see also James 4:6). And there is nothing better to strengthen humility in a Christian's life than to experience the valley of the shadow of death!

Psalm 25:6-7,11 focus on David's awareness of his own iniquity and just how easy it is to wander off the path of righteousness if you are not following the Shepherd. And then David declares, in Psalm 25:12:

"Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him."

The fear of the Lord (Deuteronomy 10:12; Job 28:28; Psalm 33:18; Psalm 103:17; Psalm 111:10), and the humility associated with it, are the key to learning to walk on the path of righteousness, wherever that path may lead you.

OK, now armed with this understanding of what it means to walk in the paths of righteousness, let's flip back to Psalm 23. I was singing this psalm this morning, not just one version, but many different melodies that have been created for this psalm, including a traditional Chinese one I learned in Hong Kong. And with each of them, when you come to verse 5, there is a natural increase in volume and change in mood to the tune. So let's take a closer look at this verse:

"You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows."

At this point, the psalmist abandons the picture of the Shepherd and his sheep, but although the metaphor changes, but the theme does not. David was obviously going through a time when he was surrounded by enemies (like lions or wolves hungering for his blood), and this was probably the "valley of the shadow of death" that he was experiencing at the time. But look at what Psalm 25:5 actually says:

"You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies..."

Notice that it is right in the presence of the enemies - in other words, right in the midst of the valley of the shadow of death - that God prepares a feast table for us! In other words, the experience of the valley of the shadow of death is far from a bleak one, devoid of the blessing of God. In fact, there is a unique and special blessing that can only be experienced when you are on the path of righteousness in the midst of the valley of the shadow of death.

This feast experience is described many times in Scripture, and I particularly love Psalm 36:7-9:

"How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light."

According to Psalm 25:5, this feasting experience involved three elements:

• The prepared food
• The cup of blessing
• The anointing of the head

Each element is described as being an "abundant" experience (note John 10:10, which is also in the context of the shepherd-sheep relationship). The food we eat is described as "the abundance of your house", the cup we drink from is described as "overflowing", and the picture of the anointing of the head with oil is described in Psalm 133:2 as "like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes."

And so, far from being a negative experience, our journey through the valley of the shadow of death is a positive one "for you are with me" (Psalm 23:4). It is an experience of the overflow of God's grace (note Romans 15:13).

The positive nature of the "valley of the shadow of death" experience is emphasised again in Psalm 23:6, which says:

"Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life..."

Notice two things about this passage. First, it says that "goodness and love" will follow me, which means that they are part and parcel of being on the path of righteousness! It is not just in the green pastures or beside the still waters that goodness and love follow me; it is in the midst of the valley of the shadow of death that goodness and love also follow me! As long as I keep to the path of righteousness, wherever I may be, my experience will be "goodness and love" as part of the overflow experience that comes from following the Shepherd!

Second, this verse tells us that tells me that "goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life". This is both a daily experience and a forever experience, which is re-worded in the last part of Psalm 23:6, the climax of the psalm:

"...and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."

I'm not waiting until I die to "dwell in the house of the LORD forever" (this psalm is often read at funerals). No, I'm dwelling there right now! (see Psalm 27:4). This is because the nature of my relationship with the Lord is that I no longer need to go to a physical location in order to experience the presence of the Lord. He is with me as I follow him along the path of righteousness!

And so, today, where is the path of righteousness that I am to walk? I have no idea what specific experiences are ahead of me. There may be a few surprises along the way. But one thing I know: The Shepherd is with me, because I am following him. And his rod and staff will keep me on the path, where the true blessings overflow.

In closing, let me share with you an mp3 file that I received from an Online Bible College student, Ann Wolf. In it, she sings Psalm 23:

http://www.online-bible-college.com/audio/Psalm23.mp3

The Lord is My Shepherd - Part 1

In my time with the Lord this morning, I began reading Psalm 23. I've done an indepth study on Psalm 23 for the Online Bible College in a lesson called "The Voice of the Shepherd", which you can download here. But I'll share with you what meant the most in this psalm for me today.

Psalm 23:1, as rendered by the New Living Translation, says:

"The LORD is my shepherd; I have everything I need."

This is not just the first verse of Psalm 23. It is also the defining verse of Psalm 23. My relationship with the Lord is defined as like that between a shepherd and his sheep. That relationship involves provision - "I have everything I need."

So often I approach my relationship with the Lord in terms of my needs. My prayer is: "Lord, I need this" or "Lord, I need that." But the shepherd-sheep relationship implies that all needs are already met by the shepherd. As 2 Peter 1:3 says:

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness."

God has provided "everything we need for life and godliness". In other words, everything I need to live a godly life today has already been provided to me by the Lord.

Ephesians 1:3 also speaks in a similar way:

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ."

I'm not waiting to be blessed "with every spiritual blessing in Christ." This is an experience I've already stepped into and simply need to appropriate for today. This, I believe, is what Psalm 23:1 means when it says: "I have everything I need."

The next few verses go on to explain how I experience "everything I need" on a daily basis. Psalm 23:2-3a says:

"He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul..."

The shepherd knows exactly what the sheep needs. He leads the sheep to green pastures and quiet waters, which deal with two of the most basic needs of the sheep - nutrition and healing.

Psalm 23:3 then goes on to say:

"...He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake."

I remember when I first fully appreciated this verse. I was on a sheep farm, walking through one of the paddocks, and noticed all the sheep trails, leading from one pasture to the next. These are the "paths of righteousness" which David is speaking of. And there are "paths of righteousness" for me too, leading from one green pasture to the next.

But then Psalm 23:4 changes the tone of the psalm. Up till now, everything has been comfortable. But verse 4 now says:

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

For a long time, I thought this referred to sheep that had gone astray, as described in Isaiah 53:6, Psalm 119:176 and Matthew 18:12-14. But it was only recently that I realised that this is not what is being described in Psalm 23:4. The sheep haven't wandered off on their own, because the shepherd is there with them! In fact, at the end of verse 4, David says that while in this "valley of the shadow of death" he will not fear any evil because "you are with me."

I then realised that verse 3 and verse 4 go together. Psalm 23:3 tells us that the Shepherd "guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake." But those paths of righteous will, at times, lead through a "valley of the shadow of death." The picture is, in fact, one of a shepherd leading his sheep from one green pasture to the next, but between these green pastures there is a dark ravine. As the sheep follow the shepherd along the track, they hear a lion's roar on the left, and a wolf's howl on the right, and they start to get skittish and fearful. But the shepherd is there with them - his rod (the emblem of discipline) and staff (the emblem of guidance) are there to keep the sheep on the "path of righteousness."

This is my experience right now. I've been in a green pasture, but the Lord has decided to lead me into a new green pasture. But between the two, I am experiencing a dark valley where fear and doubt threaten to pull me off track. But I have nothing to fear, because the Lord is with me. His rod and staff are there to gently nudge me back onto the "path of righteousness" that he has set before me - a "path of righteousness" right in the middle of "the valley of the shadow of death"!

In the OBC lesson I wrote, "The Voice of the Shepherd", I explain that there are three alternating phases in the Christian life. I'd like to quote from that part of the lesson here:

Three images rise clearly out of this psalm:

• Green pastures – The Lord will guide you to lush pastures and feeding places. These are places of growth.

• Still waters – The Lord will also guide you beside cool streams. These are places of rest and refreshing, of healing and restoration.

• Dark valleys – The Lord will at times even guide you through dark valleys. These are places where you need to rely on and trust in the shepherd.

These three images represent distinct periods in the life of every Christian:

• Times of growth
• Times of rest
• Times of reliance

We need to recognise which time and season we are in with the Lord. Quoting again from the OBC lesson:

"Why is the Lord with you in the midst of the valley of the shadow of death? Because he has led you there. He has not, however, led you there to stay there. He does not tell you to lie down in the dark valleys. No, he is leading you through the dark valley because he is taking you to a green pasture on the other side. This is the nature of the shepherd’s guidance. As you get to know the voice of the shepherd, you will discover that there is always the comfort of his presence there, regardless of where he may be leading you."

I was preaching on this subject at Evangelical Community Church just a couple of months ago, and I brought the challenge that as "sheep" there are only three possible states that you can be in:

1. You have wandered off the path of righteousness - This is the state of being a "lost sheep" (Isaiah 53:6, Psalm 119:176; Matthew 18:12-14) and the action you need to take is: Repent! (Isaiah 55:6-7).

2. You are in green pastures and beside still waters - This is the state described in Psalm 23:2-3. During this time, sheep can easily be overfed and even "overturned" by their own weight, and so when you are in this season, the action you need to take is: Exercise! (1 Corinthians 9:25; Hebrews 5:14; 1 Timothy 4:8).

3. You are currently walking through the valley of the shadow of death - This is the state described in Psalm 23:4, and when you are in this season, the action you need to take is: Follow! (John 10:27; Isaiah 30:21).

As I was reading Psalm 23, I began singing an old favourite song of mine. In the words of this song is the expectation I have that, even though I presently walking through "the valley of the shadow of death", the Lord is with me and he will guide me through to the other side.

The words of this beautiful song are:

Shepherd of my soul, I give you full control
Wherever you may lead I will follow
I have made the choice to listen for your voice
Wherever you may lead I will go
Be it in a quiet pasture or by a gentle stream
The Shepherd of my soul is by my side
Though I face a mighty mountain or a valley dark and deep
The Shepherd of my soul will be my guide

Click here to listen to my rendition of this song.

For the next instalment, read "The Lord is My Shepherd - Part 2"

Grace in Action

Yesterday was a pretty intense day. I slept through much of the late afternoon and evening, and so I'm now up, wide awake and praying (I've found it better not to fight my sleep patterns but to use them effectively). I'd like to share a little of what happened yesterday, since it provides insight into this stage of my journey with the Lord.

Yesterday afternoon I went into Box Hill Hospital for another CT scan, and then afterwards I broke the five-hour fast (required for the scan) with a special nutritional drink that I was wanting to test out. This drink was a "pre-digested" liquid meal used for geriatric patients who have trouble digesting their meals - OK, no geriatric jokes, please ;-)

I don't know what happened but I had a severely adverse reaction to this drink. Within minutes of drinking the liquid "meal", I was beginning to feel feverish. In another ten minutes, I began to have sharp pains (similar to severe food poisoning). I've had food poisoning before, but this was the most painful episode I have ever had - almost to the point of passing out. As Elena was driving me home, we had to stop while I vomited by the side of the road. At first it was mainly dry retching, but then I vomited up a substance that was probably about 30% food and 70% stomach acid - brilliant yellow, like sulphur. I got home and lay down, experiencing wave after wave of agonising pain. Elena was praying for me, and we also called my parents, who joined us in prayer. After about 40 minutes, the pain began to subside, leaving me obviously exhausted.

This was a scary episode in many ways, particularly for Elena. For it was the first time the serious nature of my condition has really shown its ugly head.

What I particularly want to share at this time, however, is how this experience fits into everything I was sharing with you yesterday. You may remember from my previous post that I let you in on some of my fears, which the Lord has been helping me to face and overcome. The first of those fears was the fear of pain.

Here is a quote from yesterday's post, "Facing Fear":

"I've experienced intense, sustained pain in the past, and I must say that although it's not a major fear for me, the fear of pain is still a factor I've had to face. But once again, faith, hope and love have been the antidotes to this fear. I have faith that God will be there for me when I experience pain and that he can heal me. I have hope that even if I have to face pain, God will eventually bring me through to complete victory. And I have love - a sure knowledge that God's presence will be with me, even during times of suffering."

Although yesterday's encounter with pain fell into the "I don't want to go through that again" category, it also served to prove something to me. I have nothing to fear from any pain I might have to face in the future. Even in the midst of the worst of the pain, I had such a clear sense of the presence of the Lord. Like I said in yesterday's post, my faith is 1) that God "will be there for me when I experience pain and that he can heal me", and 2) that "God's presence will be with me, even during times of suffering." I can testify that this was true for me yesterday.

So yesterday's experience was a real growth point for me. I now know that God is true to his word in this most basic area of fear - and I thus have total faith for the future. I am truly "more than a conqueror" in this area because not only do I have faith that God will rescue and heal me, I also know that, even if I do need to go through the suffering of pain, God's grace will also be there for me.

In effect, I learned yesterday that the fear of pain no longer has a hold over me. Praise the Lord! And this episode further helps to put into sharp contrast the wonder of the healing that is already underway and that will be accomplished in my life. And it also underlines the nature of my walk with the Lord.

You may remember that yesterday I wrote how, at the beginning of the day, the Lord had prepared me for the day with his word (see yesterday's post, "My Daily Bread"). He had given me a number of scriptural promises, of which two in particular now stand out. Isaiah 43:1-2 says:

"But now, this is what the LORD says - he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.

Isn't it amazing how at the beginning of the day you do not know what in store for you later in the day, and yet the Lord can prepare you fully for what is to come? Right at the beginning of the day, I had the promise from the Lord that if I "pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you" and if I "walk through the fire, you will not be burned..." And that was my experience! Little did I know at the beginning of the day that I would be passing through the fire of pain, and would experience the almost overwhelming flood of physical agony. Yet I "passed through" with a clear sense of the presence of the Lord!

The other scripture of relevance is found in Isaiah 41:10,13:

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand...For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you."

What came out of my experience yesterday afternoon was a clear understanding that the presence of the Lord makes all the difference during times of pain. He did uphold me with his righteous right hand. He did take hold of me by my right hand and say, "Do not fear; I will help you." And what a difference that makes. I have witnessed God's grace in action in a most practical way.

My Mother's Journey - Part 3

Before you read the next installment of My Mother's Journey, please read the first installment...

My Mother's Journey - Part 1
My Mother's Journey - Part 2

The next few days I woke early in the morning and spent much time in prayer, declaring and encouraging my own heart with what the Lord had promised through the account of Hezekiah. With it came the comforting assurance from the Lord from John 11:4:

"This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it".

We flew down to Melbourne on the 22nd December to be with David and the family for Christmas and, especially, to be with him to pray with him. As the taxi arrived at the house, David came out the front door to greet us. Although we had communicated everyday by phone and email, I had not seen him for a few months. To see him now so thin hit like a dagger to my heart.

We spent the day together, sharing the words of the Lord and enjoying the time with the children and we all went out for dinner together. David gave us his car to use and, in the evening, Paul and I drove to the hotel where we would be staying. We were now alone and, with the sight of David still heavy in my soul, the tears were trying to flow. Paul comforted me saying, "It's all right to cry, darling...it's okay," but I held them back as best I could, trying to keep my heart focussed on the promises of the Lord. We had organised to meet some friends for lunch the next day but I just felt I couldn't go, I needed to spend time with the Lord. So Paul went and I stayed in the hotel room.

Alone with the Lord I let my emotions free. I cannot put into words the agony of soul, the very physical pain like a sword thrust into the depth of my being, but I poured out the pain of my heart to the Lord. How long I lay weeping on the bed I don't know but the gentle comfort of the Lord began to come. Clearly to my mind came the words of Jesus in John 5:17-21:

"My Father is always at His work, even to this day."

I got to my feet and began to thank the Lord for what He was doing in David today - that every day He was at work and the sense that, in prayer, we join Him each day in the work that He is doing.

The next day again the enemy began to attack my heart with fear. I began to read through the Gospels of the Lord Jesus' compassion reaching out to people in the wonderful healings and miracles he performed. I came to the account in Luke 8:41-42,49-56 of Jairus coming to Jesus pleading with him to heal his 12 year-old daughter who was dying, but then, as they were on the way to the house, someone came and told Jairus, "Your daughter is dead...Don't bother the teacher any more." It was as though the words Jesus then spoke to Jairus were being spoken directly to me...

"DON'T BE AFRAID; JUST BELIEVE..."

I can honestly say that since that moment fear left my heart. The few times since, when it has tried to raise its ugly head, these words immediately are spoken to my heart again and a wonderful peace and assurance from the Lord fills me.

The Lord has given many others words of encouragement which would take too long to share in detail, but each day has been a sense of, through prayer, knowing what He is doing that particular day and joining Him in His work of healing. He has given many scriptures of comfort and encouragement, all of them assurances of His faithfulness to His promises. I love that scripture in 2 Corinthians 1:20...

"For no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ. And so through him the 'Amen' is spoken by us to the glory of God."

AMEN!

Facing Fear

Fear. We all have to face it at some time, and just "brushing it under the carpet" is no answer. We cannot afford either to deny our fears or, worse, submit to them – in faith we must face our fears and overcome them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, unless we acknowledge and face fear, it will end up controlling our decisions by default.

The Bible provides us with many examples of those who faced their fears in the strength of the Lord. Many of the heroes of faith – those the Bible gives us as models to emulate – had to face up to their fears. Paul, for example, faced many fears. In 2 Corinthians 7:5, he wrote:

"For when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn - conflicts on the outside, fears within."

David too had fears, many of which surfaced during times of intense suffering, but in Psalm 34:4-6 (NLT), he wrote:

"I prayed to the LORD, and he answered me, freeing me from all my fears. Those who look to [God] for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces. I cried to the LORD in my suffering, and he heard me. He set me free from all my fears."

The antidote to fear is, I believe, three-fold - faith, hope and love (1 Corinthians 13:13). Each complements the others, and it is only when all three are operating that fear is dispelled. So let's take a quick look at each of these "antidotes" and then I'll share with you some of the fears I have personally had to face and overcome in the power of the Lord.

Faith

Psalm 56:3-4 says:

"When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?"

Trust in the Lord is the most basic antidote to fear. Isaiah 12:2 says:

"Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation."

In the same vein, Hebrews 13:6 says:

"So we say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid...'"

When we face fear, God's response is to reveal himself as the one who is greater than our fear (once again, overcoming fear is based on the revelation-response principle - see "The Resurrection and the Life"). For example, in Revelation 1:17-18, Jesus said:

"...Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades."

This revelation of the Lord as "the One greater than our fear" is summed up in 1 John 4:4:

"You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world."

It sometimes helps to take a verse and personalise it by substituting certain words. For example, in my case, I could re-phrase 1 John 4:4 in this way:

"I, David, am from God and have overcome my fear of cancer, because the one who is in me is greater than cancer."

Try it for yourself. Just substitute your name, together with a word which describes your fear, in the blank spaces in the following paraphrase of 1 John 4:4:

"I, ______________, am from God and have overcome the fear of _______________, because the one who is in me is greater than _______________."

Faith is simply taking God at his word, no questions asked. It is saying, "I believe what God says rather than what my fear says." For this reason, faith is the most basic antidote to fear.

Hope

Hope, simply defined, is the sure expectation of God's promised deliverance. Hope means a certainty that, despite apparent circumstances, God's purpose will prevail. For this reason, Isaiah 35:3-4 says:

"Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, 'Be strong, do not fear; your God will come...he will come to save you."

But even though hope has to do with the future (see Proverbs 23:18; Jeremiah 29:11; Romans 8:24-25) it has a very immediate effect in the present. For the product of hope is peace! When we have hope, we also experience peace, and peace is the opposite of fear. This was why Jesus said in John 14:27: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

Love

Zephaniah 3:16-17, which the Lord gave me earlier today in my personal time of devotions with him, says:

"...Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."

It is the presence of God which calms fear. When my children were young, and became afraid, they would run to me and I would embrace them. That embrace was the immediate antidote to their fear. They felt protected against that which was outside of their control.

This is how it is with you and God. When you are fearful, run to his embrace. As the New Living Translation renders Zephaniah 3:17:

"With his love, he will calm your fears."

Many scriptures echo the simple fact that fear disappears in the presence of the God of our salvation. For example, in Isaiah 43:5, the Lord says: "Do not be afraid, for I am with you..." (see also Jeremiah 1:8).

In 2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV), Paul makes an important statement:

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

It is the "spirit of love" that is found in Jesus Christ which overcomes the "spirit of fear." One replaces the other.

1 John 4:18 gives us a deeper understanding of the inverse connection between love and fear:

"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."

Thus the answer to fear is God's love. It is by experiencing the "perfect love" of God, and being "made perfect" in that love, that fear is driven out.

During this time of suffering, the Lord has helped me to face up to my own fears. I can honestly say I have zero fear of dying. Like Paul, my attitude is: "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21). So dying itself holds no terror for me. But that doesn't mean I don't have fears to face. My fears are as follows:

1. Fear of pain - I've experienced intense, sustained pain in the past, and I must say that although it's not a major fear for me, the fear of pain is still a factor I've had to face. But once again, faith, hope and love have been the antidotes to this fear. I have faith that God will be there for me when I experience pain and that he can heal me. I have hope that even if I have to face pain, God will eventually bring me through to complete victory. And I have love - a sure knowledge that God's presence will be with me, even during times of suffering.

2. Fear of incapacity - This has been a long-time fear for me. Long ago, I had to talk with the Lord about this fear. I was particularly terrified of suffering a stroke, where I might experience paralysis and, in particular, loss of speech. So you can understand how, when facing the issue of cancer, I could easily allow myself to become fearful of the last stage, which often involves incapacitation. But the Lord has helped me to overcome this fear. If ever I need to face this (and, by the way, I'm not in any way expecting to), I know that I will have the Lord with me and special grace will be experienced - grace specific for the occasion.

3. Fear of shame - This is quite a basic fear at this time. I have less of a fear of dying than a fear of being ashamed. After all, I've "put myself out on a limb" by stating that I'm fully convinced that God will heal me. What if I'm not healed? What if I do die? (You'll notice that fears thrive on playing with "what if" scenarios). But I stand firm on the promise of Isaiah 54:4: "Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated." And like Paul, in Philippians 1:20, I can say: "I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death."

Your list of fears will likely be very different from mine, but the answer to those fears remains the same: faith in the Lord, hope in his promises, and an abiding knowledge of his love for you. Take on board for yourself the promise found in Psalm 27:1,3:

"The LORD is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid?...Though an army beseige me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident."

My Daily Bread

Each morning, as I begin the day, I look to the Lord for his word for that day. As Isaiah 50:4 says:

"The Sovereign LORD...wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught."

It's not good enough to live off yesterday's word. Paraphrasing Jesus' words in Matthew 4:4 for myself:

"[David] does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."

But who wants to eat stale bread? If we expect, in the natural, to eat fresh bread each day, why should we expect anything different when it comes to spiritual bread?

The gathering of the manna in the Old Testament is, I believe, a beautiful picture of how the gathering of spiritual bread works. In fact, the very words quoted by Jesus in Matthew 4:4 come from Deuteronomy 8:3:

"[God] humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD."

So if the sending of manna was designed to be a picture of the spiritual bread (the words that come from the mouth of the Lord), what does the gathering of the daily manna actually teach us? Exodus 16:19-21 says:

"Then Moses said to them, 'No one is to keep any of [the manna] until morning.' However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them. Each morning everyone gathered as much as he needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away."

Remember: According to Deuteronomy 8:3, God sent manna in order to teach the people of Israel that "man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD." This means that God was teaching them to gather their "spiritual bread" also on the same basis - morning by morning, without lazily "hoarding" it over several days (in order to save the effort of collecting it on a daily basis).

All too often, we try to live off yesterday's grace. But God's grace is a daily grace. It cannot be stored ahead of time, but is only made available at the point of need (Hebrews 4:16). As Louis Cassels explains:

"If God wants you to do something, he'll make it possible for you to do it, but the grace he provides comes only with the task and cannot be stockpiled beforehand. We are dependent on him from hour to hour, and the greater our awareness of this fact, the less likely we are to faint or fail in a crisis."

Lamentations 3:22-23 reveals that God's compassions "are new every morning." Each day, God's grace is revealed as sufficient for the day (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). This means that I cannot survive on yesterday's grace. Like the manna in the wilderness, God's grace is fresh and new each morning. I need to take time to draw on his grace each and every day.

For this reason, I regard the basic unit of my walk with the Lord to be "the day." As I worship the Lord in the morning, and read his Word, I am looking for the "theme" that will develop for that day. That theme may be God's faithfulness, or his holiness, or a challenge to trust him.

Once the theme for the day is identified, all sorts of theme-related things begin to happen. Songs and hymns come to mind, all theme-based. I come across other scriptures based on the same theme. And even my conversations with others will often "coincidently" gravitate to that theme. The theme becomes the basis of my response of faith to the Lord for that day, and also the basis of my thanksgiving at the end of the day.

Just to give an example, this is how it worked for me today. As I started the day today, I asked the Lord to give me his word for the day. I read a number of passages of Scripture, all encouraging and challenging, but the moment I came to Zephaniah 3:14-17, I knew that this was my "word for the day." It says:

Sing, O Daughter of Zion;
shout aloud, O Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
O Daughter of Jerusalem!

The LORD has taken away your punishment,
he has turned back your enemy.
The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you;
never again will you fear any harm.

On that day they will say to Jerusalem,
"Do not fear, O Zion;
do not let your hands hang limp.

The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing."

There are a number of potential themes here, including joy, salvation and singing, but the phrase that particularly struck me was: "Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp." In the light of the post I have almost finished (and will publish later today) on the subject of "Facing Fear", this verse is particularly significant.

So I began to talk to the Lord about this promise and command: "Do not fear." As I prayed, an old song came to mind, which I began to sing. It goes like this:

Fear not, for I am with you
Fear not, for I am with you
Fear not, for I am with you, says the Lord
(Repeat)

I have redeemed you
I have called you by name
Child, you are mine
When you walk through the waters,
I'll be there
And through the flame
You will not be drowned
You will not be burned
For I am with you!

Fear not!

From there, another scripture was brought to my mind - the passage that this song is based on. Isaiah 43:1-2 says:

"But now, this is what the LORD says - he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.

This scripture triggered yet another scripture, which is found in Isaiah 41:10,13:

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand...For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you."

So this has become my theme for the day with the Lord. God has redeemed me. Even though I walk through deep waters or a blazing fire, I will not perish, because the Lord has taken me by my right hand. Therefore, I will not fear!

Now, because I view each day as a basic unit of my walk with the Lord, I find that God also weaves many of these daily themes together in a beautiful tapestry of promise that can only be viewed by reflection - in other words, looking back on the previous days and meditating on what the Lord has been saying so far. In other words, just because I look to the Lord for a fresh word each day does not mean I neglect what the Lord has been saying on previous days. In fact, new revelations of God's grace often come out through these reflective times.

As one example, the "daily bread" I received from the Lord last Tuesday was from 2 Samuel 22 (see "Loosed from the Cords of Death"). This morning, I received an email from Donna Burttschell, at Oasis Community Church in San Antonio, TX, and she wrote:

"As I was praying for you this morning (reading Psalm 118) I was also led to Psalm 18 (all of it) and then to verse 50 - '...he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever.'"

As I looked up Psalm 18, I was excited to discover that Psalm 18 is the same as 2 Samuel 22! In other words, Donna had been led, independantly from me, to the same promise from the Lord, found in a totally different part of the Bible! Talk about spiritual déjà vu!

And so I re-read Psalm 18, as if for the first time, and this time the emphasis for me was upon a couple of verses:

Verse 32 - "It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." This corresponds with Isaiah 41:10, which says: "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

Verse 35 - "You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great." This confirms again the word I got from the Lord in Isaiah 41:13, which says: "For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you."

Coincidence? Hardly! In fact, "coincidences" only happen to a life that is bereft of an overriding purpose. But for the God-designed life, every "coincidence" becomes a "God-incidence", where the serendipitous principle of Romans 8:28 comes into operation. As the Amplified Bible renders it:

"We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose."

So what is the Lord saying to you today? What spiritual manna have you collected? What is the special grace he wants to reveal - the mercy that is new every morning? What theme does the Lord want to establish for you today?

Can I encourage you to press in each and every day to discover the word God has for you - the manna that is unique for the day!

First the Natural, Then the Spiritual

As I've mentioned in previous posts, the Lord has been working on my life on two levels:

• The physical level - natural health
• The spiritual level - spiritual health

For example, in "The Oncologist's Report", I wrote:

"But my medical condition (the physical illness) is only one dimension of my life. There is an overriding dimension - the spiritual dimension - which is my daily walk with the Lord. The physical dimension is based on words from my oncologist (the natural physician). The spiritual dimension is based on words from God himself (the Great Physician)."

And in "The Living Water", I wrote:

"Since I've been diagnosed with cancer (and even before, since my primary symptoms began over a year ago), I've been addressing my natural eating and drinking habits. Elena, for example, has given me a strict 'water regimen'. She's created a daily 'water chart' to make sure that I am drinking enough fluid. We have selected from a range of foods and nutritional supplements to help the body strengthen. Even though the Lord is my Healer, I also have a responsibility to my own body to make sure that it is equipped for the fight. But as important as this physical level is, the spiritual level is just as important.

In fact, one thing has become clear to me during this crisis. God is at work on two levels:

xxx * The physical - which involves healing
xxx * The spiritual - which involves maturing

I cannot affort to neglect either, nor favour one over the other. I need nutrition for both."

There is a basic principle of biblical interpretation found in Scripture, called "First the natural, then the spiritual." The Message renders 1 Corinthians 15:46 in this way:

"Physical life comes first, then spiritual."

I'm applying a similar principle in my own life. While focusing on my spiritual health, I'm not neglecting my physical health. I'm placing just as much an emphasis on addressing the physical needs of my "outer man" as I am addressing the spiritual needs of my "inner man". The two are closely inter-related.

For example, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says:

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body."

There is a gnostic pseudo-theology that has circled within the Church since the first century which de-emphasises the body and over-emphasises the spirit. Gnosticism held that the body was inherently evil and the spirit inherently good. But the Bible doesn't support this. Sin has corrupted all levels of human existence - body, soul and spirit - and only the Blood of Christ can cleanse a person through and through.

This is why 2 Corinthians 7:1 says:

"Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God."

In the same way, 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says:

"May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

For this reason, Ephesians 5:29 speaks of feeding and caring for one's own body.

So, in response to the deteriorating nature of my physical condition, here is my daily regime for physical health:

Water

I've never been diligent in drinking enough water (Elena's often been on my case about this), although in the last couple of years I've improved a lot. But now I've given up carbonated soft drinks and drink only water, juice and soya milk.

I've just about reached the point now where I drink about 3 litres of water a day, and I'm slowly increasing this. I believe that of all the changes to my diet, this is the most basic and arguably the most important.

I now carry a bottle of water around me wherever I go. And a friend bought me a water distiller, so now I drink mainly distilled water for its cleansing effect (I get my minerals through food and supplements).

Fruit

Elena has always loved fruit, and has encouraged the family to eat five different types of fruit a day. My average day includes the following fruit: papaya, kiwifruit, mango, orange, apple and peach/nectarine, with occasional bananas, grapes, cherries, plums/prunes and watermelon.

For Christmas, a friend gave me a juicing machine, so now my favourite daily juice is a blend of carrot, apple, celery and ginger. Friends from church have also encouraged me to drink exotic fruit juices, such as noni and goji, which have strong anecdotal evidence in helping the body fight cancer. I'm really enjoying these, and the therapeutic value of these juices is, I know, of added benefit.

Diet

My diet has drastically changed over the last couple of years, due to the shrinking of my stomach capacity, and so for quite some time I've been only able to eat small portions at a time, and need to eat frequently (about every hour or so). This means that I am not a good prospect for a buffet/smorgasbord meal - I'm just not good value for money, I'm afraid ;-)

But now I've cut out specific types of food, such as red meats, smoked foods, preserved foods and fried foods. My diet now emphasises more fresh food - fruits, vegetables, fibre, carbohydrates, with minimal transfats and meats.

A friend from church (who is a doctor) gave me a book titled What the Bible Says About Healthy Living, by Rex Russell MD. This provides very practical dietary principles, straight from God's Word. I'm also reading other books on the subject of both diet and cancer, and so in time I'll share with you any insights I get or recommendations I may have.

Supplements

As soon as people knew I had cancer, many approached me to recommend nutritional products they had tried and found helpful. I'm presently trialing a range of products - including Usana, Herbalife, Forever Living, Noni Juice, Goji Juice and Mannatech. I don't see these products as "the answer" to my healing, but rather complementing what God is already doing in my life. I believe in a wholistic approach to healing. Medicines, nutrition, surgery, chemotherapy - all these can play a role in helping my body to battle the cancer, but ultimately it is the Lord who heals.

Because modern food is often over-processed, green-harvested and grown in nutrient-poor soil, many of the vitamins and minerals are stripped out of food we eat. For this reason, I've long been a firm believer in the necessity of taking nutritional supplements. Of course, what you need to take depends on who you talk to!

Right now I'm experimenting with a few different types of nutritional powder, vitamin/mineral supplements and special foods (such as kelp, wheatgrass, barley green and spirulina). The most important thing, however, is to increase nutrition to allow my body to have peak ability to fight the cancer. I believe this is a very real part of the healing process the Lord has initiated for me.

Exercise

Physical exercise is also an important part of a healthy lifestyle, and so I'm taking regular walks and playing cricket with Jordan, when I can.

Long walks have long been a favourite, and works well for me now, although I can still get easily fatigued. I particularly like to mix walking and praying.

Laughter

Proverbs 17:22 tells us:

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Medical studies have long shown that this verse is true - a cheerful heart has a medicinal effect, and laughter has therapeutic properties. So I determined from the beginning that I would have at least one daily dose of laughter. This can come in a number of ways:

1. Keeping a cheerful approach to life and seeing the humour in everyday situations. One small example: On Monday, when we arrived at the camp site, my daughter Stephanie borrowed my camera and proceeded to record camp life, as she saw it. This now includes photos of 1) her face from close up; 2) the fire escape instructions on our room door; 3) the clock beside her bed; 4) multiple shots of herself in the mirror; 5) the toilet seat (top marks for artistic composition, Stephanie!). Humour surrounds us, sometimes in the most mundane of things, if we just keep our eyes open to it.

2. Reading online humour (well, the clean stuff, anyway). I've always enjoyed a well-crafted joke. For example, take a look at this one:

   A man was talking with the Lord, and asked him, "Is it true, Lord, that a million years to you is just like a moment?"
   
   A voice boomed from heaven: "Yes, my son."
   
   The man asked, "Is it true, then, that a million dollars is to you just like a cent?"
   
   The divine voice boomed, "Yes, my son."
   
   "Well, then," said the man. "Could you give me a cent?"
   
   "In a moment," came the reply.

3. Watching comedies and TV programs such as "Funniest Home Videos". For Christmas, my parents bought me a season of the old British comedy, "Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em", on DVD, and I'll be graduating from that to "Faulty Towers" soon. For an example of something that tickles me, check out the "Don't Touch My Bone" video that I've uploaded for you. In short, find ways to enjoy and share humour, for God created us with a sense of humour, and that humour has a healing effect.

Sleep

This is also an important component to the healing process. My night-time sleep patterns are fairly broken at the moment, but I’m able to catch up with sleep through two naps a day – one in the late morning and another in the late afternoon.

Psalm 3:5 gives this promise:

I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.

Even if you don't have a life-threatening illness, can I encouraged you to act pre-emptively and put these things into practice in your own life now? Keep in mind old adage:

Prevention is better than cure.

The Trial of Faith - Part 2

Before reading this post, please first read the previous post:

The Trial of Faith - Part 1

The lifestyle of a disciple of Jesus Christ is based on faith in Christ. But true faith is an enduring faith. Faith is not faith unless there is an obstacle involved – an obstacle that can be removed by God alone. This is the dynamic behind the "trial of faith."

There are four parts to a trial of faith, which is patterned time after time by the "heroes of faith" in the Bible (read Hebrews 11):

1. A word from God – First, God encourages you with a word relevant to your circumstances. This may come through the Scripture or by the inner voice of God's Spirit, which is always in line with the written Word of God.

2. Obedience to the word – For faith to operate in your situation, you must obey that word. Faith is active, not passive. Most of God's promises are conditional – he will do his part, if you respond in faith and obedience to his Word.

3. The crisis of faith – This is a period of testing. Everything that happens appears contrary to what God has said (see Psalm 105:17-19). At this point, your faith rests solely on God's Word. This is true faith in action.

4. The outcome of faith – The end result of a trial of faith is victory on the part of the believer, bringing glory to God (see James 1:12; 1 Peter 1:7; Hebrews 6:13-15).

In each trial we face, God is looking for faith - remember, it is our response of faith which pleases God (Hebrews 11:6). Many times we tend to short-circuit the faith process. We believe God for something – healing, provision, an answer of some kind – and then wonder why God doesn't respond immediately. But God is doing a deep work in our lives. Even though he has promised to answer, he will sometimes delay the answer to give opportunity for our faith to really work. This is because once the answer comes, we don't need faith anymore (we then shift from faith to thanksgiving). But what we need to realise is that faith itself produces something in our hearts which has greater eternal value than even the answer we are believing for!

1 John 5:4 provides a unique insight into the true nature of the faith dynamic in our lives:

"...for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith."

Do you notice what this verse says? Faith itself is the victory! Victory isn’t defined by the answer to our faith, but by our very faith in operation, even before the answer comes! I am not waiting to experience God’s total healing in order to have the victory. I already have the victory – right now! My faith itself is the victory!

This changes the whole way we approach the problems of life. Even while you are going through a trial of faith, with the answer not yet in sight, your faith is the very victory that sustains you. You are "shielded by faith" (Ephesians 6:16; 1 Peter 1:5) until the time when God's answer comes.

This is why Galatians 2:20 says:

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

In Romans 8:37, we have that wonderful promise from God:

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."

This is the nature of the Christian life – we are described as "more than conquerors," which means far more than just being a "super-conqueror." A natural conqueror is a conqueror only as long as he is seeing the natural victories. But a "more than a conqueror" is someone that surpasses the very definition of what it means to be a conqueror! And the clue to what Paul means when he says "more than a conqueror" is found at the beginning of verse 37, where Paul says: "No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors..."

In what things? If we read verses 35-36, we quickly find out what things Paul is talking about:

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.'"

Notice that it is in the midst of the hardships of life that we are "more than conquerors." It is "in these things" - trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger and sword - that I have the victory. I am not a conqueror because I have the absence of trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger and sword. No, I am "more than a conqueror" right in the middle of experiencing these very trials of life! This is the nature of faith.

So faith is what defines my walk with God right now. At this point, I have no hard evidence that God has healed me. In fact, all the indicators point to the opposite. All the advice from my doctors is that I do not have long to live. These are the observable "facts" of my situation. But I have another set of "facts" – which is God’s word to me. My faith doesn't mean I deny the reality of the physical facts; my faith means that God’s word overrides that reality. I have chosen to place my faith in God - that he "rewards those who earnestly seek him" (Hebrews 11:6).

My faith is in the Lord as my Healer. Although I'm asking him to heal quickly, I am also willing to wait patiently for him. In the words of Psalm 37:7:

"Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him..."

The Trial of Faith - Part 1

We all know the importance of faith. The very message of salvation through Jesus Christ is a message of faith, and Hebrews 11:6 tells us why:

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

But how does faith actually work? And why is it that "without faith it is impossible to please God"? And maybe, most importantly, how does faith actually work in a situation like mine? This is what I want to explore in this post today.

Let's first take a closer look at Hebrews 11:6. This verse shows that faith has two levels:

1. Faith in God's existence – to "believe that he exists"

2. Faith in God’s character – to "believe that he rewards those who earnestly seek him"

It's not good enough just to have the first level of faith. That is a passive faith – a mere belief in the existence of God (after all, even on God's part, "existence" is passive). True faith, however, is active. It takes belief in God's existence to its next level (since the verb "rewards" is active, it also requires an active response from me). It motives me to actively seek God earnestly.

Today, a dear friend and brother, Cal Marsh from Christ Chapel in Macon, Georgia, wrote to me and shared his own paraphrase of Hebrews 11:6, as if spoken by the Lord directly to me, and it really encouraged me. Here is that paraphrase:

"Nothing pleases Me more than your steadfast faith in all that I am and all that I promise to do."

I once heard someone explain the nature of faith with this illustration. There once was a stuntman who was crossing Niagra Falls on a tightrope. The watching crowd oohed and aahed as he defied both gravity and fear, crossing over to the other side of the great waterfall, then turning and coming back to the crowd. When the daredevil had reached the crowd, he called out to them: "How many of you believe that I could cross over to the other side and back again with a man in a wheelbarrow?"

Based on the great cheers that came from the spectators, it was obvious that everyone believed he could. The daredevil then shouted to the crowd: "Great! Now I need a volunteer to climb into my wheelbarrow!" Silence was the only answer from the crowd. Their faith in his skill was only a spectator faith. Personally putting their life on the line was, however, a different story.

Faith in God puts your life on the line with him. It is more than just mental assent, an acknowledgement of the truth. Faith steps out with God beyond your past experience, beyond your past capacity, beyond the known into the unknown. By definition, faith "stretches you." It breaches the safety zone – the personal "don't touch me" zone you have created for yourself which is comfortable and with minimal risk – and places you out on the living edge with God.

Faith, essentially, means total trust in God – trust in God's promises, trust in God's character, and trust in God's capability to do all he has promised to do. That's why Romans 4:18-21 describes Abraham's faith in this way:

"Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed…Without wavering in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead – since he was about a hundred years old – and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised."

Hebrews 11 is often called the chapter of faith, but in this chapter, the writer is simply explaining in more detail a point he has made at the end of chapter 10. In Hebrews 10:35-39, he wrote:

"So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a little while, ‘He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased by him.’ But we are not of whose who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved."

In this passage we discover more about the nature of faith:

• Faith is about having an unwavering confidence in God
  
• Faith is about persevering under adverse circumstances
  
• Faith is about not shrinking back

I have a choice as to how I will respond in my current situation. I can respond in faith, which means not throwing my confidence away and persevering to do the will of God. Or I can respond with fear and doubt, and "shrink back". I, together with my family, have decided to have faith in God. This faith has launched us beyond the realm of what is humanly "possible" into the realm where "nothing is impossible with God" (Luke 1:37). As Jesus said in Mark 9:23:

"...Everything is possible for him who believes."

But what happens now? There is a type of faith often preached today which emphasises a demand for instant results. Faith becomes almost a formula for getting what we want in life - a spiritual button that we push and God responds to, snapping to attention, and doing our bidding, like the genie of the bottle. In this distorted view of faith, God becomes the servant and we become the master.

This twisted understanding of faith is very much a product of modern thinking. We live in a world of instant expectations. Our cars are fast, our food is fast, our communications are fast, and we expect God to be fast. We drink instant coffee, eat instant noodles and expect from God an instant resolution to our problems. We’ve translated the modern demand for instant satisfaction into an instant-answer theology.

But God doesn’t quite work that way. Although 2 Peter 3:9 tells us that God is not "slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness," 2 Peter 3:8 tells that God also doesn't work according to the convenience of our time schedule. He doesn't fit neatly into that five-minute slot we've conveniently allowed for him in our busy timetable.

In order to comprehend how faith really works, we need to gain a biblical understanding of faith. In Hebrews 6:12, the writer says:

"We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised."

Note that these two words - faith and patience - go hand in hand. We don't inherit what God has promised just through faith, but through faith and patience. Faith and patience aren’t contradictory; they are complimentary (see also 2 Thessalonians 1:4).

This doesn't mean that God doesn't often answer quickly or even instantly. I'll share one example from my own experience.

When I was 18, I traveled with my dad into the deep jungles of South East Asia, going from village to village along the Thai-Burmese border, preaching the Gospel and praying for the sick. It was in the middle of the rainy season, and we were continuously wet, literally from head to toe, for more than three weeks. Because this area of jungle was one of the worst malaria areas in the world, my dad and I had prayed and asked the Lord for his protection. We were also taking quinine, as a preventative measure, but knew that this did not totally protect us from malaria.

We had just arrived in one village and had sat down to eat when I began to feel seriously ill. I excused myself from the dinner and lay down on my sleeping mat, under a mosquito net. But within a few minutes, I began to shake violently and had a raging fever.

I managed to pull myself back to the room where my father and the village elders were eating and told Dad I was ill. I didn’t need to say much; he could see that I was exhibiting all the classic symptoms of malaria. He walked me back to the room where I had my sleeping mat and told me to stand there, while he laid hands on me and prayed for me. I remember clearly the words he prayed: "In Jesus' name we take authority over this attack on David’s body and we command this malaria to take its hands off David!" I also remember my thoughts at the time. I had absolutely no faith. All I could think about was: "Please get the prayer over quick, Dad, so that I can lie down."

After Dad had finished praying for me, I lay down on my mat, but a few minutes passed before I realised that I was not longer shaking. In fact, my fever had broken and the horrible illness I felt in the pit of my stomach had disappeared. But I can remember thinking at the time: It's just because I've lain down. The moment I stand up again, the shaking will return.

That shows just how little faith I had. Yet my Dad's faith, it turned out, was more than enough for the both of us. After about five minutes, I finally decided it was ridiculous to lie there, trying to explain away the sudden absence of symptoms. I stood up and was amazed at how strong I felt. It was just dawning on me that I had been healed...and it had happened so fast that it had taken me by surprise. I went in to the eating area and joined them for dinner, feeling suddenly very hungry.

This is just one of many stories I could tell, but the important thing to note is that I believe that God can and often does respond "instantly." The danger, however, is to equate "successful" faith with such instant results. But is that what faith is actually all about?

Take a look at 1 Peter 1:6-7:

"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These [trials] have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed."

According to Peter, true faith – genuine faith – is "tried", or "refined", in the same way that gold is "tried" or "refined" by fire. Peter calls this the "trial of faith." James also describes the same thing in James 1:2-4:

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance most finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

You'll notice that God is working on many levels in your life. The mistake many Christians make is that they think that God's primary goal is to make them happy, comfortable and satisfied. Far from it, God's primary goal is to mature you to be like Christ (see Romans 8:29). And the mechanism by which God matures you is faith - or, more precisely, the trial of faith!

This is important to understand, because if we miss this point, we'll totally misunderstand the work of God in our lives. Here I am, sick with a disease that threatens to take my life. But God is interested in far more than just healing me. His purpose is to mature me, and to glorify himself in my life. And so, for that reason, God may choose to delay his answer in order to "test" my faith – to prove it genuine. This testing of my faith, as James 1:3 explains, is designed to develop perseverance, which in turn must "finish its work so that [I] may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

To be continued...click here for "The Trial of Faith - Part 2"

My Father's Journey - Part 1

Over the next weeks, my father (Paul Collins) will also be sharing his own journey of prayer and faith, from the moment he first heard the news of my cancer.

Here is the first installment...

When crises strike in life we are struck to the very core of our being. When Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20 received word of a great multitude that was coming against Judah, the immediate reaction was to fear, but then Jehoshaphat and all the people set themselves to seek the Lord. Then they began to hear from God, and the Lord spoke through the prophet Jahaziel, telling the people to set themselves...to stand still and they would see the salvation of the Lord. He went on to declare to them "the battle is not yours but it is mine, says the Lord".

When we heard of David's condition we also, of course, together with hundreds around the world, began to seek the Lord. Because of many years of experience and many trials of faith and seeing many miracles, even in healing over cancer, we always are driven to look to the foundations of our faith.

So we felt some things very clearly. Firstly, that David's life and ministry is not yet finished for he has works to do prepared since before the creation of the world (Ephesians 2:10). Secondly, the finished work of the Cross provides all of the declarations of the total defeat of Satanic forces and the salvation of our lives by faith.

In Romans 1:17 it says that we receive righteousness from God (as a gift) and we receive this by faith and it is "from first to last", in other words, our total life-span.

The provisions of the Cross and the atonement provide total deliverance from sin, sickness and the curse. This was all taken by Jesus on the Cross, including cancer. Matthew 8:17 says "He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases". Jesus also took the judgment for all that is involved in these things so that we might be free.

Jesus said, "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32) and "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36).

This glorious provision is made for all believers and has been kept in Heaven for our use when needed (Hebrews 4:16).

The enemy is on the search for ways that he can destroy our lives but Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).

In the case of David he has been overworked for the last six years, doing the job of several people in relation to the writing, developing and maintaining The Online Bible College which reaches out into 155 countries. Cancer can take hold because of a breakdown of the immune system. I believe this is what has happened to David and the enemy has taken advantage.

So the provision for David's healing is not in question and God promises that "...if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you" (Romans 8:11). One translation puts it this way, he will "give life to your death-doomed body".

In order to minister this heavenly provision, Bunty and I went to Melbourne, laid hands upon David and anointed him liberally with oil (James 5:14). It ran down all over him and he decided he didn't want to wash it off until that night. We also brought before the Father the hundreds who have been praying for David around the world, and we also know that angels were in attendance...

"Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?" Hebrews 1:14.

Several real physical indications of the beginning of healing followed this, which gave us strong encouragement.

It is a wonderful thing to realise that in John 17:9, Jesus said "I am not praying for the world, but for those whom you [Father] have given me for they are yours".

The multiplying cancer cells are an evil invasion bearing the spirit of death and seeking to destroy living cells. We believe the glory and the anointing of the Lord is destroying these carriers of death.

I also believe that we are living in the day when God is going to manifest His miracle-working power in the Body of Christ in a way that has never been seen upon the face of the earth. It has been our experience over 45 years of ministry to see many times the manifested power of God in miracles of all kinds, but this is nothing compared with what is coming.

We are standing with David on the threshold of a miracle. We love you David.

"Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord" 2 Chronicles 20:17.

For the next installment, read "My Father's Journey - Part 2"

My Mother's Journey - Part 2

Before you read the next installment of My Mother's Journey, please read the first installment...

My Mother's Journey - Part 1

On December 16th, I woke early in the morning and began to pace the floor, praying with all that was within me for David, asking the Lord for His confirmation of the word He had given from Hezekiah. As I prayed, another thought came strongly to my heart - "Cancer is not God!" The word "cancer" puts such fear into people's hearts and, as in David's case, is often declared to be all-powerful, with nothing able to combat it.

"But cancer is not God!" I thought. "God is God and He is all-powerful! He is far greater than cancer. He is the great Creator. He is seated on the Throne with total power and authority. He is the Almighty! He is the God of all hope (Romans 15:13)." I began to declare this as I prayed and my spirit began to rise.

"I stand on Who You are, Lord," I declared. My whole perspective in prayer now came from this vantage point.

As the day proceeded, David constantly in my prayers, there were times when emotion would overtake me. It would whell up within me suddenly and unexpectedly and the tears would begin to flow. But then I would immediately lift my heart to the Lord and begin to declare the wonder of Who He is...that He is the Almighty, all-powerful God and, again, my spirit would rise.

The next day, again waking early, I continued to pray from this vantage point. Then, again, as I prayed I was reminded of Hezekiah, I remembered what had happened to him earlier in the account. How the Assyrian army had surrounded and laid seige to the city of Jerusalem. All the surrounding nations had fallen to the rising empire and Sennacharib, the king, sent this message to Hezekiah in 2 Kings 19:10-13:

"Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, 'Jesusalem will not be handed over the the king of Assyria.' Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my forefathers deliver them....? Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, or of Hena or Ivvah?"

I saw this as a picture in relation to David. I saw the cancer "laying siege" to David like the enemies had surrounded Jerusalem. I saw its proud declaration of all-power like that of Sennacharib. Then I read again Hezekiah's response in 2 Kings 19:14-19:

"Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: 'O Lord, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God. It is true, O Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by men's hands. Now, O Lord our God deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O Lord are God."

I saw, in relation to David, this was how the Holy Spirit was inspiring me to pray. Like those Assyrians, cancer is not all-powerful - God is! My spirit rose again and I began again to declare in David's situation the greatness of the Lord. Again I prayed...

"I stand on Who You are, Lord!"

Through the prophet, Isaiah, the Lord gave a promise of deliverance from the enemy that was surrounding them (2 Kings 19:20-34) and that night, while Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem slept, the Lord miraculously delivered them from the Assyrian army. He sent an angel to destroy them (2 Kings 19:35-36).

My heart rose in faith. The Almighty God is on David's side in this battle against the evil enemy, cancer.

Click here for the next installment: My Mother's Journey - Part 3