In This Day

 “In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city; he sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks. Open the gates, that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in. You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. For he has humbled the inhabitants of the height, the lofty city. He lays it low, lays it low to the ground, casts it to the dust. The foot tramples it, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy.” The path of the righteous is level; you make level the way of the righteous. In the path of your judgments, O Lord, we wait for you; your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul. My soul yearns for you in the night; my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. If favor is shown to the wicked, he does not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness he deals corruptly and does not see the majesty of the Lord. O Lord, your hand is lifted up, but they do not see it. Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed. Let the fire for your adversaries consume them. O Lord, you will ordain peace for us, for you have indeed done for us all our works. O Lord our God, other Lords besides you have ruled over us, but your name alone we bring to remembrance. They are dead, they will not live; they are shades, they will not arise; to that end you have visited them with destruction and wiped out all remembrance of them. But you have increased the nation, O Lord, you have increased the nation; you are glorified; you have enlarged all the borders of the land. O Lord, in distress they sought you; they poured out a whispered prayer when your discipline was upon them. Like a pregnant woman who writhes and cries out in her pangs when she is near to giving birth, so were we because of you, O Lord; we were pregnant, we writhed, but we have given birth to wind. We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth, and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen. Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead. Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the fury has passed by. For behold, the Lord is coming out from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it, and will no more cover its slain.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭26:1-21‬ ‭ESV‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/59/isa.26.3-21.ESV

I Have Fought the Good Fight, I Have Finished the Race, I Have Kept the Faith

June 13, 2013

It was almost lunch time, on a stormy Thursday, when a woman doctor biopsied the suspicious place in my chest.  After completing the procedure, which was surprising not painful, I bravely asked “What do you think it is?”  

Without hesitation, she looked straight into my eyes, and said “I think it’s cancer.”  

“REALLY???”  

“Yes, I really do.”  

Silence 

Almost believing this was not real, I reluctantly asked “What happens next?”  

My thoughts, already spinning, heard “It’s like a race…” 

Memory fails me.  I wish I could retrieve the rest of her words. What I do remember resonated with me but not in a positive way.  How was this going to be like a race? Isn’t this going to be more like a journey?  

Looking back, I now see how this last year has been a journey as well as a race. Before cancer, I considered my life events as a continual race. Now I see how when several trials come close together, they are like a series of small races, with each race providing the training and strength to endure the harder times ahead.  Maybe that’s how the woman doctor was looking at it.

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.” 1 Corinthians 9:24 

Perhaps she was also trying to encourage me to run this race with the end in mind. The end being when all the tests, treatments, and recovery would be over. The time when there would be no evidence of cancer.  

This journey certainly has been race where God, in His goodness, provided a good team diagnosing, treating, and caring for me, a good team of friends and family cheering me on and praying for me from the sidelines, and most importantly God sustaining me while speaking and encouraging me through His Word. 

Even before I knew I’d be running one hard race after another, God, graciously, began training and preparing me. His continual help gave me the strength and endurance to finish each race well. 

Ordained by God for His Glory, each race was and continues to be a part of His perfect plan for me, a trial for my good.   

“Count it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4 

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 

God’s plan, rich in grace, truth, and promise, sustained and encouraged me when I was most weak, and built my strength to persevere toward the goal ahead.  

“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:14 

“Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.” Philippians 3:15 

“Only let us hold true to what we have attained.” Philippians 3:16 

The small races were the biopsy, long waits for pathology results, sharing the news to family and friends, many more tests, surgery, recovery, chemotherapy, recovery again, and adjustment to changes in my body, hair, and ongoing preventive treatment.  

Most certainly, God will give me many more races; trials with disappointments, pain, and suffering. With all of this, I’ll rest in the LORD.

“The everlasting God…gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might He increases strength.” Isaiah 40:28-29. 

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.” For this momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond comparison.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-17 

Whatever God ordains, I’ll always give thanks and praise to my Savior, Father, and Comforter.

“Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.” Hebrews 10:35-36  

 And I’ll not cease to confidently say “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7

You Can Memorize Scripture

Many of us know scripture memorization is important yet we've tried to memorize only to fail. That's where I was, but God intervened. Listening to an interview with Janet Pope on Revive Our Hearts was one of the ways God encouraged me to memorize. 

Recently, I shared Janet's first powerful testimony of how she, as a busy young mother, memorized the book of Ephesians. Her endeavor brought many blessings of which personally became my own blessed experience. I hope to share more about this in another post. Meanwhile, may this interview encourage you to memorize.

Listen here:
https://www.reviveourhearts.com/radio/revive-our-hearts/you-can-memorize-more-you-think/


For additional encouragement to memorize scripture consider reading Janet Pope's book, His Word in My Heart:
http://www.janetpope.org/books/

How Busy People Can Memorize Scripture

You probably already know that memorizing scripture is important. But do you really know? If you aren't already memorizing scripture then why aren't you? Is it because memorization is hard or that you don't have time to memorize? For me it's that memorization is hard. Though I try it's not easy to memorize. God used several ways to encourage me to memorize scripture and this was one of the ways. Perhaps it's what you need to hear to move toward a lifelong process of delighting in God's Word in a way you never knew was possible.


As a busy mother with two small children, Janet Pope was an unlikely person to start memorizing scripture. Yet through circumstances only God could place in her life, she began with the whole book of Ephesians. Her testimony inspired me to memorize scripture. May you also be inspired as you listen to her powerful story here. 

https://www.reviveourhearts.com/radio/revive-our-hearts/how-busy-people-can-memorize-scripture-1/ 



For additional encouragement to memorize scripture consider reading Janet Pope's book, His Word in My Heart: http://www.janetpope.org/books/

Memorizing Psalm 1

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord, 
and on his law he meditates day and night.
 

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, 

and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. 

The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, 

nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 

for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,  

but the way of the wicked will perish.

Psalm 1:1-6 ESV