Updates: I think what I will try to do is to make a journal entry at the beginning of each month, rather than after each happening.
Setback: I am sorry to report that right now I am back to zero with a return of continuous cramping and irritable bowel from the radiation burn. I fasted till afternoon today and it helped to let the innards settle down. I am trying to eat very slowly and small amounts. I have little doubt that if I could just fast for some days, the burn would heal, but I do not have the metabolic strength to do that.
At Missionary School: Last week I had the honor of speaking* again at the Ukrainian Church’s Missionary School here in town. These are young folks from all over the USA, who come to spend their summer listening to a speaker each week and then to take a ministry/service trip at the end of the summer. My feet and ankles got all the more swollen, the pains came back as soon as each day was over, and we did not see a ‘breakthrough’, but I found the joy of the Lord in the work. Some friendships were begun perhaps, and they treated me with such kindness at the end. My heart goes out to them all. Terri was with me mostly and Evangeline some. Also, we were able to take each noon meal there (Ukrainian food) and I had no problems! It is the Lord. This has happened so often on the Lord’s Day. God faithfully makes a ‘window’ for me to get to the meeting.
*WED
- The New Birth, John 3.3
- Love: the Sum and Substance, Mat 22.34
- Rich in the Word (2 parts), Col 3.16
- Keep Seeking Things Above, Col 3.1
- Behold the Lamb, Jn 1.29
*THU
- God is Light, 1Jn 1.5
- Good Music, Mat 11.17
- Names Written in Heaven, Luke 10.20
- Acquiring Wise Counsel, Pro 1.5
- Paul Before Felix, Acts 24.25
- The Authority Principle, Mat 8.5
*FRI
- Death Better than Birth, Ecc 7.1
- You Became an Example, 1 Th 1.6
- Useful to the Master, 2 Tim 4.11
- Events Happening at the Parousia, 2 Th 2
- When You Come Together as a Church, 1 Cor 11.18
- The Sin of Omission, Jam 4.17
Meditation: One of the first things said about the Lord Jesus was that He would “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). The Lord not only saves us in our sins, but then progressively from our sins. Before cancer I was getting loose; I had trouble with over-eating like never before in my Christian life. This cancer has well taken care of that. I can say…
- It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes (Psalm 119:71).
- He who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin (1 Peter 4:1).
- Those whom the Lord loves, He disciplines and scourges (Hebrews 12:6).
I’m not saying this cancer is all because of that, but I am saying the Lord well knows how to purify His people – and victory over sin is one of the proofs that our Christianity is real. “Without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). The Lord bless you, my dear friends.
