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

As we clip along in the train on our way back from Portland, OR., I let my mind wander and think of the additional diagnoses I received today. It’s been a busy couple of days but thankfully we made the decision to take the Amtrak train instead of driving ourselves.

As I promised in my last post, I will share with you how I met a young man that set a good example of someone that has Christ in his heart. Nothing happens by chance, and this meeting was no exception.

This young man came to make a small repair on our new home and he asked me if I worked from home because the last time he was working at our home I was here too. I told him that the reason I was home is because of my battle with cancer. He wasted no words and without hesitation pointed me to the great Healer, Jesus Christ and told me that is where I needed to go with my cares. As you can imagine this started a very nice and spiritual conversation between us and he proceeded to tell me that his mother was also battling a serious case of cancer for the last year and that she was seeing a doctor in the USA specializing to fight cancer the natural way and through a strict diet. He suggested I’d call his mother which I did.

I again ended up with a very nice spiritual conversation with this Christian lady and she shared with me her experiences with this doctor. She suggested I contact him and to make a long story short, that is why we are sitting on a train on our way back from meeting with this doctor.This doctor is a strong Christian and a compassionate man. One of the first things he shared with me that I should not look to him for healing but that I must look to Jesus Christ for my healing. Again we had a very nice spiritual conversation.

After his hour long examination he revealed more than I expected. It again made me realize that we are a weak and feeble people as it says in 1 Peter 1:24 for all flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.

The doctor told us that besides the cancer in my lungs, spine and some bones he informed me that the colon, stomach, liver, pancreas, kidney and prostrate all are in the early stages of cancer. As you understand it was not what we hoped for and it brought home again the reality of my illness.The doctor pointed out the seriousness of my cancer and again told me to bring this burden to our great Burden bearer Jesus Christ. He offered his help, one of these being on a very strict diet. I accepted and hope to meet him again Lord willing in 6 weeks or so. I felt as we parted ways as if we had known each other for a long time.

Life goes on and as I travel the road of cancer I pray for peace in my heart, Gods leading, strength and grace to carry Henrietta and myself through these trials. I ask that you will continue to uphold us in your prayers and thank you for your care.

Hope is a beautiful word and I often think of hope and often experience hope. Romans 12: 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
Be blessed and be a blessing to those around you.
John.
Just I was finishing off this posting I received an email with a meditation from Thomas Watson. I will share this timely gem with you.

The more pains we have taken for Heaven--the
sweeter Heaven will be when we come there.
When a farmer has long been working hard--it
is pleasant to enjoy the fruit of his labors. Just so,
when in Heaven, we shall remember our former
zeal and earnestness for the kingdom--which
will sweeten Heaven.

It will add to the joy of heaven, for a Christian to
ponder, "Such a day I spent in examining my heart.
Such a day I was weeping for sin. When others
were at their amusements--I was at prayer.
And now, have I lost anything by my devotion? No!
My tears are wiped away, and the wine of paradise
cheers my heart. I now enjoy Him whom my soul
loves! I am possessed of a glorious kingdom! My
labor is over--but my joy remains forever!"

"Better is one day in Your courts than a
thousand elsewhere!" Psalm 84:10
Heaven will make amends for all!

Answered Prayer

The answer I prayed for came in an unexpected way. In the last weeks Chemo treatments have been much on my mind. As each week went by I felt a little weaker and a little more ill from the chemo treatments. Lately I was unable to take my 5th day treatments because I felt too ill. Several weeks ago the scan reports also showed increased cancer growth. The question often came to mind, do I stop with the treatments or continue on? We prayed for an answer and it came much quicker than I had expected.

On Tuesday I received a call from the Vancouver Cancer Centre they suggested that I get radiation treatments to ease the discomfort in my back and spine. However to get radiation treatments I have to stop Chemo treatments, apparently you can’t have both at the same time, at least not the kind I receive.

I asked them for advice and I was told that I should consider stopping the Chemo treatments. The treatments are not giving the desired results, they are making me ill and weak and the cancer continues to grow. My back is starting to bother me more each week, the discomfort is intensifying and in order to get some relief from that I really have no choice but to get radiation treatments.

On November 2, I hope to meet with the doctor for advice and to schedule the treatments, most likely for 5 consecutive days. The aim is to shrink the tumor on the spine and relieve me from discomfort. We are praying for positive results.

I was also told that after having tried three different types of Chemo treatments the options are running out. I should not have been surprised by this statement because I was told right from the beginning that there was no cure for my Kidney cancer, words I really did not want to hear, yet on the other hand it gives me relief that I no longer will have to take this quality of life altering drug.

You may think, so now what? To tell you the truth, I don’t know either, yet I have hope because I know that we serve a Great and Almighty God who can do remarkable miracles, I believe that with all my heart. The text from John 16 and other similar texts often come to mind” 23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
I pray that God will give me peace in my heart, even when humanly speaking there is no way out of this, God is Sovereign, His will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.

I had a good week; I am starting to feel better now that I don’t receive Chemo treatments. Next time I will share a story with you, several days before I heard I had to stop Chemo treatments I met a young Christian man. It is because of this meeting that I will prayerfully start an alternative way of dealing with my cancer. I know that nothing happens by chance; neither was meeting this young man.

Next week will be a very busy week, seeing different doctors nearly every day. The medical provisions and help continue to be amazing. I am treated like a king.
Please continue to pray, God is listening, it’s His promise. Thank you for your love and care, and even for a delicious Apple Pie.

John 16:33 I (Jesus) have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.
God be with you
John

 

 

Counting Our Blessings

When upon life's billows
You are tempest tossed
When you are discouraged,
Thinking all is lost
Count your many blessings,
Name them one by one
And it will surprise you
What the Lord has done.

 Chorus:

 Count your blessings,
Name them one by one
Count your blessings,
See what God has done
Count your blessings,
Name them one by one
Count your many blessings,
See what God has done.

Are you ever burdened
With a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy
You are called to bear?
Count your many blessings,
Every doubt will fly
And you will be singing
As the days go by.

When you look at others
With their lands and gold
Think that Christ has promised
You His wealth untold
Count your many blessings,
Money cannot buy
Your reward in heaven,
Nor your home on high.

So, amid the conflict,
Whether great or small
Do not be discouraged,
God is over all
Count your many blessings,
Angels will attend
Help and comfort give you
To your journey's end.

There are times when awe and gratitude overwhelm us, whether we're seeing a sunset, watching a child laugh or just appreciating a special moment. These are the moments when we thank God for all the blessings in our lives, and praise God for the amazing gifts he showers on us each day.

 On October 20 we will commemorate the day we were joined in marriage. Looking back on 35 years we can only say that God has greatly blessed us. We thank the Lord who gave us 5 children and 7 grand children ( with # 8 on the way Lord willing in March 2013). We never fell short in anything and the difficult times we encountered always turned out to be a blessing in one way or another. 

 

Our Children

We thank and praise the Lord as we will celebrate this very special day with our children and grand children. We thank our children for being a huge blessing in our lives and thank our grand children for being so special to us every day.

 

Our Grand Children

 

Our complete family

 Psalm 100. 1Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! 2 Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! 3 Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! 5 For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.




 

He will be our guide, even unto death.

In the last 18 months I received a lot of guidance from doctors and other medical experts and even friends and loved ones. However, when I came across an article from Octavius Winslow on guidance (1808 - 1878) I found he summed it up in a beautiful way.

Life has been much on my mind lately. For one the “shortness of it” as the Bible calls it “only a hand breath” or “only a vapour that comes and disappears”. Take a look at well known people in the Bible and that no matter how long they lived, it all ends the same way.

Genesis 5:5   Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died
Genesis 5:8   Thus all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died.
Genesis 5:11 Thus all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died.
Genesis 5:14 Thus all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died
Genesis 5:17 Thus all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died.
Genesis 5:20 Thus all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died.
Genesis 5:27 Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died.
Genesis 5:31 Thus all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died.
Genesis 9:29 All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.

Sometime ago I had a conversation with a highly aged man named Wally. I asked Wally how old he was, he replied, 99 years old and said that he loved the Lord. I asked Wally, what do you hope for the remainder of your life? Oh, he said, I hope to be a hundred years old. If I would ask Wally the same question today he most likely would say, I hope to get 101 years old.

This shows us that we will never have enough years; we always like to have more years. I understand that completely myself, I pray for more years and I think a person does unless life becomes very difficult through pain or suffering. I also believe God can give Grace to die when times comes.

However, the most important is that we can say “For this God is our God forever and ever! He will be our guide even unto death!" Psalm 48:14. If we have received forgiveness from our sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ he will be our guide, even unto death. Death will then take on a different meaning, a hope after death, a hope of Eternal life.
I continue to pray for life but also that God will guide into the future. He knows what is best for me and you. Put your trust in Him and He will be your guide, even unto death.

As for my battle with cancer, I have some difficult days at times when I can hardly eat and feel extremely tired. I can start to feel the cancer in my spine and ribs. There are good days too when we can go away as we did this week to see the ultimate of God’s creation, this time to the summit of Mount Baker. Stunningly beautiful at any time of the year, but especially in the fall just before the snow falls. It is almost unrealistically beautiful, yet real. God is good and I thank and praise Him each day we live.
Thank you for the many cares, emails and messages on this blog and many other ways you show your love and care.
John



Mount Baker, Washinton USA

Following is the writing from Octavius Winslow I mentioned earlier.

"For this God is our God forever and ever! He will be our guide even unto death!" Psalm 48:14
The world passes away. Everything here in this present world is changing.
Life is like a painted dream;
Like the rapid summer stream;
Like the fleeting meteor's ray;
Like the shortest winter's day;
Like the fitful breeze that sighs;
Like the waning flame that dies;
Darting, dazzling on the eye;
Fading in eternity!"

A rope of sand,
a spider's web,
a silken thread,
a passing shadow,
an ebbing wave, are the most fitting and expressive emblems of all things belonging to this present earthly state.
The homes that sheltered us in childhood — we leave.
The land which gave us birth — we leave.
The loved ones who encircled our hearths — pass away.
The friends of early years — depart.
And the world that was so sunny, and life that was so sweet — is all beclouded and embittered — the whole scenery of existence changed into wintry gloom. Such are the saddening, depressing effects of life's vicissitudes.

But in the midst of all, "This God is our God forever and ever!" All beings change — but God. All things change — but heaven. The evolutions of time revolve, the events of earth go onward, but He upon whom all things hang, and by whom all events are shaped and controlled, moves not. "For I am the Lord, I change not."
Our affairs may alter.
Our circumstances may change.
Our relations and friends may depart one by one.
Our souls in a single day pass through many fluctuations of spiritual feeling.
But He who chose us to be His own, and who has kept us to the present moment — is our covenant God and Father forever and ever, and will never throw us off and cast us away.

"For this God is our God forever and ever! He will be our guide even unto death!"

Who can add a single hour ?

In the last couple of days much has gone through my mind. Some hours of sleeplessness have kept me busy considering Gods ways and again I have come to understand a little more that Gods ways are higher than my ways. Even as I was busy writing this blog entry on Saturday morning I received the sobering message that my only sister had a serious heart attack today at the age of 63. God so far spared her life as she is in IC in a hospital.

During the night I meditated on Matthew 6: 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? It’s not that I am anxious about life or my circumstances, however my last results gave me reason to meditate on this and especially the last part “ who can add a single hour to his span of life”. Not one person, not even the richest person in the world who would have the best doctors at their side can add one hour to their life. There is a time to be born and a time to die and those times God holds in His hands.

The results of the scans I received were sobering to say the least and once again I was confronted with the seriousness of the cancer within me. Even with the Chemo treatments the cancer continues to grow in areas like the spine and ribs, however, in other areas it showed some decrease. Last night was the first night that the discomfort in my back kept me from a good sleep. Those sleepless times were spent with God and reflecting on life and prayer. I am coming to realise more and more that life is indeed a vapour, like a misty day, it comes and disappears. Humanly speaking there is little hope for recovery but I continue to cling to Gods promises and the great miracles He has done and still does.

I want to leave you to think on these words from Psalm 90:10 and 12 " The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. 12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom".

For the Canadian readers, I wish you all a blessed Thanksgiving day, may each day of your life be a Thanksgiving day as we thank God for His care over us. I wish all those outside of Canada the same, may your heart rejoice in God who gives us our daily bread and much more.
God be with you all.
John