Love

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, thatwhoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.John 3:16 (NIV)LOVESigh....Love. We search for it, long for it, live for it.Have you ever been in love? Have you ever searched for that perfectone? A love who will give their all, always be there, understand youand care for you. A love that is faithful and true. A love that wouldeven die for you!A love that through aging, or sickness will never leave you. Thatunderstands your pain and weaknesses. Who will carry your burdens foryou, comfort you and bring peace to your heart. Gives you purpose ineach living day and guides and protects.Jesus Christ is that love and He has given His all for us. He standsat the door of your heart knocking. Waiting to come in and offers youeternal life. God is love, His words to us in the Bible are sweeterthan any love letter that could ever be created.We were created to love and be loved by God. He loves us just as weare, whether strong or weak. In our health and in our sicknesses. TheCreator of love ask nothing other than we accept Him into our hearts.Ask him into your heart today. Put your love and faith in Him and youwill have true love.In I Corinthians 13:4-8a Paul writes just how beautiful love is. "Lovesuffers long and is kind: love does not envy: love does not paradeitself, is not puffed up: does not behave rudely, does not see itsown, is not provoked, but rejoices in the truth, bears all things,believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love neverfails." This love is describing the love that God shows to us. Hislove never fails us through all circumstances, and through all time.Heavenly Father, Thank you for your love, for loving usunconditionally. Open our hearts today, that we might fall more inlove with You. That we can love You and others as you teach in Yourword. AmenABOUT THE AUTHORMargie Scott lives in Arizona. She strives each day to trust God'sgrace will always provide as challenges arise related to living with,Parkinsons, spinal stenosis,and Fibromyalgia. You can contact Margieat mscott123@cox.net .

Hearing God

The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. (I Kings 19:11-13 NIV)God spoke to Elijah in a small quiet voice, not in the loud crashing sounds around him at the time. We need to be actively listening to hear what God wants to say to us – He uses many forms to get His messages to us.I think many people expect God to get His message across to them with a bolt of lightning, or a booming voice that they can't ignore. Certainly there are stories in the scriptures of people who did hear God's voice that way, but for most of us, God gets his message to us in more subtle ways.Do you even consider the impact of the lines of a song that stay in your mind long after the music has stopped? I've wondered if artists consider which song to place last on their CD's, as the message they leave hanging in the stillness when the music has stopped. Do you come home from church with the lines of a hymn or song still ringing in your ears? A simple phrase that draws you back to the message of the song, or even the preached words from that service.Sometimes, God speaks to me through my pain, not always a message I want to hear, but one I still need to be alert to, and alert to what He is teaching me through it. I want to be open to whatever way God wants to communicate with me, I don't want to miss it.ABOUT THE AUTHORFiona Burrows lives in Melbourne, Australia and is learning to be grateful for the lessons God is teaching her, through more than 20 years of chronic pain.

The Mountains of God

"I will lift my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." (Psalm 121:1,2)While visiting one of our daughters this summer, we saw Mt. Katahdin, the start of the Appalachian Trail. My husband is a hiker, so that was significant. I began thinking, what is there about mountains that attract us? We enjoy climbing them, vacationing to them, and photographing them. Gazing up at an individual mountain peak or a vast mountain range is awesome to behold - beautiful and majestic in any season of the year. Whether they are bare, snow-covered, green, or golden, mountains evoke feelings of strength, protection, and peacefulness – wonderful visual images of God's might and power. Yet mountains can leave us feeling isolated and lonely as well. At times, I associate mountains with difficult obstacles in my life, such as my daily pain and ongoing health struggles. In those moments when mountains do not seem so pleasant, I need to run to Lord and his Word.Psalm 97:5 says the mountains melt like wax before the Lord. Think about the weight of even one small hill, and the power it would take to move it. This is the power of our God. The God who created, melts, and moves mountains is the God who loves me and lives within me. He is reigning over the entire earth, including my individual life. Nothing that comes my way can keep his power and peace from reaching me. I can choose to allow the mountains in my life to build faith and trust in God, rather than allowing them to leave me feeling desolate and alone. God created mountains – even mine. We will either climb them together, or he will remove them. Whatever he may choose, my help comes from him. Prayer: Father, as the mountains surround Jerusalem, so you surround your people now and forevermore (Psalm 125:2). Surround me with the mountains of your love, peace, and strength today. Amen.Bronlynn Spindler is a wife and mother of three grown daughters and lives in Fredericksburg, VA. God's grace and strength give her the ability to deal with chronic back pain, depression, headaches, and fibromyalgia. You may contact her at spindler@cox.net.

Choose the Good Life

"Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior." (Habakkuk 3:18 NIV)It is very easy for us to become so serious in our illnesses that we lose sight of simple pleasures and enjoyment. We can actually make things harder than they are at times. It is harmful to our mental well being to always see the cup of life half empty; we must remember it is also half full and hold on to that reality.Anyone can complain of their troubles and bad circumstances—yet there are those enigmatic people who have endured things such as the Nazi concentration camps and are still able to say life and God are good. So there has to be something here that carries us in joy beyond our sufferings and trials, that brings joy in the morning after the darkest of nights.Life is good and God is good. We can choose to see that or not…the choice is up to us. We can also only fixate on our problem times. We can exclude the moments of peace and rest or we can admit that though there are hard times that can take us in circles, we can still appreciate those quiet peace-filled moments. Enjoy the story of a far away place. Savor this meal. Take joy in the soft caress of a loved one. Mostly though be filled with God's power even in our weakness."Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty and will lift up your face to God. (Job 22:26)Prayer: Heavenly Father, we thank You and praise You for the blessings in our lives. Help us never to let pain and trials get in the way of knowing a and ppreciating your blessings. Thank you, Lord, especially for the blessing of knowing that You will never leave us.ABOUT THE AUTHORPatricia Armstrong lives in Va Beach, Va, and Harrisonburg, Va.(beautiful Shenandoah Valley). She is a retired teacher and enjoys volunteer work in her church and community. Patricia deals with constant pain from peripheral neuropathy but finds strength in knowing God is always present.

Cancer Can't Take it Away

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39 NIV)After a number of years of sickness and knowing that she is probably very close to the end of her life here on earth, today the wife of our Senior Pastor, asked to be able to talk to the people of her Church family.She is physically very frail, but today she was strong and brave, as she shared with us the words she wanted to say. Her love for God still radiates so strongly; her belief that God hasn't forgotten her in her pain, but that He in His grace, has been there all along, even during the very dark times; her gratefulness for all of the many forms of support and encouragement she and her family have received over the time of her illness; how much she has missed being able to worship with her Church community. She also talked about how she has been challenged to pray for others who are sick or suffering – and encouraged us to go on doing the same.Her words were heartfelt and powerful, that even though cancer has been able to progressively take away so much from her life, there are things that cancer can never take away. It can't take away love – love that is given and love that is received, and the ultimate love that comes from God. God's love transcends even the hardest parts of our lives and not even death can separate us from God's love. Nothing can take God's love from us.These words of Paul in his letter to the Romans, give us a promise that we can hold onto – no matter what life holds for us, today or in the future. God is there and His love and His grace is sufficient, give us the courage we need to go on, until that day when we will be reunited with Christ and with those others who have gone before us.Fiona Burrows lives in Melbourne, Australia and knows that only with God's help does she face the challenges of chronic pain.

Resting in God's Goodness

Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you." (Psalm 116:7 NIV)I was getting seriously discouraged. My bed and I were becoming too intimate, once again. You'd think after 17 years of experiencing the ebb and flow of debilitating illness, I'd get used to going through the valleys. That I'd remember it wouldn't last forever.All my mind could think about were losses. I wanted to be able to not just wash my hair or shave my legs, but be able to do both in one shower. I wanted to be able to watch a movie in its entirety instead of dividing it into three evenings. I wanted to join my family for dinner instead of laying in bed. Fear of the unknown and worry over how things would get done gripped my heart, squeezing the life out of me.I knew I needed a change. So, I hauled myself out of bed and sat on our deck. It was twilight. God's beauty assaulted my senses. Trees, grass, and tomato plants were thick with the newness that comes with early summer. The perfume of honeysuckle enveloped the breeze. Sherbet hues faded in the sky as the sun set. Children's voices drifted from the park as parents led them home to bed.How could I not see His goodness while in the midst of a setback? I was surrounded by His greatness. All the things I couldn't do over the last week faded to the back of my mind. All the fears and disappointments lost their hold on me. What remained was the belief that the God of all creation did hold me in His psalm. His goodness was there all the time. I was just blinded to it when I was too absorbed in my own pain. Even if this valley lasts for a while, I will rest in Him believing in His goodness.Prayer: Father, God, please gift us with a reminder of your greatness and goodness and love for us. We need you, now more than ever. In your name I pray, Amen. ABOUT THE AUTHORDana Kennedy is a survivor, encourager, wife and mother. She lives with POTS and CFS and fibromyalgia. Her dream is to help others traveling similar paths. She and her family make their home in Liberty, Missouri. Dana welcomes your comments at dtearosee@earthlink.net

HOPE

"I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. “ (Psalm 27:13-14 New International Version)
Some days what I need more than anything else is hope. I need to know I will see the goodness of the Lord in THIS world. Often it feels so far away.
Today, beloved – I offer you hope.
It is hard to be told to wait, to be strong, to take heart. But some days that is what we must do.
Some folks think that God doesn’t hear us – or doesn’t answer. It’s my belief that God always answers: Sometimes “yes”, sometimes “no”, and maybe hardest of all “wait.”
Yet the Psalmist was confident that at some point He would again see the goodness of God. He doesn’t know when. He doesn’t know how. However, he holds on to the hope – a confident hope – that God will answer. The Psalmist’s job – to wait – be strong – and take heart.
For those of us with chronic illnesses – God offers us hope. It takes courage and endurance to hold on to that hope. We must be strong when we feel weak. Yet God promises to give us that strength. We must take heart. We have the witnesses of those who have gone before us. We have God’s word – His promises to all who believe.
Take heart, dear reader, as impossible as it may seem, God will hold true to His word and we will see the goodness of the Lord, in whatever form it takes, in the land of the living.
Be strong.
Take heart.
Wait.
In this we find our hope.
Prayer: Father God, Thank you for your amazing promises to us. Thank you that you hold out hope when it feels hopeless. I pray each person reading this today can claim your promises and are granted the endurance they need for today – and for each day thereafter.
ABOUT THE AUTHORdeni believes that the only true way to deal with chronic pain and chronic illness is to bring them to the feet of her Lord and Savior. Her multiple illnesses (Celiac Sprue, Atrial Fibrillation, Ankylosing Spondylitis, to name a few) have taught her many things about herself and her Christian walk. It is her fondest prayer that some of her words might be encouraging to others as they walk the path of chronic illness. deni can be reached at denipath4change@yahoo.com.