God's Timing

God's Timing

6/27/21

Humans have an ugly problem with timing, or most of us do with hardened schedules being the stable foundation of our lives.  How many times have we followed such routines and come to find out that even though our schedule may say one thing another actually takes place.  Routines become habits and habits become dependencies upon which we allow to become dictations instead of suggestions.  So, when things do not pan out as we believe or what we have been told we become angry and then doubt the further words from those sources.  The methods and calculations that we place of God and His timing are presented in the same way, we continually place God on human timelines which is a bad order to place God within.  God always sees His timeline and nothing else and it is this pattern that He wants to remind us that He is in control of everything and not you or I, another concept that humanity struggles to deal with.

For as long as I can remember, the jobs that I have had always gave a schedule out to guide when and where I would work.  Sometimes the schedule would be made for a month at a time and other times it would be made for two or three months at a time.  For the most part, this type of future knowledge is a good idea for it allows people to make plans for time off but on occasion, those time-off plans are messed up with sicknesses, deaths, or any other incident that would require schedule changes.  We can live with these short-term switcheroos and gladly help out a fellow coworker in need.  But how do we feel about the times when something that has been guaranteed to occur doesn't according to how we look at things or in a certain known pattern?  It is these times that make our minds and hearts send questions to our life processes and potentially stir up anxiety levels.

What does this type of scenario tell us about ourselves?  And if we include God and what He says to us into the equation, how do we justify things when they do not go as planned, or at least how we perceive them to be planned?  These questions if lingered long enough will definitely become doubts which will then lead to deeper issues of separation from God more likely.  Waiting upon the Lord to do what He says He will do in a society that moves faster every day will be difficult if our hearts and minds are not totally fixed in His Word. To be totally fixed upon God takes us into a different place than what the world operates in, it shapes us to leave our earthly beliefs and directs us into the truth about us not being from here but just passing through.  We see this activity in Jeremiah and when we understand that God may not always show up on our timeline, He does have His own timeline and when the time is just perfect, His presence abounds.

The passage for this article demonstrates that when God says something He will do it, but not according to what mankind believes.  Patience is not many of our strong points and this truth is evident every day.  Impatience is a deadly force that we listen to when waiting on God should be the course of action.  Our passage is Jeremiah 1:1-3, a simple yet informative passage that shows us exactly what it means to go through God's timing.

Jeremiah 1:1-3

"The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin.  To whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.  It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month."

Hebrew

"[These are] the words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests in Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.  The word of the LORD came to [Jeremiah] in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah  son of Amon king of Judah, and through the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, until the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem went into exile."

This passage seems to be just one of those chronicles of time that the Bible has been famous for, another portion where we read it but do not pay too much attention to, some may even call it boring and skip over it all together.  But it holds a key presence in how God works and how we should consider just how gracious God is in that He gives people time to repent before He must act His judgment upon them and on their land.  We cannot ignore the fact that are some serious timelines that pass through these three verses and all three of them reflect upon one theme, and that is God's Word comes forth through Jeremiah about the impending devastation of Judah.

One of the signs of impatience is that we begin to relax our hesitations and worries toward what we have heard to be true.  Right at the moment, there are prophecies about President Trump that have stirred many emotions in our lives.  Through our impatience, we have dropped off the level of intensity - further - and have publicly and loudly criticized those prophets and people who have declared the Word of the Lord in this matter as liars, or that they missed what God was "actually" saying.  This type of belief is exactly what Jeremiah faced each day of his life as a prophet.  God asks a question here: how much of our jobs do we get accomplished when we live in such an impatient state and how much are we truly waiting on God during this time?  That answer is easy, for not much to both portions of that question.

We must remember that in the days of Jeremiah there were prophets that did not have the faith in God that they needed, nor did they want to have faith in God either.  They were the popular prophets who always said good and kind things about God, and how God would protect them and never allow things to occur to the people or to the land.  These prophets were many and constantly contradicted what God was REALLY saying to the people through Jeremiah.  These other prophets were present for show only and truly acted as thieves for their words of worldly comfort served as stealing of what was coming to the people.  This setting provides us with a great picture of thievery and how if it is not dealt with adequately and quickly shall grow into a presence of great magnitude that with having the authority to destroy an entire nation.

Once again, we have the picture and related question of: Are our hearts fully committed to what God has ordained for our lives, or are we distracted from what we are waiting for in the first place?  In this passage, we should clearly see that Judah's heart was waiting on what the popular prophets were saying and not what God was telling them, a situation that is so attractive in our lives today as well.  These suitable words reassured the people of Judah that they could continue their ways without the fear of any retribution from God and that what Jeremiah was saying while true, was not completely accurate.  They placed their hopes and trusts on the enemies around them to be easy on them and to shy away from them, you know, be on their same level of existence.

Jeremiah never waivered from what God shared with him to say to Judah.  This process was not an overnight Word from God, it too was the original Word and stayed the same as time went along.  How long did Jeremiah proclaim such a message?  I am glad you asked because it is the focal point of what God wants us to hear today.  As you read these three verses there are some kings mentioned, all of them were sons of Josiah.  One may believe that this might not be a long period of time but in reality, it was.  When you add all of the reigns of these kings together, it comes up to 53 1/2 years forty of which were actual days of Jeremiah's speaking, and when you put it in these terms his preaching of what God said was longer than the Children of Israel were in the wilderness.  This should also tell us something, that the Children of Israel did not learn much while they were walking in the wilderness for all that time because if they had learned anything it had been put aside again for this time around it was a longer period of time before God had to step in and do something about the direction of their hearts.

The end of verse three gives us the ultimate plan of God upon Judah.  There is no way possible that anyone could say that God did not give Judah plenty of time to change their hearts for there was an incredible amount of time for this process to occur, but one should also recognize that when God says something He already knows what the possibilities will be, a truth that should strike fear into every heart.  Also, when we look at the timeframe in these three verses, we must consider that this amount of time was approximately an entire life span of a person, some lived to be what we would consider being as old folks but not the majority.  God allowed over half a century to pass until He fulfilled His Word, Jeremiah never stopped preaching the truth and doing his best to get the people of Judah to turn from their ways.

Today, the Church has fallen to the wayside through listening to what is popular instead of what is Truth, and for those who are spiritually watching and listening they understand these two statements to be correct.  Today, just as in the time of Jeremiah, many people label unpopular prophets as liars, scoundrels, trouble makers, or any other derogatory labels in order to "put them in their place".  This concept now being presented by the Church is a result of laziness in believing in the Word of God and fulfilling its promises and truths concerning God's Son.  Judah portrayed the exact same sin and over a period of time began to apostatize God and form their own futile and weak, feeble religion with their own personalities their deities.  What is the difference today?  Of course, we would expect this type of activity from the world but from the commissioned Church of Jesus?  Man, humans are so predictable sometimes.

How do we view those people who are visibly on fire for God?  How many of us shy away from them when they approach us or how about, we turn and tell others around us that they are crazy and not to be taken literally?  I believe that a great number of us fall into that category.  It is this type of acting that proves God is alive and will show anyone who wishes how things will become when His prized creations do not live for Him or believe in His Word.  Church, stop for a moment and take a look at our heart, it is sick and dark in color with a disease that pours out from our lives with an eternal stench that no one can deny.  God shall strike us due to the fact that we have chosen the ways of the world instead of HIm, and this striking shall be more difficult and thorough than what the world shall receive for a wicked servant God cannot stand.

I have no idea when this strike shall occur, nor do I understand what kind of method God shall use in order to crumble our selfish temple; however, I DO know that He shall do this someday soon.  No, I am not saying that it shall occur tomorrow, next week, or even next year but it could be, for God's timing is His business and in that moment of reckoning we shall all face the music.  Humans have an absurd image of control when it comes to God and life abundantly, we believe that we should constantly use the gifts of God for ourselves and shun those who need them a gross injustice when it comes to the law of sowing and reaping.  The portion we forget about is that if we do not share what God gives us then we place our lives and eternal placement in danger according to the judgment of God.  Jeremiah preached this truth to Judah, they ignored it.  Many preachers and prophets today have preached the exact same thing, and we too have ignored it.  So, yes, God's timing is on His watch and only He shall know the time and place to set our destruction in motion and just how severe "Jerusalem" shall fall.

DLB

No Combat Presence

No Combat Presence

6/22/21

Why is it vital to make sure we know how to fight properly when it comes time to defend what is correct?  More importantly, why is it that we have such a fear of being in battle, do we think that we will win this eternal fight through our names alone?  God has stated many times in His Word that what we face each day is a battle and that we need to make sure we understand our enemy well enough to outmaneuver his attacks; but, we cannot do this if we do not fight the enemy face to face and gain experience while these battles occur.  We cannot be defenseless or any type of pacifist for what we face each day is a war for our lives and if we do not listen to God and understand His Words of victory we shall eternally die.  Combat experience on the battlefield means the difference between life and death and God has provided us with the battle plan for eternal living, not eternal death.

There are not too many people in the world that actually prepare themselves for war every day, not even the active-duty military personnel do this on a continual basis.  Not many people admire taking aim at another human being in anger or as a means to defend themselves from an attacker or combatant enemy.  However, when the person aiming at another has proper training it should be too difficult to make sure that the situation is handled quickly and accurately without any large foul-ups.  Sometimes, however, even though nothing is done incorrectly, human armies realize that they are outnumbered or have been tactically outmaneuvered and must surrender.  It is at this time that many continue to hold their heads high and silently say that one day they will fight again, somewhere and somehow.

Some of you may remember the series "Band Of Brothers" and how towards the end of the final episode a scene took place where a German General gave a final speech to his troops.  In this scene, he commends them for a good fight and how proud he was of them due to their bravery for such a long time.  He also stated that they should be proud of their accomplishments and how they also should be proud of their fellow brothers that they lived with day and night.  They formed a bond with each other that even though in defeat would continue to hold true and firm for as long as they live.  This scene was one of the more somber and sobering settings of the series but was necessary in order to ensure that all aspects of the series were properly covered.

The experiences that each one of the soldiers took back with them to their families would remain in their hearts and minds until the day they drew their last breath.  It changed their lives in a certain way that is hard to explain to those who have not been in combat, sometimes one that can never be properly told.  When people who experience combat and continually are on the losing end of battles and skirmishes, they tend to become bewildered and even approach the suicidal point of aggression to the extreme where they turn on each other and take their frustrations out on their own comrades.  Soldiers should be trained well enough and have enough battle experience to recognize such conditions and avert such problems through recognition before it arrives and takes over the front lines.  The same type of atmosphere can occur when the fight is heated and the majority of the troops involved have little or no combat experience, a sad sight to watch unfold but occurs more often than one thinks.  

It is the lack of experience of combat that God wants us to talk about here, for even though we are supposedly tired of fighting these days, the true battle has not hit our lives just yet.  The reason that the battle has not reached us yet is that we have been sitting around in our pews playing video games instead of being out in the streets (spiritual) conducting war against our enemy, and it is this lack of experience that is going to cost many people's eternities when the battle is brought to us.  God has made His battle plan quite clear to those who have been in His places of worship and just as Job experienced it shall be God who allows such things to occur in our lives very soon.  Unless we figure out that a devastating attack is imminent, the future for many will end soon.  This fact is a huge issue here and it is being portrayed in the Church as something that will not occur at all; a false sense of security.

It is difficult for me to believe that any church member (body of Christ, The Church) does not have any spiritual combat experience.  I mean, look around and it does not take very long to notice all of the attacks that the Church is undergoing, yes, even in this nation.  But the question remains is: how come not many are talking about their experiences, strengthening others through these times of combat?  The answer is quite clear, we walk around such opportunities or turn our heads the other way when they approach which nullifies any time of the spiritual head-to-head battle that should be taken.  Also, this lack of spiritual battle positioning is not being addressed in the church buildings either, which means that this assessment about no battle experience is correct.  Talk about a divided state when considering the mission of the Church, no wonder our time is spent more in front of the television or computer screens than in the Word of God.  We should be ashamed of ourselves and rightfully embarrassed to call ourselves Christians or followers of Christ.

Steve Camp wrote a song many years ago called "Run To The Battle". It was a call of duty song in which it gave us specific instructions of what to do as Christians.  When we became Christians we automatically receive our orders and it is our responsibility to run to those who need help.  We should believe in what we profess to be true and when we believe in such eternal Truth we cannot help but have the boldness and the spiritual enthusiasm to tell others about Christ.  The passage for this article explains just exactly what God wants us to share with others, but cannot if we are battle-tested.

James 2:19

"Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble."

Greek

"You believe that God is one. Good for you!  Even the demons believe [that] and shudder."

This verse gives results of what the results that the Church should have, but once again we continually see that this is not the way it is at all.  I was in the military but was never involved in any of the actual fightings but was ready at any moment to leave my comfort zone and enter the said battleground.  This placement in my life created a bond between many people that otherwise I would have no opportunity to know and to build trust.  Even though I have been out of the military for almost thirty years now, I still feel a tug of bonding when I see or read military stories about those who have served or who are currently serving.  We in the Church cannot get past which denomination (division) is best, or which one is bigger, or who carries more truth and sanctity.  Really?  No wonder we are weak and feeble at best, we have no spiritual teeth to use against the world.

James tells us that the demons believe that God is one, and they should because at one point in history they shared the same living space as God.  They know, and you know what else they know?  God has not changed from the day He created them and He shall not change ever, for any reason.  This is the reason He is one and it is for this reason that the demons shudder to think about such eternal Truth.  And we do not have the guts enough to go and explain this to those who are being tormented by such evil creatures?  This means that we do not believe the first half of this verse, thus limiting our capabilities of effectively combating the spiritual entities that have their grip on so many wonderful people.  If a defeated enemy believes that God is one why can't we agree on the same thing?  This should be a no-brainer, folks.

This also gives us a very disturbing detail about the battle scenes that have been fought, are being fought today, and those that will be fought in the future.  These destructive and evil spirits know that God is one, which means that not only have they been in the presence of God they have also fought against His people as well.  If these evil spirits can come to an agreement about God, it means that they have had the decency to follow their ruler even though it is for a lost cause they have their mission to fulfill.  Um, why are we not doing the same?  How do we know this fact about demons and their activity?  Look around you, so many people are influenced by demonic activity simply because they are following the orders of their ruler, yet they are defeated.  Here lies the key, if a defeated enemy is leading successful charges against others what does this tell us about the effectiveness of the other side, you know the one that is not fighting back?

Demons are combat tough and have adequate responses that should quickly be pushed back, but are not on almost every level.  It is fact, that proves the Church has no combat experience whatsoever and unless something changes God is going to have to clean our clocks with His righteousness and holiness so that we may once again complete spiritual combat missions against the enemy.  A shuddering enemy should never be allowed to claim ANY victory over any person, period!  Church, we are sick and in need of help immediately.  It is obvious that we have lost our vision and it needs to be restored.  We cannot afford to sit back and allow such wimpy losers to take over the world and destroy people's lives.  Remember, it is okay to witness to people before they have fallen to pieces, just as it is acceptable to witness to those who have fallen to pieces, BOTH are precious in the eyes of God.

Many Christians voluntarily forget that the Bible is a sword, and this sword divides the kingdom of the world's strongholds.  It does not in any way have the authority to divide people themselves, but we have sure done a pretty good job of mowing down people over the centuries, even our own.  The standard of God has been given to the Church and we have dropped that standard to make it more "appealing" to the world.  We have done a fabulous job of lowing this standard, but we have in no way lowered the Standard of God.  As I read a quote the other day and this sums up this point, it goes like this: "The Bible does not work like Facebook, where your likes or opinions matter. God's Word is true regardless, whether you agree with it or not."  So, this verse tells us that unless we are running to the battle and taking our spiritual combat experiences with us, those shuddering, defeated demons are winning.

DLB

Cancer and the Church

Cancer and the Church

6/15/21

Does anyone believe that cancer has entered into the heart of the Church, or does everyone believe that all things are set in place and all is okay?  Do we understand why pain circumvents our every move and that as long as it continues to be misdiagnosed, our pain and agony will become greater and greater?  These questions are legitimate ones that need to be addressed now and the reasons for such pain properly dealt with by the eternal Surgeon, for if we do not allow this to occur, when He operates it shall have uncontrolled consequences afterward.  We are on a path of eternal death due to our own intake of sin within our hearts, and it is necessary that we change our ways before we take our last breath.  God does not desire to see us suffer but if we do not change there is no way that we can complete the command of Jesus and live in the freedom that His Father wishes us to be.  There is a fraction amount of time left, God wants us to hear this message so that we may live again and witness to those who need Him in their lives, cancer-free.

One of the most frustrating characteristics of humans is that of denial and how long we refuse to see the truth about settings or conditions.  I understand that this portion of our emotional standard is a natural process and it must occur at some point and at some level, but to make it a semi-permanent fixture or even a permanent fixture in our lives is devastating and shall only serve as a detriment for our future and one if allowed will dig a divide between the denier and the ones trying to get them to see.  A decades-long adherence to denial can only prove a single outcome, loneliness and once this process begins for a single issue it is not too difficult to add other denial categories to other issues that we encounter.  We become blind to our surroundings and then deaf to those who are trying to get us to move along the path of life, has anyone been in this situation before?

I have had the privilege for the last decade of my life to be able to work with an extraordinary group of people, people who have been dealt an ugly hand in life and for the majority of them a death sentence.  I have stated plenty of times before that I did not understand what the word courage meant until I stepped foot into our cancer clinic and I must admit that my knowledge and understanding of that word continues to shine and grow each day.  Physically and psychologically, the word cancer is probably the most frightening word in any language that human ears can hear.  This word does not have to be directed toward you per se, it still brings fear into other people's hearts and you cannot help but feel their shock and pain.  Denial is one of the huge issues and products we in the Oncology field have to face, for it strikes like no other medical term and will present a battle that many shall not endure.  It is at this point that many of us find ways to support these beautiful people and to guide them as much as we can through the stages of treatment, a process that could be a maintenance job for many years to come.

Once the process of denial is dealt with, the entire treatment policy can begin, for when denial is present there cannot be any complete form of combating the disease because it is allowed to eat away at the host unabated and as long as this is the case, not much can be done to heal what has already been affected.  In a world that promotes giving up or not even standing up to adequately fight for something you need, it does not help to hear that the home life is rough or non-supportive, for abandonment is definitely not the suggestive behavior to go home to after poisons are placed within your veins and arteries.  Denial is a voluntary process that is chosen and accepted by the world and is an eternal detriment to each one of us; so goes many of the churches in our societies as well.  

It is tough for me to write these words but God has specifically instructed me to do so and I cannot hesitate any longer.  So here goes; the process of denial as stated above is a voluntary one and it has been chosen and accepted by the Church.  The Church has adopted this denial process concerning sin (cancer) and it is time that we allow the Eternal Surgeon to cut this cancer out of our lives so that we may thrive and live again as we were designed to do.  The Church has increased its belief that the world is not that bad and has in a corresponding manner allowed the world access into her heart.  Remember, the world cannot represent anything but death, and this death is not an easy process nor is it a nice process either.  We all know that when denial arrives it will not be allowed to be touched for it has a process to complete before it will be recognizable.  The passage for this article is as follows:

Exodus 15:26

"And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee."

Hebrew

""saying, If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, [then] I will not bring on you any of the diseases I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you."

One of the most forgotten truths about the kingdom of the world is that the world shall not defeat itself with admonitions of wrongdoings, everything the world does believe 100% that it is the best for you, and it will tell you such lies when trying to apply itself into your life.  The world shall follow this lie until every living human being leaves this earth for complete eternal separation from God; this is the law of the world.  Cancer cells have the same projection and will not stop growing and accumulating in the surrounding (host) organ until the entire organ is filled with cells that it does not recognize as its own, it then shuts down, and it is this same type of cancer cells that the Church has allowed to adhere to parts of her body.  The Church now promotes the world and its standards, God wants us to know that the Church is no longer in Communion with God but in communion with the world which means that she harbors cancer cells.  In other words, the Church now chooses the world as her first choice, not God.

The passage here tells us that if the Children of Israel would listen to the voice of the Lord that He would guide them in everything they did, but as long as they continued to promote the world (Egypt) that their days would be long and filled with the same diseases and conditions that God placed upon the Egyptians.  We all know that anyone who left Egypt that was of a certain age or older would not see the Promised Land due to this acceptance of the world within their lives.  The world (Egypt) promoted slavery, sickness, captivity, and death, eternal cancer to all who trust in it.  This is exactly what the Church is facing today because her eyes have been blinded to the Truth and her spiritual ears have been deafened with the diseases of the world.

Jesus can no longer be the partner to the Church as long as we continue to revel in such a condition, God is a complete God and shall not allow His Son to be associated with the world in ANY partnership desired, nor would Jesus even want to be associated with such a disgraced bride.  I work with this subject every day, and I see what its presence does in each body that it habitats.  There is nothing good about cancer for it does nothing good to the body, it invades it and then latches on to many organ linings and then goes to work on spreading its seed.  My eyes see tall folks and short ones too, I see both elderly and young people in the clinic, ethnically there is no distinction of which cancer invades, nor is cancer a respecter of gender all human bodies can be affected and these outcomes are not good by any means, for the vast majority of these wonderful people pass away from such insults.

So, why would the Church have any inkling of an idea to support and condone such inclusion of deadly conditions?  It is appalling to think that the only representative of God and His Tabernacle has anything to do with the world; however, I guess it is not too difficult since all throughout the Bible God has to continually remind His remnant that their hearts are to remain circumcised from the world.  It is obvious that we do not believe that the acceptance of the world represents death, or that we have become so self-centered that death does not mean too much any longer.  In truth, the Church is in total denial concerning the condition of the world and her approval of it within herself.  She is blind to the fact that the ways that she now believes in are of the world and not the Ways of God, His Word, and thus God Himself.  Since this is the case, we cannot deny the fact that we now believe in cancer that the world offers more than the Foundation of our lives, this can only promote and favor the spread of cancer to other parts of the body.

It is this very identical behavior of the Children of Israel had concerning Egypt, they were supposedly free from the conditions of slavery but they were never free from their captors at all.  This lack of trust and surrender to God cost many of the people of Israel not to see the Promised Land that God had given to them so long ago.  But at the same time, Israel's blindness was so dark that they could not even see from their eyes to their hearts just how bad their worldly desires were eating at their existence.  May times over, the Children of Israel complained about how good their lives were back in Egypt compared to how they had it after their release, they never understood that Egypt had to be taken out of them and not just on the physical aspect either.

What is so devastating to the Children of Israel is that they actually longed to go back into slavery in order to have a better life, talk about a ridiculous way to build back better, eh.  God specifically states that if they would turn away from the world (Egypt) and listen to Him and His Ways, that He would not inflict the same conditions and diseases on them as He did on Egypt.  Now, this was a guaranteed statement by God, and it does not matter in which direction they chose to follow.  The health of Egypt was not good in any way and yet Israel wanted to go back and chomp on garlic and onions beside the Nile?  Something is just not right here in the thinking and in the hearts of Israel, who would want to go back into captive settings?

Another issue here that Israel seems to forget and that today's Church forgets is that Egypt (the world) wanted to place restrictions and heavy burdens of slavery onto the people of Israel.  The leaders of the Egyptian society demanded harder and tougher living and working conditions upon Israel in order to defeat them both physically and willfully.  The world has not changed one bit through the eons of time, nor will it ever change either because its campaign of captivity and death produces such great success.  When you take a look at the path of cancer it follows the exact same pattern, the people inflicted with this nasty condition may begin with few symptoms or agony but by the time cancer has invaded other parts of the body, they are a shell of what life represents and means and when we allow the world into our lives it shall do the same to us.  We need to wake up Church and see that our spiritual body is in a mess and that there is something seriously wrong here.  We have a few more moments to change our hearts and to reverse this disease pattern.

While every word, verse, passage, chapter, or book represents how to live in a spiritually cancer-free environment, if we live by this verse and what it says we will be able to obtain this type of eternal lifestyle without any problems from the world.  Of course, the world is going to roam and roar around you but because we are listening to God and to His Ways those worldly sounds will be drowned out quite easily.  All of us agree that the word cancer strikes fear into any person's heart when it is mentioned in a personal and private setting.  Church, not only do we have the perfect manner in which to live, but we also have the perfect presentation to give to those who are being eaten up with this junk.  We cannot take their issues away from them, so we need to stop trying to heap their ailments upon our lives, only God can give eternal life and only His Son can cover us with the necessary cleansing blood strong enough to wash away all blemishes forever.  Physical conditions of cancer not many people escape healthy after a diagnosis, spiritual cancer is fully treatable and curable but it can only occur when we place our hearts under the condition of this verse.  God is good and it is His desire for us to live and to thrive and be living witnesses for Him and His Kingdom.

DLB