My heart is full tonight, I'm not even sure where to begin. So much has changed in the last few days that I am once again in awe of the workings of our Heavenly Father. Things like what we've experienced in the last 3 days are not just coincidence. They are divine intervention. We have no idea what the next few weeks may hold for us, but we do know that God is going before us & preparing the way.
Last week Thursday a friend gave me a devotional. She said how much it has helped her through some very difficult times in her life & wanted me to have it.
On Saturday night I sat down to read some of it & was flipping through it randomly. I felt so strongly that God wanted me to go to the devotional for that day, that He had something very specific for me, for that day. I closed the book & prayed that God would prepare me for whatever he had for me.
I opened the devotional to September 14th & started to read...& wow!!...
...these are the authors words...
He wrote your name on His hand.
What incredible authority we have been given in prayer. When we place our faith in Jesus, He gave us His name, enabling us to say, I am one with Christ. Then amazingly Jesus took on our name. As our High Priest, He wrote it on the palm of His hand so that our name is registered in heaven, under His glorious name.
You can see why the phrase, "in Christ's name" is not just some impersonal formula. Rather it is a literal position we have with Jesus. Jesus tells us, "In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God"(James 16:26-27)...now here is where it gets so good!
Jesus is telling us, in other words: "whenever you ask in My name, your request has the same power and effect with the Father as if I were asking Him." Think of it: When we lay hands on the sick & pray, God sees us as if Jesus is laying hands on the sick to bring healing.
We are to come confidently to the throne of grace and pray boldly, "Father, I stand before you, chosen in Christ to go forth & bear fruit. Now I make my request largely, that my joy may be full."
I hear many Christians say, I asked in Jesus' name, but my prayers were not answered. One reason may be because we have allowed sin in our lives to become roadblocks to His blessing.
Perhaps the blockage is due to lukewarmness toward the things of God. Or perhaps we are filled with doubt, which cuts us off from the power of Christ. James makes it clear: "He who wavers will not receive anything of God."(James 1:6-7)
God knows our hearts, and He reserves the power that is in Christ for those who are wholly surrendered to Him. He has written our names on His hand!
Talk about GOD, speaking DIRECTLY to me, through that devotional. The devotional was just the beginning of these chain of events...
This morning right before Andy & I left to go see an NP,(my mom came to be with the children) my mom said, "I can't stand the thought of Andy taking chemo, as healthy & strong as his body is. It will just make him sick & run down & he is HEALTHY!"
She then proceeded to tell us of a place where they can treat the cancer naturally.
I was furious! I wanted to scream, why bring this up now, 2 days before he starts chemo, after all his biopsies & battery of testing. WHY?!
We left for Andy's appointment, our hearts & minds in a complete turmoil! Little did we know that God had His hand in it all along.
I called my Brother who knows well what this Holistic Dr. is capable of doing. We talked for awhile, then we went in for the appointment that was to educate us about all the meds that Andy would receive during chemo. And we were in for a RIDE!!
After the nurse left, Andy & I looked at each other with looks of it ain't never gonna happen, no way no how!!! We asked the nurse to come back in & told her we need a few weeks to get a second opinion & to make an informed decision. She said that was fine, cancelled our appointments for this week & left again. (we had asked for a sign language interpreter to be there for the visit in order for Andy to better understand everything & allow me to just listen). The interpreter saw the look on our faces & proceeded with, "I'm not supposed to give out medical advice, but I know you want to look into Holistic care. And then she said the very same name(practice) that my mom had mentioned before we left. (That was GOD, affirming that we were making the right choice!) Then she proceeded to tell us that her Husband had sought treatment with this Holistic Dr. & was doing great under her care but got tired of the regimen & opted for chemo after awhile. Her husband died. not from the cancer. The medical Dr.s put him into remission. But he died from the horrible side affects of the chemo & radiation.
On the way home, I thought of the devotional that God led me to on Saturday night.
I believe that God placed specific people in our lives today, to fulfill His purpose.
We had also felt that it just wasn't right to proceed with treatment if we were giving it to God through anointing, this Sunday morning.
So now, the future is more unknown than it's ever been, but we both have such complete peace, it can't be explained. All we know is, God is going before us & preparing the way for us. We pray that He gives us wisdom in making decisions, & praying, in the name of Jesus, for a miracle, for life, for good health, for a cancer free body!!!!
pray and Believe with us, thank you.
Andy, Ruth & kiddos
