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You Are Traced With Purpose!

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Update: My followup DR visit went very well. The tumors that have grown are in areas that are of no concern and the tumors I have in critical areas are very stable! For about a month since I did my MRI scans and seeing the tumors that grew substantially I was expecting a lot worse.

I’ve got that feeling like I was just given back several years of my life. When you go thru times of not knowing how much longer you have to live a fairly normal healthy life, it puts things in perspective for you!

Life is a gift, not a curse! No matter how nasty the circumstances and how “unfair” it may seem sometimes, life is a beautiful thing.

Be thankful for what you have!

You Are Traced With Purpose!

Comment with things you are thankful for in your healthy life.

For me:
I can still hear
I can still see
I can still walk even tho I can’t do the straight line thing :p

When you compare among yourselves you either feel guilty for being blessed with more, or you envy those who have been.

Gods way is to not compare among ourselves but count what he has given each of us as a blessing. He may let you have good hearing-and take my hearing. I could get all grumpy about that but why? We don’t deserve anything, but beyond that-God isn’t careless and doesn’t care-He creates you and takes and gives according to his purpose! Nick Vujicic is a rock star example of how God creates us each differently and maybe even with some handicaps because He has a purpose for our life-he turns our disabilities into abilities for His Glory!

Celebrate Your S.H.A.P.E.

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by Rick Warren

“Oh, yes, you shaped me first inside, then out …. You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit… Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.” (Psalm 139:13-16 MSG)

God never wastes an experience. Romans 8:28 reminds us, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (NIV).

At Saddleback, we help people consider five areas of experience that will influence the kind of ministry they are best shaped for:

Educational experiences: What were your favorite subjects in school?
Vocational experiences: What jobs have you enjoyed and achieved results while doing?
Spiritual experiences: What have been the meaningful or decisive times with God in your life?
Ministry experiences: How have you served God in the past?
Painful experiences: What are the problems, hurts, and trials from which you’ve learned?
Your S.H.A.P.E. was sovereignly determined by God for his purpose, so you shouldn’t resent it or reject it. “What right have you, a human being, to cross-examine God? The pot has no right to say to the potter: ‘Why did you make me this shape?’ Surely a potter can do what he likes with the clay!” (Romans 9:20-21 JB)

Instead of trying to reshape ourselves to be like someone else, we should celebrate the S.H.A.P.E. God has given to each of us.

Understanding your S.H.A.P.E. builds self-esteem. There’s an epidemic of low self-esteem in our society today. Most people do not like themselves. One reason, studies have shown, is that more than 50 percent of all people are in the wrong jobs. I believe that genuine self-esteem — as opposed to pop psychological self-esteem — is built on two biblical truths. It’s not about raising yourself up by your boot straps or thinking positively or the “I’m OK; you’re not so hot” philosophy. Genuine self-esteem is built on your relationship with Jesus and knowing what he created you for.

Make Your Prayers Other-Centered

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by Jon Walker

“He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene …” (Isaiah 59:16 NIV)

Most of our prayers are of the low order, or maybe more like the fast-food order.

We pull up to the drive-thru and yell out our requests to God and then expect him to have our order ready by the time we pull up to the window.

Yet, God’s view of prayer seems far above the utilitarian. He calls us to a violent form of intercession, where we take on the spiritual forces of darkness on behalf of our race, once invaded, now occupied by the prince of darkness.

Paul teaches us to put on the whole armor of God. If you follow the sequence of his instruction, we’re suiting up for battle so we can stand firm in prayer (Ephesians 6).

We pray for others like Jesus would pray for them, thinking about them the way he would think, covering them with prayer, protecting them through prayer, and advocating for them in the same way Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father and advocates for us.

It is other-centered prayer on the extreme end of “other.”

Isaiah describes God as “appalled” that no one was interceding for his people. We have the ability — more appropriately, the duty — to intercede on behalf of our brothers and sisters (Isaiah 59:16 NIV).

And we do not do this alone, for the Lord is already interceding, and we are simply joining him. Like the armor Paul describes for us, the Lord is suited for battle. Isaiah says: “He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak” (Isaiah 59:17 NIV).

God Covers Your Faults with His Perfect Love

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by Jon Walker

The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us. We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father’s only Son. John 1:14 (TEV)

The love of God is intimate and personal. He came up-close in Christ, and that means we cannot hide our imperfections and faults from him. He knows about them anyway.

This model from God means we need to love each other intimately and personally, looking past the faults and weaknesses of one another, seeing the handiwork of God in each one of us, knowing that we also have weaknesses and faults but that God is active in our lives, too.

When we know and believe that God is determined to love us no matter what, we can stop being concerned about our faults and conform to Christ instead of our fears (Romans 12:2). When we don’t believe that God loves us no matter what, we try to put on masks that make us look perfect in order to hide our faults. When we try to hide behind masks, we undermine God’s plan that we live together in transparent, loving communities, such as small groups.

The reality is, God’s love is perfect, and he wants to cover our faults with Jesus Christ.

God goes beyond merely diagnosing our problems or judging our faults (Psalm 103:10); instead, he steps forward to address the areas of our lives that are broken:

  • Into our emptiness, he brings fullness and completion (Colossians 2:9-10).
  • Into our deficit, he brings supply (Philippians 4:19).
  • Into our death, he brings life (Ephesians 2:1, 5).
  • Into our separation, he brings reconciliation (Romans 5:10-11).
  • Into our imperfect love, he brings perfect love (1 John 4:10).

The more we’re conscious of God’s love, the less self-conscious we become about ourselves. We spend less time and energy looking to appear perfect and have a life where everything is exactly the way we want it to be; instead, we invest more time and energy pouring ourselves into other people, who, along with us, make an imperfect community, but one infused with God’s love.

God Is Not Surprised by Your Faults

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by Rick Warren

“I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out — plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.” (Jeremiah 29:11 MSG)

Have you been acting as if God is totally unaware of your faults?

The truth is, God know your faults and failures, but he still loves you unconditionally.

In fact, God knows your feelings and frustrations, and he sees your hurt more than anyone else can. God knows your future, so he can tell what you need to know. God knows your fears, and he wants you to hand your worries over to him. God knows your faithfulness, because he sees every good thing you do.

The fact that God knows everything means nothing I face will hinder his ability to help me; nothing that is to come will catch him by surprise; nothing I fear will be too big for God’s strength; and nothing I do in his name is ever done in vain.

God says, “I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out — plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.” (Jeremiah 29:11, MSG)