First I am delighted to say that the margins around and below the melanoma taken from my back last week were clear, and in the doctor’s words they are confident that they got it all. I have five remaining cancers to remove beginning today, but they are minor in comparison to the life threatening melanoma. So all I have left to remember this drama is yet another scar on my body. It will remain as a constant reminder of the fragile nature of this life.
Praise God and thank you for the many prayers that went up on my behalf. Thank you!
Several of my friends and family seemed puzzled and perplexed that I seemed so nonchalant about the possibility of leaving this earth so soon. It was not that I was gleeful about dying, rather that I accept dying as the natural conclusion of one’s life. I cannot control when my time is up. I can influence it by praying that God will see fit to allow me more time; do what I can to stay healthy through exercising and eating a proper diet; and in this instance try to stay out of the sun and consult good doctors when necessary to keep skin cancer under control.
Thanks to grace I don’t worry about death in the least and am content to serve God right up until the day He calls me home to be with Him in everlasting glory. It is inevitable that day will come, so my position is why dread it? In fact, I look forward to seeing Jesus and all that He has prepared for those who have put their trust in Him. Heaven will last forever and this little stint on earth is just a wisp of a vapor in comparison. I love my friends and family, but God is control and He knows what is best at all times. I want to enjoy every minute I can on this earth, and reach as many folks for Jesus as I can, in whatever time I am allowed.
I have been reading the book, End Times and the Secret of the Mahdi, by my new friend Pastor Michael Youssef. I highly recommend it! Pastor Michael made an interesting observation. There are just 14 places when New Testament writers use the phrase “grace and peace” as a greeting. We find it in the epistles of Paul and Peter and in the Revelation – but we never see the order reversed. It’s always “grace and peace” and not “peace and grace”. Why do “grace and peace” appear in that order?
The order of the words is important. No one can ever have the peace of God before receiving the grace of God. Only the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ can give you peace during times of trouble and discouragement.
So if you are worried about this world and the tribulation that is coming, or a bad result on a medical test, or anything of this world, chill out. God’s got you covered; that is if you have His grace. If not, then understand the good news that it is free. Confess your sins, ask for forgiveness, acknowledge Jesus for who He is the risen Savior, and turn from your sins and follow Him. Grace and peace to you my friends!
2 Cor. 2:3
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God . . .
August 18 2016 – Click here to listen