II Timothy 1:7; Psalm 113 - "Battles"

Throughout the night God woke me multiple times to pray for a dear family who experienced the husband/father being in a car accident yesterday. He had me pray for them to lean into His strength to get through this situation. I prayed for all who cared for him to have wisdom and a gentle touch. The Lord reminded me they know how to be strong with being retired military. That reminded me to pray for Mr. Fran who is having 'tough' days with the Parkinson's disease in his body. I prayed for many who are battling cancer in their bodies. He brought to my mind these words to a song The After sing called Battles. 

You're going before me and oceans are parting
You're fighting my battles
When my feet are failing and my heart is shaking
You're fighting my battles

God has already won the Battles before us. All we have to do is lean into Him and allow Him to fight for us. The enemy hates Him and gets so mad as we love Him. The enemy was not happy with the answer to prayers for Doc's scan. He was not happy with the praising that followed the results of the cancer not spreading AND the mass being 'slightly' smaller. He was not happy when Doc got out of bed yesterday not feeling well yet went to church and preached. We are not on this earth to make the enemy happy. We are here to please God and will continue to do so. This song starts with...

This current is trying to wreck me
Like castles of sand
Castles of sand
My fear, like an enemy army
Is marching again
But I'm making a stand

You surround me on every side
Your love is my armor, I fear no evil
Darkness runs from Your light
So I won't be afraid
I won't be afraid

I get a word picture of sand castles that waves take down. When children build them and they are taken down, they don't give up. They rebuild. Many times when they rebuild the castles are made stronger. That is what this journey with cancer is like. Every time fear creeps in with the 'what ifs' God surrounds us with His empowerment to stand firm. In the times when our faith starts to crumble He is there to build it up stronger. We have nothing to fear. The Lord already knows the end of our story. All we need to do is stand in His empowerment in II Timothy 1:7. During the night He told me to read and ponder upon Psalm 113. This is a song of praise the Jews sang before partaking of the Passover meal. They praised God for their deliverance. We need to praise God for His deliverance. He protects us from things we do not even know about. He loves us greatly and desires for us to be in relationship with Him. I saw a church sign the other day that said something like, 'God doesn't want just weekend visits. He wants full custody!' This is the truth. He doesn't want us to just come to Him in times of turmoil but He wants us living in complete relationship with Him 24/7. He wants to love on us and bless us. He wants us to share His love everywhere we go. He wants us to know He is always with us. He wants us to know when our 'sand castle' starts to get wiped out by a wave, He is there to empower us to adjust. We may have to move a little farther 'up the beach' but it's just taking us closer to Him. It may mean we may need to make 'our castle' stronger but that just means going deeper in our faith. If it weren't so 'cold' here, I would go build a sand castle just for the fun of it! I believe it would make this song be even more pertinent to our situation. Until I get back to the beach I will praise Him for all the ways He empowers us. I love the praises of Psalm 113...

 Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
Go ahead, praise the Lord, all you loving servants of God!
Keep it up! Praise him some more!
2 For the glorious name of the Lord is blessed forever and ever.
3 From sunrise brilliance to sunset beauty,
lift up his praise from dawn to dusk!
4 For he rules on high over the nations
with a glory that outshines even the heavens.
5 No one can be compared to God, enthroned on high!
6 He stoops down to look upon the sky and the earth.
7 He promotes the poor, picking them up from the dirt,
and rescues the needy from the garbage dump.
8 He turns paupers into princes and seats them
on their royal thrones of honor.
9 God’s grace provides for the barren ones a joyful home with children
so that even childless couples find a family.
He makes them happy parents surrounded by their pride and joy.
That’s the God we praise, so give it all to him!

Woo hoo, God! You are so good! Your love is so amazing! Your empowerment is what gets me through the 'tough' days!

Dear Jesus,

Thank You for waking me multiple times during the night to pray for this dear family whose husband/father was in a bad accident! Thank You for putting people with them who are sharing Your love! Thank You for the praises of the cancer not spreading and the tumor being 'slightly' smaller on Doc's scan! Father, I pray today is a better day for him physically. I pray You will give him a dose of encouragement. Thank You for the opportunity to anoint him and Kandi yesterday! Lord, go before them and others who are battling cancer. I pray for Your touch upon: Steve; Mark; Dale; Mike; Maxine; my two pastor friends; and so many others. I also pray Your touch upon: Jim; Shirley; and Renee with the upcoming holidays. Thank You for the time delivering Thanksgiving cards at the nursing home yesterday. I praise You for Joshua and Tiffany bringing supper over to us last night. What a blessing! Lord, I pray for a cleansing in my spirit so You can fill me to overflowing with more of You. I pray there be nothing between You and I so Your love can ooze out of me in a mighty way! May You flow from my words, actions, and attitude throughout this day in a new, different way! Thank You for Father for being My Battle Warrior! Amen.