A Daily Encounter reader writes: “We just found out that my mother has lung cancer that has spread to her liver. I know the Lord holds us in his arms, but how do we find the strength and courage to handle what we know is coming? I know Mom needs a rest from her pain, and that the chemo will make her sick, but I’m not ready to let her go. How do I stop being so selfish? It’s very hard to ‘Let go and let God.’”

I don’t think it’s selfish to feel the way you do. In fact, I’d say it’s normal. It’s always difficult when loved ones suffer and when there is a possibility of losing them, and even harder when we do lose them.

Unfortunately, loss is a part of life and all of us will experience it at some time, and it’s never easy.

I don’t think there are any easy answers except to daily commit and trust your life and that of your loved one to the Lord. Tell God exactly how you feel (he knows it anyhow), and tell him you choose to trust him even if you feel you can’t. Do this every day or even more if necessary. In time your feelings will catch up with your choice to trust God. It is also very important not to bottle up your feelings of grief. Tears are a gift from God to help drain the pain of sorrow and loss. Pray that God will give you a friend with whom you can cry without being criticized or told you shouldn’t feel that way. Remember that when Jesus was sad, he wept! We need to do the same.

I’m reminded of a song that Danny Gaither sang so marvelously before he died of cancer. The words of the chorus went like this:

Through it all,

Through it all,

I’ve learned to trust in Jesus,

I’ve learned to trust in God.

Through it all,

Through it all,

I’ve learned to depend upon his Word.

It’s only through the rough times that we truly learn to trust in God. And in the end for all who trust God and have committed their life to him, we will meet again where there will be no more sickness, sadness, sorrow or dying, and where God himself will wipe away every tear. What a glorious day that will be. In the meantime we also need understanding and caring friends on whom we can lean.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, in all of life’s circumstances I choose to trust in you no matter how I feel. Please help my feelings to catch up with my choice to trust you, and even if my feelings don’t catch up, I choose to trust you regardless. So help me God. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV).

I read how a fellow in France was asked where in Paris he would most like to live. He said in the Eiffel Tower because it was the only place he could be and not have to look at it.

This reminds me of what Jef Olson said about the movie, The Godfather, Part III: “When the Godfather, Don Corleone, is forced to visit the distinguished Cardinal Lamberto to tell him the bad news that a legitimate business deal involving the Vatican Bank has gone bad. The bank is run by the Archbishop and a coalition of Catholic businessmen.

“The Cardinal listens to the Godfather; then he says something quite profound. He picks up a stone and says, ‘Look at this stone. It has been lying in the water for a very long time. The water has not penetrated it.’ Then he smashes the stone. ‘Look,’ he says peering at the smashed insides of the stone, ‘perfectly dry. The same thing,’ the Cardinal continues, ‘has happened to men in Europe. They have been surrounded by Christianity for centuries, but Christ does not live in their hearts.’

“This is exactly what happened at the Temple in Jesus’ time. There were people there who had been surrounded by the Temple for years, but the God of the Temple had not been allowed to enter their lives nor penetrate their hearts. As St. Paul once put it, They had the form of godliness, but not the real thing.” ^2,3

Like the man who would like to live in the Eiffel Tower so as not to see it, there are many who hide from God in church or in some religious ritual. And like so many in Jesus’ day, the hardest hearts may not be among the ungodly, but among the religious who have all the outward trappings of the godly, but their hearts, like stones, are hard and cold—and they know not God.

Very interesting too that the Apostle Paul wrote that “there will be terrible times in the last days. People will be … without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”⁴

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, when it comes to my relationship with you, please help me to be sure that I have the real thing and not just the outward trappings of religiosity. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

Note: For help be sure to read “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian” at: http://tinyurl.com/real-christian.

1. Zachariah 7:12 (NLT).

2. 2 Timothy 3:5

3. Rev. Jef Olson, “Reassessment of Ministry” cited on eSermons.com.

4. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NIV).

Regarding the laws God gave to the ancient Israelites. While perhaps seeming somewhat strange to us today, many of these were actually laws of health and hygiene. If the people heeded and lived by God’s laws, they would be a whole lot healthier than their counterparts in Egypt. In a very similar way, living according to God’s laws and principles will also help us to live happier and healthier lives.

For example, Ravi Zacharias writes: “In a fascinating article in the April 2000 issue of Christianity Today, psychology professor David G. Myers sifted through evidence to see if it indicated whether faith more often uplifts or debilitates. He writes, ‘We now have massive evidence that people in active faith communities are happier and healthier than their un-churched peers. Recent epidemiological studies reveal they even outlive their un-churched peers by several years.’

“After paragraphs of citing statistics gathered from the United States and abroad, he concludes that the correlation between faith and morality is more commonsensical than one might think. ‘If your car broke down in a crime-ridden area and some strapping teenage boys approached you,’ asks commentator Dennis Prager, ‘wouldn’t you feel better to know they had just come from a Bible study?’”²

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, again I thank you for the laws and principles found in your Word that, when followed diligently, guarantee a healthier, happier, and more productive life. Help me to so live. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Exodus 15:26 (NKJV).

2. Ravi Zacharias, “A Slice of Infinity,” December 2, 2002, http://www.sliceofinfinity.org.

It was Vance Havner who said in his own inimitable way, “The enemy surrounds us—don’t let one escape.”

Neither was he, nor am I, referring to any man-made wars. Havner was referring to the spiritual warfare that every Christian is involved in either actively or sitting idly by on the sidelines oblivious to what is happening in the world around them.

Having said that, I have always been impressed with the resolve of Winston Churchill when Hitler’s army and the might of the German military power were threatening to bomb England almost out of existence. At the height of World War II in one of England’s darkest yet finest hours Mr. Churchill valiantly declared: “We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.”

May we who claim to be Christ-followers have the same resolve in today’s sin-sick-broken-world in the spiritual warfare where the forces of evil are running rampant in every corner of the world.

Again, I am not referring to man-made wars, I’m referring to spiritual warfare against the prince of darkness, Satan, and his forces of evil. The only effective resolution of which—and victory over—is the transforming power of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

To battle effectively in this urgent hour of world conflict, we Christians need first of all to LIVE the gospel and demonstrate its transforming power in our own lives, and then PROCLAIM the gospel—as Jesus commanded us to do. We are to preach / proclaim / communicate it to everyone everywhere.

Remember, too, if we don’t live the gospel, our words are worthless and may do more to drive people away from Christ rather than draw them to him.

As committed followers of Jesus Christ, let us join forces, and as Vance Havner said, “The enemy surrounds us. Don’t let one escape!”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please grant that the tragic man-made conflicts our world is facing today trigger a great spiritual awakening as never before seen—one that will sweep the earth from north to south and east to west. Grant that it will cause people everywhere to turn to you and be saved. And please start this spiritual awakening in me so that my life will be a living witness to your saving power, and by your grace help me to have a small but vital part in your plan to reach everyone in the world with the gospel while there is time. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

PLEASE NOTE: Never before has it been as possible as it is today to share the gospel with people all around the world via e-mail and the Internet. One of the most powerful ways to reach untold numbers with the gospel is via people power. That is; if every Daily Encounter subscriber will regularly forward suitable copies of Daily Encounter and appropriate gospel web articles to family, friends and contacts, multiplied thousands of people would be reached with the message of Jesus Christ. To help you do this please prayerfully consider become a part of the ACTS People Power for Jesus movement. For further information please go to www.actsweb.org/people_power.

Ephesians 6:12(NIV).

Someone has explained how, in the frigid waters around Greenland, “Countless icebergs float around. Some are tiny; others tower skyward. At times the small ones move in one direction while their gigantic counterparts go in another. Why is this? The small ones are pushed around by the winds blowing on the surface of the water, but the huge ice masses are carried along by deep ocean currents.”³

In our day there is great pressure to go with the crowd, to be politically correct, to do the convenient thing regardless whether it is right or ethical or not. The reality is, however, unless we have deep roots in God, we too can easily be swayed by the “popular winds of the moment” and be “double-minded and unstable in all we do.”

Think of Jesus, he never worried about being politically correct, or pleasing the crowd or the religious leaders of his day, or even King Herod for that matter. His only concern was to do right and please God, his Father. He did right regardless of the consequences. For you and me to make a difference we, too, need to stand for truth and do right regardless of the consequences.

To do this we need backbone. As the saying goes, any dead fish can float down the river but it takes a live fish to swim against the flow. Furthermore, he who stands for nothing will fall for anything.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me in this day and age to stand for truth, the principles of which are found in your Word, the Bible, and to always do right regardless of the consequences. Give me the courage to live only to please you in all that I am and do as did Jesus. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. James 4:7-8 (NIV).

2. James 1:8 (NIV).

3. Author unknown.

Working slowly and giving meticulous care to details, he spent three years on the assignment. He grouped the disciples into threes, two groups on either side of the central figure of Christ. Christ’s arms are outstretched. In his right hand, he holds a cup that was painted beautifully with marvelous realism.

When the masterpiece was finished, the artist said to a friend, “Observe it and give me your opinion of it.”

“It’s wonderful!” exclaimed the friend. “The cup is so real I cannot divert my eyes from it.”

Immediately Leonardo took a brush and drew it across the sparkling cup! He exclaimed as he did, “Nothing shall detract from the figure of Christ!”²

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please grant that nothing I ever do or say will ever detract from the beauty of Christ being seen in me. Help me always in all ways to reflect your glory. This I can only ever do with your help. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV).

2. Quoted from the Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations by Paul Lee Tan.

Brett Blair shares how, some years ago in South America, a crew of Peruvian Sailors heading up the Amazon River came upon a strange sight. A Spanish ship was anchored off the coast, and as the Peruvians drew closer they saw that the Spaniards were in terrible physical condition. They looked the picture of death itself, their lips parched and swollen. They were dying of thirst.

“Can we help you?” shouted the Peruvians.

The Spaniards cried out, “Water! Water! We need fresh water!”

The Peruvian sailors, surprised at this request, told them to lower their buckets and help themselves.

The Spaniards, fearing they’d been misunderstood cried back, “No, no we need FRESH water!

But they received the same reply from the Peruvians to lower their buckets and help themselves. They finally did lower their buckets into the ocean waters and when they brought the buckets on deck they discovered to their amazement fresh water. There at the mouth of the Amazon river, anchored for days, too far from land to see the coast, but not too far from the mouth of the river, they had fresh water in abundance.²

How like the blessings of God. They surround us everywhere we look and are new every morning—and he and he alone has the water of life. As Jesus said, “Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life’”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you for your endless blessings you surround me with every day and, above all, thank you for providing the water of eternal life. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. John 4:13-14 (NIV).

2. Brett Blair, www.eSermons.com

When explorers from England first went to Australia they discovered some strange and wonderful animals not seen anywhere else in the world—animals such as the kangaroo, the koala (which isn’t a bear as it is often called), and the ornithorhynchus—a mammal that laid eggs, spent some time in water and some on land, had a broad, flat tail, webbed feet, and a bill similar to a duck (now known as the platypus).

When the explorers returned home, nobody would believe their story about the platypus. All felt it was a hoax. Even after they returned to Australia and brought back a pelt from this strange animal, people still felt it was a hoax and refused to believe it was real.²

Many people say, “I believe only what I see for myself.” That’s not necessarily true either because, by and large, people see and believe only what they want to see and believe—and refuse to see and believe all else—regardless of the evidence.

However, what I see and believe has absolutely no effect on what is. What is, is—whether I see and believe it or not. For instance, I’ve never seen an atom but I’ve seen (at least in pictures) the evidence of its incredible power and believe it is real. I live close to a nuclear power plant and can’t see the electric power it is generating, but its electricity is probably powering my computer on which I am typing this article right now. I can’t see the electricity but whether I believe it is real or not doesn’t affect its reality. It just is.

I’ve never seen God either but I see evidence of his presence and mighty power everywhere I look—I see and believe because I want and choose to believe. With God, as with many things in life, believing is seeing. Indeed, the heavens declare the glory of God. Believe it and you will see.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, open my eyes and help me to see the marvels of your creation, the majesty of your presence, the magnificence of your power and, above all, help me to see all the riches in Jesus Christ you have for me—including the gift of forgiveness and eternal life to live with you forever in heaven. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Psalm 19:1-4 (NIV).

2. www.eSermons.com.

The story is told about a baby bear “that wandered away from his mother in search of food. This was his first foray; so he was a little timid. A large, ferocious mountain lion spotted the baby bear and approached to attack. The baby bear, not knowing what else to do, reared up on his hind legs as he had seen his mother do this as a defense. Immediately, the mountain cat retreated; ran like he was scared to death. The baby bear, very proud of himself, continued foraying for food. What the mountain lion saw, and the baby bear didn’t know, was that the mother bear was behind the baby bear, rearing up on her hind legs, ready to attack the mountain lion.”²

No fear! Yeah. Right! Breathed the man with soul so dead who never to himself hath said, “I’m scared half to death.” Fear is a common plight of us all—unless we bury and hide it, which is a dangerous path to follow for what we deny we inevitably act out in some self- or other-destructive way. Someone has said that there are 365 “fear nots” in the Bible—one for every day of the year!

David, who penned the words of today’s Psalm had every reason on many occasions to be terrified because King Saul, ravished by a jealous hatred of David, was hunting him down to kill him. So whenever I am afraid, I take a page out of David’s book, and keep repeating to remind myself, “The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

The good news is that God is with us … always … he will never leave us or forsake us … hence to counteract our fears we can learn to place our confidence in him and not in ourselves. It’s important, too, not to allow fears to control us for if we don’t control (or resolve) them, they will control us.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that no matter what circumstances I find myself in, you are always there for me. Thank you too for your promise to never leave me or forsake me. Help me to learn how to fully put my trust in you so I will not be afraid. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

NOTE: For additional help see “Conquering Fear” at: http://tinyurl.com/rhlho

1. Psalm 118:6-7 (NIV).

2. Source an e-mail. Author unknown.