If God is for us, Who can be against us?

"And we know that in all things God works together for the good of those who have been called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

 My heart is heavily burdened as I set my Bible aside and take up my laptop.  I had another post in mind this morning but that has all changed now.  My blogger friend, Susan, has had some horrible news. Her daughter has been diagnosed with lung cancer.  Please pray now for this family.

It seems there have been a few bumps in the road of late for this dear friend of mine.  Why not?  I mean, she demonstrates her love of and faith in Christ with every stroke of her pen. (or tap of her keyboard) And she and her husband Mickey, just recently began a new ministry to feed the people in need of their neighborhood and from what I have read, it is quite successful...feeding the body and the soul of everyone who receives a meal. You know that must have gotten the old deceiver and his minions stirred up! Looks to me like Susan is under attack at her very heart...her mother's heart.

Kinda reminds me of Job. He was just a Godly man, serving God with his heart and seemingly out of nowhere, BAM, he was under attack...and for what? Being a Godly man! But he made it through and on the other side the blessings were so much more than he could have ever expected. I bet it will be the same with Susan.  We see attacks on and suffering by the saints it in the new testament as well.  Let's face it...those new Christians, the ones setting up the church of Jesus, were definitely persecuted... beheaded, imprisoned, stoned, crucified... all because they were obeying the call... their call... HIS call. Why would it not be the case now?

Matthew 5:11 "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Then I think about the way Jesus healed the man who was born blind. [John 9] when his disciples asked who had sinned to cause the blindness, the man or his parents. Jesus' answer in verse 3 was simple, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life." Now that is an assurance! I pray the mighty work of God will be displayed in the life of my friends daughter.  I am almost on shouting ground now!

When I was younger my husband and I did a little stint of service as children's [ages 3-8] church ministers. Man, I loved those kids, still do... even though they are teenagers and young adults now.  For a short time a little boy named Elijah attended with his mother.

The circumstance of his presence in our church was one that looked hopeless to the outside world... his tiny body was riddled with cancer.  They lived across the street from our Pastor's sister, Faith, and because both parents were in the Air Force she would babysit from time to time.  When once again the cancer returned, Faith brought them to church in more ways than one.

For the first time in my life I was a part of a service where the elders of the church gathered, anointed someone, and prayed for healing.  It was the most powerful thing I had ever experienced. The hairs on the back of my neck stand as I vividly remember the service.  The next morning Elijah was scheduled for surgery to remove a spot and a mass that had grown in the place where a kidney had been removed.

I had an early meeting that morning and so was running a bit late to the hospital.  By the time I got there he was already in surgery.  I had barely gotten my coffee when the doctor came into the waiting room. We all knew this could be good news or very bad news... We waited with the preliminary words... then he took off that cap thingie and said, "I don't know what happened. Last week, there was a mass, this morning...nothing.  There was a little spot on his diaphragm, that was not malignant but we removed it anyway.  Other than that, everything is good there are no signs of cancer at this time. We don't need to see him for another six months."

Now that doctor might not have known what happened but we knew! God's power was manifested in that little boy so an unbelieving mother would come to know Him.  Praise the Lord! The family has since been transferred but as far as I know... Elijah is still cancer free.  That's the kind of God we serve.  I have seen His healing power with my own eyes and know He is still in the healing business to this day! And so I pray it shall be with Suzette.

Romans 8:31 "What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?"

I rebuke the devil in the the name of Jesus and claim a victory over this illness. Glory and honor and praise to the King, that His power is shone to all who meet this woman, Suzette. May her faith be deepened, her walk expanded, and the glory of the Lord surround her and shine, shine, shine!

 Romans 5:1-5 "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us,"

And so for now, a little suffering tempered with prayer and grounded in faith, hope and the Love which is Christ. And soon, very soon, a joyful victory!

Romans 8:35-37 "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardships or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger of the sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all thing we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels or demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any power, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."