GOD IS NEAR!

Sometimes one can feel discouraged, even on Valentine's Day.....especially if your schedule includes lab work, more injections and a less than "perfect" medical prognosis. One can begin to wonder, "Is God Near?"

0f course He is. My faith tells me so. 

So do not fear, for I am with you; (Isaiah 41:10a)

He Has appointed our times and and the boundaries of our habitation, that we might seek Him..... and find Him, though He is not far from from each one of us. (Acts:17: 26-27) I remember once at the beach I commented, I wish God would just show me the way----like write it in the sky. He did. Within minutes a small plane pulling a banner came by with a Jesus Cares type quote on it. Does that happen often. That specifically.....no. But it can happen.

Today at the BCC, I came without a mask, no pre check-in completed on-line and I'm sure a look of dread on my face. Then,Torrie @the desk greeted me with a big smile, a Valentine's greeting, a comment about my cane with bling and a mask. The lab work didn't even sting. My next door neighbor's friend was PA on duty who consulted with me over my "labs."

Back to the waiting room I opened up Whirly Word game on my phone to while the time away as I waited for the next phase of treatment.

New game appeared.

Do you see it? THE scrambled 6 letter word in the circle?

Called back for my "turn," I ran into neighbor Angela's mom in the infusion room. 

Two least painful injections I've had of 22 so far!

God has a way of showing me "hope" in the midst of pain. Maybe pain for injections today was the same but it felt different to me. 

Usually when they inject I reflect the pain wanting to reject the needle quickly....whether on the inside of my elbow for blood, or subcutaneously in the abdomen, thigh, or upper arm.

When nurse came to inject, i was ready. God was near. 

Green light on the game gives one the "go" to complete the task.Can you see I typed the 6 letter word needed?

To you that might be pie in the sky thinking, or  just weird. 

To me, it's none of that. It's God assuring me, He is always near.

*Years ago, friend Lynn Mc deemed co-incidence as a Christ Ordained incidence.

CHOOSE: FRUCTIFICATION OF FAITH

Wordsmith's unite. Do they ever!
Word-A-Day Flip calendars. YouVersion verse of the day. A.Word.A.Day which comes right to your email in-box. K-Love's Encouraging Word via radio waves. 
Wannabe wordsmith's even have their own twitter accounts and URLs.

Wordsmiths choose words that are not normally in their speaking vocabulary and learn from them. Sometimes one wordsmith will challenge another.
I, a fledgling word nerd, took the challenge though I am VERY weak in the spiritual "wordsmith" community, compared to my challenger. 

"Fructification." I started with my old stand-by, my hard copy American Heritage Collegiate, 2nd edition. (a gift from my Aunt Dot Seay)

Fructification--noun, the process of fructifying. (Wow, that was "un"-enlightening.)

More research opened my eyes to a synonym of growth. In the spiritual realm, that made sense. 
Growth in grace and knowledge of truth = fruit bearing in my faith.

Starting with knowledge of God and accepting Christ as the cornerstone of one's faith many Christlike virtues begin to take root. A new believer often begins studying God's word and seeking God's grace in order to grow in his faith.

Do your best to improve your faith. You can do this by adding goodness, understanding, self-control, patience, devotion to God, concern for others, and love. If you keep growing in this way, it will show that what you know about our Lord Jesus Christ has made your lives useful and meaningful. (2 Peter 1:5-7)

In my own faith walk, after I added knowledge, it was in the midst of struggles that God "ripened" my faith." Faith growth for me hurt deeply at times. 

Yet, for me, the real fructification of faith began when I chose to share my faith with others. 
Fructification of faith is, at its best, when it bears fruit in others.

Faith that was my anchor in my cancer journey gained strength as I shared it to encourage others.
Faith continues to give me strength and courage when I have no control in life's "hard places," knowing I can lean in to God's goodness in each new struggle. 

Sharing is a new branch/off shoot of choosing fructification of faith with each new struggle.


Before posting this blog entry, I opened my All to Jesus, devotional book for March 22 and read, 'The gospel....has come to you....bearing fruit...and growing all over the world, just as it has among you since the day you heard it.' (Colossians 1:6)

Not only was the "CO"incidence affirming, but it opened my eyes to the One who did the "choosing" for my "word" for today---certainly strengthening my faith as together He and I choose: fructification!