July 20
Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received.
1 Peter 4:10
While none of us is created exactly the same, each of us has been created with unique and invaluable gifts that mark each of us as someone worthy and special. Recognizing our gifts and using them to the best of our abilities is our reason for living and surviving in this world. No matter what our status, our circumstances or our situation, as long as we have life we have the ability to touch others, to make a positive difference and to create a lasting legacy for the ages. In understanding and using our gifts we give value and meaning to every day of our lives.
Dear God, help me to know the gifts you have given me and the gift I am to this world. Help me, too, to take these gifts and share them to a world that needs them today. Help me to accomplish the purpose you have created in me. Amen.
July 21
For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Do not fear, I will help you.”
Isaiah 41:13
Like children straining for autonomy and independence, we quickly like to loosen our grip from the guiding hand of God. Yet like lost or frightened children, we also quickly seek to slip back into our parents’ grip for comfort and security. When we go through the insecurity and discomfort of cancer, the grip of God’s caring, loving hand can be the best thing we have. Remember to hold onto that hand – always open, always outstretched and always ready for us. We cannot face this challenge alone. We need God’s guidance to show us the healing way.
I know I cannot do this alone, O God. I know I need your help and direction. I know when I let my hand slip from yours, you will be beside me. Hold it out for me to grasp onto it – to you – again. Thank you. Amen.
July 22
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1 John 4:1
It’s never easy to know the truth when cancer confronts us – what is the truth about our treatment, our prognosis, our options and our future? There are so many questions that have no definitive answers. Getting an answer to one question only leads to many more questions to ask. The truth is very difficult to find. And this is where we must rely on the help of a loving God to equip our spirits with a passion for seeking the truth, a discernment to understand when we find it and a resolve to implement it for our well-being.
Dear God, when I consider all there is to know to experience healing in my life I realize my abilities come from you. I hope I will never fail to look to you every step along the way. Amen.
July 23
What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is my end, that I should be patient?
Job 6:11
When confronted with cancer we quickly want the disease to be gone, the threat to be over. We clamor for answers and a good, fast ending to this intrusion in our lives. But often the resolution isn’t quick and dealing with cancer becomes lifelong and chronic. We lose patience and become easily frustrated when resolution doesn’t come as we want or expect. But when we choose to accept and recognize the ongoing nature of our circumstances and choose to make the best of them, we turn a vital page toward a more healthy and positive attitude. That attitude will serve us well as we deal with this disease – turning it from one we fight against into one where we create an atmosphere of wellness instead.
Help me to move from a sense of desperate urgency into a place of strong resolve, understanding calm and inherent well-being, O God. For I need to change my attitude to regain my greatest strength. Amen.
July 24
But the word of the Lord endures forever. That word is the good news that was announced to you.
1 Peter 1:25
From the beginning of recorded human understanding of God there has been the promise of good news amidst all that was bad in the world. And from the beginning there have always been those who could see through the darkness, past the discouragement and beyond the despair to glimpse a better day to come. While the world has stumbled from one disaster to another; there have always been people of God who have found compelling evidence of God’s action for healing, restoration, salvation and relief in spite of it all. These actions still are strong and evident today. May this day reveal them profoundly and clearly to you.
I desperately need good news today, O God. I need to know, to see and to feel the promises for hope that you offer. Open my soul to understanding this reality today. Amen.
July 25
And you will say in that day: Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known his deeds among the nations; proclaim that his name is exalted.
Isaiah 12:4
Gratitude. Thanksgiving. Appreciation.
All are vital and necessary attitudes to possess on a constant basis. The more we recognize and affirm what God has done, is doing and assures us will be done, the more we face life and our personal challenges with grace, joy and peace. Make it a specific goal each day to know how God supports and upholds you. It will make a tremendous difference in the way you approach everyone and everything that comes to you.
In gratitude I look to you. In thanksgiving I come to you. In appreciation I place my trust in you, my Hope and my Salvation. Amen.
July 26
For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
1 John 3:11
It is the loving relationships we foster that bring the richest meaning to our lives - relationships that bring us joy, relationships that sustain us through difficult times, relationships that enable us to reach out in service and grace. Relationships that draw us from our selves and compel us to selflessness are the richest and most blessed gifts in our lives. We have been created to nurture these kinds of relationship. The love they engender makes living worthwhile.
Loving God, you created us out of love for love. Remind me of the love I have been given to help me share abundantly in return. This love gives meaning and purpose to all my days. Amen.
July 27
Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.
1 Peter 5:7
We are not equipped to carry all our burdens alone. We often try to and continually find we cannot do it. Nor should we. We have been created by a loving God who never stops reaching out to us to help, to strengthen, guide, comfort and carry us through. God does not want or expect us to do this alone. We must not forget our greatest source of hope and well-being – the One who offers solace and release without end.
Dear God, I will give all my cares to you. So often when I don’t know what to do, I know I need to give all my cares to you. Today I will remember that you are my support and supplier of every need. Amen.
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