It is early morning, Saturday, Sept. 9th. This week marked the completion of my fourth chemotherapy treatment cycle. The treatment regimentation which I completed yesterday went well but began with one complication, a sinus infection which my doctor began treating early in the week. The sinus condition is improving and I am grateful for the progress and relief.
I continue to feel the unflagging support and benefit of your faithful prayers on my behalf which together with the fruit of the Spirit, i.e., love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, self-control, and faith, made available through being "in Christ' and having "Christ in me," are a great resource to me. So for instance, it is not my peace I need, but Christ's peace flowing in and through me. Did you notice the extent of Christ's peace when He was alive on earth - He could sleep through the powerful storms while on a small boat, on the night before going to calvary when betrayed, arrested, deserted, denyed, and falsely accused and abused, He displayed an amazing inward peace through it all. He referred to this peace as my peace and said, my peace I give unto you. Since Christ is in us, that same peace of His is readily available to us at all times. In our lives we may experience many troubles, but His peace is always available to us if we will only depend on Him and allow Him to flow like living water through/in/out of us. Is it any wonder that it is called the peace of God that passes all understanding which will keep our hearts and minds in Philippians 4:7? Ultimately, the same peace that Christ had and has, the very peace of God (peace that God has), can keep us in any circumstance if we realize its availability to us through our vital union with Christ, yield ourselves to Him and His control, and allow Him to live and flow through us.
It is the same with the other fruit of the Spirit (each fruit is a character quality of and manifested in Jesus Christ). We don't "rejoice in ourselves" but we are to "rejoice in the Lord." It is not a matter of your joy but of His, so the joy of the Lord (becomes) is our strength.
The realization and experiencing of these truths is the essence of living the Christ-like Christian life and is what we must learn and practice constantly as we face the struggles of life.
Pastor Ed will be speaking tomorrow morning, Pastor Dan will speak the following Sunday, and Lord willing, I'll be in the pulpit the next Sunday, August 24th.
Thanks for demonstrating the love of Christ to me in so many ways.
Pastor Brown