Treatment 2 has come and gone!!! I am so excited to know that we are working hard against this cancer. My visit with the doctor was great. He said all my lab work shows that my liver functions have increased since my first chemo treatment!!!! Is that exciting news, or what? I actually feel really good!!! I am going into tomorrow expecting to feel great, and if I have to rest...I'll just rest!!! I met some really wonderful people today at the oncology office. One lady, named Becky, was just diagnosed with breast cancer a few weeks ago. She was meeting with Dr. Peppercorn for her first chemo treatment. I wish you could see the fear in her precious eyes. For the first time, I was able to hug someone and say, "I know exactly how you feel. I was in your shoes just last week." We had an amazing conversation about the miracles of God. Then, I met another lady, Cathy, that was Dr. Peppercorn's patient at Chapel Hill. Apparently her cancer has returned. So, she called Chapel Hill to find him. She said she left Chapel Hill and came to Duke to be with him. That made me feel great!!!!
Today, I have another person that I would like all of you to pray for. I know this e-mail reaches a lot of people, and our hearts have been very heavy for a special person in our lives.We have been praying especially for him all week, and I would be honored if you would join us. His name is Scott Jones, and he has been fighting kidney disease since his early twenties. He is in great need of a kidney transplant, and his health is declining each day. Please pray that this kidney will come to him as soon as possible, and that his health will be restored. He has a wife and three children that really need him in better health. Thank you in advance for your prayers!!!
Today's Treasure:
(1 Samuel 19:4)
"Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul, his father, and said to him, 'Let not the king do wrong to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly'"
Read 1 Samuel 19: 1 - 18
Jonathan warned David of his father's intentions. Saul and David were briefly reconciled.
Michal warned David, helped him flee and deceived her father. Michal told her father that David asked her to help him flee so he would not have to kill her.
This passage was fascinating to me. Two of Saul's own children are working in favor of a man that their father despises. Why would this happen? You have this father who is in charge of a kingdom. He has everything at his disposal except what every parent longs for most...the love of their own child. I do realize that Saul is not the typical parent. We must recall when he tried to have Jonathan put to death earlier. But, I can't help but believe that deep down in him, he must long to be loved by the children that he has. Instead, they pledge their allegiance to a man that is no part of their family. Ouch!!! You can't help but be in awe of the character that David must sincerely have in order to mean so much to these two people. Jonathan sees that David is the better suited for the kingdom. So much so, that we saw him give himself to David in solemn oath. Then, in the last study we find out that M ichal loves David so much that Saul realizes his plan to hurt David with her is not going to work.
Today's study emphasizes the facts that love is greater than jealousy, and God is greater than all of this.
Have you ever been talked out of a negative spiral of emotions only to be captivated by those emotions again?
Would we all be lying if we said no? I have had to pray myself out of losing control of my emotions so many times. Then, I think of the times in my life when I have lost control of my emotions with people in public. I have truly had to consider the witness that I am when I do that. Over the past few years, I have made a huge attempt at controlling my immediate reaction to things. I have a short fuse when it comes to people being lazy. So, I have to bite my tongue quite often. Yet, I have realized it is not enough to just bite your tongue. I need to learn to keep myself from having the thoughts in the first place. I pray that God gives me the insight to consider what might be going on in the other person's life to cause them to act this way.
Jealousy is a powerful emotion, but so is love. Why did Saul have cause to be frightened when he realized that Michal loved David.
Because he knew his own flesh and blood was on David's "side". Now, her love for him was causing him to lose grip on his power. She was willing to deceive her father in order to save David. Saul must have felt he was alone against the world.
David ran to Samuel when he found out that Saul was going to kill him. You know, I think I would have done the same thing. I would have been wondering how my life got to that point when I was content tending my sheep in the fields with my harp by my side. I am sure he felt everything was a whirlwind. I would have gone straight to the person that could reassure me that God intended all of this to work for a greater good. He also knew he could trust Samuel to protect him since Samuel knew God's intentions with him. Then, I LOVED IT when Saul sent his men to get David, and they all fell to the power of God!!! Can you imagine how David must have felt? How amazing...David is running for his life, and God has placed a hedge of protection completely around him. Even the evil spirit that had taken over Saul was not powerful enough to do warfare with the protection God had placed around David. How much would you have payed to see Saul fall to the power of God? What do you imagine that did to him knowing all the hatred that lived in him? Satan has no power in the presence of our amazing God!!!
I can't wait to move forward even further into God's word tomorrow!!!
I love you all
Tiffany
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