God's healing hand...

Please read this post from Julie and this post from Tracie regarding Julie's mom's cancer diagnosis. As we had a Bible Study retreat today, we prayed for Margot. I wasn't going to blog about it, 'cause, well, I don't know ... I wasn't for whatever reason ... God quickly convicted me tonight as I read over Tracie's blog ... are we not called as the BODY of Christ to pray, support, and encourage each other?

James 5:16 says...

...pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

It's amazing the people God puts into our lives. God introduced us to Julie through Carey when we decided to adopt from Ethiopia as Julie and her husband had recently went through the process. She has been a blessing to me and Amber as we have started our journey and we cherish her friendship.

We know that our Lord is the ultimate physician. We know that Jesus bore all our sickness and disease on the cross that we may live in victory. We know that we live in a fallen world but that victory comes in faith in Him.

In Mark 6, the Bible talks about a woman who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years. I'm not a fan of bleeding for 12 minutes, let alone 12 years ... I can't fathom that. However, even after 12 years, her faith was such that if she thought if she could just touch Jesus' clothes, she'd be healed. She did just that and her bleeding stopped immediately. Jesus told her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."

This notion of being healed by faith is evident throughout all the Gospels. So, first and foremost, we have to believe that God is still in the business of healing and CAN and WILL heal Margot. Hebrews 13: 8 says that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." So the way that I read my Bible is that Jesus is still in the healing business.

We also have to believe that God is in work in Margot's life. In John 9, Jesus and his disciples come up to a man blind since birth. His disciples asked Jesus who had sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus response always intrigues me ... he says "Neither this man nor his parents sinned but this happened that the work of God might be displayed in his life."

So we also have to believe that God is in work with His people today as He was 2000 years ago. The Bible really is the story of God's interaction with His creation. We see that from the beginning of the story of Adam and Eve to Abraham and onward throughout the whole book. So why would God not want to interact with his creation in 2008?

We are believing in complete healing for Margot's body through the blood of Jesus Christ. We believe that the cancer has not spread and that our Lord will be glorified through this.

I will be fasting and praying on Monday for Margot ... I ask any of you to please join me with this. Fasting is abstaining from something (many times food) for spiritual purposes. Any time that you are hungry, you realize your dependence on God. It reminds us the purpose of our fasting and for us to pray for Margot at that time. I have seen God honor this commitment and sacrifice in the past and I believe He will honor it again.

Please pray for Margot and join with me fasting and praying on Monday.