My Journey With Cancer, Part 36 By David Maddox
Medically last week was week four from chemo so with the exception of the usual side effects from chemo accumulation there was nothing new – which is good news. As we went in today for chemo infusion number 14 we got an encouraging report – blood work good and the stomach had gotten slightly smaller. However the really good report was what the nurse in charge of our case said happened last month when we met. When we last met with her we gave her a Time to Revive Bible and showed her how to share the Gospel using it and we prayed for her. She told us today that the Bible got her through last month and then she shared about the amazing work of God. She revealed that when we last met she had a medical issue with her foot that made it almost impossible for her to walk. She said our prayer for her the last time had healed her. She woke up the next morning pain free and she says there is no other explanation. She has shared that with the medical staff here to differing reactions, but she says she does not care what they say she knows what happened. We rejoiced with her and prayed again for her.
Now the really amazing part of the story – she did not disclose to us her foot issue last month so we had not prayed specifically for that. How then did our prayer heal her? As I contemplated how that could have happened God revealed that it was in answer to my prayer just not the prayer we prayed over her. The prayer God answered was a pray I raise most days. It is the prayer of the Jerusalem church after the initial persecution. They prayed that they speak the word with boldness and then for God to “extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of your holy servant Jesus” (Acts 4:29). He affirmed that we have been seeking to share boldly every time we come for treatment – for a year now – and He has now affirmed that we are His servants – that the message we shared is His message – and that He is God. Hallelujah! God is always faithful to His word and always answers prayer. I was also reminded of the last verse in Mark which says, “And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed” Mark 16:30). If indeed we have re-entered the days of the Lord working with us and confirming His Word and His messengers then we are being offered the opportunity to be a part of that last great revival and awakening before His return as promised in Matthew 24:14. Don’t miss this last great chance to join in what has burdened God’s heart for hundreds of years. Pray for and be bold in sharing the love of Jesus and His Word and watch God work around and through you.
is messengersh
Last Tuesday night was the celebration of Ron Roger’s life. He like me had stage four cancers. I had only known him for a matter of months but during that time he had become very precious to us and to our small group. Like most memorial services there was a time of open microphone where people could share stories about Ron and what they will miss most. As I sat there I was asking the Lord if I should share and if so what. Ron was a special man – a man of faith – he was funny – gentle – kind – loving – all the things you would want to be. As I listened to the stories of friends and family that was clear – but there was more and the Lord finally showed me that more – and so I raised my hand near the end of the time for sharing in the service. What God showed me was that Ron was special because He allowed the Christ within to be released without so that everyone who encountered him encountered Jesus. And the Lord also showed that Ron would have shared that all they saw in him was from the Lord – and that they as well could have it all if they would only let Jesus have all of them. That message is for you as well as for them.
On Thursday – New Year’s Eve – we brought in the New Year in a way that has become for us a tradition. The adults in the family brought in the New Year by individually answering two questions: (1) tell us one significant thing the Lord taught you this year and (2) how can we pray for you going into 2016? The answer to those two questions keeps the focus on the Lord and enables us to share with one another both what the Lord has done and what we are praying for His doing as we go into the New Year. I love it. As a Dad I learn so much about my kids and about their kids. The following night we did the same with the older kids. Amazing to see what God has done and where He has taken hearts to prepare for the New Year. Last night Lindsay and Jan’s kids – five of our seven grandkids – laid hands on me and prayed for my healing. It doesn’t get any better than that. Thank you Lord.
Biblically God has been causing me to identify more and more with Paul in his later years. Those were the days when he was imprisoned and could not go where he wanted to go to share the Gospel and disciple Believers (new or still immature in the faith). Since he could not go – he wrote and now we all get to benefit because his message was written down. Had he not been in prison he would have shared the message to that church in person, but us living two thousand years later would not know what had shared. God used that to show me that I need to carefully use this time to write down what He has and had already shared with me and then share that with anyone I can anyway I can. That is the reason for the Facebook posts – the emails – and now the book. Please pray that I be faithful to share as God opens my eyes – and that I allow the Holy Spirit to show me just what to share and how it is to be shared. He has now confirmed to me that He will confirm His message and messenger if I will be faithful and allow the Holy Spirit to boldly speak the Father’s truth through me. Again that is true as well for you.
I end this “dancing on the inside” joyful at what God has and is doing. Thank you again for your prayers and sharing this journey together. May 2016 be3 the year of a new revelation of Jesus Christ to each of you that will change your heart so that God can use you to change other’s hearts.
About David Maddox – After a legal career in both Texas and Arizona that spanned over 40 years as a civil litigator, God called David to leave his law practice and work full time as Discipleship Director for Time to Revive. That call is really the fruit of decades of prayer for revival and teaching God’s Word, writing discipleship materials and seeking to make disciples. David married Janet Whitehead in 1976 and they minister together from their Phoenix home. God has blessed them with four children and thus far seven grandchildren.
