In His Grip is a weekly e-mail intended to provide inspiration and hope to those fighting cancer.
A ministry of Stronghold Ministry.          Subscribe here.

*If you’re fighting cancer, please write and let us know how we can pray and support you.

Nothing makes Bible doctrines come to life like desperation. While I was fighting cancer, I was reassured by three facts about God that buoyed my spirit and anchored my soul.

1) The Sovereignty of God

Despite pain, oppression, and confusion, it was comforting to know He was in absolute control over my life. Nothing was or can be stronger than Him, or stand in His way. Though man was powerless over the Stage IV metastatic melanoma which ravaged my pancreas, lung, kidney, stomach and lymph system, I knew God could remove every trace of cancer at any time. He would have the last word, because He always has the last word. Jesus expressed The Sovereignty of God this way, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God” – Luke 18:27. Does this begin to lift your spirit?

2) The Goodness of God

God is good all of the time. He proved this forever when He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for me while I was a sinner and enemy (Romans 5:6-8). After becoming a son and heir through Christ, how much more will He cause His goodness to sovereignly flow to me? Paul summarized The Goodness of God in this way, “We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” – Romans 8:28. He pours out goodness so we can conquer anything.

3) The Incomprehensibility of God

A big word, but there is much we don’t understand about His ways. Asaph, the Psalmist, described His Incomprehensibility in this way, “Your way was in the sea and Your paths in the mighty waters, and Your footprints may not be known” – Psalm 77:19. As with Israel at the Red Sea, God may carry us to a place that confuses and upsets us. We don’t always see the way through on this side of heaven, and He doesn’t always explain why He allows painful seasons. But we don’t have to trust blindly. We can be so certain of His Sovereignty and Goodness that we don’t need to understand now! We’re just confident He will produce a good outcome. We don’t need to figure everything out! This lifts a heavy burden from us. We can let Him navigate and focus on relaxing!

These truths work together to provide a supernatural peace and stability no matter what happens. So when in pain, don’t turn away from Him, turn to Him!

You Are In His Grip,

Joe & Terri Fornear, Stronghold Ministry
-If you are fighting cancer, please write and let us know how we can pray. We want to be “in your corner.”

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“Every night I make my bed swim, I dissolve my couch with my tears” (Psalm 6:6).

Did God notice David’s tears? Does God care about our tears?

Tears are deep and wholehearted prayers to God. He captures and collects them. He knows the journeys of those who wander in the wilderness and in the enemy territory of cancer. He is noticing and watching and mapping our steps.

“You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book?” (Psalm 56:8).

It was many years before God completely consolidated David’s kingdom. In the meantime, David trusted God. Psalm 56 is often called a “trust” psalm. David told himself the truth; God is always worthy of our trust.

“When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid” (Psalm 56:3-4).

God is always for you, even when you’re wandering in the wilderness. He is definitely for you when you’re fighting for your life. So, like David, say to yourself,

“This I know, that God is for me.” (Psalm 56:9).

For verification on this important matter, we consult a letter of Paul the apostle, and a Psalm of King David. These two men were especially anointed by God to speak on His behalf. They both testified that God does not punish us for sins that He has forgiven. In Romans 4:7-8, Paul quotes David’s Psalm 32:1-2, “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.”

We suspect Paul and David were both relieved to experience God’s gracious forgiveness, because BOTH MEN WERE MURDERERS! As such, they would have been prime candidates for being punished by God through cancer or some other severe punishment. Yet both appear to have lived cancer free lives. Think about it – how blessed we are when the Lord passes over our sin!

Check back next week for more on God’s amazing forgiveness.

In His Grip is a weekly e-mail intended to provide inspiration and hope to those fighting cancer.
A ministry of Stronghold Ministry. Subscribe here.

*If you’re fighting cancer, please write and let us know how we can pray and support you.
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In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them; In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them, and He lifted them and carried them all the days of old.” (Isaiah 63:9)

So according to Isaiah, when you are hurting, He is beside you hurting with you, and carrying you through your trial! After all, the Lord commands us in Romans 12:15, “Weep with those who weep”. Since He doesn’t ask us to care in ways that He doesn’t, it follows that He weeps when we weep. For an example, recall in John 11 when Lazarus died, his sisters, Mary and Martha, were soaked with tears. Jesus knew exactly what He was about to do; He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead. He knew this story would have a happy ending. He knew in just moments that uncontrollable laughter and sheer joy would fill every grief-filled heart. Yet John 11:35 reports, “Jesus wept.” Why in the world would He cry at that moment? Simple answer; He so identifies with our pain that He can’t help hurting when we are hurting.

To go deeper, recall when Paul, then called Saul, was en route AGAIN to persecute Jesus’ followers. Jesus suddenly appeared, blinding Saul and knocking him off his high horse. Jesus then challenged him in a voice that resembled a thunder clap, “Why are you persecuting ME?” The Bible doesn’t say this, but I imagine Saul very sheepishly muttered, “Oops, I messed with the wrong guys, er, Guy.” For another example, remember that Jesus explained at judgment time He would reward or punish us for our decisions on helping the poor, sick and imprisoned. He said that when people visit and help these sufferers, they help and visit HIM.

“Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me” (Matthew 25:40).

Wow, talk about identifying with our suffering. Now we know exactly where God is when we hurt. He is right beside us, feeling our pain and carrying us through every trial! This lightens my load. How about you?

In His Grip is a weekly e-mail intended to provide inspiration and hope to those fighting cancer.
A ministry of Stronghold Ministry.    Subscribe here.
*If you’re fighting cancer, please write and let us know how we can pray and support you.

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For twelve years I had stood at a pulpit on Sunday mornings and proclaimed that our significance and value comes primarily from the Lord, and not from what we do. Yes, we can feel good about our performance, but God even loves us when we are unable to produce, and even when we “fail.” This truth was a source of comfort to me, and I had seen it bring freedom to others as well. Then in 2002, Stage IV metastatic melanoma would severely test my grasp on this truth. The cancer and treatments stripped all of my strength. I tried to rise from my “unproductive state” through faith and positive thinking. Yet I was too weak to deliver a sermon. Heck, I couldn’t even get out of bed. I explained to the Lord that this was a colossal waste of time. I was not getting anything done. How could I make a difference lying flat on my back? Ahhh, the teacher needed to practice what he preached. I realized that my lack of productivity bothered me far too much. My identity, sense of self-worth, and self-esteem had become attached to my level of production. I even felt like a burden to my caretakers, to my incredibly supportive wife, Terri, and to my very understanding church. I thought I was wasting their time too. The Lord broke through all of my noise, and reassured me that I was deeply loved by Him, even if I never helped another person again. In an inaudible voice, in a kind of whisper in my spirit, I heard Him say, “You are right in the center of my will right now, and I love you so much.” At first, it was difficult to receive such love with no strings attached, but today I am more liberated from my job and my sense of “success”. Now I know His affirming love for me, even when I’m at my absolute weakest. So if your battles have rendered you helpless, remember your value is not tied to your production. He loves you, right now, more than you can ever imagine. So get busy… simply accepting His amazing love. I am grateful His ways are not our ways, and our suffering is never in vain.

In His Grip,
Joe Fornear, Stronghold Ministry
Toll free – 877-230-7674

-Subscribe here to In His Grip, this weekly devotional newsletter list.

In His Grip is a weekly e-mail intended to provide inspiration and hope to those fighting cancer.
A ministry of Stronghold Ministry.    Subscribe here.
*If you’re fighting cancer, please write and let us know how we can pray and support you.
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I have a belief that might make some cringe. Here it is: There were benefits to my battle with cancer. Now before you conclude I’m losing my grip, let’s first remember God’s superior intellect. “My thoughts are not your thoughts, and My ways are not your ways” (Isaiah 55:9). It doesn’t appear that Paul, the suffering apostle, had cancer, but he was definitely acquainted with pain, as 2 Corinthians 11:23-25 makes clear.

… in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep.

Paul had been physically battered because of his loyalty to God, yet he knew exactly how to cope. One might say he was an expert in pain management. In 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, he stressed a valuable benefit of suffering which helped him get through the horrible treatment he received:

Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.  For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,  while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

If physical pain is leveraged correctly, it sets us free from temporal, tangible things, and it redirects us to eternal, unseen things. In other words, the comforts of this life can distract from eternal realities. Let’s face it, this earth is not our final destination. Yet we can become so caught up in earthly niceties, like homes, cars, vacations, experiences and accomplishments. At our core, we are all spiritual beings. But no matter how many times He heals me in this life, my physical body will eventually give way to decay. So why would I invest so much in indulging earthly, physical desires? During the cancer battle, I constantly grieved that I could not play basketball, or go fishing. Though I really enjoyed these activities, I discovered I could live without them. Don’t get me wrong, God delights in giving us good things on this earth, but there is a difference between enjoying things and being distracted by them. Battling cancer helped me grasp that difference better. I have a long way to go, but now I have a firmer grip on an eternal perspective. Let’s not waste our suffering. Let it become a portal for God’s best.

In His Grip,
Joe Fornear, Stronghold Ministry
Toll free – 877-230-7674

-Subscribe here to In His Grip, this weekly devotional newsletter list.

In His Grip, is a weekly e-mail intended to provide inspiration and hope to those fighting cancer.
Subscribe here.
*If you’re fighting cancer, please write and let us know how we can pray and support you.

January 8, 2010
During Joe’s chemo treatments, I remember asking nurses, “Has this chemo worked for others?”  They would answer, “Take it a day at a time.”  Or, “Just enjoy every day you’re together.”  And, “We are all dying.” Somehow at the time, those words weren’t very comforting. How do I focus each day when my life is filled with sickness and fear of losing him? Living with his pain, and thinking of him as dying rattled my world. I often felt guilty thinking of myself, after all, I wasn’t the one who was “suffering.”

Jesus is so cool. He allowed me to ask the hard questions. He let me struggle with those true, but pat answers. He allowed me to hurt and be myself without having to pretend to be okay. Actually, He was waiting for me to see my helplessness, because He is “the God of the valleys.” This valley was surrounded by mountains of cancer which seemed immovable. They cast shadows; shadows of death; shadows that seemed like prison walls… no way out. They told me there was less than a 6% chance of getting out. In Hosea 14:5, Jesus Christ is likened to a lily that springs up in dark valleys. “The Lily of the Valley” springs up wherever He pleases.

Jesus was to me a beautiful flower. He was tall, strong and bright white. How did He get there? He was there in that place all along. He whispered in my ear as if He had a secret. This Lily is in you! This Lily is My Son, who is the way out of the valley. He sprung up in you long ago when you first believed. Look to Him, He is the Mystery that brings Life in helpless places. I looked to Him, learned to behold Him and hope started rising in my spirit. How this works I can’t really say, but I know that the Lily, JESUS, pulls me through and triumphs over the valley. This Lily is still IN ME TODAY… seven years later. Now I “BEHOLD” Him as I walk through new valleys. In the midst of your valleys, behold, the beauty of the Lord.

Stronghold Ministry

In His Grip, is a weekly e-mail intended to provide inspiration and hope to those fighting cancer.
Subscribe here.
*If you’re fighting cancer, please write and let us know how we can pray and support you.

Blue Christmases happen. I don’t have raw statistics to prove it, but for those battling cancer, the sense of isolation is usually greater during the holiday season. Cancer takes no holidays. It’s impossible to forget the Christmas that I was diagnosed. On the day before Christmas Eve in 2002, I had a biopsy on a large mass under my arm. The surgeon called to give me the results on Christmas Day. He was heading out of town; I was heading down the road with Stage III metastatic melanoma cancer. So much for peace on my little chunk of earth. There were lots of caring family and friends surrounded me, but I still felt alone.

If you haven’t received your Creator’s indwelling Presence, just receive Him right now. Ask Him to forgive your sins through Christ’s death on the cross. Ask Him to come into your life and live inside of you and be your life source. He will truly answer with His Presence. He is not some distant, smug royal, who sits passively indifferent to our situation. He wants to be involved in your life. In fact, He wants to live inside of you and ride everywhere with you!

When you are being flooded with bad news, how does one focus on good things? Let’s be honest, sometimes in our lives, the “good news” of Christmas is totally overshadowed by personal news feeds. Perhaps an employer gave you a pink slip, or a potential employer said no. Maybe you received a news flash that a relationship is going deep south. Is your doctor continually giving reports of serious new problems? How do you stay positive in these cases? I can’t say that I’ve mastered this ability, since I’ve been known to wig out because of a traffic jam. I do confidently proclaim, however, that in my own life and in the lives of many others, I have seen the power of God lift a spirit, even in the bleakest circumstances. You see, God is not just a nice idea, HE IS A LIVING GOD! He delights to show up when we are at the bottom. He allows humbling trials and chronic weaknesses to show us how strong He can be on our behalf. Consider and take Him up on these offers:

1) He promises a “peace that surpasses all understanding” in Philippians 4:7. What does that mean? This is the type of peace where you marvel at how in the world someone can be so calm. But this peace is not of this world, it is supernaturally provided.

2) He offers in Ephesians 3:9, that we can know or experience a “love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” This means the love of God will literally saturate every fiber of our being. We can actually be filled with warm, uplifting love, not just intellectually aware of the fact that He loves us.

3) And joy, that elusive joy. Everyone wants it. God provides it free. Jesus said in John 15:11,  “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” This joy is not only from God, it is His joy. I don’t think God gets down in the dumps. I’ll take His joy any day.

This Christmas, no matter what circumstances you are in, look for His supernaturally supplied resources. The gift of Jesus Christ at Christmas keeps on giving. That is always good news, all year round. My sincerest prayers and thoughts go out to all of those who are in crisis during this Christmas season. We are thinking about you! You are not alone.

Have you ever seen a news article about a state government wanting to notify citizens of  millions of dollars of unclaimed money? Supposedly, money is often left behind in bank accounts, escrows and insurance policies, etc. While trying to find out how much unclaimed money is on the table for this article (over $32 billion), I ran across a nationwide search engine, so I punched in my last name. No lost treasure for me, but quickly found seven relatives and a couple friends listed. I was amazed to learn that 1 in 8 U. S. adults have unclaimed property.

I wonder how many unclaimed blessings are being left on the table. Only the Lord could calculate that number, but it must be astronomical. Probably the most unused blessing in my life is comfort. The Lord continues to chip away at my insistence to tough it out alone. For the last twelve years, the Lord’s classroom for me has been dealing with chronic pain including a tail bone broken in two places, Stage IV metastatic melanoma (maybe in a different category but it still hurt), an extruded back disc and  Eagle’s Syndrome – twice. I know there are a lot of us out there who can use more comfort for many different reasons. The good news is there is a fountain of comfort that we can claim.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 -  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction…

How do we tap into this comfort?

Missing something?

1) Realize the purpose of troubles is to discover more of God. Suffering can be hard, but it is never in vain when we turn to Him. Peter wrote that the testing of our faith has a very beneficial outcome.

1 Peter 1:8 -  Though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.

2) He went to a lot of trouble to identify with our struggles. God’s comfort is there for the taking and He really can relate. One reason the Father sent His Son to become a man was to assure us that He can identify with our sorrow and grief. In chapters 4 & 5 of Hebrews, the author tells us that Jesus understands weakness and what it is like to suffer. In the midst of Isaiah’s description of Jesus’ sufferings on the cross that lead to His death, He emphasizes this was not Jesus’ first encounter with pain.

Isaiah 53:3 – A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

3) Don’t be inconsolable. We may not really want to be comforted. We may be angry about our circumstances. We can hold a “comfort strike,” as if we can manipulate Him into giving us a circumstantial break. We only punish ourselves with this attitude. We need to soften up and allow Him to comfort us.

4) The amount of comfort He provides matches the amount of our suffering. We may be tempted to fear that the suffering we experience is too much to handle, especially if we are going through a traumatic illness or relationship troubles. The Lord is equal to any task, so press Him for a full measure of comfort. He welcomes our boldness.

2 Corinthians 1:5 - For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.

5) Don’t get caught up in false comfort’s. The world and the devil want to trap us into seeking comfort in all the wrong places. The list of alternatives is infinite because anything can be a substitute for the Lord. The usual suspects are drugs, alcohol, materialism and sex outside of a man-woman marriage. But any practice can be a substitute for the Lord if we make it our primary source of encouragement. So be careful out there, and guard your heat, because we are easily addicted to alternatives.

Don’t leave His unclaimed blessings on the table. You won’t have to search very far to find them.

If you are going through cancer - contact us at Stronghold Ministry and let us know so we can pray for you and comfort you.

*Scripture quotations taken from the NASB(c).

At some point during the TV show, Extreme Makeover, Homeowner Edition, my wife, Terri, will look over at me and ask, “Are you crying?” No! Must be something in my eye. I honestly think it is difficult not to cry. The show typically highlights the rough living conditions of a selfless individual who takes care of the sick, infirmed or bereaved, while simultaneously caring for their own large families. So the cast and volunteers tear down the old home and build a customized mansion for the grateful family. If that doesn’t tug at your heartstrings, then… go watch your Simpsons. There is one recurring scene in the show, however, that always makes me cringe. The bullhorn guy, Ty, explains that the reason the family is getting this royal treatment is because they deserve it.

Attitudes haven’t changed much in two thousand years. Jesus’ disciples informed Him that a Roman centurion, whose slave was very ill, deserved to be healed (Luke 7:1-10). The man had evidently been kind to Israel by building their house of worship — in the Temple Edition of Extreme Makeover. When Jesus wanted to visit the slave at his home, the centurion refused because he was “unworthy”. So Jesus healed his slave from a distance and marveled aloud at his faith, “I have not seen such great faith even in all of Israel.” Apparently, great faith entails a humility that we don’t deserve anything from God. We don’t deserve that He should enter our homes, let alone bless us there or give us a new one! I don’t want to treat the Lord like He is my cosmic bell hop. I need to learn that God “owes” me absolutely nothing. In fact, because of my countless sins, all I really deserve is eternal punishment. Are you getting what you deserve in life? Hope not.

Sometimes in action movies, the lead character experiences such pain and obstacles, you wonder how he could possibly survive. Yet, you know he will, because he is the lead character. The movie, Deep Blue Sea, about killer sharks, is unusual, as story lines go. Just as Samuel Jackson’s character was giving “the speech”, providing everyone hope against incredible odds, he was swallowed by a shark. Granted, Samuel was not the movie’s only key character, but to me, the scene is one of the most shocking movie moments.

On Friday of that first Holy Week, I imagine Jesus’ followers felt similarly shocked, stunned and hopeless. By Sunday, history’s lead character had overcome His own death in the ultimate plot twist. In the great drama of God coming to earth, you didn’t think death would prevail, did you? Fortunately for us, a central reason He died and rose was to extend the Resurrection benefit to those who follow Him. This is some really great news and cause for great rejoicing on Easter and every day.

1 Thessalonians 4:14 – For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.*

No matter how bleak things get, and even if the ultimate bad break occurs, remember the drama is not over until the credits roll on that final Resurrection Day. Then we will receive sickness free bodies, and be reunited with our loves ones and our Lord. The sequel is all about wonderful bliss, eternal bliss. So Happy Resurrection Day!

*Scripture quotation taken from the NASB(c).

We have a friend whose battling cancer right now. She and her husband had an experience with their dog which was full of symbolic meaning for me. Recently, her husband was giving instructions to the dog, but it refused to listen. It ran onto the street directly into the path of an oncoming car. The dog was pretty banged up in the collision, but managed to get up and start walking. When his master tried to reach down and scoop it up to nurse it back to health, it bit down on his hand and then limped off. The dog continued to ignore its master’s calls and ran away to hide. Amazingly, a couple of days later, they found the dog and began giving it the care it needed. All along, the dog’s master only had its well being in mind, but it thought differently. When you see this self-destructive behavior played out in a dog’s life, the folly seems so clear. But doesn’t this mirror us when we go it alone apart from God? We disobey, run away and reject His help.

Sometimes we want to run away from God

Just like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, we can be deceived to believe that God is not totally good. That for some reason, He is withholding life’s finest blessings. And, when we encounter pain, which is often self-induced, we tend to bite the hand that is reaching to restore us. Today, remember this when you are tempted to drift away: God is really good, all the time. He has your best in mind!

Jesus said, “How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it! (Luke 13:34).

Scripture quotation taken from the NASB(c).