by Cathy Baker | Faith |
by Cathy Baker
A mother whose teenage son is battling cancer but relentlessly clings to her faith, giving God glory in all things.
A US pastor, Saeed Abedini, has now been in an Iranian prison for two-and-a-half -years. He suffers from prolonged internal injuries from beatings and recently witnessed his six fellow inmates be executed, and yet he holds fast to his Christian faith. (Click here to sign the petition for his release.)
Weary parents of four who recently had a baby and welcomed another in need to their home, volunteer to help watch a room full of restless children so other parents can celebrate Good Friday services.
When I see Christ followers living out what they believe on a consistent basis, joy takes hold of my soul like spring tendrils clinging to worn wood. This 3 John 1 kind of joy can’t help but refresh and revive us!
It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it.
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. 3 John 1:3,4
Consider the last time a fellow Christ follower’s consistency in living out truth made you rejoice. What if we all contacted the person who just came to mind and shared why the simple mention of their name evokes such joy within us?
And finally, the hard question…
Is my walk consistent with truth (albeit not perfect) to the point that it would cause someone else to rejoice?
by Cathy Baker | Faith |
by Cathy Baker
It gives me great pleasure to introduce Edie Melson as my guest blogger today. She’s a prolific writer who has poured herself into numerous writers, such as myself. But more importantly, Edie is a woman of prayer.
If you know or love someone serving our country, you’ll especially resonate with Edie’s story. Welcome, my friend.
by Cathy Baker | Faith |
by Cathy Baker
Few things have profoundly affected my life more than music, especially as a Christ follower.
Its power comes as no surprise. Music was present at the time of creation
(Job 38:7) and it will be present once again when every creature sings
to the Lamb who was slain. (Rev. 5:13)
One musician, Michael Card, has left an indelible mark on my life, as well as many who’ve participated in Bible classes I’ve led over the years. He’s sometimes referred to as “a thinking man’s musician.” If you know his music, this comes as no surprise.
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| Michael Card |
One particular stanza in the song, “Joy in the Journey” has never failed to move me to tears. Not once. Perhaps it’s because I chased after happiness for years but captured only heartache.
Forget not the hope that’s before you
And never stop counting the cost
Remember the hopelessness when you were lost?
It’s only when we can recall the hopelessness of our life without Christ that we can we truly rejoice.
When joy rises to the surface and mingles with the music on our lips, a divinely infused fragrance of Christ invades the soul and cannot be contained.
Joy in the Journey
-Michael Card
There is a joy in the journey
There’s a light we can love on the way
There is a wonder and wildness to life
And freedom for those who obey
And all those who seek it, shall find it
A pardon for all who believe
Hope for the hopeless and sight for the blind
To all who’ve been born of the Spirit
And who share incarnation with Him
Who belong to eternity, stranded in time
And weary of struggling with sin
Forget not the hope that’s before you
And never stop counting the cost
Remember the hopelessness when you were lost?
There is a joy in the journey
There’s a light we can love on the way
There is a wonder and wildness to life
And freedom for those who obey
And freedom for those who obey
by Cathy Baker | Faith |
Was Jesus that joyful?
I’ll never forget the first time we viewed The Gospel of Matthew over fifteen years ago. The joyful portrayal with which Bruce Marchiano seemed almost, well, sacrilegious.
After all, I’d grown up watching Jesus of Nazareth. For years, I subconsciously carried Robert Powell’s somber portrayal in the back of my mind.
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| Bruce Marchiano, The Gospel of Matthew |
Bruce Marchiano made me realize how I’d underestimated the emotional side of Jesus. Yes, He was on a mission, walking earth with intentionality, but Scripture also reveals He was full of joy. So why did Bruce’s outbursts of laughter catch me off guard? A smile, okay — but a belly laugh? No!
My naivete is embarrassing.
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| Robert Powell, Jesus of Nazareth |
One need only look to the Word to see that Jesus is the very definition of joy.
It was with joy that He chose to leave His place in heaven and take ours here on earth. (Luke 10:21,22)
It was with joy that He dwelt among us, loving the unlovely, and holding children close. (Mt. 13:15-19)
It was with joy that Jesus endured the cross. (Heb. 12:2)
The Word gives us all we could ever hope to know Him but seeing the biblical versions played out on screen helped me to visualize the emotions He experienced as the One who was clothed in flesh—and full of joy.
How about you? Have you always imagined Jesus to be joyful? And who, in your opinion, has best portrayed Jesus in a film?
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| My personal favorite, Brian Deacon’s portrayal of Jesus in the JESUS film project. |
“I have told you this so that My joy may
be in you and that your joy may be
complete.”
John 15:11
by Cathy Baker | Faith |
by Cathy Baker
Last year I had the privilege of leading a writer’s workshop for a retreat focused on caring for mothers who’ve lost a child of any age. I marveled at their strength, faith, and joy, despite the heartbreaking circumstances facing them every waking day.
Someone who knows much about this kind of pain is Dee Dee Parker, an extraordinary friend of mine, who lost her 34 year-old daughter to cancer several years ago. It’s because of the forever fragrance released through Dee Dee’s life that I asked her to share how joy is possible even on the darkest of days.
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Brooke’s death was imminent.
I remember gazing into her eyes, memorizing her face. I longed to gather her frail body in my arms, a mother’s arms, designed to protect and run away to where pain could no longer ravish, and death could not steal her life’s breath.
I remember thinking how our hearts have always beaten in tandem, when her heart stops, so will mine.
Truth:
I could not whisk her away. She was heaven-bound. Death did come; I was left behind. Brooke’s heart stopped beating. My heart continued beating, but not my will.
In the wee hours of morning under an ink-stained sky, I crumbled to my knees.
Yes, I paint a harsh picture, but that’s because so many of you find yourselves in a place so black, so painful, and appearing void of joy.
Since Brooke’s home going, I’ve been asked numerous times, “How have you continued on? How have you found joy?”
Truth is, I didn’t have to find my joy. My joy is in the Lord therefore it is constant, strong, and eternal. Happiness, on the other hand, like the fickle thing it is, had flown. I wasn’t happy seeing my daughter suffering or knowing I’d never hear her say mother again on this side of heaven.
Brooke was a believer; therefore, according to scripture, she is with her Savior and Lord. She no longer is paralyzed from cancer’s tentacles. Praise the Lord she has a glorified body, she dances in stardust. Brooke lives, and I will be with her again. I have reason to rejoice!
I pray that you know Christ, the foundation of joy; it comes by establishing an intimate relationship with Him. I don’t know your names, can’t see your faces, but I can pray for you in your time of heart-rending hurt. I will fling the words of Romans 15:13 to the very courts of heaven on your behalf:
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace, as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Precious readers, I wish you all joy unspeakable.
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Thank you, Dee Dee, for bringing difficult but powerful words to the surface for the benefit of others.
Friends, Dee Dee welcomes the opportunity to pray for you. She also wants to make herself available to those who’ve experienced the loss of a child or grandchild by lending a welcoming ear. If you would like to contact her, please email me or leave a comment. She can also be found on Facebook.
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, so that we may be able to comfort
those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we
ourselves are comforted by God. 2 Corinthians 1:3,4
Don’t forget! There are only three more days left to put your name in the drawing for the teacup and saucer from my personal collection. Visit this post and leave a comment to register. A name will be randomly drawn on Friday, April 10th.
