“Lord, give me firmness without hardness, steadfastness without dogmatism, love without weakness.” ―

Jim Elliot

I've been noticing so many words that begin with an "R". When I hear them, they ring in the spirit.  It's like my ear detects something different, an underlying layer of meaning.  My whole spirit begins to lean toward that word and I want to dig a little deeper.  I am building a series of blogs on these R words just because I need the encouragement most of all.  You can refer to my last post on

"Rest"

as the starting point.  Today, I am revisiting (see that R word?) the key to overcoming cancer the Lord gave me in 2009.  It was my first R word and it is still such an important key for me:

Resolute

Resolute: admirably purposeful, determined, unwavering

This word was so impactful to me at the beginning of my journey that I decided to share what I wrote about becoming resolute from my original blog post of July 10, 2009. 

Laughter is Good Medicine.

I like to ask God each year for a word for that year - something personal that will tell me what He has in mind for me. By mid-February I knew that my word for 2009 was "resolute". Resolute means steadfast, unwavering, without doubt, fully committed, with no duplicity. As soon as I heard it, I realized I was going to have to fight. I thought I might have to fight to stay in the ministry, or fight to hear God, or maybe fight to remain stable. Little did I know what loomed on the horizon. I am fighting for my very life.

This morning I was reading Dodie Osteen's book called Healed of Cancer (given to me last night by a very special friend, Janet Stephenson - thank you!) and I came across a verse that made my heart leap. I've searched the Bible for the word resolute and can't find it! I knew that steadfastness was the character of the Lord and I found some confirming verses for that - but I had not really laid hold of a passage that spoke to me about being resolute.

Guess what I found this morning? Hebrews 10:23 - "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful."

I will not waver again. Not because of my faith, but because He is faithful.

My faith has been quickened by the outrageous, lavish, abundant declaration of God's goodness toward me. I believe that I am healed when everything in my body is saying something different. I take authority over my mind, will and emotions - removing duplicite thoughts and becoming single-minded.

I command the root of cancer to die and leave my body whole and restored. Resolute.

I am grateful that the root of my faith is not contingent upon my effort.  Whether I am having a dark season or just a single difficult day, it is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit that makes me steadfast.  My faith is not "worked up" by effort or fear but rather comes to me like bread on water each morning.  When I feel the temptation to drift away, my responsibility is to confess my faith again.  He does all the rest.

Last week I received a very special gift. My friend Nolita Theo sent me a copy of the book I mentioned above by Dodie Osteen called Healed of Cancer.  I've listed it as my number one recommendation on this blog for anyone who is battling cancer. I found a new copy, along with a note, on my desk last week.  As I picked it up, I told Elisabeth Dunn (my co-worker) how important that little book had become in my life and how sweet it was that someone would send it to me again.

As I flipped it open, I found a new blessing!

Mrs. Osteen had written me a personal note!  I was so excited by this precious gift.  Nolita had remembered our conversation from months before.  Mrs. Osteen's faith quickened my faith in 2009 and enabled me to trust God in new measure through her testimony of miraculous healing.

So let's "square up" together. If you find yourself in need of greater faith, just borrow my favorite verse - Hebrews 10:23 - and begin to confess. We will find that in spite of our human weakness, He who promised is faithful (steadfast, unwavering, trustworthy).