For the past three years I have been living in Andrew Murray’s book, Abide in Christ, which is based on John 15.  In that chapter Jesus says, “Abide in Me and I in you. . .for apart from Me you can do nothing.”  This is my testimony—apart from Him I can do nothing.

          Jesus also said, “If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, you shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you.”

          The words that the Lord gave me when I was diagnosed with stage four lymphoma nine months ago were found in the first chapter of Joshua.  There, God spoke to Joshua that He was giving the children of Israel their promised land.  But even though it was a gift, they had to go in and possess it.  They had to defeat the giants and take their land.  This would require strength and courage.  God commanded Joshua four times to be strong and courageous—then added that the Lord would be with him.

          These were the words that the Lord wanted to abide in me.  God was giving me my healing, my promised land, but I had to take it, possess it, and apply it to myself.  By abiding in Christ, by exercising faith, and by drawing on His strength and courage, I was to defeat the giants (cancer cells) that were in my land.  How would God accomplish this in my life?  There were two ways.

          Remember when David faced his giant, Goliath?  God graciously strengthened David’s faith and his skills by teaching him to kill a lion and a bear before he defeated Goliath.

          In sort of the same way the Lord strengthened my faith and my skills.  In the year 2000, I attended Pinecrest Bible Training School.  While there, a speaker told the story about her neighbor’s tree that had huge limbs that hung over into her back yard.  The trouble was that the tree attracted bugs—and the bugs were so bad that this woman couldn’t enjoy her own back yard.  The Lord prompted her to step off her yard, take authority over it, rebuke the bugs, and command them to leave in Jesus’ name, and that is exactly what happened.  All the bugs left!

          When I returned home after a month at Pinecrest, I was faced with an ant attack in my bathroom.  Remembering the bug story, I took authority over my bathroom, got rid of the ants, then commanded in the name of Jesus, ants never to return to my bathroom.  I said, “The Lord has given me this bathroom and, in Jesus’ name, ants are not allowed here.  That was eight years ago, and I haven’t  had an ant attack since.  (I have to admit that a few ants invaded my bathroom when I began writing this testimony, but I knew that it was the enemy trying to prevent me telling my story.)

          Another teaching tool that the Lord used to help me know my authority in Him and strengthen my faith was a lesson involving some very loud, pesky crows.  I like to have breakfast on my patio with fountain splashing, the leaves on the trees dancing in the breeze, and the flowers showing off their radiant colors.  It is a nice time to enjoy the Lord.  But there were these horrible crows that would roost in a large pine tree behind my yard.  Those old crows would squawk and squawk ruining my peace, interrupting my time with the Lord, and in general—driving me crazy!

          One morning the Lord put on my heart Genesis 1:28 where God told Adam and Eve to “. . . have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”  And that is exactly what I did.  In the name of Jesus, I took dominion over the birds of the air, those old pesky crows and they left the pine tree.  Now, I can only hear them off at a distance.

          So like David, God prepared me to face my giant of stage four lymphoma.  David practiced on a lion and a bear.  I practiced on ants and crow.

          And then like Joshua, I knew in my heart that God had provided and paid for my promised land.  Isaiah 53:5 states “. . . by His stripes we are healed.”  When Jesus was beaten, scourged, whipped and tortured He was paying for my healing.  I knew this.  I also knew deep down that even though the cancer was in my lymph glands, my thyroid, my lungs, my pelvic area and my bone marrow that I wasn’t to take chemo or radiation.  I was to possess the healing that the Lord had given me.  Let me stress that the Lord did the healing.  My job was to believe it, to rebuke the cancer, and take authority over it—in Jesus’ name.  I would say, “My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and cancer doesn’t belong here.”  My part also was to draw in His strength and courage, knowing that the Lord was with me—and He was with me in a very powerful way!  Thanks for your prayers.

          It was the prayers of you saints that played a major role in my healing—not only in supporting me and strengthening me, but also making a way for the Holy Spirit Himself, to visit me with His powerful, healing touch as I worshipped the Lord.

          Today, nine months after my diagnosis I am cancer free-praise His wonderful name!  For as Romans 11:36 states “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to Whom be the glory forever.”  Amen!

                   (Note: Now more than a year has passed and Mary continues to be whole.)