Better is One Day in Your Courts…Than Thousands Elsewhere
Let’s take a few moments from our busy lives to reflect, meditate on God’s Word and be refreshed at these uplifting Bible Verses. My hope and prayer today is that you will find joy in the Lord by entering into His courts with thanksgiving in your heart. No matter how difficult the trials you are going through today, you can rest assured, knowing that God is in total control and that you only have to lean on Him for the strength and courage to move forward.
Psalm 84:1-2
“How lovely
is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the
courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.”
Psalm 84:10-12
“Better is
one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a door
keeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. For the
Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing
does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. O Lord Almighty, blessed
is the man who trusts in you.”
1 Peter 1:8-9
“Though you
have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you
believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you
are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
Romans 15:13
“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.”
Isaiah 35:10
“And the
ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.”
Isaiah 12:4-6
“Give thanks
to the Lord, call on His name; make known among the nations what He has done,
and proclaim that His name is exalted. Sing to the Lord, for He has done
glorious things; let this be known to all the world. Shout aloud and sing for
joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”
Psalm 100:1-5
“Shout for
joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him
with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are
His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with
thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His
name. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; his faithfulness
continues through all generations.”
Psalm 65:4
“Blessed are
those you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the
good things of your house, of your holy temple.”
I hope you are feeling refreshed and focused on the goodness of God. Knowing that we can enter into His courts with our worship and prayers unlocks the power of God to move mightily in our lives. I urge you to stay faithful in your prayerful petitions and trust that God will provide a way…where there seems to be no way.
Matthew 19:26
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Amen!
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Mickey Cataldo – Contributing Author for Perfectly Imperfect Momma
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As I struggled to understand how God could have taken away my mother, a woman whose strength and determination molded my life in so many indelible ways, several things came to my mind of the many remarkable things I learned through the painful process of my mom being diagnosed with and dying 6 months later from lung cancer.
THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. PLEASE READ MY DISCLOSURE HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.
Me & My Mom
My Amazing & Beautiful Mom
1. Many Pharmaceutical Companies Have Programs Set Up To Help Pay For Medications.
When my mom had cancer, she had an issue with blood clots. I had to give her injections every day to prevent them. For a while there we were ok because my mom’s Dr had given me a supply that I used to give to her. Well, the time came where we were running out and I had to get more. The Dr’s office gave me a prescription to fill at the pharmacy. When I drove through the pharmacy pickup, the lady at the other end gave me the total…that will be $12,784.00 ….. ummmm what? I thought I heard her wrong.
Nope. She told me the total again and my heart sank!
I excused myself from the pharmacy line thinking there has got to be some sort of mistake. In my car, I phoned my mom’s doctor’s office and spoke with the nurse and explained my situation. Wasn’t there a generic that they could prescribe I asked? The nurse told me no there is no generic for this medication and if she did not take it, she was at the risk of death from blood clots! What am I going to do I thought?
Pulled over on the side of the road, tears streaming down my face, I prayed harder than I have ever prayed before. Lord, please tell me what I need to do! Then He revealed it to me. A few years prior, my brother worked for a pharmaceutical company. I remember him mentioning how they sometimes had programs to help pay for medications. Armed with a new mission, I rushed home. I looked up the medication online and found out what company manufactured it. I then looked on the company’s website to see if they had a Patient Assistance Program. They DID!
Many pharmaceutical companies have programs set up that will help patients pay for their prescription medications! You need to search them out for yourselves. Your doctor’s office doesn’t always know about these programs. My mom’s doctor’s office didn’t.
I printed up the application and filled it out for my mom. This particular program required the doctor’s office to have a patient advocate in their office. Several phone calls later back and forth to the doctor’s office and the pharmaceutical company and one of the ladies in the office was officially a patient advocate. (The doctor’s office had no idea this program existed!) Two hours later I was standing in the pharmacy line once again because my mom’s application had been approved by the pharmaceutical company! This time instead of a $12,000+ bill, the new total was $28.00! Pretty amazing right?
2. Many People Go Through Their Cancer Battle Alone.
One day at one of my mom’s radiation treatments, her sweet nurse Ioni said to me, “Brenda your mom is so blessed to have a bulldog daughter going through this with her. So many people that we treat have no one to help them. They even have to drive themselves back and forth to their treatments!” The thought of those poor people battling cancer by themselves made me so sad. To think that they were fighting their cancer alone was a very sobering thought. If you know someone that is going through a cancer battle, reach out to them. Offer to cook for them, drive them to appointments or mow their lawn. You’ll be such a blessing to their lives!
3. Always Be Thankful.
My mom’s Dr. pulled me aside and told me to get my mom’s affairs in order, that she did not think my mom would make it through the weekend… of course I kept this to myself. I mustered up every ounce of positivity and love that I could to face my mom and family.
My mom lived another few months. Months that we were able to spend laughing with her, crying with her, watching movies together, singing songs, talking about our days and sharing memories of favorite times together. We loved each other just a little while longer.
Every extra day we got to spend with our mom was a great blessing that God gave us!
4. My Siblings Are The Greatest Gift That My Parents Ever Gave Me!
Me and my awesome siblings Jennifer, Patrick, & Julius with my even more awesome mom Edna.
Through the entire journey of my mom’s battle with cancer, God & my siblings were and continue to be my rock and my constant! I don’t even want to think about what I would do without them!
5. The Pain Never Fully Goes Away.
There will always be a piece of your heart missing. You just find either healthy or unhealthy ways to cope with the loss.
6. God Will Not Give You Any More Than You Can Handle.
My mom’s death is without a doubt the most traumatic thing that has happened in my life. After her death, I was left feeling angry and guilty. There was such an empty space in my heart. A pain so deep that I can’t explain it. It’s an ache that you only know if you have experienced it. Despite my suffering, turning to God during and after my mom’s battle with cancer gave me and to continues to give me comfort and strength. Strength that I thought wasn’t there.
All my life, my mom has always been a very faith filled woman. The one lesson that she always drilled into me was this. I can still hear her voice saying, “Bren, God will not give you any more than you can handle. But if you feel like it is more than you can handle, put your worries into a box and give it back to God and say “God, I can’t handle this by myself. I need You. I need Your help Lord.” and Bren, God will help you. He will never give you more than you can bear.”
To Wrap Things Up
Cancer is a terrifying diagnosis no matter how you look at it. Fortunately there are many resources and many treatment options out there. I would encourage you to learn as much as you can about the type of cancer that you or a loved one are facing. Learn about what type of diet you should be eating, treatment options, side effects of medications. Also learn about different services and programs that can help with day to day life and the financial side of things.
After my mom’s doctor released her from what would be her last trip to the hospital in April of 2011, my sister and I were determined to give my mom just a little more time with us. All of her doctors said that the traditional methods of chemo/radiation were not working in getting my mom better. We did not let that stop us. We decided to change the way we were thinking about things and went in a completely opposite direction, going the route of holistic treatments. This book was instrumental in giving us the direction to go! It is filled with great information on how to use natural products to improve and maintain your good health. I highly recommend it!
