Cancer, Hope, Straight Talk from Dave, Trust, Visions of Heaven, Words of Endurance
I’ll never forget the day the doctors looked at Jan and me and said, “You have cancer!” I didn’t want cancer, I wanted to live for a long time! But as scary as it was to hear the word, cancer, I found peace in the promises in the Bible, promises I had embraced years before.
I first discovered those promises when my minor league roommate challenged me to read the Bible. I had tremendous respect for God and always thought if I could be good enough maybe I’d have a chance at heaven. But as I read, I realized I was a sinner (something most of us realize when we take a good, hard look at ourselves!).
Bible teacher R.C. Sproul perfectly describes what I discovered: “While there is a great attraction to the idea that ‘nice’ people will go to heaven, Scripture clearly states that all humanity is under penalty of death because of sin.” But thankfully God made it possible for us to avoid this penalty.
Through the Bible, I learned that Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins. If we ask Him to forgive us for our sins, He not only forgives us but promises that life in heaven awaits us! Little did I know how important that promise would be when I learned I had cancer. I am so thankful for the hope I had, and still have, in Jesus! Cancer could have taken my life, but my hope is beyond life on earth. It is in the promise of heaven, the hope Jesus offers to us through His death and resurrection!
I am certain I’m going to heaven because I have received the precious gift of forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus Christ. Anyone who trusts in Him can have that same hope.
God gave us eternal life; the life is in his Son. So, whoever has the Son has life; whoever rejects the Son, rejects life. My purpose in writing is simply this: that you who believe in God’s Son will know beyond the shadow of doubt that you have eternal life, the reality and not the illusion.
1 John 5:11-13, The Message