Greetings my fine friends and family members!

I hope that the Spring weather has brought a “new song” in your heart!  The coldness and solemness of Winter is now behind us.  I look forward to warmer days and a brighter future!

I felt that the title of this blog was appropriate as I find myself “at the foot of the Throne Room” asking the Lord for wisdom, courage, strength, and healing on a daily basis.  A good friend of mine jokingly said to me, “this cancer stuff is a heck of a way to want to improve your prayer life”!  What the heck.  When is the last time you can think of regarding a time that Craig Giles took the easy way to accomplish anything?  No sense in changing now.  LOL.

Even in this darkness I have found joy and contentment in the Lord.  I feel the warmth of your prayers. (pls keep them coming!!!)  I have found rest in the Lord as I don’t have the added stress and responsibilities of a Vice President of Sales and Marketing in business.  I have felt the warmth of the Sun on my face mid-morning when I would typically be at work…..and not on a weeks vacation.  There are blessings to be had my friends in every situation if you take the time to look and listen for them.  I am truly thankful to God for that.

One of the many things that sustains me and keeps my spirits up on a daily basis is something Terry and I do together called Scripture Confessions.  Basically, we read scripture outloud reminding ourselves of the various promises from God in the Bible.  In this case, a friend of ours gave us a booklet with several of them. We loved them so much we bought the leather version of the booklet for Terry and I.  You can get it on Amazon for $12 (leather version) or $2 for the paperback booklet.  James Riddle is the author and Harrison House is the publisher.  I thought I would share with you one of the confessions we recite on a regular basis.  This particular scriptural confession happens to address the issue “When You Receive a Bad Report”.  It is the following:

     I am not shaken because of bad reports; I choose to believe the Lord’s good report.  Bad news doesn’t faze me a bit because I have learned to trust God and believe His Word (Amen!!) even in the midst of challenging circumstances.  I don’t deny that sickness exists; I just deny it has a right to exist in my body.  The word of man doesn’t change the Word of God.  I don’t deny what the doctor’s word says; I just deny that it is the final word, because God’s Word supercedes the word of men.  I choose to believe God’s report that says Jesus paid for my healing as my substitute on the Cross.  His report says the law of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.  His report says that healing and health are my right and privilege.  God’s Word says that by Jesus stripes I was healed, and that is the report I choose to believe.  It doesn’t matter what the doctor says; I am healed.  It doesn’t matter what the medical tests say; I am healed.  It doesn’t matter what my body says; I say I am healed.  God’s Word says that I am healed, and I believe it.  That settles the matter!!

After speaking this outloud there are specific scripture to back up the premie sof this scriptural confession.  You don’t have to have cancer for this to be effective in your life.  It can be said for any type of bad news as it relates to sickness.

So, you see my friends.  The Bible tells us Christ took on all sin and sickness—we are healed by his stripes!  He created a new covenant that all people can participate in!  This is not an exclusive, high priced Country Club.  You are welcome to join the Kingdom by accepting Christ as your Lord and Savior along with repenting of your sin.  Easy–Peasy. I am not a fool and obviously God does not answer all prayer as  WE want him too.  He is supreme, omnipotent, all knowing.  Ours is not to question why, but to do (obey) what His word tells us.  He knows whats best for us.  I accept this in my life.  To me, there is no other way to real truth and life.  I am “pumped” that I don’t need to worry about my life—someone more qualified than me is handling that department for me.  (thank you Lord!)

This brings me to the next steps in my treatment.  (Talk about building patience and perseverence)  Today, I go to St. Joe’s to get 2 MRI’s and another CT Scan.  Apparently, the C4 and T4 vertebrae want to add a bit of excitment in my life.  They figured they would succumb to the crappy renal cells and threaten degradation to my spine which in turn could lead to paralysis.  As I have mentioned in previous blogs, it can always be worse.  Always look at the bright side of things because Lord knows there is plenty of crappy stuff in life.  So, I am looking at the bright side.  I am going to get 2.5 hours of scans today so that the Neurologist and Radiologist can get the most accurate read of the spine so they can create a dynamic, highly effective, Cyberknife radiation game plan.  This means I will be getting 3 to 5 Cyberknife treatments to tackle the C4 and T4 vertebrae issues in the next week and a half.  ( I start these treatments this Wed May 4th)

Friends, pray that this plan completely irradacates the cells.  That it stops them in their tracks.  Supernatural hitmen that completely wipes out the problem!! 🙂  Nothing is beyond God’s miraculous reach!

Other that this, my spirits remain high due to God’s grace.  He is alive and well in our life and I am thankful for that!  My family and good friends Sue and John Barry are putting together a benefit for me at the Vivo restuarant in Apple Valley May 21st to assist in mitigating out of pocket medical expenses mainly due to the alternative treatments I do to keep my immune system strong and healthy as well as my blood counts.  I am thankful for family and friends that have come alongside of me during the darkest days of my life.  Praise God for this!

I leave you with this wonderful promise from the old testament.  It’s one of my fav’s:

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”  Psalm 91:1-2 NIV

Sending Blessings out to you, wishing you ALL the best!

Craig, aka Papa G