Free translation - Side Effects (Introduction)

"For the gospel is not just good news for people getting ready to die – it’s good news for people who are now ready to live" Scotty Smith

Because of my work I have read many informed consents. Informed consent is a process for getting permission before conducting a healthcare intervention on a person. You are told about the risks and benefits of other options; and you are able to use that information to make a decision that you think is in in your own best interest. This time I had in my hands the consent form for my chemotherapy treatment but I was not looking for all the elements required by law. I just went over the pages listing and explaining the side effects.

Every time I have a chemotherapy treatment I wonder how a few milliliters of a colorless solution have so much power. It has power to attack the bad and to affect the good. It has power to impact my concentration levels and my memory. It has power to change my eating habits. It has power to influence my daily activities and to determine my energy levels. It has power to change my physical appearance. My whole body, from head to toe, is being impacted by the side effects of chemotherapy.

Romans 1:16 says, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes." The gospel is more than information, more than a list of rules, more than a one-day event ... the gospel is power. So what I really wonder is whether or not I am experiencing the "side effects" of the gospel. Is this power destroying the evil and affecting the good? Is this power impacting my concentration levels and memory? Is this power changing my "eating habits"? Is this power determining my activities and my energy levels? Is my whole being subject to the intrinsic, essential and permanent power of the gospel?

Colossians 1: 6 (NLT) further adds "This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace." The gospel produces change. The gospel has "side effects".

Please, accompany me these coming weeks to review some of the "side effects" of the gospel.


Becky

All rights reserved. Rebecca Parrilla. May/2015