Striving on through the shadow of death
Please stand and lift up your bible and repeat after me.
This is my Bible.
I am what it says I am.
I can do what it says I can do.
I am going to learn how to be what it says I can be.
Today I will learn more of the word of God.
The indestructible, never ending, living word Of God.
I will never be the same.
I will never be the same.
In Jesus Name.
Is there a lot going on in the world today that stresses you and I more than we can handle?
Stress is taking a toll on all of us with war, storms, disease, and many other things right now.
God who is our strength, allows things to happen in our life for a reason.
It would be great to know why all of the time. AMEN?
It would be awesome to know in advance.
But we don’t get that. And we worry.
No one has a life without trouble. AMEN?
However, all things happen in life for a reason. You may say, “David, why do all these happen to us?”
Everything has a purpose.
Everything has a purpose. Amen?
Amen. Here is a story for you that I read on a website called Godswork.
Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was
allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the
fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other
man had to spend all his time flat on his back.
The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation.
And every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The man in the other bed began to live for those
one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake.
Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color of
the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the
city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window
described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the
room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.
One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by.
Although the other man couldn't hear the band - he could see it in his
mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive
words. Days and weeks passed.
One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to
find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in
his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the
body away.
As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could
be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone. Slowly, painfully,
he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the world
outside. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it for himself. He
strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed.
It faced a blank wall. The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you."
Epilogue. . .There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite
our own situations. Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when
shared, is doubled. If you want to feel rich, just Count all of the things
you have that money can't buy. "Today is a gift, that's why it is called the
present."
Now why did I tell you that story?
Turn with me to 2 Timothy chapter 2:1. Say, “Amen” when you are there.
“Timothy, my dear son, be strong through the grace that God gives you in Christ Jesus.”
All that goes on in the world is allowed by God. Why?
I don’t know except that it is His will.
He knew in advance that we would not have a perfect life because of His free will that He has allowed us to have.
He did not create a perfect world. He created a world in what he would be able to experience all of things that we go through.
He feels it when we have our first kiss.
He feels it when we fall in love.
He feels it when a person dies.
He feels it when a child is born.
He feels it when someone is hungry.
He feels it when someone celebrates recovery from addiction or a sickness.
He feels it when someone praises Him through trials and tribulations.
He feels it more when you have asked Him into your heart through His son Jesus Christ. He feels it because we have made Him a true part of our life.
His son who died on the cross gave us the opportunity to see what would happen when God came to earth as a man.
You see people worship Him in the Bible from the beginning of time but because He gave us all a freewill we became more interested in what we could do versus what He could do.
Similar to the ending of the Old testament where things were in disarray but they said that He would come.
He did.
If you look in the Bible in many places, it says things about our future and what would happen. But the best things that happened was when Jesus came to live as a man here on earth.
Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 1:7 and say, “Amen” when you are there.
“Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
How do we get something like that.
You and I need to be spending time with Him.
Reading the word, praying, listening, and receiving His love.
With all that is going on in our world, I am hearing and seeing through the media some positives about things that are good. Even when times are hard. Good things still happen.
A little girl spending her savings to make cookies for the staff at here local hospital. A young teenager spending his time taking care of three dogs owned by his neighbors who work continually at a hospital during the corona virus outbreak.
A lady driving seniors that lived nearby to see their doctors because of their cancer care needing to continue.
Good things also happen in the relationship we build with God.
We just have to decide what we want to do in life. Broaden our life with Him and grow our faith. Or not.
Our relationship with God gets us through just like the man helping the other man in the hospital. But better. He gives us what we need when we need it even when all looks lost.
He shows us through what we see in our lives, the beauty of the earth that He created. Just like what the man in the bed closest to the window described to the man in his room that could not move.
When that man died the other man desired to see what he had seen out of that window. That man even though he was blind saw hope.
That is what I look for each day. Hope though Christ.
Would you like that same thing?
I would. We all should.
Let us pray and ask Him to give us what we need as we strive on even though death is around us.
