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Jesus can do it still – Charles Spurgeon

Posted in Quotes, Scripture on May 10, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The accounting of the man who was paralyzed going before Jesus by being lowered through the roof his companions vandalized is one of the best-known healings in the entire Bible.  It is told in three different Gospels, including Luke 5:17-26.

There is so much packed into those 10 verses!  It is easy to focus on the gifts that are provided – forgiveness of sin and healing of paralysis.

I deeply appreciate how Charles Spurgeon guides our attention away from these extraordinary acts of forgiving sins and healing paralysis to the actor who made both of those things possible:

After our blessed Lord had taken away the root of the evil, you observe he then took away the paralysis itself. It was gone in a single moment. Every limb in the man’s body was restored to a healthy state; he could stand, could walk, could lift his bed, both nerve and muscle were restored to vigor.

One moment will suffice, if Jesus speaks, to make the despairing happy, and the unbelieving full of confidence. What we cannot do with our reasonings, persuadings, and entreaties, nor even with the letter of God’s promise, Christ can do in a single instant by his Holy Spirit, and it has been our joy to see it done.

This is the standing miracle of the church, performed by Christ to-day even as aforetime. Paralysed souls who could neither do nor will, have been able to do valiantly, and to will with solemn resolution. The Lord has poured power into the faint, and to them that had no might he hath increased strength.

He can do it still.

Charles H. Spurgeon, Carried by Four: A Sermon, delivered on March 19, 1871.

I’m grateful for this reminder to hope in Jesus above all things, even very good gifts like healing.

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Her children rise up and call her blessed! Just not yet.

Posted in Scripture on May 8, 2011| 9 Comments »

There are scores of women who have children of all ages who cannot speak an intelligible word because of their cognitive disabilities.  Or their children, like my son, have some language, but those children can never make a spontaneous call of deep affections for their mother.

There will be no handwritten cards, telephone calls or gifts from those children to their mothers today.

Yet, most of those children have mothers who pour their lives into them, sometimes for decades beyond what they anticipated when that little life first starting growing in their bodies.

For all of you moms in that circumstance, know that this proverb is still for you, just not yet!

Her children rise up and call her blessed.  Proverbs 31:28

Why do I believe this?

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.  Revelation 21:1-7

Those mothers who cling to Jesus for daily strength and as their future hope have a glorious eternity waiting for them.

Someday, I believe my son will tell me things almost too wonderful for me to comprehend about what he experienced in this present age.  And I expect one of the things he will talk about is his tender, eternal regard for the woman who cared for him without a thought about what she would receive from him in return.  On that day, he will rise and call his mother blessed!

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Moments of sadness point to my need for a great savior

Posted in commentary, Scripture on May 1, 2011| 1 Comment »

We needed a new stroller for Paul and decided to invest in a more substantial one.  Ebay worked again, saving us several hundred dollars.  God kindly provided for it financially through a decision his grandfather made almost 15 years ago, so we had the money.

It came.

And then the sadness came.  I had bought a stroller for a 15-year-old boy.  He wouldn’t be asking about driver’s education and the keys to the car.  How I hate this world I live in!

I know you’ve experienced this.  You’re just going along, doing the regular activities to take care of things.

Then something will happen – an article in a magazine, a picture of a friend’s child who is the same age as your child with disabilities, a random comment from a stranger.  And for a moment all the gift that this child is will fade away in the harsh light of seeing how the world sees that child.

Veteran parents, or maybe I should say parents more veteran than we are, have warned that these moments will continue to come.

And, at root, I know the problem is my sin.  God has given me the greatest treasure of all in Jesus Christ, and everything else should pale in comparison.  I want to say – but can’t – with the Apostle Paul:

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:8-11

The great and glorious irony is that when these moments come, I see my need for a strong, good, and providing God more clearly.  Those moments serve to shake me up and heighten my desire to be dependent on God rather than my own strength.  And I believe that brings even greater honor to Jesus!

So, even as I write this on a dreary Saturday, I’m struck with how much I hate those moments for what I’m feeling and what they reveal about the state of my heart – but also how much they bring me back to God and his word.  Once again, I bring nothing and God gives me everything.

P.S.  We’ve used that stroller a few times and its really nice.  I’m glad we got it.

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Why we want to live outside the camp

Posted in News, Scripture, Sermons on April 29, 2011| Leave a Comment »

I didn’t realize leprosy was anywhere in the United States until I read this article.

Then it came up yesterday in my Bible reading:

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Command the people of Israel that they put out of the camp everyone who is leprous or has a discharge and everyone who is unclean through contact with the dead. . .” And the people of Israel did so, and put them outside the camp; as the Lord said to Moses, so the people of Israel did. Numbers 5:1-2, 4

Being forced outside the camp was a hard thing on everybody.

Maybe disability gives a little glimpse into what that was like.  Many of us live in a different kind of world than most of the people we know.  It is a world with a different vocabulary, full of educational and medical specialists and paperwork and expenses.

And suffering.

We live outside the camp of our culture.

It isn’t so bad.  It’s where Jesus is.

So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Hebrews 13:12-14

Yes, it is worth it to live outside the camp with Jesus!

Pastor John helpfully looked at Hebrews at Together for the Gospel in 2008.  It is a longer message at just over an hour, and requires direct attention – don’t try to have this on in the background while you do something else.  It is worth it.

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Born again to a living hope!

Posted in Scripture, Special Events on April 26, 2011| 1 Comment »

This Easter was one of contrasts with previous years.

We attended the Sunday evening service for the first time.  We experienced a wonderful worship team rather than the wonderful orchestra.  The normal excitement and energy of a packed room was replaced with a more peaceful, less crowded time of worship.  And no trouble parking!

Last year, Paul was awake and active and blessed many by singing the Resurrection Chant.

This year, he was mostly lethargic and slept through the service, an impact of both the new medicines he is taking and the spells he continues to have.

One thing remains the same: hope in Jesus Christ!

I soaked in one of the readings from Sunday, and invite you to do the same, from 1 Peter 1:3-7:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

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The Risen One Cares About Disease and Disability

Posted in Scripture on April 24, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The LORD is risen!

And this risen Lord made disease and disability a central part of his ministry.

As God, he declared to Moses: “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?” (Exodus 4:11)

He showed us how a king behaves when David actively sought to keep his promise of care and redemption to the disabled grandson of the man who wanted him dead:  “Mephibosheth ate at David’s table, like one of the king’s sons.” (2 Samuel 9:11)

He confirmed he has authority over sin: “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” And he rose. . . (Mark 2:10-12a)

He sees people with disabilities: “As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.” (John 9:1)

He taught us disability brings him glory: “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (John 9:3)

He demonstrated he is the One: “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” (Luke 7:22-23)

He blinded Paul for three days (Acts 9:3-5) and made him spend a lifetime of suffering so that Paul could teach us: For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. . . (2 Corinthians 4:17)

Even as he died, powerful men understood who he was: And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.  And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:37-39)

Dead people rose to talk about him: And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. (Matthew 27:51-53)

He is the risen King of Kings!

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.  And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but has risen.”  Luke 24:1-6a

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Jesus at his weakest has the power to care for us

Posted in Scripture, Sermons on April 22, 2011| Leave a Comment »

In the midst of suffering we can wonder, does Jesus really have the power to help me, or my child?

Back in 1982 on Good Friday, Pastor John meditated on John 19:26-27:  So Jesus, seeing his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing there, said to his mother, “Woman, behold your son.”  Then he said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her into his family.

The word of Jesus to his mother from the cross is a great encouragement to our faith. For if he could provide for his own in the moment of his weakness and humiliation, how much more can he meet all our needs today from the right hand of God, full of power and wealth and glory.   John Piper, The Third Word from the Cross, April 9, 1982

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“I will NOT trade my son’s future eternal weight of glory. . .”

Posted in commentary, Scripture on April 20, 2011| 1 Comment »

Frequently, when I write on a subject like embryonic stem cell treatment, a person will comment that if I were in that same situation I would also choose to use whatever treatments were available, including embryonic stem cells.  I’ll admit the temptations would be strong, very strong.

I’ll let one of my dear sisters in the faith respond:

I will not trade my son’s future eternal weight of glory for this vapor’s breath bowl of stew.

That needs to be read a couple of times.

She is referring to two sets of scripture:

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.  2 Corinthians 4:16-18

See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. Hebrews 12:15-16

Eternity, and all the pleasure that will come with being with Jesus, are vastly superior to anything this world has to offer.  And this mom is one of those women Pastor John refers to as having steel in her spine.  She and her husband have had to make decisions about their child’s health and future that are simply incredible, far beyond what all but a few parents will ever have to experience.

And she won’t choose killing tiny people to benefit her son, because there is glory that is coming and her God loves those tiny people and he has planted in her heart a deep regard for those tiny people.

Or this dad, who has already gone through deep waters with his son and may be entering even deeper waters:

I have this peaceful feeling about the situation; not necessarily because I think “everything is going to turn out okay” but because whether the issue turns out to be relatively minor or potentially significant, God is big and He is in charge and He is good.

I wept when I read that, for the pain his family is experiencing but equally so with joy in his confidence in his God.  My faith was strengthened as I read this brother’s email.  As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.

The statement that ‘you would choose differently if you were in that situation’ is one of the reasons why this blog exists.  I want more people to be prepared when the hard thing comes, either for themselves, their family, their neighbor or their church.  There are real, foundational principles upon which we can stand and not be moved.  We need to know what they are.

Actually, better yet, we need to know who they are anchored in:  Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

After my oldest son was born I rejected all that is good and completely turned away from God and his people.  I was not prepared to live in the reality of God’s awesome sovereignty over all things, including hard things.  If I didn’t define it as good, it wasn’t good.

God broke me of that pride and replaced my bitterness and anger with a much softer heart that longs to be in relationship with Jesus.  I am a wretched sinner, but I love Jesus and understand more clearly (though not completely) what his horrific, painful death bought for me.  God gave me that heart as well.

And God helps me with the hard questions and through brothers and sisters who are willing to walk in faith with me that God will provide.  Today I can answer the question of what I would do with confidence – no, I would not choose even a life-saving treatment for myself or for my disabled son if it involved the destruction of tiny human beings.  Yes, I would be tempted, even beyond my ability to see clearly.  And God would help me.

I invite you to know this Jesus like that, for his glory and for your eternal joy.

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Bookends of God’s unembarrassed sovereignty

Posted in Scripture on April 12, 2011| Leave a Comment »

God says some pretty amazing things about his sovereign authority. And he never appears to be embarrassed about it.

My Bible reading on Sunday had me in Leviticus, Proverbs, Psalms and 2 Thessalonians.

Just look what he says about his authority over leprosy:

The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 34 “When you come into the land of Canaan, which I give you for a possession, and I put a case of leprous disease in a house in the land of your possession,35 then he who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, ‘There seems to me to be some case of disease in my house.’ Leviticus 14:33-35

This is a direct statement of “I did it.”  There really isn’t a way to get around the plain meaning of it – nor should we want to!

I’ve read Leviticus a number of times but had passed over this strong, direct statement of his sovereignty over leprosy every time – until Sunday.  I looked at my index of verses on disease and disability to make sure I had included these verses, and I had.  So, for some reason the Holy Spirit wanted me to feel the significance of verse 34 on Sunday, and I did!

Then my reading concluded in 2 Thessalonians:

13 But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 2 Thessalonians 2:13

We have so many reasons to hope in God!  And I am glad he is unembarrassed to express how he exercises that authority, including over disease and disability.

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“Therefore my heart is glad”

Posted in Scripture on April 10, 2011| Leave a Comment »

It has been a hard couple of days for Paul.  He had a bad spell on Friday and again on Saturday.

God’s word is a comfort.

No, more than that: an answer.

I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.

I have set the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.

For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption.

You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 16:7-11

That passage was part of my reading for April 9 and God used it in strengthening me for the day.

I’m grateful to those who recommended that I read through the Bible in a year, though it took me a long time to actually do it.

I offer the same recommendation to you – why not begin today?

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