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God made us and will help us. We should not grumble.

Posted in Quotes, Scripture on May 24, 2012| 1 Comment »

The world is ready to feed all kinds of destructive behavior wrapped in sweet words and kind sentiment.

The Anglicans who were quoted yesterday would say they were being kind in letting ‘defective’ children die.

The mothers who wrote articles on why they aborted or wish they had aborted their children point to the significant suffering those babies would have or are experiencing.  Many are ready to support them, even encourage them, in their feelings and behavior towards their children.

Most of us who parent a child who is different because of his or her disabilities hear over and over again about what we or our children rightly deserved, but didn’t receive.

The opportunity and even the sanction to grumble is constantly with us.  We must fight that wicked temptation.

Especially when God invites us to run to him for comfort and help in our deepest suffering!

I have recently found these helpful in battling discontent and re-orienting toward’s God purposes:

From Paul Tripp:

You were not created to live an autonomous or self-sufficient life. To try to do so never leads anywhere good.

From Pastor John:

3 reasons why you were made:

1. God made you for his glory. Isaiah 43:7, 1 Corinthians 10:31, 1 Corinthians 6:19, Philippians 1:19

2. God made you for joy.

3. He made you to love other people.

From the Apostle Paul:

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  (Philippians 4:11-12 ESV)

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:31-32 ESV)

From Isaiah:

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place,
and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly,
and to revive the heart of the contrite.”
(Isaiah 57:15 ESV)

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God’s love has been poured into our hearts!

Posted in Scripture on May 20, 2012| Leave a Comment »

A word from the Apostle Paul on Jesus, suffering, and hope.

There is no need for us to pretend we are strong or that we do not suffer.  There is purpose in it all!

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

(Romans 5:1-6 ESV)

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“Michael!”

Posted in commentary, Scripture on May 14, 2012| 1 Comment »

You’ve probably already seen this – its been viewed more than a million times and many people emailed it to me.

It is still a great 2:32 seconds to watch again!  (Note: this is a slightly longer version than has been showing up on CNN and other places.)

Three highlights for me:

1) A dad who shouts his boy’s name in delight.

2) A dad who lets his son demonstrate his hard work, until he couldn’t stand it anymore and rushed to pick him up.

3) A mom who rightly observes about her son, “I ain’t taking my eyes off daddy.”

I hope my sons feel my affections like that.  We dads have been given a good model for how to behave toward them!

And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”  (Matthew 3:16-17 ESV)

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Very grateful for reminders about the bigness of God

Posted in Scripture on May 3, 2012| Leave a Comment »

A great reminder for me that:

  1. God made everything, including those who live with disabilities.
  2. Human beings foolishly devise evil plans against God that won’t stand.
  3. God can do and will do everything he has always intended to do.
  4. We can trust God to respond to threats (of all kinds) and we can continue to speak the word with boldness.

I get that in just a few verses from Acts 4:22-30:

When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, (point one) “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit,

(Point two) “‘Why did the Gentiles rage,
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers were gathered together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed’—

for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, (point three) to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, (point 4) look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” (Acts 4:23-30 ESV)

God is purposeful and glorious in all his ways.  Thank you, Lord, for Jesus!

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Why Chen Guangcheng makes me think of the man born blind

Posted in commentary, News, Scripture on April 30, 2012| 1 Comment »

As I write this, Chen Guangcheng is still reportedly at the United States embassy in China.  He is famous because he has stood against a great evil in China:

A self-taught lawyer, he has called attention to human rights abuses against the disabled and women who have been forcibly sterilized.

In Crisis Over Dissident, U.S. Sends Official to Beijing, The New York Times, April 29, 2012.

And he is blind.  I have yet to read a story that doesn’t make mention, usually multiple times, to his blindness.

Obviously, God has gifted him with both intellectual gifts and with courage.  We value those gifts a great deal, especially when applied to helping others who are weak.  And since we consider him inherently part of the weak because of his disability, we are doubly amazed.

It does not appear his life has been easy at any point. If I am reading his history correctly, Chen Guangcheng couldn’t even read until he was 23 yet by the time he was 34 he was bringing a lawsuit against the Chinese government in Shandong  Province for their brutal enforcement of the one-child policy.

The man born blind lived with such a problem of lack of opportunity.  He was only allowed to beg in his adulthood (John 9:8).

But when given the opportunity, he spoke truth to authority:

So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”  (John 9:24-25 ESV)

Those in authority gave him another chance, and he refused to back down or be caught in their political games:

They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” (John 9:26-33 ESV)

The result: he was cast out (John 9:34).

Chen Guangcheng and the man born blind had unexpected gifts of insight, articulation and courage – and it appears both were underestimated until it was impossible to ignore them.

Are we doing the same with our church members with disabilities, missing the gifts and the opportunities for their expressing those gifts for the benefit of others?

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In Christ we are absolutely secure

Posted in Quotes, Scripture on April 25, 2012| Leave a Comment »

If you’re God’s child you don’t have to wonder about how your story will end because your future is sealed and secure in Christ.

Paul Tripp

God knows what he is doing, for his glory and for our good, for everybody of every ability. God knows the story of the lives of our children with disabilities. We can live free because of who God is and who we are in Christ!

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.
(Psalm 16:8-9 ESV)

 

 

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Have no doubt, Jesus understands your sorrow

Posted in Scripture on April 5, 2012| 3 Comments »

Surely he has borne our griefs
   and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
  smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
     and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
    we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
     yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
    and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
    so he opened not his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
    and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
    stricken for the transgression of my people?
And they made his grave with the wicked
     and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
    and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
    he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
    he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
     by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
     make many to be accounted righteous,
     and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
     and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
     because he poured out his soul to death
    and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
    and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah 53:4-12

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Now that’s a way to put a wedding together!

Posted in News, Scripture on April 1, 2012| Leave a Comment »

God-centered weddings are so encouraging!  Dianne and I attended one yesterday.

It was beautifully done.  And they looked directly at suffering and God’s goodness.  Yes, at a wedding!

The young couple chose well for their Scripture readings, including Isaiah 43:1-7:

But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel:

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,and the flame shall not consume you.

For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you.

Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life.

Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you.

I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” (Isaiah 43:1-7 ESV)

They are right; we will go through the deep waters and fire of suffering.

But we are known intimately!  We have been created and formed by God – and so have our children with disabilities.  And we’ve been created, all of us, for God’s glory!

Their choice of hymn also prepared us: How Firm a Foundation

  1. How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
    Is laid for your faith in His excellent word!
    What more can He say than to you He hath said—
    To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?
  2. “Fear not, I am with thee, oh, be not dismayed,
    For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid;
    I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
    Upheld by My gracious, omnipotent hand.
  3. “When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
    The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow;
    For I will be with thee thy trouble to bless,
    And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.
  4. “When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
    My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply;
    The flame shall not harm thee; I only design
    Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.
  5. “The soul that on Jesus doth lean for repose,
    I will not, I will not, desert to his foes;
    That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
    I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.”

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Jesus asked them, “which is easier?”

Posted in Scripture on March 30, 2012| 1 Comment »

In the account of the healing of the paralytic in Mark 2:1-12, Jesus first forgives the man his sins.  Then he addresses the thoughts of the scribes directly:

And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? (Mark 2:8-9 ESV)

Let’s consider which is easier.

To heal the man he spoke a sentence:

“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!” (Mark 2:11-12 ESV)

As the one who would bear every sin, even thinking about what was required brought extraordinary stress:

And (Jesus) took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.” (Mark 14:33-34 ESV)

And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.  (Luke 22:44 ESV)

He would be mocked, beaten, spit on, whipped, and crucified.

And he died:

Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. (Luke 23:46 ESV)

Because he suffered and died – and ROSE! – our sins can be forgiven:

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:27-28 ESV)

Lord, please help me to never forget that healing of bodies is easy for you, but forgiveness of sins was unfathomably costly.  Please help me to remember that these days are short and eternity is very long. Thank you, Father, for Jesus.

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There was quite a bit more to the list from yesterday.

Posted in Scripture on March 17, 2012| Leave a Comment »

More things I found as I clean out the closet:

The reference to healing from yesterday was part of a longer list (below) that grew to include more scripture which eventually I turned into an 18 page outline that still largely describes how I understand disability and the Bible today.  I remember working on that outline but had forgotten some of the specifics.

I look at this list today and realize I didn’t really understand all the scriptures I decided to include nearly eight years ago (yes, I put the date on it!).  But it got something started that hasn’t quit, and I’m grateful God planted that seed, as immature as it was and is.

It gets me excited to think that God might help me see even more eight years from now, Lord willing!

Defining Healing in the Bible:

Prerogative of God

  1. Exodus 15:25-26 There the LORD made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them, 26 saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer.”
  2. Deuteronomy 32:39 ‘See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.’
  3. Matthew 9:35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.

Includes physical healing

  1. Numbers 12:13 And Moses cried to the LORD, “O God, please heal her – please.”
  2. 2 Kings 20:5-6 Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD, 6 and I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.”
  3. Matthew 9:35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.

Includes spiritual healing

  1. Isaiah 6:9-10 And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘ Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ 10 Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
  2. Jeremiah 3:22 “Return, O faithless sons; I will heal your faithlessness.” “Behold, we come to you, for you are the LORD our God.”
  3. John 12:39-43 Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, 40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.” 41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. 42 Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
  4. 1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

Includes corporate healing

  1. 2 Chronicles 7:14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
  2. Jeremiah 33:6-9 Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security. 7 I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and rebuild them as they were at first. 8 I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. 9 And this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them. They shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it.
  3. Revelation 22:1-2 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

The power to heal can be granted to whom He chooses

  1. Matthew 10:1 And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.
  2. Acts 3:6-8 But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8 And leaping up he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.
  3. Acts 28:8-9 It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him healed him. 9 And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured.
  4. Matthew 17:15-20 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. 16 And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.” 17 And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.” 18 And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly.19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20 He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

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