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By Ron Graham
“And,
behold, there came a man named Jairus,…and he fell down at Jesus' feet, and
besought him that he would come…For he had one only daughter, …and she lay a
dying,…he
(Jesus) answered him, saying, Fear not:
believe only, and she shall be made whole…and (Jesus)
took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise. …and she arose
straightway... And her parents
were astonished: but he charged them that they should tell no man what was
done.” Luke 8:41, 42a 50, 54b,
55b, 56.
The parents of the young girl
in the story above, who everyone had supposed had died, (everyone but Jesus that
is) we’re astonished at what Jesus had done. Obviously overcome with joy as they
received their daughter back from the jaws of death. Certainly they wanted to
scream their elation telling everyone what Jesus had done. Jesus charged them to
tell no man. What do you think; did they comply with His wishes? Probably not.
Lately that same elation has been overwhelming me. I too am now placed in the
very real life scenario of wanting to let anybody and everybody know what Jesus
did for me. Let me tell you why.
A question I get asked a lot
these days is “How are you feeling?” Well, the answer is I feel pretty good. If
I may I’ll explain why, starting from the beginning. As many of you know I’ve
been fighting a battle with a disease called Myasthenia Gravis. My wife,
daughter, and I have a piece of property here in southern Missouri. It’s just a
small four acre parcel, but I truly enjoy it. Before my illness I kept our
little piece of ground well manicured like a park; this chore had become a labor
of love for me. For the past two years my chores had turned into nightmares
since I was unable to carry out any of them.
I had endured seven IVIG
infusions and a host of drugs had been prescribed by my neurologist to attempt
to fend off this horrible debilitating neuro-muscular disease. My health seemed
to be as a yo-yo, I’d feel fairly good for a few days then back to full on
muscle fatigue. This was the routine since beginning the infusions. Then one day
in July seemingly out of nowhere God intervened. I just woke up one morning
feeling great. Wow! Praise God! Now I gotta tell somebody what Jesus did for me.
Back in May of this year I
wrote a commentary explaining to my readership, that the infusions had worked
and I was feeling better. Just after posting that commentary the fatigue came
back with a vengeance. Our eldest daughter and her children lived with us at
that time and my hematologist told me that the strain and stress was too much
for me. He told me that trying to contend with four grandchildren (one of which
was just a toddler, and the youngest still an infant) while in the midst of this
disease was creating a wall of resistance to the procedures he had put in place
as he tried to eradicate, or at least send into remission, the Myasthenia which
was attacking my body.
My grandchildren are so
important to me, and for the 10 months they lived with us I had become
completely captivated by and attached to my infant granddaughter. So much so
that we had bonded to a point that I knew I could never give her up. Grandpa,
with his disease, wasn’t able to do much in the way of interacting with the
other kids, but with the youngest I was able to hold her on my lap and feed her
when it was time and everyday she would fall asleep on my chest while I sang to
her. But, alas, I did give her up. Our daughter had made the decision to move
back to California to pick her life back up, I imagine that means where she left
it prior to moving to Missouri. When she took my ten month old granddaughter
away I honestly thought I would die. The pain was incredible, far worse than any
illness or disease I’d ever endured. I spent weeks in misery, the tears would
not stop. Only through the grace and insistence of Almighty God was I able to
continue with life and with writing the commentaries.
Just one month after their
departure my health greatly improved and God gave me the relief I needed from
the horrible depression that had beset me. With my health improvement, my
outside chores became something I was looking forward to tackling again. Little
by little I ventured out into the midsummer heat attempting to bring a not so
good looking yard back to its previous splendor. At first it was a bit
overwhelming. I’ve now progressed to a point that I’m able to perform some of my
outside chores with little hindrance. God is good, and He gets all the glory.
Why am I telling you all of
this? Because I gotta tell somebody what Jesus did for me! Jesus brought me
back; He and He alone is responsible for my very improved heath today. No matter
what the doctors might think or what the skeptics that read my commentaries
might say, I know who healed me. Our family doctor is a great guy, this man is
very knowledgeable and he dearly loves his work. He genuinely loves people, thus
he makes a great doctor. When I fell into that seemingly bottomless pit which
this whole disease experience had caused, my wife and I were convinced that my
life was quickly approaching its end, and my doctor also saw the signs that
caused him to concur. We had begun to discuss funeral arrangements. Our family
doctor suggested it might be time for some hospice care. This all took place
just a few weeks before our eldest daughter left for California with our
grandchildren.
Needless to say, my doctor was
shocked at my incredibly quick recovery, yet not really all that surprised as he
also knew who was responsible for the miraculous improvement. When I visited my
doctor just a week ago all he could do was simile and congratulate me on my
recovery; all I can do is praise God. My doctor asked me that day what I
attributed my renewed heath to and I told him – God. He agreed, even with all
the marvelous advancements in medical technology, what happened to me was
nothing less than a miracle. So, I gotta tell somebody –
I gotta tell somebody – what Jesus
did for me!
That’s why I am in a renewed
posture these days. I want to shout it from the roof top. “Look what Jesus did
for me!” It’s no secret what Jesus did for all of us two thousand years ago, not
to mention all the miracles He performed. The miracles Jesus does today are just
as visible, although these days it’s seldom our God and Savior who receives the
glory, but it should be.
It wasn’t long ago that I made
a conscience decision to place my life fully into God’s hands, holding nothing
back for any reason. I’m His. This is essentially what the mindset of every
devoted followerof Jesus Christ should be, which is nothing short of what Paul
explains. “…But we have the mind of Christ.”
1 Corinthians 2:16b. The Greek
word for mind is “nous” which
denotes spiritual truth, the higher powers of the soul, the faculty of
perceiving divine things, of recognizing goodness and of hating evil. All those
who are born again have the mind of Christ, so use it.
My life is still in a bit of
turmoil these days even after the Myasthenia has disappeared or gone into
remission. I will go through knee replacement surgery on the 26th of
September. Then after I’m fully recouped I’ll see another doctor about the
problem with my esophagus. I’ve had constant reflux for some months now and my
doctor is very concerned that there might be a growth down by the area of the
junction of the stomach and the esophagus. The main point to all my rambling is
to assure everyone who God is and that He is fully involved in the lives of His
children. We say “God is in control” but do we mean it? I have no doubt who’s
responsible for my much improved health. Just look what Jesus did, and is doing,
for me. I spent two years with this disease which was only diagnosed last
November. Did I ever think God had abandoned me? Not hardly. Even though the
deterioration had caused my wife and I to focus on the end game – God was never
dismissed as coach.
Many of my readers, and many
more people than that, are in much worse straits than I ever was. On the other
hand there are some who will never experience in this life any debilitating
physical illness whatsoever. The crux of the matter is, either way, there is an
end coming. The Truth which will lead us to everlasting life is always
available, the perfect peace given us by Jesus Christ
is that everlasting life and it is
fully attainable for anyone who desires it. Those of us who have acknowledged
the truth of the Gospel of Christ and who now have the mind of Christ are in for
an awesome everlasting future. Of course, there will always be those who see no
benefit in acknowledging God’s existence or who place no importance in the
sacrifice of His only begotten Son for the remission of their sins. Therefore
they will experience a very different eternity – one the Bible refers to as
Hell.
Babies are born and people die,
battles with illnesses come and go, there’s nothing new under the sun.
“The thing that hath been, it is that which
shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no
new thing under the sun.”
Ecclesiastes 1:9. Eternal life is and always has been eternal –
there’s nothing new about it. Once we have it, it’s ours for eternity. We can
take solace in that fact.
I have a brother in the Lord
who, just a few years ago, was in an accident that put an end to his career.
That which he had previously held as important began to disappear. He began to
see life differently; materialism was no longer his goal. He is now in his early
forties, and he has a new focus on life. Jesus Christ has become the most
important part of his life and he’ll tell you his future looks brighter now than
ever before. Some people fall apart when illness or injury besets them. Others,
like this young brother in Christ, simply change their focus. In the process of
the loss of his wealth he became the wise man Jesus tells us about.
“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of
mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house
upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew,
and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And
every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be
likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain
descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house;
and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”
Matthew 7:24-27.
None of us know when, or if, we
will be burdened with a debilitating accidentor disease. But we should know who will be there for us when we
begin a journey down one of those paths. Some people tell us that Jesus is
simply a crutch. Wow, as a disabled follower of Jesus Christ what more could I
want than Jesus as a crutch? Now, for all who see those of us who follow Jesus
the Christ in a derogatory light – as needing a crutch to get by – allow me to
be your teacher for a moment. Another word for crutch is support. What is the
purpose for someone needing support? To bear, to hold up, to sustain. Who would
be better equipped to sustain us than the Creator of the universe? Even for
those who hate Him and wish to be rid of Him once and for all, they too are
being sustained (held up) by Jesus Christ (who, while we're on the subject, is
God Almighty) every single day. Acknowledge it as truth or not, Jesus is also
your support – your sustainer - your crutch if you will. Who in their right mind
would refuse Jesus’ love because they simply see Him as a crutch? What a crutch.
Knowing Jesus as Savior, Lord,
friend, brother, God Almighty brings a peace which cannot be surpassed. No
matter what befalls us, with Jesus living in us we can endure anything. I can’t
speak for the rest of you but, I just had to tell everybody, what Jesus did for
me!
God bless you all,
Ron Graham
twotug@embarqmail.com
All
scripture is from the KJV and God breathed
My mailing address is:
96 County Road 5480 Salem, MO 65560 - for those of you who desire to correspond
by US mail.
My past commentaries are archived at the following link
http://www.raptureready.com/featured/graham/graham.html
If you’d like to be on my
mailing list to receive the commentaries just drop me an email – include your
name and email address.
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