101 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT HEALTH AND WEALTH

PART 26

51. Since you are exposed to human suffering on a daily basis through your outreach ministry, how do you keep a positive attitude and remain excited and enthusiastic? I have realized over the years that I can do nothing in my own strength. If I have an attitude that I am going to change people or circumstances I am not thinking clearly and have already missed the boat. I see things every day that upset me and cause me to cry. I am concerned about people’s problems and I care about those whom I do not know personally. All I know and see is that many are living in pain and the agony that comes with being alone. I personally feel that many who live with physical infirmities often lose their minds as a consequence of isolation and weight of hopelessness. For those who venture into these prison cells and dungeons of medical “housing” facilities to see the forgotten ones, it is crucial to stay close to God and constantly ask Him for strength. Strength for what? To have the courage and desire to love others no matter who they are or what they have done. To understand that no matter what someone is going through we can reach out to them and give them words of comfort. It does not matter where they come from or anything about why, where or how – it is becoming a conduit for the love of Jesus to pass through us. We are burdened for those who are hurting and we can pray that God will come to their rescue and remain excited about who the Lord will introduce us to next. I was sent word through a nurse the other day that a patient wanted me to come to his room and pray with him after my Bible study. He was too sick to get out of bed. When I came in, he told me his cancer had aggressively moved from his feet and legs into his genitals and there was nothing that could stop it (except Jesus). He had already lost 3 toes and half of his foot and his legs were spotty with large growths and lesions. I kneeled on the floor beside his bed, held his hand and cried. I prayed and left. Yes, this is a heart-breaking situation and I remember throughout my prayer I kept saying “Jesus, please have mercy.” Friends, there is much suffering in this world and I realize we do not want to think about it. This is why people hate hospitals, nursing homes and funeral homes. However, it would be good if we could just stop for a moment and realize that God is in every room watching over every person and listening to their cries. It is because He has compassion of those who are suffering and we are to have the same. Even with all of the hurting and sadness I see, I look forward to going back and reaching out to as many as I can. I cannot do it in my own strength but I ask the Lord to help me understand what “the least of these” really means. And when He tries to explain these are really “HIM” then I arise in faith and receive His sufficient grace. If not for the constant blessings and mercy of God – where would any of us be?

52. Do you ever wonder if some of the individuals you minister to are being held in bondage by the devil or being punished by the Lord and in these cases, can you help them? This used to seldom cross my mind, but the more I study about the blueprint God has drawn and the chastisement we face for living in disobedience, it does open up our eyes to the probability. I desire to be so spiritually sensitive that I could immediately recognize the cause and the solution but I am obviously not wanting it strong enough. I am convinced that many people are suffering for their sins either directly or indirectly from the Lord. I say from the Lord, because if they are Christians then the Father is directing His work and overseeing what He is allowing to happen. In these particular cases Christ can use us to deliver His message and that would be a divine appointment. But this does not automatically mean they will be healed or delivered because they will need to deal with the situation personally with God. On the other hand, the Lord may be trying to tell us to back off and let Him finish what He started. I believe there are many times when we are just to give a word of encouragement, pray with them and keep our nose out of it. I feel that we can possibly do more harm than good if we are not listening to the Holy Spirit. If the Lord tells us to speak, go ahead and bring the word but let us not include our opinions or try to psychoanalyze the entire problem. Of course Jesus came to set the captives free FROM sin and He also delivered many from the consequences OF sin, and I personally believe He wants to use us to help Him continue His work. Jesus is speaking in Luke 4: 18-19, “The Spirit of the Lordisupon Me, because He (the Father) hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” So, I see clearly that we are NOT to stay on our comfortable couches day and night and feel sorry for the less fortunate. We are get off our lazy rear-ends and go to the highways and bi-ways and demonstrate God’s love. It seems the church of today is more like the priest that was described in the story of the Good Samaritan. The priest was someone of all people that would have known the ways of God and the right thing to do but instead crossed to the other side of the road with the intentions to avoid having to see or deal with someone else’s misfortune. Modern Christians can talk all day long about right and wrong but never seem to get around to practicing all of that good “preaching.” Do we doubt that many are deceived and blinded by sin? Of course not! Do we believe that God punishes His children and that many are experiencing the results of disobedience? Absolutely! This is going on all around us and it just comes down to us walking close to the Lord and being able to tell what is going on so that we can do whatever He is saying to do. It is time to set our face as flint and become truly faithful.