All things are possible to the person who believes
Bible reading for Saturday April 1st.
Set your clock forward tonight.
Bible section: Gospel of Mark 9:14-29
I was serving as a chaplain in a hospital in Mid-America. An old man was admitted with bronchitis, he was old and weak and his relatives were afraid he might die. They asked me to get a minister from his own religious group, to come and pray for him. They wanted a Roman Catholic priest. I was the minister on duty but I was not Roman Catholic and they naturally wanted someone whose religious language was the same as theirs. It was late evening and the only priest I could reach at that hour was unable to get his car started.
He called back about 11 p.m. and told me he couldn’t get to the hospital.
“Pray for him yourself.” He told me.
“But we are different denominations, he will want someone from his own group,” I protested.”
“Forget denominations and groups said the priest, just go direct.”
I understood him; I put on a stole (looks like a scarf, represents a yoke of service) so that the patient, who was too sick to talk, would recognize a representative of the universal Church. I took a little oil; anointed him with it in the name of Jesus, asked God to heal him, and left. The next night I went to visit him in his room but he was gone and someone else was in the bed. I asked what happened to him, and the nursing staff replied. “Something funny there; he came in sick enough to die, but after a nights sleep all his symptoms were gone, He went home this afternoon.” I called the priest to tell him, but he had got his car working and gone on a journey
“Go direct” the priest had said, meaning that when we pray to God we need no intermediaries. Except of course that Jesus is the great intermediary who intercedes on our behalf. .
The father of a very sick boy took his child to the disciples of Jesus to be healed. For some reason they weren’t able to heal him although they had previously healed many people in the name of Jesus. Then Jesus came to the group and the boy’s Father was able to go directly to Jesus with his request. Jesus healed the boy.
What no one else can do, Jesus can. This man who came to Jesus requesting help was partly confident that Jesus could heal and at the same time a little unsure. He wasn’t turned away; no one told him to come back when he was fully confident, Jesus accepted what faith the man had and healed the very sick child. That healing would leave the father full of confidence in Jesus. Therein is an understanding of how we receive faith, the man’s eventual strong faith was not a product of his own religious ability but the result of Jesus’ work of healing. So it has been in my life, and many others’s; the faith we have is not produced by some gigantic spiritual effort but comes as the result of the activity of Jesus himself. Our faith is often insufficient for certain situations, but more is always granted when we seek the source, God himself
Set your clock forward tonight.
Bible section: Gospel of Mark 9:14-29
I was serving as a chaplain in a hospital in Mid-America. An old man was admitted with bronchitis, he was old and weak and his relatives were afraid he might die. They asked me to get a minister from his own religious group, to come and pray for him. They wanted a Roman Catholic priest. I was the minister on duty but I was not Roman Catholic and they naturally wanted someone whose religious language was the same as theirs. It was late evening and the only priest I could reach at that hour was unable to get his car started.
He called back about 11 p.m. and told me he couldn’t get to the hospital.
“Pray for him yourself.” He told me.
“But we are different denominations, he will want someone from his own group,” I protested.”
“Forget denominations and groups said the priest, just go direct.”
I understood him; I put on a stole (looks like a scarf, represents a yoke of service) so that the patient, who was too sick to talk, would recognize a representative of the universal Church. I took a little oil; anointed him with it in the name of Jesus, asked God to heal him, and left. The next night I went to visit him in his room but he was gone and someone else was in the bed. I asked what happened to him, and the nursing staff replied. “Something funny there; he came in sick enough to die, but after a nights sleep all his symptoms were gone, He went home this afternoon.” I called the priest to tell him, but he had got his car working and gone on a journey
“Go direct” the priest had said, meaning that when we pray to God we need no intermediaries. Except of course that Jesus is the great intermediary who intercedes on our behalf. .
The father of a very sick boy took his child to the disciples of Jesus to be healed. For some reason they weren’t able to heal him although they had previously healed many people in the name of Jesus. Then Jesus came to the group and the boy’s Father was able to go directly to Jesus with his request. Jesus healed the boy.
What no one else can do, Jesus can. This man who came to Jesus requesting help was partly confident that Jesus could heal and at the same time a little unsure. He wasn’t turned away; no one told him to come back when he was fully confident, Jesus accepted what faith the man had and healed the very sick child. That healing would leave the father full of confidence in Jesus. Therein is an understanding of how we receive faith, the man’s eventual strong faith was not a product of his own religious ability but the result of Jesus’ work of healing. So it has been in my life, and many others’s; the faith we have is not produced by some gigantic spiritual effort but comes as the result of the activity of Jesus himself. Our faith is often insufficient for certain situations, but more is always granted when we seek the source, God himself
posted by Jessie Coates at 11:15 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home