A couple of months back, a middle aged man came to me for treatment of his Diabetes. Lean and slender, not more that 5 ft. in height, he looked pale and worn out. His blood sugar was very high. When I told him that, he said he didn't care. He continued, "Last week I took an overdose of Insulin, wanting to die; I lost conciousness,when I woke up I was in the hospital, my wife had taken me there in an ambulance on finding me unconcious." Poor planning, he added, I should have walked away from home after taking the overdose, no one would have known.
Why do you want to die? I asked. No one cares for me, that's why, he said. Talking further, he told me how he had worked day and night to support his family, lived in pitiable conditions in the gulf for some 25 years, helped his sons to complete their education, but now they didn't care about him. I talked about God. He said he was an Aethist. I told him, "No wonder God brought you here."
That set up a discussion. He was stinking of alcohol, but I thought I may not get another chance. He was not in agreement but he said, "I'll come back to hear more."I gave him a couple of my books as he left and asked him to go through them. He agreed. He came back a couple of weeks later and I enquired how he was. I'm O.K. he said, and then added, "I couldn't get your face out of my mind for the past 2 weeks." Can you explain, he asked.
I laughed thinking of the ways of the Lord. He looked perplexed. Then I said, "I hope God replaces my face with his in your mind."
I talked to him again about Christ's love for him. He didn't seem to agree and left a little while later. But I was happy, a seed had been sown. My part in the great plans of God in his life had probably been done. Never saw him again. Perhaps will. Only God knows. Perhaps another person has taken over the baton from me in God's scheme of things.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
Random Thoughts- 30
Of the diverse prayer requests that I receive, one stands out. A middle aged woman once came to my clinic for treatment of Diabetes, Hypertension, Acid Peptic Disease, Rhematism & Partial Blindness. She was very sick and after I had examined her and given her the prescription, she said she had one prayer request.
OK. I said with a smile. Soon, with tears in her eyes she said amidst sobs, "Can you pray for me to die?"
I was taken aback and thought it was because of her sickness that she wanted to die. But on enquiring, she said it because of her son that she wanted to die. He was a chronic alcoholic and verbally abused her threatening to kill her if she didn't hand over whatever property was in her name after her husband's death. He rarely worked and even if he did work, he finished all his earnings on liquor. Many people had conselled him but he did not have a change of heart. She said she was fed up of life with sickness, poverty and abuse.
I did not immediately speak, so she continued with her woes.
I just let her talk and pour out her sorrows. After a while she just sat near me sobbing.
I didn't see any instant solution; she waited for me to pray.
I prayed, not for her to die but that Jesus would grant her peace amidst all the sorrows in her life. I told her about the love that Jesus has for her and that she should trust in him to bring about a change in her son's life. She shook her head in the affirmative but seemed unconvinced that things would change.
We live in a world that is suffering.... The Apostle Paul writes to the Romans:
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. (Romans 8:22-25)
The whole creation is groaning....only a child of God has hope.....
OK. I said with a smile. Soon, with tears in her eyes she said amidst sobs, "Can you pray for me to die?"
I was taken aback and thought it was because of her sickness that she wanted to die. But on enquiring, she said it because of her son that she wanted to die. He was a chronic alcoholic and verbally abused her threatening to kill her if she didn't hand over whatever property was in her name after her husband's death. He rarely worked and even if he did work, he finished all his earnings on liquor. Many people had conselled him but he did not have a change of heart. She said she was fed up of life with sickness, poverty and abuse.
I did not immediately speak, so she continued with her woes.
I just let her talk and pour out her sorrows. After a while she just sat near me sobbing.
I didn't see any instant solution; she waited for me to pray.
I prayed, not for her to die but that Jesus would grant her peace amidst all the sorrows in her life. I told her about the love that Jesus has for her and that she should trust in him to bring about a change in her son's life. She shook her head in the affirmative but seemed unconvinced that things would change.
We live in a world that is suffering.... The Apostle Paul writes to the Romans:
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. (Romans 8:22-25)
The whole creation is groaning....only a child of God has hope.....
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Random Thoughts- 29
Travelling to the clinic for my morning practice, I saw a dog, a Pomeranian, lying dead on the road, probably crushed by a speeding vehicle. No one cared to remove it from the site. Perhaps it must have strayed from a nearby villa onto the road and met this gory end. The scene vanished from my mind as I got involved with my work at the clinic.
Travelling back, when I reached the spot where the dead dog lay, I saw a dead crow lying beside it, again struck by some speeding vehicle. This seemed quite unusual and I wondered how the crow now lay there. The only explanation that seemed to fit was that the crow had spotted the dead dog lying on the road and had ventured to peck at it for a while not realizing that death was stalking it also.
Thinking about this, a few verses from the book of Jude suddenly came to mind. Maybe not very related but still thought provoking.
"Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear - hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. (Jude 1:21-23)
While evangelising and dealing with persons who are sinning sexually or in any other way, if we are not really spiritually strong and prepared to deal with these kind of sins and keep ourselves pure, we can easily fall into the same sin and be trapped by satan to do his bidding.
The attitude of "hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh." will help us in this.
Travelling back, when I reached the spot where the dead dog lay, I saw a dead crow lying beside it, again struck by some speeding vehicle. This seemed quite unusual and I wondered how the crow now lay there. The only explanation that seemed to fit was that the crow had spotted the dead dog lying on the road and had ventured to peck at it for a while not realizing that death was stalking it also.
Thinking about this, a few verses from the book of Jude suddenly came to mind. Maybe not very related but still thought provoking.
"Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear - hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. (Jude 1:21-23)
While evangelising and dealing with persons who are sinning sexually or in any other way, if we are not really spiritually strong and prepared to deal with these kind of sins and keep ourselves pure, we can easily fall into the same sin and be trapped by satan to do his bidding.
The attitude of "hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh." will help us in this.
Dr.Johnson Cherian M.D.PhD.
E.mail/PM me with your prayer requests/comments.
johnson3570@gmail.com
SIGN MY GUEST BOOK BEFORE YOU LEAVE
Random Thoughts- 28
Weeds are a problem because they impede the growth of the sapling that we plant. Some weeds are easy to remove but some like creepers entangle the different parts of the sapling and not only impede the growth of the young plant but also crush them.
So are some sins in the lives of believers. Some sins are easy to overcome but some are like creepers because they entangle the believer's spiritual life crushing it and making it unproductive.
Trying to remove creepers that have entangled the sapling or growing plant is difficult. If one tries to remove it from the top, it invariably pulls the plant apart, so the best thing is to pull out the root of the creeper. It will soon dry up no more harming the plant.
Sins that entangle the spiritual lives of believers have to be pulled out from its roots. It's no use dealing with them from the top i.e. sinning and confessing, sinning and confessing. As Jesus said, whatever is making us sin must be removed from our very presence. Dirty books, novels, TV, Internet (i.e. if you don't know where to stop in dealing with these channels of entertainment) or anything that leads us into sin must be cast aside so that it will no longer entangle our spiritual lives and make it unfruitful.
So are some sins in the lives of believers. Some sins are easy to overcome but some are like creepers because they entangle the believer's spiritual life crushing it and making it unproductive.
Trying to remove creepers that have entangled the sapling or growing plant is difficult. If one tries to remove it from the top, it invariably pulls the plant apart, so the best thing is to pull out the root of the creeper. It will soon dry up no more harming the plant.
Sins that entangle the spiritual lives of believers have to be pulled out from its roots. It's no use dealing with them from the top i.e. sinning and confessing, sinning and confessing. As Jesus said, whatever is making us sin must be removed from our very presence. Dirty books, novels, TV, Internet (i.e. if you don't know where to stop in dealing with these channels of entertainment) or anything that leads us into sin must be cast aside so that it will no longer entangle our spiritual lives and make it unfruitful.
Dr.Johnson Cherian M.D.PhD.
E.mail/PM me with your prayer requests/comments.
johnson3570@gmail.com
SIGN MY GUEST BOOK BEFORE YOU LEAVE
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Random Thoughts- 27
Picking up a spade to dig for the first few times may cause blister wounds on the palms. That’s because the hands are not used to handling such equipment. So it is with evangelism. Initially when one goes out to witness or preach, one may experience difficulties dealing with different kinds of people. Their looks, words and actions may often seem intimidating. One may feel hurt and be discouraged. Nothing to worry much though; for as one keeps handling the spade, the hands would get used to it and become firm and stop blistering.
As you get going doing the Lord’s work, you will understand that such things are part of the exercise and they won’t bother you much. Applying a little medicine and covering the blister with a bandage usually solves the problem. So also, prayer and laying one’s burdens on the Lord can heal the hurts when one does the Lord’s work.
As you get going doing the Lord’s work, you will understand that such things are part of the exercise and they won’t bother you much. Applying a little medicine and covering the blister with a bandage usually solves the problem. So also, prayer and laying one’s burdens on the Lord can heal the hurts when one does the Lord’s work.
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