Post by Les Brewer on Mar 16, 2012 6:34:17 GMT
JAMES A MAN WHO KNEW WHERE HE WAS GOING
I remember; a man named James, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He was lost and his mother desperately wanted to see him saved. She attended another Church, but asked if I would come over to talk to James. He had a young daughter who loved him very much too.
I remember I would come to visit him, at first he wasn’t that bad off, but was tired all the time. At first he was very reluctant to talk to me. However, I would just come for about an hour and talk with him and his mother. I would bring my guitar and sing songs and just testify about what God had done for me. James had a similar background so he could relate to me. He started to open up a little bit and feel comfortable around me.
I remember he got much sicker and started to be bed ridden, it was hard to watch how the cancer just took him down a bit at a time. Somewhere in our relationship I had started to pray with James believing for God to touch him and heal him. But to no avail. One day when I came for what was a weekly visit now, I ask James to receive Jesus as his Savior, which he did without hesitation. From that time forward our visits were filled with Praise & Worship country style, and Bible Study because James had become hungry and thirsty for the word of God and to be in God’s presence.
I remember we would just worship the Lord, break the bread of his word, and pray together. James was often in a great spirit and the joy of the Lord surrounded him, although sometimes he was overwhelmed by his condition. James ended up being grounded and established in his faith and relationship with Jesus Christ.
I remember when his mother called me and said that James was in the hospital and very close to death. I will never forget what I saw when I walked in that room, a man who had turned yellow from the cancer, just lying there waiting to die. His brother-inlaw and I began talking with him. I will never forget what James told us, he said now don’t you feel sorry for me. Today I am going to see my Jesus, I am ready to go, and looking forward to seeing him. He talked of his great love for the Lord and how nice it would be in heaven and how happy he was about the whole thing.
I remember he said, I feel sorry for you guys, you have to stay here in this old world and put up with everything, but I get to go home today. He started praising the Lord! Genuinely Happy and you could sense the presence of God all around. Now I went out of the room feeling on top of the world, because a man who had been Church hurt, and unacceptable by the so-called Christians was so happy that he had found Christ. That episode has been such a strength to me at times when I am going through things. When my body is racked with pain, and it looks like I might be checking out of here. I have remembered sometimes not being so jubilant about leaving like James did, and it made me ashamed.
When I met James he was bitter and full of unforgiveness, when I left James the last time I seen right before he died that day, he was praising God and didn’t have one speck of bitterness or unforgiveness in him. Yes when I found James he was lost and wondering the life not knowing where he was heading, but when I left James that last time, he was a man who knew exactly where he was going.
Brethren keep the faith today by becoming that spiritual hospice for someone who is at the end of their journey. That spiritual hospitality just may be the last straw of hope someone will grasp in their desperation. That true charitable deed of providing a non-hostile approach to looking pass their bitterness, unforgiveness, and hopelessness to see the need they have just may be the opportunity to present the gospel of Christ through displaying the love of Christ and reap the benefits of soul saved for eternity.
Shalom Y’all,
Apostle Ray.
I remember; a man named James, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He was lost and his mother desperately wanted to see him saved. She attended another Church, but asked if I would come over to talk to James. He had a young daughter who loved him very much too.
I remember I would come to visit him, at first he wasn’t that bad off, but was tired all the time. At first he was very reluctant to talk to me. However, I would just come for about an hour and talk with him and his mother. I would bring my guitar and sing songs and just testify about what God had done for me. James had a similar background so he could relate to me. He started to open up a little bit and feel comfortable around me.
I remember he got much sicker and started to be bed ridden, it was hard to watch how the cancer just took him down a bit at a time. Somewhere in our relationship I had started to pray with James believing for God to touch him and heal him. But to no avail. One day when I came for what was a weekly visit now, I ask James to receive Jesus as his Savior, which he did without hesitation. From that time forward our visits were filled with Praise & Worship country style, and Bible Study because James had become hungry and thirsty for the word of God and to be in God’s presence.
I remember we would just worship the Lord, break the bread of his word, and pray together. James was often in a great spirit and the joy of the Lord surrounded him, although sometimes he was overwhelmed by his condition. James ended up being grounded and established in his faith and relationship with Jesus Christ.
I remember when his mother called me and said that James was in the hospital and very close to death. I will never forget what I saw when I walked in that room, a man who had turned yellow from the cancer, just lying there waiting to die. His brother-inlaw and I began talking with him. I will never forget what James told us, he said now don’t you feel sorry for me. Today I am going to see my Jesus, I am ready to go, and looking forward to seeing him. He talked of his great love for the Lord and how nice it would be in heaven and how happy he was about the whole thing.
I remember he said, I feel sorry for you guys, you have to stay here in this old world and put up with everything, but I get to go home today. He started praising the Lord! Genuinely Happy and you could sense the presence of God all around. Now I went out of the room feeling on top of the world, because a man who had been Church hurt, and unacceptable by the so-called Christians was so happy that he had found Christ. That episode has been such a strength to me at times when I am going through things. When my body is racked with pain, and it looks like I might be checking out of here. I have remembered sometimes not being so jubilant about leaving like James did, and it made me ashamed.
When I met James he was bitter and full of unforgiveness, when I left James the last time I seen right before he died that day, he was praising God and didn’t have one speck of bitterness or unforgiveness in him. Yes when I found James he was lost and wondering the life not knowing where he was heading, but when I left James that last time, he was a man who knew exactly where he was going.
Brethren keep the faith today by becoming that spiritual hospice for someone who is at the end of their journey. That spiritual hospitality just may be the last straw of hope someone will grasp in their desperation. That true charitable deed of providing a non-hostile approach to looking pass their bitterness, unforgiveness, and hopelessness to see the need they have just may be the opportunity to present the gospel of Christ through displaying the love of Christ and reap the benefits of soul saved for eternity.
Shalom Y’all,
Apostle Ray.
