The Healing Position (Luke 8:40-42)

Mondays are unfairly judged by the working class people. The reason most people don't like Mondays is due to the fact that it follows the weekend. I don't dislike Mondays! Maybe it's because I LOVE my job. But if there was a Monday I didn't like it was last weeks Monday. As I sat in my office chair that morning I was not prepared to hear the news I was about to receive. My wife had called me to say the Doctors office had called to give me the results of my biopsy. I have a sore on the top of my head that was not healing and my family doctor said we need to have this checked out. It came back as cancer!

It's called a "Spindle Cell Neoplasm" and is between a basil and malignant. I am going to be honest, I don't understand all the medical terminology associated with cancer but I do know this is not a "good" skin cancer to have (if there is such a thing as a good cancer). We have caught this early and in a few weeks the doctors will remove it. I believe all will be back to normal and life will go on.

I have to admit to you that this news "rocked" me a little bit. I was not prepared to hear that it was cancerous let alone that it was progressing toward malignant. In those first few hours, as I sat alone in my office, I was not sure what to think, what to say, or what to do. As I glanced over at my computer my Facebook account was up and I noticed one of my friends status update. It read, "Mark 5:36, "Do not fear, only believe." At that moment I went into the sanctuary and I knelt at the altar and prayed.

Luke 8:40-42 we read about a leader named Jairus who has a daughter that was dying. What I found so interesting is that this ruler of the synagogue is seen falling at Jesus' feet. I know exactly how Jairus feels. This is the only position one can really take and receive the healing that is needed. The HEALING POSITION is at the feet of Jesus. Sickness and disease is not a respecter of person. It doesn't matter who you are, what you are, or where you are in life, you can become sick or even contract a disease. But the position that we all need to be in at those moments is at the "feet of Jesus." This is the healing position.

God Bless
Pastor Rod

Infancy to Maturity

I was looking for my old military picture to be put on the bulletin board at church. They were wanting all of the men and women who have served in the military to bring their pictures and post them were all the people could see. In the move from Portsmouth to Jefferson Ohio we had put all of our old pictures in a box. I knew exactly where it was. I pulled the box out and found the envelope that had them in it. As the pictures were dumped onto the table we started to reflect on every picture.
One picture, in particular, brought back a wave of emotions for me. It was one of my baby pictures. After I had gathered myself I looked deep into that picture and asked this question to God, "did you really know I would become a man serving you as a minister of your Word?" I ask that question for this reason, I know all the things I did from the little baby in that picture until the moment I accepted Christ as my personal savior. How could God have known that I would become a servant for Him?
I thought about this over the weekend and felt compelled to share what the Lord revealed to me concerning my question. In Jeremiah 1:5 it reads, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” In Luke 1:15 we read how John the baptist ".... will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth." God was revealing to me that He knew everything about me just as he knows everything about Jeremiah and John the baptist. I may not be a prophet but just like them I am loved by God. So loved that he saw me as a baby who would become the Man of God I am today.

As an infant, we are totally reliant on someone to take care of us; feed, shelter, guide, and direct our path in life. As we grow we are being taught the ways of life. We will come to a point where we are released from our caregivers to spread our wings and reproduce what we have been taught. We go from being an infant to becoming a mature adult.
Just as it is in life, our walk with Jesus can be viewed the same way. After conversion, we are totally reliant on Jesus to take care of us. We continue this relationship by being taught the ways of Christ. Our relationship develops to the point Jesus releases us to go out and share with the world what He has taught us. We go from infancy to maturity.

Thank you Jesus for knowing and loving me as an infant and developing me into the man I am today.