IF YOU ARE DISABLED THIS MESSAGE IS FOR YOU

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IF YOU ARE DISABLED THIS MESSAGE IS FOR YOU

SCRIPTURE: EXODUS 4:11

MAIN THEME: If one would in conversation in the past fifty or so years bring up the subject of those with disabilities, most conversations would turn into more of a negative conversation. However, as we look into the Word of God, we will see exactly the opposite when conversing with Almighty God. If you are one of those who were either born with an impairment or have one presently, this message is two-fold. First and foremost, it is to encourage you by helping you to see yourself through the eyes of Almighty God. Secondly, it is meant to help those who do not see disabilities through the eyes of Almighty God.

 

  1. WHAT DOES THIS MEANS FOR EACH OF US BY WAY OF APPLICATION WHO HAVE DISABILITIES?
  • For those with a disability
  1. First of all, don’t put yourself down because of your inabilities
  • If born with a disability, God made you in such a way that you are special, and those who realize this will look at life differently.
  • If due to an illness, accident, or by whatever means you have become disabled, God has allowed it to happen to you.
  1. Secondly, focus on your abilities
  • Set down and write, or if you can’t write, talk to your phone, iPad, tablet, and record what you can do. Here is an example from my own life. I was born weighing only a fraction over four pounds. I immediately contracted pneumonia and was not expected to make it, as my weight went down to near only three pounds. My first six months of life were spent in the hospital. However, by the grace of our merciful God, I not only recovered but had no main problem until one week before my fifteenth birthday, while throwing a tennis ball on the house we lived in, next to the road, I accidentally ran into the road (I didn’t know a car was coming). The car swerved but still hit me. I skidded on my back, then immediately sat up, went to sit on the porch, while at the same time the woman driving the car and other passers-by stopped to check on me. My back seemed to be on fire. Unbeknown to me, most of the skin on my back had been badly damaged by the road. For the next few months, I had to go through treatment for it. All seemed well for a good while, as I got older, graduated High School, went into the Army, then came home, and got married in January to a young lady I had meant at a sheltered workshop. She had never walked, had cerebral palsy, and was confined to a wheelchair. We now have been married for thirty-nine years as of 1/31/2020. A few more months and it will be forty, Lord willing we see that date. She has had three children, one leaving us to be with our Lord in 1984, on June 13th, and two others, a son born in 1983 and daughter in 1985. My wife’s only other “disabilities” are that she has dementia now, as did her brother and daddy, who are both now with Jesus. Myself, however, has had many things happening, from ruptured diverticulitis, wearing a colostomy for two or three months, then put back together, six knee operations, looking presently at a total left knee replacement, nine hernia operations, gall bladder removal, sinus balloon surgery. I have the two-herniated disc, deteriorative disc disease, carpal tunnel in both hands, which swell so that I can never wear a wedding ring again, and two bones breaking in both my left and right foot, along with a broken and healed collarbone as a result of falling while in a walking boot. I am now “disabled”. Having pastored three churches in the past, and two as an associate, I miss my work in the pastorate. I could easily spend time focused on what I am missing, but God has, through His Word, and family, has helped me to focus on my abilities, and I still have many. At present my mind still works so that I can use this website to minister to all who will drop by (and I owe a debt of gratitude to God for using our son Josh setting up and keeping up this website), and I can still pray for others. I am presently taking courses from Liberty University online, and have learned much. As a result, I can teach that which God teaches me to those who will listen. At some point, I would love to pastor again, but I must realize that it may or may not happen, and as a result, take advantage of any opportunities that God gives and blesses me with. The other day I simply wrote out a prayer for someone having a sister with a serious need. As a result, the lady I sent the prayer to told me that it had been a long time since a prayer had made her cry, but that the one I sent to her did because it touched her so much. Dear friend, if I never pastor again, those words meant more to me than anyone but God will ever know. It reminds me that though I am not presently doing all that I would love to, our precious God is still using me to touch lives. I ask you that regardless of your situation, open your eyes to see where God is working in your life, what your abilities are, and give those abilities to Almighty God so that He can use you as His vessel to reach others, and He will, but you must meet a requirement for Him to do so, and that is by being a child of the Living God, having accepted His Son Jesus as both your Lord and your Savior. I sincerely pray that you become a happy member of the family of God, and allow Him to make you all you can be.
  1. HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO OTHERS WITHOUT A DISABILITY?
  • Don’t judge those with any kind of disability. You have no idea of their history, the kind of disability they have, the impact it has on their life, or the lives of those around them. Those who are caretakers know more about the disabled because they work with them, but only in the heart of the one disabled do they know what they feel like, or how it affects them, especially mentally. There are many more questions you simply do not know about a disabled person, so please, don’t look down on a disabled person, but love them and respect (something our present culture has forgotten how to do) them, in other words, treat a disabled person as you would want to be treated.
  • First, thank God for your health. Especially for those of us who are not as healthy as we once were, who have learned the hard way how blessed we had it made could certainly tell you. You could say that we have a new normal that we have to deal with every day.
  1. Secondly, remember that the health you have can be taken away at any moment. Our daughter, while going to school one day, had an automobile accident, and had to have her left leg amputated above the knee as a result of the accident. Thanks are to God He chose to leave her here to be with us, and so that she can help others, as she is a Christian with a great attitude, being the mother of a five-year-old daughter, a wife to her second husband (her first husband had a four-wheeler accident and died as a result of his accident, and we all miss him dearly but are grateful for God placing another man to love our daughter in her life). She never knew when she left home her life would change forever. But instead of allowing it to define her, she has allowed God to use her accident as a great positive in her life, as others see the joyful spirit she is and I know that it makes a difference to others.
  2. Just as our daughter’s life changed forever that day, so did that of our first son-in-law, who died as a result of his accident. Just as our daughter didn’t know what would happen that day, neither did our son-in-law. He didn’t know that this would be the day that he be with his wife, parents, and us as well as his many friends. Instead, it would end up being the first time seeing God in person as a child of God. Thanks are to God that he was a Christian, and in conducting his funeral service (as I have never preached anyone’s funeral because each day we live we are preaching our funeral), the knowledge of his salvation in Jesus was why I could say with certainty that at that moment he was with Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:8). One never knows when that last moment will come, so before rushing out of that door to a busy day ahead, tell those you love that you love them, because it may be the last words they ever hear you say. Above all, make sure you are prepared for death by having the proper insurance. I am not speaking of life insurance you purchase, I’m speaking of life insurance you can receive for free, that which is eternal, only given by Almighty God through the blood sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as He paid our sin debt (Hebrews 9:22), a debt so great we could never pay, by a love so great we will never completely comprehend. Jesus said He was the only way to God (John 14:6), and without a personal relationship with Jesus, you will not go to heaven, for it is a prepared place only for a prepared people, prepared only by God Himself. If you die without Christ, you will do as the rich man found in the Bible (Luke 16:19-31), you will open your eyes in a devil’s hell (Matthew 25:41). If you think of hell as a place for you and all of your buddies, or girlfriends, etc., to go and enjoy yourself, then please read my message on hell, for it will certainly be eye-opening for you. I do not ask, I rather simply beg you that you accept Jesus before it’s too late, because it will be too late sometime, and neither of us knows of the day, the hour, or time our departure will be at hand.

 

 

  • IN CLOSING
  • Accept your situation through the eyes of God, for one day we shall all meet Him, as our best Friend, our as your Greatest Enemy. The choice is yours. I challenge you to see things through His eyes, as it will bring you joy for a lifetime and beyond.
  • THE FOLLOWING SCRIPTURES WILL HELP YOU IF YOU ARE NOT IN THE FAMILY OF GOD:
  1. Romans 3:23; 6:23; 5:8; 10:9-10, 13/ John 3:16-20
  2. If you have any questions, please email me through the website

 

 

 

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