Healing
This is essay is for all the fans of the Rolling Stones, fans of rock-n-roll in general, and especially those who haven't found a relationship with Jesus Christ. Do you "see a red door and want to paint it black?" Do you find
yourself thinking "what a drag it is getting old?" Well, the answer is Jesus! HE will be your savior- steadfast and
true- coming to your SPIRITUAL rescue!
November 23, 2003 was a noteworthy day. Not only was it the Sabbath, but also my birthday! Thirty-nine years young and close to the top of that proverbial "Hill."
This Sunday was special for another reason: it marked the emergence of a new feeling that I had never experienced before. For the first time in my life, I felt SINCERE disappointment in not being able to attend the Sunday church service.
I have been working rotating shifts for nineteen years, so working on Sunday has become a part of my life. As a believer, I have always felt guilty about not attending church regularly. I knew I needed to attend. There was always pressure from family and friends- even from within. When I skipped church, I never had that feeling of utter disappointment that one feels when you are forced to miss out on events that are personally special: like your childrens' sporting events or a birthday party, etc.
Looking back, I feel like I am in my early twenties again, and feeling this deep chasm over missing the Rolling Stones concert. What is going on here!?!
Concrete evidence of the Holy Spirit swirling in my body, and the sound of ringing- like a gigantic bell- signaling the arrival of a new kind of birth and death. The death of the Old Lance. The birth of a New Lance.
I was just like any other non-church-going believer, who considered myself Christian, but without having any real relationship with him, and certainly no interest with all things ecclesiastical. Of course I felt guilt about that.
Was that the Trinity at work? Was that the Father, His Son, and the Holy Spirit all throwing pebbles at my Inner Window- desperately trying to rouse me?
"Get up Lance!... You are missing out!... You're sleeping your life away!!!"
I'm not totally sure how it works; I just know it works. They finally broke through my Window, and I shot up out of bed like the house was on fire. I've shed my embarrassment and insecurities about being Christian. No longer do I feel the need to seek the approval of others by bragging about my sinful nature- just to be a part of the "in-crowd." No, now I feel a passion for the Lord and Jesus. I feel a LASTING high that I was never able to achieve through using drugs.
Missing church is worse now than missing that Rolling Stones concert. I am no longer that dumb clueless young man who told God, "Hey! You! Get off of my cloud." Now I am crawling back to the Lord saying, "Please, Gimme Shelter."
He is telling me, "You can't always get what you want... but sometimes, you get what you need."
And now I am telling you the reader, without Jesus in my life- "I can't get no satisfaction."
Mark 2:17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
by Charles Lance Bailey 2003©
http://www.lamarpoint.com
"leading people to Jesus Christ"
(scripture quotes - NIV)
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