LIKE IT OR NOT, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, YOU ARE PUTTING YOUR FAITH IN SOMETHING OR SOMEONE
Biblical Advice for the Suffering Heart
THE DIAGNOSIS EPISODE 5: WHAT OR WHO ARE YOU PUTTING YOUR FAITH IN?
I am your brother in Christ, and I am here to get you through this diagnosis. Remember, I am a brother, and I love you, the Lord. My friends, if you need to get ahold of me, you can always talk to me at biblicaladvice@outlook.com. biblicaladvice@outlook.com, biblicaladvice@outlook.com, if you need prayer, or you just want to write your frustrations out, or what you're going through. I will respond, and as soon as I get your message. Today's episode, we're going to focus on those who do not believe, yet they have a diagnosis, and you're looking for answers, and you're looking for God. My friend, I have good news for you, if that's your situation. So let's carry on with to those who do not believe. So you do not believe, yet at this very moment, something is drawing you. Perhaps you have never been exposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ, or you were not raised in the Christian home. Perhaps you were taught by a very influential professor that God does not exist, yet something draws you. A certain curiosity. This curiosity is no accident. This curiosity is God calling you. The truth is, you want peace, comfort, and security. Most of all, you want assurance. Like a young child who finds peace in the comfort of his or her mother's arms, after waking in the middle of the night from a nightmare, you yourself also long for this peace. The peace one has only after being embraced and protecting arms of love. With the assurance that everything is going to be okay. I have good news. God wants to give you this peace, and he wants to give you the assurance. You may say, "Wait a minute. You do not know the things I have done." When you open your heart, as God draws you to himself through the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and realize his sacrifice he has personally made for you, you will once, for the first time in your entire life, find yourself embraced into protecting arms of God's love. This is the peace that God gives to those who love him. Yes, the Bible says, without a doubt, he personally knows you. The question is, is do you know him? So, if you do not believe in God, may I ask who or what are you putting your faith in? You may not realize it, but you are putting your faith in something. For example, have you fallen for the worldview that boasts that there is no God? If so, then you are putting your faith in the worldview. Many people are taught by post-modern college professors and universities all over the world, that God is something that your grandparents believed in and surely purely superstition. Then they go on to try to discredit those who do have faith by making statements such as any smart, reasonable person who could not possibly believe. If you believe to pop again at that these university professors are teaching, then you are putting your faith in the university professor. On the other hand, many are putting their faith in such things as chance or in luck, while others are putting their faith in their fellow man, such as doctors, nurses or others in a medical profession. Speaking of luck, let's look at luck, the best of luck. I am pretty sure that you are reading this book because, or you are listening to this podcast because you are nervous about some alarming diagnosis you have received. And that means that you or a personal loved one is going to need surgery, chemotherapy, or some other medical procedure done. It could be something minor such as resetting a broken arm, or perhaps something very serious such as an open heart surgery, cancer surgery or brain surgery. There are a variety of different types of surgeries, so please forgive me if I do not directly mention yours. If surgery, chemotherapy, dialysis, or some other medical procedure is the only solution, then we must face reality and accept the fact that this is our only option. These are the cards we have been dealt, so let's go play them and go through this journey together. I challenge you to open your heart and mind. What you will learn will change both your perspective on life and forever deflate the incredible monster called fear. First, let's talk about what you are feeling now. You are uneasy about it, as well as you should be. Now is a time of reflection. Now is a time of seriousness. Now is the time, perhaps for the very first time, you feel your own personal life or life of your loved one may end. Sure, you don't confess it. You put on a good act, a strong act for your doctors and your loved ones. But deep inside your heart you are anxious and there is a fire of fear and loneliness that cannot be quenched. You trust the doctors. You know that he or she has many years of education and hopefully many years of hands-on experience to match. But you also know that your doctor is only human and let's face it. Humans make mistakes. If your luck is anything like mine, then you know if it was not for bad luck you would have no luck at all. I can already hear you saying, "Wait, you're supposed to make me feel better. What happened to deflating this monster called fear because you're inflating it much bigger than it was before? I need all the luck I can get." The truth is there is only one name in heaven, under heaven, and in the whole universe that can deflate, defeat, and soothe the fears and insecurities you have now in that you now face. And that name in person is Jesus Christ. Now let's take a look at this notion of luck. Now what exactly is luck? You ask five different people and you may receive five different answers on the subject. Some define luck as a chance happening that turned out for someone's good or success. Others define luck as something miraculous. Now that brings in the miraculous. Luck versus the miraculous. What's the difference? On June 15, 2009, newest airways flight 1549 left LaGuardia Airport en route to Charlotte Douglas Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina. That day was like any other day. The passengers were from all walks of life, all ages and of colors. Most were businessmen and women. Some were vacationers while others were in New York to visit family, friends, and loved ones. The passengers that day expecting nothing out of the ordinary. Like every flight, the passengers passed through the airport security and checked in at the ticket counter. They made their way to the terminal and boarded the airplane. I am pretty sure, based on my own experience, that there was a long line in the center aisle as passengers stowed their carry-on luggage in the overhead compartments before making their way to their seats. Finally, after all the passengers had settled down and were finally seated, the cabin doors were shut and the flight crew proceeded through the in-flight checklist. Soon afterwards, the flight attendants walked the aisles making sure that all passenger seats were in a forward, upright position. See belts were fastened and all trays were up. All was just simple, daily routine. The flight crew and the passengers thought nothing of it. All was well and all was peaceful. As the plane departed the terminal, it eased its way toward its designated place on the runway and then stopped as the captain waited to receive takeoff clearance from the control tower. Those of you who have flown before know the sound that the engines make as the captain revs them up to high thrust. Soon afterwards, the passengers gently felt themselves being pushed back into their seats as the plane began lifting off the runway. Suddenly, about three minutes into the flight, a dramatic change of events occurred. At the same time, Flight 1549 was getting altitude, a flock of Canadian geese were flying on the same course in their migrating destination. As a result, the geese were sucked into the plane's engines causing a desperate situation for both the pilot, the crew, and all on board. The captain called the control tower in distress and informed them of the situation. Flight controllers in the control tower scrambled to give captain coordinates and locations of nearby airports where he could possibly perform an emergency landing. But the captain, having many years of experience, knew all too well. He had no choice. He could not make it to any other airport. The plane was going down, and his only alternative was the land on the Hudson River. A risky move that day was the only option that very few people ever walked away from. Aboard the plane, the flight crew acted very professionally and prepared the passengers for every flight crew and passengers' worst nightmare, a crash landing. It goes without saying that among the passengers and crew, there were a variety of emotions. The peace of the everyday ordinary routine had vanished into thin air. Now there was fear, crying and self-reflection. Everyone on that plane possibly faced death, and each one knew it. And the sad thing is, there was absolutely nothing they could do about it. Among the passengers and flight crew that day were atheists who were haunted by the fact that they had denied God in the past and never accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Now facing death, they prayed to him to spread their lives. Also on board were those who had heard the gospel but walked away with a heart and heart. Last but not least, there were those who had faith and were praying to God for a different outcome. But nevertheless, his will be done. God heard their prayers. In a miraculous move, the captain landed the plane with unexpected pinpoint accuracy. The world watched an amazement as all the major news networks broadcasted the security video from surrounding buildings that caught the incident on tape. The event has become known as the miracle on the Hudson. How about you? Can you honestly say, like the passengers that day on flight 1549, that you were at perfect peace with the daily routines of life? And then suddenly, when the diagnosis and the news of surgery or cancer hit you, it sent your life into a tail spin, sending you searching for answers, peace and comfort. Listen to what the Scripture says. Come now, you who say, tomorrow, to me today or tomorrow, we will go to such and such a city. Spend a year there, buy and sell and make a profit. Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then it vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that. But now, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. That's James 4, 13 through 16. You will never find peace, comfort and answers your heart is so desperately looking for in luck. As I mentioned earlier, this incident has become known as the miracle on the Hudson. My friend, a miracle happens when God intercedes. Luck has nothing to do with it. On a different note, some define luck as almost beating impossible odds. Every year from all across the globe, people lose millions of dollars in casinos and cities such as Las Vegas and Atlantic City. How about you? How many times have you played your state or country's lottery? And how many times have you won? Put your this in your mind. How would you like it if, on the day of your surgery, all the preparations have been made and all the tools and equipment sanitized. You're lying on the operating table, observing all the doctors, nurses and the various medical staff that will have various roles to play in your operation. You're nervous. Perhaps you tell one last joke to ease the tension. Then the very last words you hear the surgeons say to you as you as you fall asleep reminds you of a quote from a dirty hairy movie. Do you feel lucky punk? Well, do you? I have good news. With Jesus, you do not need luck. You can be certain. In fact, you can be more secure, have more peace, and have more confidence than you have ever had before in your entire life. Now, I want to talk to those who are putting their faith in modern medicine. Listen to this. A surgery gone wrong. A life forever changed. This was the featured headline in the November 14, 2010 issue of the Dallas Morning News. This patient story is a very important lesson for us to learn. My question to you is, who are you putting your faith in? The patient in this story was a 51 year old female who had been employed at Parkland Medical Hospital for nearly 28 years. She wasn't good health. The only medical issue she suffered from was something common to people all over the world. She had arthritis in her knee. Naturally, being in pain, she went to her family doctor who in turn referred her to a specialist, but in her eyes, this was no ordinary specialist. He was also a university professor of orthopedic surgery and considered to be an expert in the field of reconstructive surgery. On referral, she met with a specialist. He examined her and informed her that she wouldn't need surgery, so they scheduled her surgery for the Friday before Labor Day, 2008. The patient in our story was confident. She felt she had no need to worry. She had all the faith in the world and the doctors and medical staff at the hospital. After all, not only did she work there, she had been going there most of her life. In fact, she was even born there. She especially felt a sure because she had her great things about the specialist. Why, he himself told her that he would be the doctor performing the operation. Much to the patient's surprise, on August 29, 2008, the day of the surgery, the specialist was nowhere to be found. What was an even greater surprise was a much younger doctor whom she had never met, consulted with, nor even heard of, came to the operating room and marked her knee for the necessary incisions. He informed her that he would be the doctor that was going to perform her surgery. Little did she know the doctor performing the surgery was just beginning his second year of a five-year residency as a student in the university's training program. Her surgery lasted 74 minutes. After the surgery, the young doctor who performed the surgery wrote in his report that there was no complications. Then she started developing symptoms. Symptoms he thought were after effects of the surgery, therefore misdiagnosing her. Despite the fact that the nurses on duty recorded in their charge that she was in intense pain, he ignored the symptoms and the patient's plea. He wrote down in her medical chart doing well. It was only after three days being hospitalized, lying in intense pain, that an actual doctor, a vascular surgeon, discovered what was going on. The patient had to have two emergency surgeries on Labor Day. She would later need 17 more surgeries. Over time, things only got worse and let me tell you our patient went through some serious suffering in a total of 24 operations before they finally had to amputate her leg. My heart breaks when I hear stories like this, and believe me, this is not the first time an incident like this has ever happened. It's an everyday occurrence that happens every day across our country and around the world. Fortunately, a majority of operations are done successfully and without incident, and most hospitals have doctors on staff that are very well trained and confident to perform operations. Having said that, there's one thing they cannot be overlooked, and that one thing is the human factor in each and every surgery. Doctors are just as human as anyone else, and like everyone else, they too have character flaws. I have met some that were very arrogant, and I have met some that were very humble. They make mistakes like everyone else. On the other hand, there is no such thing as a routine surgery. Things can go wrong, and sometimes things do go wrong. Just ask our patient in this story. So, are you putting your faith in modern medicine? This is a very strong, convincing story of why one would choose not to. I refer back to the book of James when he says, "Instead, you have to say, 'If to Lord wills, we shall live and do this for that.'" In James 4, 15, there is a lesson to be learned here. If you're facing surgery without Jesus Christ, then you are doing nothing more than putting your eternal destiny into hands of an educated sinner. Having said that, now is a time for self-reflection. You know that you yourself or someone you love will soon be having surgery or some other medical procedure. Who are you putting your faith in? Are you putting your faith in luck? If so, where will you spend eternity when your luck runs out? Are you putting your faith in modern medicine? If so, where will you spend eternity when modern medicine can no longer help you? By what authority does luck have to change your situation? By what authority do your doctors and modern medicine have to change your situation? All they can do is patch you up. It is God who heals. Rocho Marx had it right when he portrayed Rufus T. Firefly in a movie "Duck Soup." He asked the question, "Who are you going to believe? Me or your own eyes?" In reply to Rocho's question, the answer would be science, politics, liberal media, and popular culture who would entice you to believe them and their own personal and political agendas rather than you believe your own eyes. It is God's word of Bible and a Christian who tell you to think for yourself and believe your own eyes. Those rebellious souls who have spread their venomous propaganda that God does not exist. Who could care less about you, much less your health or eternal destiny? Where are they now? Are they at your bedside? Do you take comfort in someone else's views and personal opinions now that you're going to have surgery? I love what C.S. Lewis wrote. He wrote, "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen. Not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." My friends, life is a voyage. Christopher Columbus sits sail with his fleet on many voyages from the Port of Spain. On the way to their destination, the fleet encounters heavy rain, dark-filled skies, hurricane-force winds, and the raging wrath of angry seas, only to find riches and glory when they arrive to their destination in the new world. So is the life of each and every one of us. Like Christopher Columbus, each one of our lives has a destination. And as every second of every minute of every hour go by, we are slowly getting closer to it. Meaning experience sailor has set sail from their homeland for far away majestic ports in search of fame, fortune, and dreams of splendor, only to lose hope in the storm and become a casualty of the unpredictable sea. Life is like that, unpredictable. One day everything's fine and dandy, and the other it feels like you're drowning in a sea of problems. From our birth we set sail in life. From then on we are faced with triplet times from the world to flesh and the devil that do their best to stir the waters beneath us. Like waves patting on the side of a ship, we face stress on every side. We have our problems at work, we have problems at home, problems with our children, our spouses. We have bills and debts to pay to rent it or mortgages do. Unemployment is alarming, gasoline is skyrocketing, and without knowing it, each one is taking a toll on our health. Tragically, there are deeply depressed and disillusioned people today who are falling for the lives of the world, the flesh, and the devil. As a result, when their problems and circumstances become too much for them to handle, they make the decision to end their lives because they felt there was no hope. There is good news, however, for those who believe. There is no problem bigger than God, and there is no diagnosis, sickness, or surgery that he cannot handle. My friend, God never promised us smooth sailing in life, but He does promise that He will always be with us and that He will never leave us nor forsake us. Biblical evidence is in Hebrews 13-5, "I will never leave you nor forsake you," He says. On another illustration, the disciples of Jesus were in fear for their own lives when they found themselves in a raging storm on the Sea of Galilee. That evening, when they set out, the sky was clear. But as the evening went on, the sky grew darker and darker until the moon was nowhere to be found. As they sailed further out to sea, the highly charged atmosphere was so full of lightning that it lit storm clouds causing them to glow in the night sky. The crew's guts rattle with every crash of exploding thunder. As the wind blew harder and harder, it stung to faces of those within its path with water from rain in the heavy sea. The sea also became violent, producing waves so high that they came over the front of the boat causing it to fill with water. The crew was frantic. The boat was going to sink. They were all going to die and they knew it. And in the midst of all this excitement, they looked at Jesus who was sleeping peacefully on a pillow in the stern of the ship. And so the Bible says, "They awoke him and said to him, 'Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?' Then he arose and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, 'Peace, be still.' And the wind seized, and there was a great calm. That's Matthew 8, 23 to 27. You'll find it in Mark 4, 35 through 41. Also recorded in Luke 8, 22 through 25. Like the disciples, we too sometimes let the circumstances of our situation get in the way of our sight of God. Jesus, not only promises us to never leave us with forsakers, he also wants to give you peace and walk with you in the hardships and trials that you face in the storms of life. My friend, do you know that you are precious to God? Do you know how much he loves you? Did you know that he wants to bless you and have a personal relationship with you? Do you want the security and knowing that if you were to die today that you will dwell in the house of the Lord forever? My friend, God loves you so much that he gave his only begotten son to die for you. The Scripture says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life." And that's found in John 3, 16. God personally knows and loves you. In fact, he knows every good and bad thing you have ever done. He knows every victory and every failure. He knows all the times you have ever laughed and can count the number of tears you have ever cried. The truth is, God is reaching out to you with his loving arms wide open to love and forgive you and wants to give you a new start and a new beginning. Stop believing in the lies and the illusions of this world. Listen to this invitation from Jesus when he says, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." That's Matthew 11.28. If you have put your faith in Christ, excuse me on that. If you have never put your faith in Christ and would like to accept him as your Lord and Savior, or my friends, if you have put your faith in Christ and would like to accept him as your Lord and Savior, then there are some things I want to explain to you. My precious friend, if you are under Holy Spirit conviction and feel the call of God upon your heart and would like to accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, then you need to know that you are saved by your faith and faith alone and that you have put your trust and eternal destiny in his hands. There is no prayer or salvation anywhere in the Bible, but if you have come to him in genuine faith, he will save you today. These are not steps, just some important things that you need to know. If you would like to pray to the prayer I have written down to help you, then that's perfectly fine. Once again, it's the moment that you put your faith in Jesus Christ that you are saved. First, acknowledge and admit and confess that you are a sinner. The Bible evidence for this is found in a book of Psalms, as well as other books. Surely, it says, "I have been a sinner from birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." Psalm 515, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." This Romans 323. 2. You must realize and understand that you cannot save yourself by your own works or efforts. Biblical evidence is found in Titus and Ephesians, as well as other places. Listen to what the Bible says. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us. That's Titus 3.5. By grace you are saved through faith, and none of yourselves is a gift to God. None of works, lest any man should boast. That's Ephesians 2, 8-9. 3. You must believe that Jesus Christ died on a cross for all the sins you have ever committed or will ever commit. He died in your place on a cross. He was punished so you do not have to be. 4. Come to him in faith. Pray to him and ask him to be your Lord and Savior. You can pray something like this. O God, I am a sinner. I am lost and need to be saved. I know I can't save myself. Right now I trust you to save me. Come into my heart, forgive my sin, and dwell me with your Holy Spirit. You are my God, my Lord and Savior, and I give you my life. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. And my friend, if you have put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and you have prayed that prayer and you have sincerely meant it, I would be so encouraged if you would email me at biblicaladvice@outlook.com. You don't have to say anything, just put "I have accepted Christ." Oh, I would enjoy that would bring to my heart. Until then, my friends, may God root you, bless you, and I'll see you next time.