December 15

Seeing Christ in the Nursing Home

For this reason I bow my knees … That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:14,17,18,19 (NKJV)

On one cold fall day, John and his wife were going to be moved out of their homestead and into a nursing home. Instead, both were found dead in the old white farmhouse. John wasn’t going to go, and he made sure by shooting his wife in the head then turning the deer rifle on himself.

It shocked me, and I was especially sad because John was a long-time friend of my father’s. It was hard to believe, but in John’s mind, life was no longer worth living. Contrast this heartbreaking story with one that touched my heart just yesterday.

Pastor Ortberg shares the experience of his friend Tom—back when Tom was a seminary student and spent time visiting nursing homes. Ortberg says the first time Tom saw Mabel she sat strapped to a wheelchair—the blank look on her face revealed her blindness while the large hearing aid dangling over her ear indicated she was hard of hearing as well. Sadly, her cancer-ravaged face turned people’s eyes away.

It was Mother’s Day when Tom met her. He had brought a flower to give to a convalescent mom, and when Tom handed Mabel the flower, she responded with something like, “Thank you for the beautiful flower, but I’m blind. Do you mind if I give it someone else?”

Tom then wheeled her down the corridor, and she offered the flower to another person. “Here. This is from Jesus,” she said.

Mabel was 89-years old and she had been there—bedridden, blind, deaf and alone—for 25 years, and yet, there was not a day that went by that didn’t find her thanking God for life … and for love.

More and more, Tom was amazed at the incredible spirit of this ailing saint. He would read her passages and she would finish them. The words of the Bible deeply saturated her soul. At one point Tom asked, “Mabel, what do you do when you lie here all day long?”

“I think about my Jesus.”

“Well, what do you think about Jesus?”

Mostly I think about how good He has been to me.”

She then started singing the words to the old hymn, Jesus is All the World to Me:

Jesus is all the world to me,

My life, my joy, my all.

He is my strength

From day to day,

Without Him I would fall.

When I am sad to Him I go,

No other one can cheer me so.

When I am sad

He makes me glad.

He’s my friend.

I don’t mean to judge, but what a contrast between John and Mabel. For most people on earth, life is all about them, but for a few life is all about Jesus. Truly, these people are transformed. You see, Jesus does make a difference, but only when He finds a home in our hearts.

Father, help us age gracefully … with Christ! Amen.

December 14

Living in Unity

Always keep yourselves united in the Holy Spirit, and bind yourselves together with peace.

Ephesians 4:3 (NLT)

It is good and pleasant when God’s people live together in peace! There the LORD gives his blessing of life....

Psalm 133;1,3 (NCV)

Father, I pray that they can be one.

John 17:21a (NCV)

I opened the door a crack and peered inside. The hall light poured in revealing my youngest son sitting hunched on his lower bunk bed. His sad face showed he had been crying.

It was one-half of a double timeout. His brother sat on another bed in another room.

Some would dismiss their behavior as simply two brothers interacting in their own way, merely a minor disturbance, but I think not.

One boy seems to do things to get attention, the other responds abusively without thinking. In the process, I see a great similarity with what goes on in the Church. And how the enemies of Christ must love that!

This is not what Christ envisions for us—bickering, taunting, fighting. No. We should do all we can to get, keep and preserve unity—the peace that comes from putting someone else’s needs ahead of our own—to keep us on track, to further the Kingdom of God, to bring Him greater glory.

And what of my two boys? We had a good talk and they apologized, but then something else happened. Thinking I was out of earshot, the older brother apologized again to the younger then added his words of encouragement as an added blessing. Encouraging words, by the way, happen to be his love language. Well, later that evening the youngest offered his own gift: a hand written note along with a colorful, comfortable pillow of his—one of his favorites. And guess what? Like me, giving gifts just happens to be his primary love language!

Whether they knew it or not, they had given me hope and encouragement, and for all of us … a lesson to note and apply.

Father, help us follow Christ’s example. Help us to live in peace—one in the bond of love. Amen.

December 13

The Right Motivation

And if I … do not have love, I am nothing.

1 Corinthians 13:2 (NAS)

I love the way God’s word and the wise counsel of strong believers guide my course. Today I am being reminded, my motivation for serving others needs to come from one source—the love He puts in my heart. Paul knows: love is the right driver.

So when I think about all these great things I want to do—like sponsoring more kids in need or setting up a men’s ministry outreach—I have to ask, what’s my motivation? Is it to get bigger numbers, to span the globe with my private collection of needy children, to develop a program? If so, where’s the love?

Listen to John Maxwell’s wisdom and see if connects with you as it does with me:

“My helping hand to a needy world is empty unless love is the motive. Material handouts are a poor substitute for love and understanding. People don’t need more things—they need more tenderness.”

And I don’t need bigger programs or greater numbers, I need a bigger heart!

Lord, put Your heart in me—the heart of unselfish love. Amen.

December 12

Jesus and the Truth

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth, and the life. The only way to the Father is through me.”

John 14:6 (NCV)

… who is the Savior of all people …

1 Timothy 4:10 (NLT)

Jesus Christ, the way, the truth and the life—the Savior of all mankind. He is our salvation, our satisfier and our strength—if only we will believe. If only we will trust in Him. If only….

Too many dismiss Jesus as a mere prophet, a well-intentioned man with a sweet message of peace and love but not to be taken seriously. Yet with a little more effort, with some serious investigation, the truth about Christ becomes clear: He was not a great man.

Consider the words of C.S. Lewis, an Oxford scholar and one-time agnostic himself.

“ I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I am ready to accept Jesus as a great, moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level of the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

Lewis gives us much to ponder, which should lead us to some serious questions. Is Jesus the Christ, the unique person of all history? Or is He something else? What will you believe? The decision is yours….

Father God, Your Son, Jesus, claimed to be the truth. Open our hearts and minds to Your truth. Amen.