Grandma
Something else Jesus taught me about prayer!
A dying grandma
I have found over the many years with Jesus, that things rarely 'just happen' People seem to be in awe when I tell them about what the Lord's doing or what He said.. 'Supernatural events' as we tend to call them, were 'natural' in the life and ministry of Jesus, as they were with the 'early church'
Seeing as Jesus Christ is "the same yesterday, today and forever" and God says "I am the Lord, I change not" ~ Something on 'our side' must be wrong. I believe one of the main key lies in something Jesus said about those that 'DO' what the Word of God says to do..
"Blessed is the womb that bare you" said the woman. Jesus said, "Yes, but blessed are they that hear the Word of God and DO it"
"Be ye not hearers of the Word but doers" ~ James
"He that hears My words and does them, him I will liken to a man whose house is built upon a rock.."
"Why you call me, Lord, Lord and DO not the things I say?"
We measure to ourselves the blessings of God by the attention, heed and respect we give to what Jesus said. (or The Word of God)
Jesus also said this. "He that follows me shall have the light of life" (King James Version) This is not a 'salvation' scripture as much as a 'life down here' scripture. We are saved through believing on Who Jesus is and receiving what He did for us in His death and resurrection at Calvary.
A clearer translation of that verse would read "He that practices what I preach, shall have (entrance into) the light of life" Jesus walked in God kind of life upon this earth. "I have come that you might have life (Zoe.. the God kind of life) and have it to the full"
It is obvious that many are not walking in, or enjoying this 'God kind of life here. I believe the reason is, that many are not being 'doers of the Word of God' We have a 'commandment' to walk in love.. not a 'request'.. both to one another and in the world. "A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another as I have loved you" ~ "The apostle Paul wrote.. "walk in love as dear children" (of God)
I have found that as you purpose to put into practice what Jesus said to do, the 'God kind of life' here starts to open up to you. The things are God are revealed to the heart of man by the Holy Spirit. I heard about Jesus every Easter and Christmas from the world but when the Holy Spirit 'told' me (opened my heart to the truth) Jesus became 'real' to me. Jesus said to 'repent'.. so I did and I accepted Him as Lord and saviour..
Now.. about grandma..
I was at home a while back and my daughter came in told us that she would be working a lot this week because her bosses grandma was dying and she would be away from the salon for a while. Now.. notice this.. When I heard' about 'grandma' ~ I could have done a number of things:
1) Felt sorry for her and said 'how sad it that was'
2) Done nothing.. Oh well, that's life..
3) Thought.. 'oops, I wonder if she knows Jesus as her saviour?'
The Bible says.. "For this cause came Jesus Christ into the world to save sinners.." and "God would have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth"
So.. I decided that I would go for a walk and pray for her.. I didn't know her or anything about her, apart she was Elaine's grandma and that she was dying.. BUT I did know someone Who knew everything about her and what had transpired in her life.. The Holy Spirit.. "I will send you another Helper" ~ "For we do not know what to pray for as we aught but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us according to the will of God" I knew it was the will of God that she be saved and I wasn't about to take the chance that she might be, so I started to pray for her as I walked. I started.. "Father in the name of Jesus, (John16-23) I pray for Elaine's grandma who is dying. I pray that she would not leave this earth without a knowledge of your saving grace and Jesus Christ as Lord and saviour.. I break the power of the devil over her life ("Behold I give you authority over all of the ability of the enemy. YOU shall trample on serpents and scorpions and nothing shall by any means harm you") in the name of Jesus Christ.. That's all I could do in the natural language, then I allowed the Spirit to flow through me ("out of your innermost being, shall flow rivers of life giving water, this He spoke of the Spirit, that they Who believe on Him should receive...") I continued in prayer but now in the language of the Spirit.. I was thinking to myself that this could take a while.. WHEN
Jesus spoke to me and said "This won't take long son, she has a soft heart!"
My spirit lifted and I continued in prayer for her. It was only a short time later that the 'joy' came.. I rejoiced and gave thanks to God for what had just transpired! I KNEW' she had got saved. I KNEW Jesus had reached her! and boy, was I happy too!!!
I then spent time thanking God for His grace as I wandered back home.
An awesome event and an eternal outcome for the glory of God. Yet simply brought about by just 'doing' what Jesus said to do in His Holy Word. This will happen for, as Jesus said, "Whosoever will"
Many times Jesus upbraided people because of 'the hardness of their hearts' They had no idea just Who standing in front of them. They could 'hear' His words. 'Grandma' had kept her heart gentle in life.. maybe others had prayed for her as she went through life. I don't know.. but the end result of her life was that she made Heaven!
I don't write these things because I'm somebody special.. I'm not.. far from it! but to encourage you into the deeper things of God.. Things that will have an eternal impact and an eternal reward!
Jesus said, "Lo, I come quickly and My reward is with me, to give to everyman according to his works.."
God Bless
John
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