Yesterday I came across the interesting testimony of a secular pop artist who got saved back in the 1980s. He has had a whole string of hits with a well known band. He shared that back then in the 1980s--at the peak of his career--he realized that his drug habit had become an addiction. He couldn't walk away from his 'fix'. This stark realization drove him to check himself into a rehabilitation program in a hospital. While he was there, he said the sinners prayer. When he went back on tour with his band, he told his band mates that he wouldn't be taking anymore drugs.
A few years later, the same singer was slated to tour on his own with the Christian rock group Petra, then tragedy struck. It was discovered that he had a benign tumour in his brain. The subsequent treatment to remove the tumour damaged his pituatary gland. Today he has to take a whole bunch of medication. The side effects of his damaged gland are weight gain and loss of stamina. He actually has to take in oxygen from a tank backstage in-between songs! I am referring to Lou Gramm of Foreigner fame.
Tonight as I was waiting for my friend Kevin to meet me for dinner, I asked the Lord why so many good people (like Lou Gramm) suffer from such tragedy unfairly. 'He's a good man,' I told the Lord, 'and he loves you'. Then I felt the Lord impress on my heart,
'Do you think people get healed because they are good? Or do they get healed because they believe correctly?'
Then I began to realize where I have been missing it all these years.
Whenever we see 'good Christian people' suffering sickness and poverty, and we ask God why, what we are really saying to God is that these folks should be blessed because of their goodness.
No. God blesses us only because of Jesus finished work and nothing else. No one is good enough to deserve any of our blessings.
What we need to do is simply believe that even though we are not deserving in ourselves, His finished work on the cross qualifies us unconditionally.
The bible says that our righteousness--not our sins--are like soiled sanitary pads to God. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
When we pray, we pray in Jesus name, not in our own name. When we invoke His name in prayer, what we are saying is that we are not worthy to have our prayers answered based on our own merits!
If you're thinking now 'how can this be?', then my friend, you need to--like me--renew your mind. None of us deserves anything from Him. We need to start believing correctly that all answered prayer is based on His gift of righteouness.
When we stop seeing how utterly amazing God's grace is, we stop seeing grace for what it truly is. Unless grace is completely by grace, it fails to be truly grace!
So think back on all the seemingly 'unfair' challenges you or some other Christian brother or sister is in. Now realize that it isn't God's will for us to be sick or poor. He took care of that on the cross. Those provisions have been fully paid for. We simply have to believe that in spite of our imperfections, we have been made worthy to receive! Now if you can't believe that, that unbelief is the reason why 'good' Christian people aren't healed or properous.
Start believing!
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