Verse of the Day 12/16

Romans 8:23-24 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. 24 We were given this hope when we were saved.  New Living Translation (NLT)

 

Our son Jeff suffered a traumatic brain injury as a teenager which left him disabled.  Since that time, when he is put to bed, and often, at various times he'll wake up and we'll hear him moaning.  We'll ask him what is wrong and he can't even tell us.  Jeff trusts Jesus as his savior, perhaps he's groaning, longing for the release from the suffering while hoping for eternal healing.  After all he has told us "hope is my favorite thing to have".

 

Barring a true miracle, Jeff will be disabled during his life here on earth.  There are many others suffering from various disabilities that will last through their lifetimes.  Jesus healed many in the Bible but not all.  But He did offer hope, and a future restoration, and a peace for the hear and now.

 

In his sermon "Healed for the Sake of Holiness" John Piper writes "The main issue in this age till Jesus comes back is that we meet him—meet him—in our brokenness, and receive the power of his forgiveness to pursue holiness. In this calling to faith and holiness, the disabled often run faster and farther than many of us who have our legs and arms. And in the mentally disabled, we simply don't know how far they are running. Perhaps farther than we think. Jesus knows. Jesus knows everything. And he is compassionate. And he is sovereign.  May the Lord open your eyes to know Jesus personally, as one who knows you, and has compassion on you, and is sovereign over your body and your soul, the one who has come with saving and healing power, first for the sake of your holiness, and then for the sake of your everlasting health."

 

While we wait for that future hope, what are we to do?  In  Psalm 82 we read,

Psalm 82:3 Defend the weak and the fatherless;
    uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
4 Rescue the weak and the needy;
    deliver them from the hand of the wicked.  New International Version (NIV)

 

 

In Christ,
Mike

 

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Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace  NIV

Romans 8:22-25  GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
22 We know that all creation has been groaning with the pains of childbirth up to the present time.

 

23 However, not only creation groans. We, who have the Spirit as the first of God's gifts, also groan inwardly. We groan as we eagerly wait for our adoption, the freeing of our bodies from sin. 24 We were saved with this hope in mind. If we hope for something we already see, it's not really hope. Who hopes for what can be seen? 25 But if we hope for what we don't see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.