March 11, 2019

I Am- Devotional Style Short Stories – “Patience is a Virtue”

The weather has turned cold, dreary, and raining. The vehicles on the roads are at a standstill while an accident ahead is being taken care of. The ambulances block the road, the fire trucks are parked horizontally across the lanes blocking all oncoming traffic.

A Man stands beside the road watching and praying. His Father in heaven knows what is happening and the Man is merely doing what the Father has called Him to do. A woman sits bleeding in her car. Another person in another car is unconscious as the paramedics tend to his wounds. The big rig that slammed into a pickup truck is twisted in the middle of the road. Car parts are scattered across the pavement and two bodies lie lifeless on the side of the road with blankets covering their bodies.

Impatience grows with the lined cars down from the wreckage. It’s been an hour and still there is no movement of traffic. A young man in a souped up Trans Am yells out his window, “Let’s get this thing moving. I have things to do and people to see!” An elderly man shakes his head in disgust and comments to his wife, “These young people think the whole world revolves around them.” She agrees.

Two hours have passed and as the Man watches He’s aware of the young man becoming more and more impatient. He finally walks toward the Trans Am as the young man stomps beside his car swearing and shaking his fist.

“Patience is a virtue,” the Man states as He walks up beside the young man.

“Who are you!?” the young man demands.

“I am the I Am. You need to settle down for the things of this world are temporary.”

The young man laughs. “Oh, you’re one of those Jesus freaks. My Mom used to preach that garbage to me.”

“You should have listened to her,” the Man states.

The young man turns his back and yells more profanity. The Man touches his shoulder and suddenly the young man drops like a rock to the ground. He doesn’t know what hit him and lies lifeless on the pavement.

The cars begin to inch forward and the Man looks down at the young man on the ground. “I give you my peace, as soon as you wake up.”

***

Ecclesiastes 7:9 “Control your temper, for anger labels you a fool.”

***

We all have times when our tempers seem to take control but we have the power and authority in Christ Jesus to be able to control any out bursts that may want to spill forth. When we allow the flesh, our humanness with its sin nature, to control our attitudes and thoughts, as well as our behavior, we are falling into the traps of the enemy of God. There is righteous anger and there is what we humans refer to “as flying off the handle.” When we walk in the Spirit we are leading others by our actions. Don’t be fooled into thinking that non-believers are not watching believers. They are and are looking for anything to convict them of their own disbelief. By curbing our outbursts we are leaving an imprint not only to those around us but also in the heavenly realms, for all we do and do not do have an eternal affect.

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March 9, 2019

Using Others Thoughts

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Running along the trail, his footfalls resound upward and leave a deep resounding thump, thump, thump like a drum beat in a cave. The birds stop their singing and take flight as he lifts his head and screams, “Why God? Why?”
Suddenly dropping to his knees, his fingers dig into the damp soft ground and sobs rip through him from a heart that seems to have shattered into a million pieces. Feeling exasperation and anger, Brian flings his arms heavenward with shaking, clenched fists. He yells to God, “How can you love me? You can’t when you let this happen!” Falling face down, Brian sobs into his folded arms. The still of the forest absorbs his cries.
Brian lies on the cold damp ground confused, frustrated, brokenhearted, and doubting how God could ever love him.
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March 7, 2019

I AM – Devotional Style Short Stories – “Opps”

The woman is startled awake and looks at the clock. She leaps from the bed realizing she’s overslept and will be late if she doesn’t hurry. She dashes to the closet and without worrying about what to wear she grabs a pair of jeans and jerks a random shirt off a hanger and quickly runs to the bathroom to quickly run a brush through her hair.

Donning the jeans and shirt, she shoves her feet into a pair of shoes and races toward the kitchen. Opening the cabinet she grabs her medications and quickly gulps them down with a tall glass of water.

Grabbing the refrigerator door handle she throws it open and snatches up a small bottle of juice and races to pick up her Bible. Out the door she flies.

Glancing at the clock on the cars dashboard she thinks she just might make it to church services on time and relaxes a bit. She’s covered seven miles of her thirty mile trip when a man’s voice, through the radio, praises the song just played and states, “On this beautiful Saturday morning…”

She slams on the brakes!

Feeling pretty stupid, she turns the car around and drives back home. Ripping the jeans and shirt off, she throws them on the bed while kicking the shoes off her feet. She dons her bathrobe, sets her Bible back on the counter, and slowly walks to the living room.

Flopping down on the chair and shaking her head in disbelief, she begins to laugh.

***

Matthew 10:20 “For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of the Father who speaks in you.”

***

In this scripture Jesus is telling the disciples that He will give them the words to speak to nonbelievers. The Holy Spirit can speak to us through people, like the announcer on the radio in the story, did. The Lord saved the woman in the story from driving all the way to church to find an empty parking lot. It is amazing that there are some people who say that when we speak to the Lord, that’s prayer, but if the Lord speaks to us, that is mental illness. If the Lord our God can speak through a donkey in Numbers 22:28, then surely He can use a radio announcer. God is not limited in His ways of communicating with us. We just need to listen and sometimes the best way to deal with our mistakes is sit down and just have a good ole belly laugh.

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March 4, 2019

I AM – Devotional Style Short Stories – “An Unexpected Trip”

The T.V. is turned off and having gone to bed the woman sighs loudly, stretches, lies back, and suddenly remembers she forgot to brush her teeth.

She rises with a groan while throwing her feet off the side of the bed. She was so looking forward to collapsing into a peaceful night of sleep that would leave her refreshed and feeling renewed in the morning.

Before returning to her bed she suddenly finds herself on the floor with the room spinning violently. What is going on? She is suddenly hit with a bout of vomiting that is so violent that it stands her on her head.

“Call an ambulance,” the Lord whispers in her ear as she violently retches and the room spins at top speeds.

The phone is clear across the room and she isn’t sure she can get to it.

The room continues its spinning, the retching slams her against a wall but she manages to slowly crawl across the room with a trash can held close.

The woman is kneeling on the carpet clutching the trash can and the cordless phone lies next to her when the ambulance arrives. She can’t explain what happened, the dizziness is too much, the vomiting too severe. She’s barely aware as the E.M.T’s load her into the ambulance.

She hears the siren blast suddenly and thinks, “Oh crap, this is serious,” And then, everything suddenly goes black.

She isn’t aware of the siren or the emergency technician stating, “Her heart has stopped.” She isn’t aware when she is rolled quickly into the emergency room or the doctors working on her.

She has suddenly been transported to another world and while others are trying to save her life she stands in the most beautiful green pasture with translucent flowers bordering its fringes, having a discussion with the Great I Am.

Suddenly she awakens to a Doctor telling someone, “Get her a room. We’re keeping her.”

***

2 Corinthians 12:2 “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago – whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows – such a one was caught up to the third heaven.”

***

Most of us have heard stories of those who have died and gone to heaven and returned. They describe what they experienced as best they can. There are even a few testimonies of someone dying and going to hell and how horrific the experience was and upon returning back to their earthly life they gave their life to Christ.

As the scripture above states, I don’t know if I went to heaven in body or out of my body. I just know I stood before the King of kings and Lord of lords and had a conversation with Him that I did not remember upon returning back into the hospital emergency room. Months later the Lord revealed what that conversation was about.

Whether you believe the stories or not let me assure you there is a heaven where Christ dwells and there is a hell where Satan and his demons dwell. God gave us free will to be able to choose which of these very real destinations we will spend eternity in. I would not suggest waiting to test which you like the best because with that last breath, your free will to choose is gone!

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February 22, 2019

I AM – Devotional Style Short Stories – “Free Entrance”

In the distance music softly fills the air as two teenage boys are walking down the street. They hear music and cannot figure where it is coming from. They continue to walk toward where the music seemingly is coming from when they see a church as they round the corner.

One boy approaches the front door. “I’m going to peak in,” he states and puts his hand on the door knob.

“You don’t want to do that! It’s just a bunch of old people singing those religious songs.” The other boy announces.

The boy tries to turn the door knob but it doesn’t turn.

“Come on. Let’s get outta here.” The other boy states while tugging on his friend’s arm.

A Man walks up to them and the boys turn in fear that they have done something wrong. The Man smiles and says, “It’s okay. I’m glad to see you want to enter My church.”

The boy removes his hand from the door knob and asks, “Are you the preacher?”

“You could say that. I am the head of the church, or I’m supposed to be.” The Man replies.

The other boy tugs on his friend’s arm and snarls, “Let’s go!”

“Why can’t I get in?” The boy asks, jerking his arm away from his friend.

The Man looks at the boy intently and states, “In order to be a part of the body of Christ you must have a key. Do you want the key?”

The boy looks to his friend, then back at the Man. “Yeah, I think so.”

The Man hands the boy a large key. The boy looks at it and printed in large letters across the key is “Faith.”

***

Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God.”

***

There are many that fill the pews of a church and listen to the Word, mouth the songs, and glance at their watches wondering when it will be over. God has given us grace to journey through this life.  He assures us He is always with us yet many do not cling to that promise. It is by faith that we can walk with Him. If we do not believe His promises, if we do not receive the grace He offers, we have become our own gods. To trust Him is to believe He is the Creator, the Lord and Savior, and that He died for our sins.  He states that His grace is sufficient and it is through faith that we learn it is.

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February 19, 2019

I AM – Devotional Style Short Stories – “Attentive to Other’s Needs”

The desert is hot and humid. The sun beats down on a lone tree with its arms reaching out as though seeking the moisture that kisses its leaves.

The heat is oppressing but the dew from the night still lingers. The strong gnarled trunk stands majestically holding up the arms of time.

Beneath the shade of the old tree, at an old rock, a Man kneels. His head bowed and drops of sweat drip down His cheeks. His silent prayer becomes agonizing as His sweat turns to blood and drips down forever staining the rock.

“Take this cup” His anguished voice pleads to His Father.

Men, that He has called friends, slouch a few yards away, asleep. They hear not the anguished cry of their friend, the Man they called a friend.

Tears stream, blood-red sweat pours as the Man kneels with His head hanging low. “Not My will but Thine,” He finally whispers as His friends snore.

After some time, He slowly and painfully rises. He walks toward His friends and sees they are sound asleep. He stands silently looking down at them.

Slowly the closed eyes of His friends begin to open and they look up at the Man and make no apology as they rub their calloused hands across their eyes and beards.

“So you could not watch with Me an hour?” The Man states.

His friends say nothing.

The Man waits a moment.

Silence.

The Man finally turns and walks slowly away leaving his friends, slouched and yawning.

***

Matthew 26:38 “Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”

***

In this story the disciples seem to ignore the plea of Jesus and place their own needs ahead of His. Do we do the same when we have a special day planned and the phone rings with a plea for help from a friend? The Word says that love is sacrificial and as the body of Christ, unlike Christ’s disciples in this story, we are to lay aside unimportant tasks to reach out to others in need. We possibly could be the only face of Christ that the person will see. I thank God that Jesus did not turn and walk away from the cross because of His own plans for the day.

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February 16, 2019

More Than We Can Handle

FEB 16, 2019

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Have you ever really thought about the statement, “God never gives us more than we can handle?”

This statement sounds so encouraging and so comforting when we’re facing a difficult trial, but…

I don’t believe it’s true.

My living with ALS is more than Mary, and I can handle. I look around me and see others, even family and friends, trying to cope with difficult trials that they don’t seem to be handling very well. Others are trying to battle temptations like drugs, alcohol, gambling, pornography, and so many other “lures” that they don’t seem to have the power to conquer. Still, others are trying to fight what appear to be oppressive spirits that we call Depression, Bi–polar Disorder, PTSD, and too many other names to list in this short blog post.

It’s all too much to handle! 

“No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

The above verse is where the “God never gives us more than we can handle” saying comes from. The Greek origin of the word “temptation” (peirasmos), used in this verse, can also mean “test” and “trial.”

Pretty much every challenge we’re trying to cope with falls under the category of a temptation, test or trial. But, nowhere in the above verse does it say that “God gives us” these horrible tests, trials, and temptations.

The suicide rate in America has risen 30% since 1999, and deaths from drug overdoses are at an all-time high. Drug overdoses are the leading cause of death in America for those under 55 years of age. So many people are dying from suicides and drug overdoses that the overall life expectancy rate has dropped for the last three years. This three-year decline is the most since World War 1 and the flu pandemic a hundred years ago.

Apparently, many people are going through difficulties that are more than they can handle. In this life, we will undoubtedly face tests, trials, and temptations that are “more than we can handle.” God doesn’t “giveus” difficult trials, but, for reasons we can’t fully understand in this life, He does allow them to come against even the most faithful followers of Christ.

The Apostle Paul wrote the above verse, and also the passage below. The passage below gives us the biggest reason that God does allow tests, trials, and temptations to invade our lives. This passage also gives context to the “God never gives us more than we can handle”saying:

“For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope.” (2 Corinthians 1:8-10)

“Affliction,” “burdened excessively, beyond our strength,” “despaired even of life…”

Can you relate to this? Mary and I sure can.

Paul concluded that all of this happened to him (and to us) “so that we would (learn) not trust in ourselves, but in God…”

We will definitely face tests, trials, and temptations that are “more than we can handle,” but they are not more than God can handle – if we seek His help. Part of the grace that God gives in our tests, trials, and temptations comes in the form of people that He prompts to help us. I want to be one of these people, not only because so many people have helped us, but helping others when they’re overwhelmed by things too great for them to handle, keeps me from being “self-focused.” 

Since becoming a follower of Christ, I’ve wondered why the non-Christian alcoholic, drug addict, and the suicidal didn’t give Christ a chance to help them overcome whatever their demons might be. “Do they think that becoming a follower of Christ is a fate worse than death?” I wondered.

It’s so ironic to me that many followers of Christ, people who were perfectly happy with the life they were living, chose to be martyred for refusing to renounce their faith in Christ.

The suicidal person ends his life because he has no hope, peace, and joy, while Christian martyr chooses death by refusing to renounce his hope, peace, and joy.

“Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28-29)

If it were true that ‘God never gives us more than we can handle,’ Christ suffered and died for nothing.

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About Bill Sweeney

In 1996, Bill was diagnosed with ALS (“Lou Gehrig’s Disease”) and the doctors told him he had 3-5 years to live. He is now completely paralyzed and unable to speak, but by God’s grace, he’s still alive and through his blog shares a message of hope in Christ – Unshakable Hope!

February 15, 2019

I AM – Devotional Style Short Stories – “Go and Sin no more”

Go and Sin No More

The night has been long and sleep has evaded the woman. She has tossed and turned, kicked the blankets, and stuffed the pillow over her head. It was a long day and even though she enjoyed the time with her friend, her actions have haunted her. There were no hurting words, or complaining, or condemnation. Her heart was right but her actions got out of control.

Tossing the blankets back she slowly leaves her bed and flipping on the light, she goes into the kitchen and starts a pot of coffee. A silent prayer is lifted to heaven as tears stream down her face. Grabbing a tissue she swipes at them, takes a deep breath and plops down on a kitchen chair. Head in hands she prays, “Lord forgive me. I think I moved in like a drill sergeant and I ask for your forgiveness. I repent, Lord, help me to ask for my friend’s forgiveness.”

There’s a knock on the door and surprised, she quickly dries her tears and opens the door. A Man is standing there in long white robes and sandals strapped to His feet. He smiles and asks if He may come in.

Stepping back to allow His entrance she is in awe and yet very surprised. She recognizes this Man but never thought He would appear at her door. She finally finds her voice and asks if He’d like some coffee, and He accepts.

Lingering over the hot coffee at the kitchen table, she isn’t sure what to say and suddenly bursts out crying. His love fills the room. “I know for what your tears are,” He states.  “You think you have hurt your friend.”

She nods, while blowing her nose.

“Oh My child, your heart was right. So many times people want to help others in ways that are not necessarily the right way. Bulldozing someone is not the way. Commanding they do this or that only accomplishes heartache. It is the love in one’s heart that speaks louder than any words. It is the life you live, the testimony of what I have done in your life that rings out to others. Shed no more tears for you are forgiven. You’ve learned a valuable lesson. Go in My peace, child, and sin no more.”

The door slowly and quietly clicks closed as the woman’s tears drip onto the table.

***

Ephesians 4:32 – “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

***

We hear people use the phrase, “Beat them over the head with the Bible.” In so many ways we may do that to others without actually wielding a literal Bible. “You just don’t have enough faith!” That’s a blow. It is condemnation and judging where someone else is in their walk with the Lord. “You must have really sinned.” Or, “If you’d go to church more often…” All are beating the person up with the Bible in ways that only hurt, not help. As Christians we are to lift people up. We are to encourage them, not condemn them. Yes, if we see a brother or sister in Christ sinning we are to bring it to their attention but not in a way that beats them down. We do it out of love for them. Notice I didn’t say, “in love.” We sometimes get that messed up, too because we can use that as a means of gossip, condemnation and hurt. “I’m only telling you this because I love you” or “we really need to pray for …. he’s really messed up in the head.” Hurtful words are spilling out of our mouths. The Lord will convict us of those wrongful doings and it is up to us to ask for forgiveness and repent of whatever it was we said or did. He is always there to accept our plea and He will remember it no more.

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