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Discussion Forum : Devotional Thoughts : are you a blind christian ?

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rainydaygirl
Member



Joined: 2008/10/27
Posts: 742


 are you a blind christian ?

This is a first-person account from a mother about her family as they ate dinner in a small restaurant many miles from their home. Nancy, the mother, relates: We were the only family with children in the restaurant. I sat Erik in a high chair and noticed everyone was quietly eating and talking. Suddenly, Erik squealed with glee and said, “Hi there.” He pounded his fat baby hands on the high-chair tray. His eyes were wide with excitement and his mouth was bared in a toothless grin. He wriggled and giggled with merriment.

I looked around and saw the source of his merriment. It was a man with a tattered rag of a coat; dirty, greasy and worn. His pants were baggy with a zipper at half-mast and his toes poked out of would-be shoes. His shirt was dirty and his hair was uncombed and unwashed. His whiskers were too short to be called a beard and his nose was so varicose it looked like a road map.

We were too far from him to smell, but I was sure he smelled. His hands waved and flapped on loose wrists. “Hi there, baby; hi there, big boy. I see ya, buster,” the man said to Erik. My husband and I exchanged looks, “What do we do?” Erik continued to laugh and answer, “Hi, hi there.” Everyone in the restaurant noticed and looked at us and then at the man. The old geezer was creating a nuisance with my beautiful baby. Our meal came and the man began shouting from across the room, “Do ya know patty cake? Do you know peek-a-boo? Hey, look, he knows peek-a-boo.” Nobody thought the old man was cute. My husband and I were embarrassed. We ate in silence; all except for Erik, who was running through his repertoire for the admiring skid-row bum, who in turn, reciprocated with his cute comments.

We finally got through the meal and headed for the door. My husband went to pay the check and told me to meet him in the parking lot. The old man sat poised between me and the door. “Lord, just let me out of here before he speaks to me or Erik,” I prayed. As I drew closer to the man, I turned my back trying to side-step him and avoid any air he might be breathing. As I did, Erik leaned over my arm, reaching with both arms in a baby’s pick-me-up, position. Before I could stop him, Erik had propelled himself from my arms to the man’s. Suddenly a very old smelly man and a very young baby consummated their love relationship. Erik in an act of total trust, love and submission laid his tiny head upon the man’s ragged shoulder. The man’s eyes closed, and I saw tears hover beneath his lashes. His aged hands full of grime, pain and hard labor—gently, so gently cradled my baby’s bottom and stroked his back. No two beings have ever loved so deeply for so short a time. I stood awestruck. The old man rocked and cradled Erik in his arms for a moment, and then his eyes opened and set squarely on mine.

He said in a firm commanding voice, “You take care of this baby.” Somehow I managed, “I will,” from a throat that contained a stone. He pried Erik from his chest unwillingly, longingly, as though he were in pain. I received my baby, and the man said, “God bless you, ma’am, you’ve given me a gift from God.” I said nothing more than a muttered thanks. With Erik in my arms, I ran for the car. My husband was wondering why I was crying and holding Erik so tightly, and why I was saying, “My God, my God, forgive me.” I had just witnessed Christ’s love shown through the innocence of a tiny child who saw no sin, who made no judgment; a child who saw a soul, and a mother who saw a suit of clothes.

I was a Christian who was blind, holding a child who was not, I felt it was God asking—”Are you willing to see as your son sees for a moment? I Shared my Son for All Eternity, you know?”

The ragged old man, unwittingly, had reminded me, “To enter The Kingdom of God, we must become as little children.”

________
Was reading this testimony and was struck by the question, how do I see the world around me? Do I have the eyes and attitude to become like a little children and love as Jesus loves?
Rdg

 2014/11/3 5:49Profile
davym
Member



Joined: 2007/5/22
Posts: 326


 Re: are you a blind christian ?

A touching and humbling testimony. I am certainly guilty of this. Thanks for posting.


_________________
David

 2014/11/3 8:03Profile
dfella
Member



Joined: 2010/7/9
Posts: 295
Canton, Michigan

 Re:

Hebrews 13:1-3 Let brotherly love continue. (2) Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. (3) Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.

Deuteronomy 10:17-19 For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward: (18) He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. (19) Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Leviticus 19:33-34 And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. (34) But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

Matthew 25:34-46 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: (35) For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: (36) Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. (37) Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? (38) When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? (39) Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? (40) And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (41) Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: (42) For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: (43) I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. (44) Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? (45) Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. (46) And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.



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David Fella

 2014/11/3 22:13Profile
Sree
Member



Joined: 2011/8/20
Posts: 1953


 Re:

I used to struggle in this area as well. I still battle in this area. I judge people a lot based on appearance. Even today when I went to gas station, there was an old man who just rushed in front of me to fuel his bike. I judged him in my heart thinking that this guy is old he will take time to fuel his bike and move, why does he not give space for a young guy like me to finish first. But I got convicted of my thoughts and I repented. To my surprise this guy filled and moved very quickly, he was not done yet but was willing to give me space as soon as he finished fueling.

One thing that God spoke to me that helped me is - Isaiah 53-2:-

He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him

It says about Jesus that he had nothing special in his appearance to attract attention. If people passed by him they may not even turn back to look for a 2nd time. When God came to earth he could have choosen the most attractive appearance, but he emptied himself even in that area and choose a very ordinary appearance.

The reason I believe he came in such appearance is to avoid those who take pride in external appearance. Many would have rejected him just because he looked simple.

Quote:

[quoting the following so that people will focus on this very imporant thing]
Now whenever I see someone who looks different externally and I am tempted to judge their appearance, this is what I think; what will I do if Jesus would have looked like him? Will I reject Jesus if he was like him? Will I be like those Jews who rejected Jesus because they did not like his appearance? Immediately my need for saviour will takeover my judgmental attitude.


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Sreeram

 2014/11/4 1:20Profile





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