Wednesday, July 24, 2013

July 25, 2013

 
"Jesus answered, 'I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me.'" John 14:6
 
I found this story that illustrates the power of life in Christ, the power of knowing that you are in the truth and on your way to heaven.
 
“I have everything I need for joy!” Robert Reed said.His hands are twisted and his feet are useless. He can’t bathe himself. He can’t feed himself. He can’t brush his teeth, comb his hair, or put on his underwear. Strips of Velcro hold his shirts together. His speech drags like a worn out audiocassette. Robert has cerebral palsy.The disease keeps him from driving a car, riding a bike, and going for a walk. But it didn’t keep him from graduating from high school or attending Abilene Christian University, from which he graduate with a degree in Latin. Having cerebral palsy didn’t keep him from teaching at St. Louis Junior College or from venturing overseas on five mission trips. And Robert’s disease didn’t prevent him from becoming a missionary in Portugal.He moved to Lisbon, alone, in 1972. There he rented a hotel room and began studying Portuguese. He found a restaurant owner who would feed him after the rush hour and a tutor who would instruct him in the language. Then he stationed himself daily in a park, where he distributed brochures about Christ. Within six years he led seventy people to the Lord, one of whom became his wife, Rosa. I heard Robert speak recently. I watched other men carry him in his wheelchair onto the platform. I watched them lay a Bible in his lap. I watched his stiff fingers force open the pages. And I watched people in the audience wipe away tears of admiration from their faces. Robert could have asked for sympathy or pity, but he did just the opposite. He held his bent hand up in the air and boasted, “I have everything I need for joy.”
 
Everything needed for joy? What is he talking about?
 
He is talking about life - life in Christ, Who is Life. And because of the Life that was at work in him, he pointed others to the "way, the truth, and the life".
 
What about you? Do you know that life? Do you know Jesus? Are you telling others how to find "the way, the truth, and the life"?