Serving Rascals, Clumsy Disciples, and Physically and Mentally Ill Believers with the Unconditional Love of Jesus Christ
“Surely you have granted him eternal blessings
and made him glad with the joy of your presence.”
Ps. 21:6
A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.” –Mark 4:26-28, NIV
The insurmountable potential of a single seed! It is scattered without a whole lot of conscious effort, hundreds of seeds in a handful scattered out on the dry ground. It doesn’t get the dignity of individual effort, but is simply flung out.
I became a Christian believer partly through some indiscriminate seed flinging. I was being escorted by Temple security in Salt Lake City off the grounds. It may have been because I was shirtless and smoking, and being hammered as well. As I was being thrust through the gates, I ran into Christians who were sowing their tracts. These tracts landed on good soil. And I’m indeed thankful.
We simply do not know about any individual seed that leaves our bag. We can not predict what is going to happen. Jesus chose this particular metaphor to emphasize the supernatural nature of spiritual growth, it grows whether we sleep or stay awake. We don’t understand how things grow. A tiny, dry seed comes to life, and grows up to be something amazing.
Dropping seeds; that is it. We drop without taking responsibility for what may or may not happen next. We scatter seed without contemplating what will follow. It may grow, and it may not. The believers standing in the baking sun outside of the Mormon Temple in SLC were simply sowing seed. It fell on my heart, and I cannot tell you what happened to that seed. All I know, is it started to live, and grow and eventually was harvested.
Buy some tracts, Christian books, DVDs, CDs. Build an interesting website. Sow seed. You cannot harvest unless you sow something. You must be faithful to your part, and God is faithful to do the rest. Growing things is beyond our comprehension and ability. I cannot tell you the dynamics or the process of spiritual growth. Bible college did not have a class for that. It is imponderable and mysterious.
Be faithful, and sow. Fling the seed. Don’t mind the hot sun, or the thorns or the hungry birds. Be faithful, and fling it. Psalm 126:5-6
5 Those who sow in tears
will reap with songs of joy.
6 He who goes out weeping,
carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with him.
But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God’s love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. –Jude 1:21
The world does not know what to do with all our guilt. It affects every person and what we think about. Guilt is much more destructive then Hurricane Katrina ever was. People talk about being crippled by guilt. Psychiatrists have come out and said that 80% of their patients could be healed if people could resolve their guilt and their remorse for their past sins. So much drinking and drug abuse is simply trying to numb yourself, if just for a little while. Forgiving yourself is not an easy thing. We must remember that all sin committed ultimately is against Jesus, and we must put our hearts in position for grace and mercy to fill us. The Holy Spirit hovers over us, and yet He does not condemn. He is not the accuser; He is the Helper and the Comforter. The Holy Spirit convicts but He will not condemn.
Satan has a ministry–it is to accuse you before the Father. He is malicious and savage. He delights in reminding you of your sin and evil. He unceasingly pounds you. The devil has an evil plan for your life, and works continuously to implement it. Guilt and remorse are just two weapons at his disposal.
We honor God when we accept our sin, and His forgiveness. Our verse from Jude declares that we must keep ourselves in the love that God has for us. It takes intentional effort. Our guilt is heavy, so we must put it down. And then we must deliberately stand and purposefully open our outstretched arms to His forgiveness. We need to “keep ourselves in the love of God”. I get out my “spiritual nail gun” and fix myself in His love.
Guilt is like wounding ourselves. Satan pokes our wound in order irritate it. We learn to hide it from God, and others. But these things are killing us. It’s like having gangrene. And the brutal sorrow and regret consume us. I guess that is why we have Jude 1:21 in the first place.
Even though he’s retired from active military duty, CSM Samuel Rhodes still suffers from deep emotional wounds.
“I had to take this afternoon off from work today because of anxiety,” he said. “And sometimes, if I’m going through a really tough time, I think about suicide.”
He spent nearly 30 years in the Army and recently spent 30 straight months deployed in Iraq where he, like many soldiers, witnessed some of the horrors of war.
“In April 2005, it started to eat me up because I started losing one soldier after another,” Rhodes said. “We lost 37 soldiers that were in my unit.”
He was in charge of the brigade of 37 soldiers, and as time wore on, the loss of life wore him down.
“In April 2007, it came full circle. I considered suicide as an option. I felt guilty about losing those soldiers, even though I had no control over it,” he said.
“And I was sleepwalking. I had to tie myself to my cot to prevent it,” he added.
Later, during his 24th month in Iraq, he was found unconscious, and doctors diagnosed him with exhaustion. At that time, the combat stress doctor told him he was also suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
“He started explaining it to me, and I realized he was right,” Rhodes said.
And according to a new study conducted by researchers at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Rhodes’ mental health problems are common among soldiers returning from Iraq.
Between 2004 and 2007, researchers gave out anonymous surveys to four active duty brigade combat teams and two National Guard combat team three months and 12 months after deployment. The surveys screened soldiers for PTSD, depression, alcohol misuse and aggressive behavior and asked them to report whether these problems impacted their ability to get along with others, take care of things at home or perform their job duties.”A high number of those that had symptoms of PTSD and depression also reported some aspect of impairment,” said Jeffrey L. Thomas, one of the study’s co-authors. “The range was about 9 to 14 percent.” Depression rates ranged from 5 percent to 8.5 percent.
But by using a less stringent definition of PTSD, they found between 20 and 30 percent of soldiers showed symptoms of PTSD, while they found between 11.5 to 16 percent of them were depressed.
Full article, please go to: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/10-soldiers-fought-iraq-mentally-ill/story?id=10850315&page=2
Broken Believers 