by Trent (originally posted on 01-29-07)
I never knew my great-great-grandfather, and there is not many stories about him. In fact, I only know what my grandfather told me last summer, about how he was gifted with healing.
In west Texas for a region that included a few counties, he was known as a man that could heal. So my grandfather recalls, as a child, several occasions when the phone would ring. Great-great-grandfather would say something like - "Alright, I'll pray" and then hang up the phone and pray.
Crippling accidents; restored.
Grave illnesses; made well.
... Just like you might imagine from a man that was gifted with healing. I knew what I needed to ask my grandfather after he told me this story. To be honest, I knew exactly how my grandfather would reply, though I intentionally left the question open-ended ...
"So, what would he say, grand-dad" I asked, "when people would thank him and ask him how he could heal this way?"
"Well," without hesitation, nor shock at my question, my grandfather blurted out the answer in a rare moment of spontaneous clarity, "he would insist that he did nothing, and that all was accomplished by God."
I knew it.
Jesus said we would do greater things than He did. So God has no problem with that. It wouldn't be any trouble for God to make any one of us able to restore the ill, and walk on water, and raise the dead ... moving mountains to the sea. The question is not whether or not God could handle it. The question is whether or not we could handle it.
If I had the power to heal the sick, would I be blogging about Jesus, or would you be hearing about my healing crusades? Could I handle that? ... or would I be selling you books about healing and tapes and CD's about healing, and getting my next tour underway?
The problem is that I can't handle that, until I am ready to handle that. Nor can any of us. Safe people for God's glory have no part in robbing God of glory that belongs only to Him.
Revelation 4:4
Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads.
That is pretty glorious, no? Thrones! Crowns! Eldership! White garments! Seated next to the Lord!
Can you handle that? How did they handle it, and does that give any insight into why they were given such splendor and favor?
Revelation 4:10-11
the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
"You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being."
Perhaps a man such as my great-great-grandfather could handle a place of honor, crowns and thrones. From what little I know about him, I think that he is a man that would hold those things with an open hand, and look for the first chance he had to lay it all down before the Lord and God ... giving Him all glory, for it all belongs to Him!
Yet I say to you, forgive him and love him. Honor your father despite his iniquities and wrongdoings. For the Son has taken his punishment and forgiven him, if he so chooses to receive it. Therefore, as I have forgiven you in the blood of My most beloved Son, also must you forgive those who have sinned against you. ~ God [Letters from God and His Christ - Volume 1 - See With the Eyes of Christ]