Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Trust me, I am a doctor



Your life, and that of everyone you care about, hangs in the balance. You see the world around you falling apart at the seams. Mental anguish, addiction, brokenness and death surround you. You see no way to save them. Surely this isn't all there is to life? You have lost hope and must find someone who has answers and can make a difference. But all around you are people who are just as lost as you. Some have been lost so long they just started pretending to have figured it out. Some read books but they expect a revelation that never comes. Their problems are still there and they still feel hollow inside. Sometimes we just go along and pretend to be what we aren't just so others think we have it together. We fake it so long that even our families believe it. They don't know the truth. But worse, we don’t know the Truth at all either. We have faked it so long we can’t see it.

We see counselors and doctors for all manner of ailments. Some of us proclaim healing but how did they do it? Are they faking it or are they healed? How can you tell the difference? It is too hard to know the truth. You have to know what to look for but you can't just trust what you see. Look around you. Does the world seem like it still has hope or are there only pockets of people who have found peace and real answers? Did they have to find a doctor too? 

If I walk into the room wearing that white coat, scrubs and a name tag, does it make me a doctor? I look the part. If you were to ask me a few simple questions, I might even sound like I know what I am supposed to sound like. But if you scratch any deeper than the surface, you will find no knowledge, no love for others, no experience or saved lives here. I am just a person with a white coat, scrubs and a name tag. In fact, I used to wear scrubs when I worked in a hospital and was required to assist in the operating rooms. But that certainly doesn’t make me a doctor, so move on.

If I know the book inside and out, but I have nothing else, am I a doctor? I can quote chapter and verse. I really know my stuff and I put most everyone else to shame where knowledge is concerned. But you are hurting and confused, you don't just want answers, you desperately need experience and compassion.  You are looking for a life saver and all that you have found is a book worm. Keep looking. It isn't here.

If I have the desire to be a doctor and I talk about it and want it in my life, but do not read or study, I do nothing to change my life and make it happen, to make a difference, or to live like it, am I a doctor? The desire is there, but I just don't have time. I have my real job, my life partner, my family, my income, my wealth, my house, my addictions, my distraction… whatever that thing is that comes between me and my purpose. You don't want me trying to save your life. I can't even save my own. You haven't found it yet.

I say that I am a doctor but people just irritate me. I have lost my love for others and could care less about them. I went to school. I got the title but I am so much better than everyone else that I just don't care any more. I do my job. I am a doctor. I have experience, knowledge and expertise, but at the end of it all, I have little time for compassion or answers. I want my paycheck but then, leave me alone. Still want me as a doctor? I think not. Now go away.

Are you looking for a doctor? Are you broken? Do you have such a compassion for people that you want to save lives? It would seem that instead of looking to someone else to save a life and change the world, it would be easier to start with you. You change the world one person at a time, from the inside out, starting with you.

To be a doctor, is to be a healer. To be a healer, one must know how to save. To be a savior, one must look to the one with all of the answers, the ultimate Savior, the Healer of all those who seek Him. You have the ability to mend the broken, heal the sick, save lives and souls, change lives and, in effect, change the world around you. You don't need a doctor. You need Christ. He can make you a better ‘healer’ than you can find in this world.

I am not saying that physicians do not have their place. We have physical damage that must be tended to as well. I am talking about inside. The deepest wounds that others rarely know about, see or know how to handle.

If you want to be a true healer, you have to start with you.:
       Give yourself over to the one true Teacher and Healer of this world. Let Him give you salvation and forgiveness.
            John 14:6: Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to
the Father except through me.
       Forgive yourself. It is hard to help others when you have a gaping wound yourself. Get to the root of your unforgiveness. Forgive others and yourself. It is poison no to forgive.
            Heb 12:14-15: Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy;
without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of
God and that no bitter root rises up to cause trouble and defile many.
Eph 4:32: Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as
God in Christ forgave you.
       Find a church to learn, grow and find answers and equally yoked friends. People who can help you be who God wants you to be.
            Eph 4:11-12: So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the
pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of
Christ may be built up. 
       Study the Word. If you have time for fb, twitter or instagram, you have time for the His Word-Bible.
            Rom 15:4: For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that
through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
       Check out some of the videos online from Andy Stanley, Joseph Prince, Joyce Meyers or any number of bible believing Christians who have something to make you laugh, learn and love better. (Especially yourself.)
            2 Tim 3:16: All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof,
For correction, and for training in righteousness,
       Pass the test(s). Tempted? Say no, by His power. He is the great Redeemer of lives. By His power, you are free.
            Lk 10:19: Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and
scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.
       Continue studying to fully understand the changing world and how to make a difference.  What is it causing pain and darkness in this world? Find it and shed His light. Be the light for others.
            Mat 5 14-16: You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be
hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand,
and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine
before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your
Father who is in heaven.
       Change lives. You change one life, you change a multitude. The ripple effect is real. Bare fruit.
       Save lives. You found Him, now share Him.
            Mk 16 15-16: And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the
gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved,
but whoever does not believe will be condemned.’
       Care about others. Not your job, your car, your things...but others. You must let go to be free.
            Tit 2 11-12: For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all
people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live
self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
       Wear the badge unashamedly. You can’t be a part-time Christian. Don't wear it on Sunday and remove it when you get home or go to work. Don't be Peter and deny Him. Live like it, act like it and be it.
            Mat 10:23: But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in
Heaven.
Gal 5 22-26: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, 
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who 
belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the 
Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another,
envying one another.
       Honor the oath. The greatest commandment is to love they Neighbor as thyself.
            Mat 22:37: Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest
commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’…

Look, we all are human. We stumble from time to time. That doesn't make us unchristian. But you will be known by your fruits or you won't be known by Christ.

Mat 7 15-20: Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ...




No comments:

Post a Comment