A
Tale of Three Miracles
Pastors Jim & Jen,
Your message about people
who have a dying family member
brought to mind the three miracles
I have witnessed in my life (so far).
Since you two deal with a lot of people
who are sick or dying,
I will write them down for you,
in the hope that some of these words
may be of some encouragement
to these others for whom you care.
Recently, one of our cats had a stroke,
front paws all stiff,
barely able to twitch the end of her tail;
the people at the animal hospital
said she had no chance,
and were making plans to put her down;
however, I spent the weekend praying for her.
Two days later, much to the shock
of all the doctors at the animal hospital,
they called to tell us that Charcoal
had totally recovered on her own,
and was completely fine.
They were shocked,
but I totally was not surprised at all,
since we serve a mighty God,
and He can give or restore life as He pleases.
Our cat is still fine to this day,
which is why I call her the miracle kitty.
You might ask why would God bother
to lift up and save a cat?
A) Because He can
B) To give me a chance to witness to
the doctors there
about the One to Whom I prayed.
C) Because He is God;
and no matter what any doctor
says about anything,
the times of life are in the hand
of the Ever Living Ever Loving God,
and He can lift up whatever or whoever
suits His will, and in His own good time.
And this recent miracle
reminded me of the two miracles I have seen
with regard to people.
Years ago, my friend, Ed, was dying;
his body wasn't processing any food,
and he had already lost 38 pounds.
He was wasting away,
and the doctors had no clue what to do for him.
He was not a believer, and as a cancer survivor,
he had a tendency to rely on himself.
While Ed had no faith in God at this time,
his Mom did.
Ed was living in a small house
next to his parents home.
One day, his Mom told Ed
she was going to visit a new church the next day,
but he told me
he wasn't interested in checking it out.
However, the next morning,
as he heard his Mom starting her car,
and as he was lying in bed,
Ed heard a voice that told him,
"Get up, and go with your mother now."
He went to the Gateway Bible Church,
and listened to the pastor's sermon
on the book of James,
where it says that if anyone if sick
he should get the elders of the church
to anoint him with oil and lay hands on him.
After the service, Ed asked the pastor
if he would pray for him like that,
and the pastor told him,
yes, he would, and to come back next week.
The next week, Ed invited my wife and I,
and we were there
when Ed got up in front of the church,
and the elders anointed him with oil,
and asked that God would heal Ed
through doctors,
or through medicine,
or directly through the Holy Spirit,
and they asked for this healing
in the name of Jesus Christ.
After the service,
Ed told me he was totally healed,
and he was going to go home
and throw all his medicine away.
When I asked him
what made him think he was healed,
he told me that
while the others were praying over him
and said the name of Jesus,
he felt power running through him
like an electric current,
and he just knew that he was healed.
Power flowing through someone
like an electric current...
it's something I had seen before,
in another miraculous incident,
and it made me believe that Ed was right.
And he was right;
he gained all his weight back in no time
as he fed on the Word.
He read all the gospel accounts of Jesus,
and within two weeks,
he was admonishing people
who had been Christians for years.
He was on fire for the Lord,
and he still is;
he was ordained as a pastor last year,
and today he runs a Bible study
at a church in CT.
So in one miracle, our cat lived,
and in one miracle, my friend lived,
but in this last miracle, a man died;
but he died in power and glory
and I'm not sure if
this wasn't the most miraculous of the three.
Years ago, my uncle was diagnosed with cancer.
He had not been
a particularly religious person before this;
but he started attending
Black Rock Bible Church in CT.
While he prayed for healing, my uncle was told
that he was miraculously cured of his cancer.
A few days later, his doctor called to tell him
they had mixed up his test results
with someone else;
not only was my uncle not cured,
but he had only a couple of weeks to live.
His pastor stopped by to see him,
and asked,
"Are you angry with the doctors, Bob?"
My uncle said, no,
they're just human, and they make mistakes.
So his pastor asked if he was angry with God
and he said, no, he had lived a good life
and he knew where he was going.
They put my uncle in hospice,
and that was the last place I saw him.
When I went to visit him,
he asked me to read to him from the Bible
as his vision was starting to fail.
I read him the story of the doubting Thomas,
and he told me,
"Thank you for reading me that story, David,
but I have no doubts;
I know where I'm going."
Then he touched my arm,
and I felt the power flowing through him;
even though he was weak and sick,
when he touched me, it felt like
I'd grabbed onto a high voltage line.
So I asked him if he had anything
to say to me before he went,
and he said,
"Yes, two things:
"Trust in
[Jesus] Christ.
"and
"God loves each one of us
more than we
can ever possibly believe."
(Now, whenever I give
away a Bible
or a New Testament,
I write both those
things
on the inside
cover.)
While my uncle was in Hospice,
he refused all pain medication
since he said he wanted to
"witness for God on the way out."
A few days after I saw him, my uncle died,
but he died in power and glory,
witnessing for God even to his doctors.
At his funeral, the pastor said,
"Bob wrote his own eulogy
on this sheet of
notebook paper,
so I'll just read
it:
'If you came here to cry for me,
don't waste your time;
I'm already in heaven with Jesus.
So, if you're not yet hooked up
with Jesus Christ,
you'd better be crying for yourself...' "
Some lady in front of me turned to her husband
and said indignantly,
"Who does this guy think he is,
witnessing to us
from beyond the grave?"
But I was laughing to myself, and saying,
"Lay it on 'em, Uncle Bob!"
So, there you have it,
a tale of three miracles;
in one, our cat was restored;
in one, my friend was restored;
and in one, my uncle died...
but he died in power and glory
and in the hand of the Holy Spirit.
And he died in total faith,
just like the thief of the cross,
that he would be with Jesus
in heaven that same day.
I pray that these miracles
will build up the faith of any who need
a word of encouragement and hope.
Take care & God bless,
dave
