We cannot share what we do not have
By Dr. Billy Holland
Recently, I spoke about a wonderful man who is a member of our church, and if you recall he just turned 95 years young. His name is Charlie and since then I’ve had the privilege to spend some time with him. I listened intently as he shared his amazing testimony about what has been going on with him for the last couple of years. He said throughout his life he had been a person of few words, a quiet person who just minded his own business and kept his thoughts to himself. He believed his low-key demeanor was interpreted by those who knew him as someone unfriendly, and as a result, was shunned and ignored. When his wife passed away not too long ago, he was left all alone and began to struggle with how he had felt like an outcast for his low-key personality.
A while back after listening to a sermon by our pastor about the importance of personal evangelism, after the service he found the courage to say, “You mean the Lord wants me to ask people if they know Jesus and if they are not close to God, I should invite them to church?” Our pastor said yes absolutely, and this was another confirmation about what he knew the Lord was speaking to him. Charlie told the Lord he was sorry for being so unfriendly, and the more time he spent praying and asking God to take control, he could sense that he was being changed in the deepest recesses of his soul. No doubt, I was seeing this miracle, simply with the fact that he was communicating with me with such honesty and sincerity. The words were flowing from him so eloquently, I would have never known that just a short time ago this would not have been normal for him at all.
Sharing this new chapter in his life touched me and inspires me to know that at any age God is ready to bring His tools and begin serious renovation if we will simply reach out to Him in faith. The old saying is true, if we are serious about asking God to bring personal transformation within us, we better be ready for our world to be turned upside down. There is no way we can suppress our joy and excitement about Jesus if we have been saturated in the glories of His presence. This past summer he wanted to rededicate his life to Christ and was baptized because he could not remember ever being baptized. So with this new boldness and enthusiasm, Charlie starts becoming somewhat of a social butterfly by greeting and speaking to people, witnessing, smiling, and just demonstrating more of a friendly and receptive disposition.
I will go ahead and give you a spoiler alert, the amount of change that all of us have the potential to undergo will have everything to do with our level of love for others. As we move closer to God, we are filled with His love for us, and this in turn will spill out toward others. You’ve heard another old saying, “If you want friends, show yourself to be friendly.” Within the Christian faith, we are to be known by our love and how much we genuinely care about what others are going through. I’ve mentioned the key to becoming a more spiritual person and that is spending quality time with the only one who can change the mind, conscience, and spirit of a human being. We can be used by God to tell them and love them, but it is God who has the power to transform us.
I pray the Spirit will haunt us as children and servants of God to embrace our responsibility to not just go to church, but to spend time with God in prayer which empowers and inspires our excitement and enthusiasm. A couple of crucial words within the Christian life are conviction and burden. Conviction is a blessing as this allows us to know the Lord is trying to speak to us, and the more sensitive we are to His presence, the more likely we are to develop a burden for the lost. The reason why the average Christian does not pray or share their faith is because being filled with His Spirit is not a priority. Becoming constantly aware of His voice requires a desire to train and control our mind which is an intentional act of self-discipline.
Dr. Holland is an ordained minister, chaplain, and author. Read more about the Christian life at billyhollandministries.com
Very Bad News For Elderly In Upshur County
Just found out those of us with Diabetes now have a new “back door” for those in our government that stated some years back that those of us 55 to 60 years of age needed to die so to save on Social Security payments and costly medical bills.
The back door now is like diabetes that many of us have including myself that have been using the Free Style Lebra 2 Sensors and meters to keep check on our rising blood sugars is now finding out that you can not get these devices Unless you pay $70.00 per sensor that last six days each whereby takes 7 times that per month and the meter to read the sensor now according to one pharmacist in town cost $270.00 per meter. Most elderly only have the income of their Social Security monthly to live on. And most that have that Lebra 2 Sensors and meters like myself have been using them covered by our Medicare can not afford that cost, yet I have been using the Lebra 2 for four years covered by my Medicare shipped to my home. The Lebra 2 is a blessing for you do not have to prick blood from your fingers with the Lebra 2 device. Here is the funny thing about this, when you call Medicare they tell you, YES Medicare Does in fact pay for this device, that has not changed. So now you give your Medicare to sign up for Lebra 2 your Medicare card will Not be accepted. So I tried another avenue and called a TV commercial advertising the Lebra 2 and was told to be accepted for the device I must also accept a back brace, or two wrist braces or two knee braces whether you have problems with that part of your body or not, but the braces are FREE. If you doubt that call the phone number on your Lebra 2 box and see for yourself. If you need braces give me a call, I have plenty of them for free. But I did not receive the Lebra 2 device I ordered from where they were made from, that was all a lie too!!
So if it is all a SCAM, how did I receive them for four years charged to my Medicare
More medical scams are sure to come.