“ALL THINGS!”

 

Matthew 19:23-30                 (ESV)

“[23] And JESUS said to HIS disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with DIFFICULTY will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. [24] Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of GOD.” [25] When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” [26] But JESUS looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with GOD “ALL THINGS“ are possible.” [27] Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed YOU. What then will we have?” [28] JESUS said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the SON OF MAN will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed ME will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. [29] And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for MY NAME’S sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. [30] BUT MANY WHO ARE FIRST WILL BE LAST, AND THE LAST FIRST.”

As I write this devotional, my mind goes back to the night before the Brain Hemorrhage in 2007.  My plans were to arise July 09, 2007 and begin working to build a foundation for underprivileged children to help them graduate from high school and either go to college or trade school and have a respectful career.  BUT GOD had a different PLAN (Proverbs 19:21)……!!!

Having a part of me that was seemingly pulling for the underdog has consistently been a trait that I followed.  A person COULD NOT have made me BELIEVE that I would spend the next month in the hospital, and another three weeks in a Rehabilitation Hospital, only to walk out of it on August 29, 2007 with solely a walker assisting me!!!  Now, almost 19 years later, I am retired, but waiting on my instructions from ABOVE, WHATEVER GOD HAS IN HIS PLAN for my life!!!

My story has been written about MANY TIMES, but when a person has traveled such a rocky road, the path MUST BE recalled from time to time, if for nothing else, to remind myself where I COULD be if “my plans” were still being played out!  Even though I have “walked through the valley of the shadow of death” (Psalms 23:4), I still have to be reminded that HIS PLAN is what I long for!  NOTHING ELSE!!!

JESUS THE MESSIAH was speaking to HIS disciples in the passage of Scripture above when HE said, “With man this is impossible, but with GOD “ALL THINGS“ are possible.”  My medical records indicate that I couldn’t have made it WITHOUT DIVINE INTERVENTION in my life!  But none of us could have made it through our lives without HIS GOODNESS AND GRACE!  But with GOD “ALL THINGS“ are possible, and I’m sure THANKFUL that HE CHOSE ME BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD (Ephesians 1:4) to be USED by and for HIM!!!