Cornerstone

Matthew 8:28-34

Thomas was an older man who had been saved before. Each time, he went back on his faith because of the power cigarettes had over his body. He told me “A Christian can’t smoke. Until I can overcome cigarettes I can’t be a Christian.”

The church continued to pray for Thomas. Then the tragic news came. I rushed to the hospital. Just before he was to go in for open heart surgery I talked to him about his heart need. “Yes,” he said. “I want to ask God to forgive me of my sins.” We prayed and Thomas testified to victory.

During surgery the doctors nearly lost him. For the next month he hung between life and death. It was a struggle for life and for deliverance. It was pitiful to see him make hand signals as he begged for a cigarette. He pawed at his chest where he had always kept a pack of cigarettes in his shirt pocket. He went through the motions of puffing imaginary cigarettes. But God totally delivered Thomas so that he was able to live for the Lord in victory the next few years before he went to heaven. A miracle? Yes, a miracle of God’s healing power. Although slow and painfully drawn out, it was a conclusive miracle nonetheless.

Dr. Gayle Woods

Col. 3:5-11 (5).

Fascinated, I watched the little caterpillar crawling slowly, laboriously along. It seemed that it would take it forever to get to its destination. It didn’t even know it was crawling through the dirt! Neither did it realize it was very vulnerable to the hungry birds. The little creature just continued to do what it thought it needed to do to keep alive.

I knew something about its life that it did not even know. A transformation was necessary. It needed to die to its old life and come alive as a new creature. I marveled at that miracle in nature.

In much the same way I crawled along through the slime and sludge of sin. I thought I was doing what was important. People seemed to be in favor of my activity. I didnt know my existence was in danger.

Then Holy Spirit arrested my attention. I saw that my life needed to come an end. I crawled into the cocoon of God’s mercy and died to myself. I cried out in repentance. He heard my prayer and changed me into someone new. Now I was holy! I was innocent as I had been before I had first learned to crawl through the dredge of sin. Now I was free! Now I was clean!

Dr. Gayle Woods