Abundant Life: November/December 2010

To download this issue in PDF format click here.

Important Note

This is the last edition of Abundant Life. For almost 20 years the Westside church has been publishing AL, first in a “paper” edition and over the last year in an “online” edition. We are gratified with the good response it has always received, and appreciate so much the kind words and encour- agement so many have offered.

What Is This? Diet?

A preacher tells of his encounter with an older couple who stopped by the church building one spring afternoon looking for a handout. They were ragged, dirty, and claimed to be homeless. They said they didn’t want money, just some food, so the preacher took them across the street to a 7-Eleven. While the couple waited outside, the preacher bought them each a sandwich, chips, and a soda. The preacher watched as the couple ravenously attacked the food. The ragged man took a big gulp of his drink and made a face. From his seat on the pavement of the 7-Eleven he looked up and said to the preacher, “What is this? Diet?” The preacher says he was immediately convicted because he saw himself in the man. He thought about how often he came before God with prayer requests – ragged, dirty, and helpless; looking for a handout – only to respond to God’s gracious blessings with dissatisfaction and ingratitude.

Praying for the Sick

Sickness is a fact of life. No one—no matter how rich, or famous, or important—is untouched by seeing and experiencing the breakdown of the body. Ugly words like cancer, stroke, and infection dredge up more pain the longer we live. Christians are not exempt from bodily infirmity, but we have an Ally who urges us to bring our cares and needs before Him. What does the Bible teach us about praying for the sick?

The Prayer of Confession

Nehemiah knew it. David knew it. Ezra, Solomon and Samson knew it. Sin separates us from God. A God who is holy, just, and jealous cannot have disobedience go unpunished. Thankfully, God is also gracious and merciful. The question of the ages is “How can I find God’s mercy on the day of judgment?”

The simple answer is that you ask for it. God has been offering mankind mercy since the garden, and he will continue to offer mercy until the time when Jesus comes again. The Lord does not delight in the destruction of sinners but would prefer that the entire world repent of sin and come to the know the righteousness that comes from God through faith. God will supply what we need if we will ask him for it.

Persistence in Prayer

If we are to be effective disciples of Christ, we should spend much time in careful study of Jesus. We cannot imitate what we are unaware of or do not know. In that vein, the first chapter of the gospel of Mark offers a rich and important lesson for our consideration. As Mark opens his gospel, he is determined to show us who Jesus is. He does this by stressing the deity of Christ. He asserts this in the very first verse by proclaiming Him to be “the Son of God”. This claim is substantiated in the chapter in various ways. God testifies to the deity of Jesus (v11) and the multitudes recognize Him as one who taught with authority and not as the scribes of the day (v. 22). The healing of Peter’s mother-in-law (v. 30-31) and many who were sick and had various diseases (vv. 32-34, vv. 40-42) shows us the miraculous power of Jesus which serves as further evidence of His deity.