By Benjamin H. Liles
From the outset of this I never meant this to be so long, so bear with me. This is a long article. If you're not interested in reading it, skip it, but it's very honest, truthful, eye-opening, and shocking. This is based on recent events of my life, what happened, and what I've learned mostly about myself. So bear with the length if you do read it. And by the way, notice the beginning words of Isaiah 55:6, "Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near."
Turns out I had been getting slowly sick over the past couple of weeks. Turns out as of last Friday, which a CT-Scan (Cat-Scan, aka Computed tomography) was done and found nothing abnormal inside of me.
But it wasn't until Monday of this week that my gall bladder was about to go septic, which means I was at the verge of death if it wasn't for a core of competent, capable and willing staff of Baylor Scott & White not far from my home here in Central Texas.
If any person I feel is solely worth a Daisy Award I'd say it should go to Sonni. She was prompt, friendly, did her best to accommodate me until 7a yesterday morning.
Surgery was successful as everyone can see, and I am now trying to recuperate at home which will take some time.
Here's the thing of it all: I have been fearful, even when I was told the previous night (Wednesday) that had I not gone into the hospital when I did I could have died shortly after just turning forty-five.
If you want to talk about the top three things we are told in the Bible, God's Word, are on the topics of fear, nervousness, and worry. And to make this article short and sweet I am making this as brief as possible.
Nervousness - I admit here and now I was nervous, and fearful about even having surgery to remove my gall bladder, but when you don't realize how life-threatening it can be - trust me it changes everything. So here's that verse: "Turn your burdens over to the LORD (Jesus Christ not yet incarnate), and he will take care of you. He will never let the righteous stumble" (Psalm 55: 22)
Worry - On that note I was worried leading up to said surgery, which I didn't know was toxic until sometime on Tuesday. To top of that I admit I wasn't putting my faith and trust in God. But I told Him I was worried, and whatever the outcome, whatever happened was because He ordained it so. So here's that verse: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).
Fear - When I was told that had I not arrived at the hospital when I did on Monday, and this was on Wednesday night by my surgeon, Dr. Hougen, my gall bladder was seriously close to getting septic and it needed to come out immediately it put my life in a new light. So, once more here's that verse: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths" (Pr. 3:5-6).
Men and women, I want to let you know here and now it doesn't matter what you believe in this life, sometimes there's a reckoning going to happen whether or not you repented of all your sins for sure. To be honest I don't fully believe I ad until late Wednesday night of this week. This is coming from a man who believes that Jesus Christ is his Lord, Messiah, and Savior. He was real. He died a thief's death by a Roman cross, and even though the Jews bribed the Roman guards about what to say about the stone rolling away at Jesus' tomb, they already knew the truth: Jesus was back - alive and risen from the grave.
All of that to tell you this in conclusion, everyone is going to be susceptible to be "possibly deceived" and that includes God's elect which is His bride, the Church. What I'm saying is His actual church is the church that hasn't lied about Him, trying to peddle a different gospel, assassinating and blaspheming the Holy Spirit which was working in and through Christ because He is THE Son of God, the Most High! I needed to tell you all the truth about this. It's a serious issue. One that decides where you will spend your eternal destination. You will have to make a choice, the broad way which leads to a life of sin, death and hell, or the narrow way which leads to eternal life with God the Father through His Son who will be the Judge of all when the Judgment happens. If you do choose the narrow way, the one which says, "Lord Jesus, I'm a sinner and I truly need your mercy and power to heal and save me,"
He promises you He can and will. But doing this isn't just a casual, light-hearted decision to make. It will change your life. You will be tested. You will be mocked, ridiculed, and even persecuted. The truth is death has no final hold on a "True, actual child of God." I almost found this out in the most horrible way possible. I don't honestly believe I've lived the Christlike life as well as I could have. With that said - Lord Jesus, thank you for securing me when I seriously doubted you. I'm truthfully sorrowful for not actually believing in you and the power which you give us. Today and for here on I fully trust myself to you and you are my Lord and Savior. Thank you for salvation which I know I do not deserve. I can never cover the cost which you paid on my behalf. Therefore I put off all sin in my life. I will fully and complicity study Your words, what they should mean to me and to live it out daily towards others. I'm done with sinning! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.