A Special Needs Christian
“But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he
saw him, he had compassion on him. And went to him, and bound up his wounds,
pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an
inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two
pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and
whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now
of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the
thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go,
and do thou likewise.” (Luke 10: 33 - 37 KJV)
I looked up the definition of special needs in Webster’s Dictionary “the
individual requirements (as for education) of a person with a disadvantaged
background, or a mental, emotional, or physical disability or a high risk of
developing one.” We have many special needs Christians who have been abused and
mistreated. They have been ridiculed and criticized.
When we accept Jesus into our hearts as our personal Saviour, old things are
passed away and all things are become new but we still have memories and scars
from our past. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old
things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:
17).
Joyce Landorf Heatherley, a well known author and speaker, said on one of her
teaching tapes, “I am not super spiritual every second of the day. I have pain
that wipes out my determination to go on and if I am going to make it through,
it’s going to have to be because of you.” God has used Joyce so many times in my
life to encourage and inspire me because she shared from her heart.
Have you ever felt so discouraged that you wanted to give up and stop serving
Jesus? I think if we are honest with ourselves, and if we will stop trying to be
super spiritual that all of us will have to admit that there are times when we
get so discouraged that we are tempted to give up and stop serving Jesus. When I
first started posting my devotions on the internet three and a half years ago, I
received so many criticizing and sarcastic emails that I cried. There were a few
times that I was tempted to give up and stop serving Jesus. However, every time
I wanted to give up, I remembered what Jesus did for me on the cross. I’m sure
that He did not want to die on the cross for me but He did it anyway.
In our Scripture verses for today, Jesus tells us to “Go, and do thou likewise.”
When we see people who are in pain; who are hurting and discouraged, we need to
put our arms around them and hug them for Jesus. We don’t know what the people
we sit next to in church have been through. Some of them may have been abused
sexually, physically and emotionally when they were children like I was. They
desperately need to know that they are loved and that they are loved
unconditionally.
Your parents, your spouse, your children and your friends may be special needs
Christians. Only Jesus can see into our hearts and only Jesus can take the pain,
the anguish and the horror from our hearts. However, He has not been here for
over two thousand years. He has left us to hug for Him. When is the last time
you put your arms around someone and told that person that Jesus loves him or
her unconditionally?
You may be a special needs Christian yourself. You probably have heard this
saying before “You get back what you give out.” If you aren’t a loving person,
and if you don’t hug people and comfort and encourage them when they are
hurting, it is very doubtful that people will hug you and comfort and encourage
you when you are hurting.
Did you know that Jesus is a special needs Christian? He desperately needs to
know that He is loved. He was not only abused physically and emotionally when He
was here on earth; He is still being abused today when people reject Him, curse
Him and mock Him. How often do you tell Him that you love Him? How many times
have you told Him that you love Him today? Let’s determine in our hearts to not
only be an encouragement and comfort to our families, to our loved ones, to our
pastors and their families but also to Jesus.
Joanne Lowe
August 26, 2008
joannelowe8@cox.net
http://www.joannelowe.highpowersites.com/homepage.html
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