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To
Everything There is a Season: . A Time to Weep, A Time to
Laugh.
Ecclesiastes 3
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Living by
Faith Not by Sight
A daughter had asked the local minister to come and pray with her
father. When the minister arrived, he found the man lying in bed with
his head propped up on two pillows. An empty chair sat beside his bed.
The minister assumed that the old fellow had been informed of his
visit. "I guess you were expecting me," he said.
 "No, who are you?", said the father.
"I'm the new minister at your church," he replied. "When I saw the
empty chair, I figured you knew I was going to show up."
"Oh yeah, the chair," said the bedridden man. "Would you mind closing
the door?"
Puzzled, the minister shut the door.
"I have never told anyone this, not even my daughter," said the man.
"But all of my life I have never known how to pray. At church I used to
hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it went right over my head. I
abandoned any attempt at prayer," the old man continued, "until one day
about four years ago my best friend said to me, 'Joe, prayer is just a
simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Here is what I
suggest. Sit down in a chair; place an empty chair in front of you, and
in faith see Jesus on the chair. It's not spooky because he promised,
'I'll be with you always.' Then just speak to him and listen in the
same way you're doing with me right now.'
So, I tried it and I've liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours
every day. I'm careful though. If my daughter saw me talking to an
empty chair she'd either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the
funny farm."
The minister was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old guy
to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him, anointed him with
oil, and returned to the church.
Two nights later the daughter called to tell the minister that her
daddy had died that afternoon.
"Did he die in peace?" he asked.
"Yes, when I left the house about two o'clock, he called me over to his
bedside, told me he loved me and kissed me on the cheek. When I got
back from the store an hour later I found him dead. But there was
something strange about his death. Apparently, just before Daddy died,
he leaned over and rested his head on the chair beside the bed. What do
you make of that?"
The minister wiped a tear from his eye and said, "I wish we all could
go like that."
We live by faith, not by sight.
- - - 2 Corinthians 5:7 - - -
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Return HOME from Living
By Faith Not By Sight
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