David Loves Jesus

David Loves Jesus

I have Cerebral Palsy, but I still live for Jesus

Living for Jesus has to be one of the difficult challenges of life. The rewards for living for Jesus begin in this life and will last for Eternity. Living with Cerebral Palsy or any other disability can be the biggest hindrance to living for Jesus. Or, it can open up opportunities and a unique life experience that can allow me to bring people to know Jesus personally, perhaps like few other people can.

I LOVE PEOPLE

It is my love for people that makes me proclaim the love of Jesus. It is my love for people that makes me proclaim that Jesus Christ, as one in the same with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, is the one true Lord and Savior. The World, and many people in it, including many people I dearly love, want me to believe, and to teach, that Jesus is only one of multitudes of ways to Heaven. However, the evidence of truth is clear. From Historical artifacts that have been discovered, to every single prophecy in the Bible being fulfilled to the letter, I know for certain Jesus is Lord. Part of life is knowing the difference between telling the truth and telling a lie. Part of life is that telling the truth shows true love, whereas telling a lie shows no love at all. Therefore, If I LOVE people as much as I say I do, I will point them to the truth of Jesus, as some people who loved me, did for me.

What is Cerebral Palsy like for me?

Cerebral Palsy affects parts of my brain that had a lack of oxygen before I was born. The condition affects my legs, feet, hands, arms, eyes, and potentially in any muscle in the body. "Palsy" refers to muscle spasms, or "involuntary twitches" of the muscles. They vary in occurence from none at all in a given day, to "When will they ever stop?" The aches and pains they cause also vary wildly. My physical appearance makes me look younger than I am, but the internal workings of my body, compounded my the everyday stress of life, can make me feel much older than I am. I have consulted with several doctors to find the right medications to control my muscle spasms. It is also an attempt to delay any futher surgery and hopefully make it unnecessary. It is downright scary to think that, even though my outward appearence is youthful, that my physical body is aging much faster, and it's hard to gage just how much faster.

Even when Cerebral Palsy gets me down, I can live by the Holy Bible, the Inspired, Word of God, which commands me to LOVE EVERYONE and to have child-like faith in God, and a bright-eyed innocence (that I'm not a person to be afraid of) that other people, including non-Christians, can easily see.
Once again, it's MY LOVE FOR PEOPLE that makes me share the salvation that I have. Until Jesus Christ physically returns to Earth to rule and reign, Jesus will give people a lot of leeway as to whether to worship him or worship false belief systems. That's called GRACE. IF I LOVE PEOPLE I'll tell the truth. If I say "It doesn't matter what you believe," I would not love people nearly as much as I should. LOVING PEOPLE MEANS TELLING THE TRUTH.

If Jesus can heal, why do I still have this condition?

I have Cerebral Palsy because God allowed it to happen. God did not cause it, but He allowed it. Satan (the devil) delights in our sickness and weak conditions, and Satan is the orgin of at least many of them. God the Father, as well as God the Son, Jesus Christ, can heal me, no question about that. The fact that He hasn't yet is NOT a lack of faith on my part. Neither is it because of any sin I have committed, because an unborn child is not capable of sinning. The sins which I have commited, happened long after the Cerebral Palsy occurred and those sins have been forgiven by our Lord Jesus Christ. If and when the Lord does heal me, Satan loses. If and when, because of my Cerebral Palsy, I am a better witness for Jesus and people come into Salvation in Jesus Christ because they have heard about Jesus from me, then Satan loses again! I look unique. I stand out in a crowd. I have a unique perspective on life. People who feel sorry for me quickly find that they don't have to feel sorry for me. It's all right to feel sorry for the physical pain and muscle spasms I feel, or other added physical hardships. However, DO NOT feel sorry that I was born this way, or that God hasn't healed me yet. The most important thing in life is being of service to the Lord Jesus Christ, as one in the same with God the Father. With that in mind, it's not important for me to be healed so that I can play football or basketball. It's not even important to be healed to participate in my favorite sport, NASCAR stock car racing. Life is about serving Jesus, and making sure Jesus wins and Satan loses every time.

The most important thing I can do is show people their need for a saving relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus knows, and will know in the future, when that will be best accomplished by my living with Cerebral Palsy, and when that can be best accomplished by testimony of His healing power. It is not lack of faith on my part. Rather, it is thinking of others (those living without Jesus) more than I think of myself.

I try to think of the well-being of others no matter how I feel physically each day. Doesn't that sound like the kind of love Jesus has for us? Get a Bible and read John 3:16. That is a summary of what Jesus' love is all about.

Here are some pointers for the Christian life.

Go to a Christian church regularly and learn about Jesus from people you can talk to face-to-face. A church is a support group that can help you with spiritual and daily-life struggles.
Get a Bible in your native language and in a
translation that you can understand.
Talk to God. Pray often. Pray regularly. When it's possible, pray with other people. Christian radio, TV, and web-sites are excellent sources of learning about salvation and becoming a Christian, living the Christian life to it's fullest, and Bible Prophecy, which proves that the Bible is more accurate in predicting local, national, and world news events than tomorrow's TV news. In fact, prophecy that has been fulfilled to this day shows that Christ's return is very, very near!

Am I interested in anything else?

Yes. I love to travel. By September 2004 I had made it to all 50 states, I have previously traveled to the foreign countries of Canada, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, and Bahamas. Yes, I am fluent in Spanish. I look for opportunities to
tell about Jesus wherever I go, and no matter what purpose for going I leave home with, when I lead someone to Jesus when I travel or when I go to a specific location in my home area,
God tells me "That's the REAL reason you came here at this time. "
I love to watch the news, local and national/international, whether it is a secular or Christian newscasts. I like to find out what's going on. I love the challange of discerning how what's going on fits into Bible Prophecy. Some events and happenings apply directly and literally and some events apply very indirectly as only a small parts of a bigger picture.
I love NASCAR stock car racing. NASCAR is the only major-league sport I know of which has a pastor pray to the Lord on TV and in the open before every race. I can happily say that athletes from other major-league sports are also increasingly acknowleging the Lord Jesus, and receiving good media coverage. It's hard to answer the question "Who is your favorite NASCAR driver?" because there are so many who
believe in the Lord Jesus and will say it on TV or in print.

Can I be a Christian and still feel patriotism towards the United States of America?

Of course I can! I still believe the Founding Fathers created this nation originally as a Chritian nation, created for the glory to God. It was also intended for followers of other religions to worship in freedom, so that they could eventually come to salvation and knowlege in Jesus. "Religious Freedom" also was intended to get the members of different Christian denominations to stop fighting among each other, as they had done in Europe. We are commanded to obey leaders in authority as long as they don't go totally against Jesus. We are commanded to pray often for our leaders in authority, so that God would strengthen them and lead them to wise decisions. The United States of America and its people are still great and blessed, and God is not finished blessing us yet.

When you're ready to give you life to Jesus, say a prayer to him that goes something like this:

Lord Jesus, I accept You as Saviour and Lord, I know I am a sinner and that You promise forgiveness of my sins, that You'll remember them no more. I know You are the only Saviour who rose from the dead and the only One who has the power to forgive sin. I want to live my life for You. I will have joy and peace in this life for knowing You. You are the only Way to God the Father, and I want to know I'll go to Heaven, and live there forever. And if You should return very soon to rule Earth forever, I'll be ready! Thank You Jesus!

Continue to Pray!

Pray about being a witness for Christ to other people who do not have the salvation that you have just received. Pray how you're going to tell people at home, work, school, the shopping mall,
during travel, wherever! Opportunities don't always happen every day at each of these places, but if you look for opportunities, you'll find them at each of these places, and ANYWHERE, at some time or another. Pray about learning the Bible, God's Word, through His spirit. Pray about finding a church home, and GO! Pray for your pastors regularly. Pray for the children's ministry at your church. Pray for the teachers and staff at whatever school your children go to. After all, if Jesus doesn't come back first, today's children will TAKE OVER running the world tomorrow. There is power in prayer, because

Prayer is talking directly to God, as one in the same with the Lord Jesus Christ. He gets things done!

Finally, the Christian life isn't easy and you will not be perfect. I'm sure not perfect! You and I have opportunities to grow as people and as Christians. No doctor has told me that Cerebral Palsy will stunt my growth. So why would I stop growing in Christ just because if have Cerebral Palsy? Don't let any weakness of any kind stop you from growing in Christ, because Jesus is stronger than your weaknesses and is certainly stronger than mine!

June 2005 Graduation from Masters Divinity School

I'm already an evangelist for Jesus and a guest preacher when I am given the oppunities. What else I will do with my Masters of Ministry Degree, or whether I'll just do what I do now even better, is in the Lord's hands. I pray I will recognize and follow where He leads.