To trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know and to remember the Lord in everything you do. He will show you the right way.

A Spiritual Mind in 2013 Part II

Ooowee!

“Is this the Bishop?” asked the caller on the other end of my personal cell phone. I could tell the caller was an older man with a southern accent, as well as that he was intent on asking the question. “Yes, this is the bishop,” I responded.

Like so many callers who call me on my personal cell, he said what most say when they realize it’s me at the other end, “Bishop, I got your cell phone number from a personal friend of yours and she told me not to tell you she gave it to me but could you please go and visit my wife at the hospital.”

Before I could even ask who I was talking to, he continued, “Bishop, she broke her hip while walking up the steps of our house and she’s really depressed. Bishop, she’s seventy nine years old and really feeling bad and I was told you were the best minister that would cheer her up.”

Before I could ask him if he had a church home and a pastor, he continued, “We don’t have a pastor or go to church much but this might change things for the both of us, Bishop, cause she could have killed herself and broke her neck.”

Without even asking his name yet, or his wife’s name, I asked him, “How did she fall? Going up the steps?”

He paused and then stated, “She was drunk. She drunk a whole bottle of Jack Daniel’s. She’s an alcoholic and just won’t stop drinking.”

Talking to this man, her husband, for about a half hour, I reassured him that I would visit her, as well as take her Communion, since it was the first Sunday of the month. I would be at the same hospital, taking Communion to individuals and praying with them so I’d visit her as well and also take her Communion.

Entering her room and introducing myself, she smiled, looking just like Esther on the old TV sitcom Sandford and Son. Telling me she had just seen me on the news in regards to the police shootings, she continued on, laughing, “Bishop, the Lord had to knock me down for me to get up and do better for myself.”

Without even thinking it came right out of my mouth, “The Lord didn’t knock you down it was that bottle of Jack Daniel’s you drunk.” Looking at each other, we both broke out in laughter as she responded, “My husband talk too much but they say you keep it real, Bishop, and you telling the truth.”

What’s my point in sharing this true story with you?

This past Sunday, I preached part II entitled, A Spiritual Mind in 2013.

Okay, now, you ask what has this to do with the women falling up the stairs?

Go get your Bible and turn to Proverbs 3:5, 6. It reads, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know. Remember the Lord in everything you do and he will show you the right way.”

Let me go to the sentence where it reads, “Never rely on what you think you know.” 

This women had convinced herself that it was the Lord who made her fall and break her hip to maybe finally realize she needed to get some help and deal with the fact that she was an alcoholic.

Okay, turn your Bible to Proverbs 19:3, which says, “Some people ruin themselves by their own stupid actions and then blame the Lord.” The women wanted me to share some Bible verses to help her, so I asked her to turn to this one, and quickly she laughed, responding after reading it out aloud.

“Bishop, can we find a better Bible verse than this one.” Once again, we both looked at each other and bust out laughing.

Another individual arrived at this church I was visiting, an hour late, as I talked to his pastor after a meeting for pastors. The pastor said to the young man, calling him by name, “You were supposed to be here an hour ago. The deacon’s left.”

The young man responded, “Pastor, the Lord had to take my car from me for me to realize what people go through everyday riding the bus, and it’s crazy.”

The pastor quickly responded, “Your wife said your car was repossessed cause you were behind six months on paying your car note, don’t be lying on da Lord.”

The young man, the pastor and me went right away into laughter as the pastor continued, “It’s a joy to laugh, sometimes to keep from crying.”

Like the women who broke her hip from drinking liquor and put it on the Lord, this young man did likewise when his car was taken back by the bank for being six months behind on his car note.

What’s a Spiritual Mind and the difference between our own earthly way of thinking? 

With the women, she fell down from her trusting and depending more on liquor than on God. A poor, earthly choice, but the spiritual side of that same coin is that, when we fall down, it’s important that, as we try to get back up, we realize that God will show us the right way if we trust him and ask him to order our steps.

Ooowee! There is no greater HIGH than a Spiritual Mind and trusting God!

The Lord had nothing to do with that young man losing his car. He didn’t pay the car note, being six months behind, yet he convinced himself differently. But the flip-side of the coin is that, hopefully while taking the RTA, he will realize what Proverbs 13:16 states, “Sensible people always think before they act, but stupid people advertise their ignorance.”

Both the woman who broke her hip and the man who lost his car advertised their ignorance, in regards to the outcome of their situation, by convincing themselves to not take responsibility for their choices followed by their results in action.

Read that over again, if you didn’t understand it. Proverbs 4:23 reads, “Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.”

Both the woman and the man felt silly, therefore laughing, when they were told by me and the pastor that what they were saying didn’t make sense. Read Proverbs 26:5, “Give a silly answer to a silly question, and the one who asked it will realize that he is not as smart as he thinks.”

What spiritual points am I making this week in this Bishop Speaks column and will continue to do so all month of January on Sundays at the 11 a.m. Worship Service? To trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know and to remember the Lord in everything you do. He will show you the right way.

Come visit this Sunday for Part III at the 11 a.m. service, as I continue to make the message “cut throat” clear. The church address is 969 E. 140th St.Cleveland, Ohio, directly across the street from the Job Corps Campus, off 140th and St. Clair, in the heart of the Collinwood Community.