Consequences, You Mean To Tell Me There Are CONSEQUENCES !

I had a friend tell many years ago that I could do anything I wanted to as long as I was willing to live with the consequences, good or bad. There are good consequences as well as bad. They are all relative to the decisions and choices I make. For me a problem I have is I don’t think about the consequences all the time. Nor do I always think about what I’m going to say and do. Then there’s the fact that my actions and consequences affect not only me but they affect those around me as well.

Where I’m going with this is that while I was sick in the hospital I took the time to reflect over my life and have came to a conclusion that all my life’s choices didn’t cause all my medical problems. Especially knowing that they started out genetically as hereditary. But the fact that I chose to drink and consume drugs most of my life didn’t help matters any, and I will own that. See most of my life I drank and lived as if there were no tomorrow without a care in the world, not thinking there would come a time when I will need a good immune system and what major organs I have will need to function correctly. This infection that hospitalized me 6 weeks ago has been an ongoing infection and all the strong long term antibiotics is what eventually shut down my kidneys. But in a real time sense the choice to live the life style that I chose for most of my life and not taking good care of my self hadn’t helped my health any either. I know how does this all tie in to a life as a follower of Christ. That’s a good question.

In the Bible there were/are consequences for not obeying Gods commands and there are consequences for sin. God doesn’t and hasn’t changed and there are still consequences for sin and disobedience. Consequences may vary and they may not be immediate, but that doesn’t mean I have escaped any them. The one thing as a believer that I escape is eternal death caused by sin and this can not be earned by any way. Eternal life is only a gift of God. Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ, and Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus or Lord.

I know there might be a disconnect in relating all of this together, but some might be able to. God loves all mankind and doesn’t want anyone to perish, but the consequence for sin is death. However the consequence for disobedience is discipline and sometimes the discipline is God pruning me or molding me to the image of His Son Jesus Christ. As for some of my long term consequences, I consider them like a thorn.  They keep me focused on seeking the Lord.

© Copyright By Bart Hickey, All Rights Reserved, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014

Why Am I so Scared ? Lord I Believe, Help My Unbelief !

Have you ever been in a place in your life where you’re scared of something, and you claim to believe Gods promises but you can’t overcome whatever it is that is making you scared. I have recently got the opportunity to stare face to face with one of my biggest fears as a Christian and not completely have overcame that fear, but know and believe that God isn’t finished with me. I’m even almost afraid to tell what it is out of embarrassment. My biggest fear is dying. I think the reason why is because since 2003 when I had cancer I’ve had to live with a lot of chronic medical problems, being in and out of the hospital for years always wondering what was going to be next.

I am currently residing in a hospital and have been for 6 weeks for acute renal failure. At one point there was a short time that my labs were so high and out of balance and I was so sick that I thought that I was going to die and my doctors and medical team feared it as well. Because my kidney function numbers were continuing to soar I was transferred to a specialty hospital for ongoing dialysis with the high possibility it was going to be long term in the least. I was at the point I didn’t know if I could live with dialysis the rest of my life and part of me today believes that was a selfish thought. To be with our Lord would probably the biggest blessing one could have and I don’t completely understand why I would want to be so stuck to this temporary home. I have a wife and children , a family and other reasons why I say I don’t want to die, but mostly I want to think I can still be used here on earth by God.

While going through this sickness, especially the worst part all I could think about and talk to God about was God I’m not ready to go and Lord I don’t want to go. It was never about what Gods will is, it was all my will and there were a couple of friends that kept retelling me the story of Jesus in the Garden. See my biggest problem has always been my belief system, I believe yet I doubt. To me that seems to be still unbelief. How I learned my own plight is God gave me the opportunity to pray for a patient in this hospital and in my conversation with her she said she was afraid but she didn’t say why so we talk that God was right there with her and I asked her if she believed that and she said she believed it but was scared that she didn’t believe. I was literally in the same place this lady was. A verse and passage that came to my mind is Joshua 1:5 No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you: I will never leave you nor forsake you. The passage is Mark 9:14-29. I don’t know if any of that helped this lady, but when I got back to my room I started to shift my focus. I heard a message and my prayer started shifting. I started asked God for His wisdom and the strength to follow His Will no matther what it was and that no matter whether He called me home with Him or heal my kidneys I will serve Him in any way he chooses. I believe today as an answer to prayer my numbers have started going down and my kidneys are starting to repair. The way things were this can only be by the grace of God.

© Copyright By Bart Hickey, All Rights Reserved, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014

Is God’s Love Showing In and Through You

Is God’s Love Showing In and Through You
Have You Suffered For the Cause of Christ

Matthew 25:31- 46
31) When the Son of Man comes in his glory, he will sit on his glorious throne. (32)All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people from one another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. (33) He will put the sheep on the right and the goats on the left.
(34) “then the King will say to those on the right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father: take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. (35) For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat , I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, (36) I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
(37) “ The righteous will answer him, ‘ Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? (38) When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or need clothes and clothe you? (39) When did we see you sick and in prison and go visit you?’
(40) “ The King will reply, ‘ Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

I recently had to go into the hospital for an infection and the very medications that they administered to kill the infection a few days later shut my kidneys down. To keep you from feeling bad for me , I’m omitting parts of the story to keep from drawing attention to me. Because I want you to see how even though I’m sick in the hospital God can and will use me and YOU Too…
I had to be transferred from one hospital to a specialty hospital for kidney dialysis and while in this hospital I got the opportunity with my wife to help someone whose wife is a patient tin this hospital as well. This gentleman , I had been noticing the he came to be with his wife everyday. I had also when it was our lunch or dinner time he would just sit with his wife quietly. Feeling convicted tonight I ask if he had plenty of money to eat on and he humbly said no and I had already knew how he was getting here to be with his wife. I didn’t have much money maybe 22 dollars but I felt God tugging at my heart to give it to him and that’s what I did. I actually wished I had more to give him , so instead my prayer is that God will take that small amount of money and multiply it to sustain him in food while his wife is sick. You might be asking why is this such a big deal for me to even blog about it, and I will tell you there was a day when my heart was so hard and bitter that I wouldn’t have given this a thought let alone be a  changed Man of God and show Christ like love to someone. I love God and I love being used by God and this made my day to be able to be used, to show love..

© Copyright By Bart Hickey, All Rights Reserved, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014