pain

September 1, 2020 Jfuglerwriter 3 Comments

How Can We Know Jesus?

(NOTE: I’m feeling much better than when I last posted. Thank you to all who have been praying for me. And to those who contacted me with words of encouragement, I am grateful. My back muscles have healed. My leg is still a little numb, but getting better. Believe it or not, I joined a Herniated Disc Facebook Group! Yes, there is one. With 25,000 members).

Knowing someone on earth is one thing, but how can we know the God in heaven?

Good question.

We can’t reach out and touch Jesus. We can converse with him, but not in the way we would our spouse. I’m not one who audibly hears the voice of Jesus.

We can’t go out to dinner together. Or ride bikes. Or spend a day at the beach with each other. Or take a walk together. Discuss the day when we get home from work.

In a sense, we can, but I think you know what I mean. Knowing Jesus is a whole different concept and needs a different approach than getting to know your kids or friends.

Let’s go back to Philippians 3:8: “What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (NIV)

I did a word study on knowing. I wanted to know what it meant, I guess. (Chuckle). It was fascinating. I learned that the word means to “experientially know.”

Aha. I had made a breakthrough. Knowing Jesus like Paul knew Jesus isn’t about facts. It’s about experience. Head vs. heart. Intellect vs. living.

The word study also revealed that it was a knowledge gleaned from first-hand (personal) experience. In other words, I can’t know Jesus vicariously through my pastor. Indeed, I can listen to the most inspiring sermon about Jesus, but that doesn’t replace knowing him first-hand.

Knowing Jesus is experiencing Jesus. And experience comes from time spent with him. A minute ago I said that knowing Jesus is nothing like knowing a friend or spouse. At the core, however, it is. We just have to go through a different process to know our Savior.

Experiencing Jesus happens in some of the darkest and challenging times of our lives. My wife’s battle with cancer turned into a season of knowing Jesus. We came to the throne of grace over and over again, standing in the presence of our Lord. Personally, I spent many stretches of time pouring my heart out to Jesus, in tears at times. Then I soaked in his love, peace, care and strength. Cancer season brought me closer to Jesus. I felt I knew him well.

My recent pain-filled experience on my back was a knowing Jesus opportunity. It drew me closer to my Savior.

Knowing Jesus doesn’t always have to come in trial. God never meant it to be that way. He wants to know us daily. A close friendship experiences highs and lows together, but mostly the normal in-between seasons. You do life together, enjoying each other.

Jesus desires that we come to know him in all seasons, not only when we face the hard times. We need our Savior every day.

Pursue him desperately. Today.

August 4, 2020 Jfuglerwriter 2 Comments

On my back for 48 hours

I know. I’ve gone AWOL. No posts on here for weeks.

But I have a good excuse.

It all started when I pulled the grocery bag out of the car. First, let me back up a little…

Noonie and I were enjoying a short vacation at the beach. After all the Coronavirus isolation, we had decided to get out of Dodge.

Oh, it started well. Warm water, sunny days, relaxation. Then that grocery bag thing happened. As I straightened up after grabbing the bag, I felt my lower back muscle twinge. Quickly, I knew it was more than a subtle inconvenience. It slowed me down. A lot.

But that was just the beginning. The next night in the hotel room, I spotted the state mascot: a cockroach. I leaned over and my nerves exploded, running down my left leg. The pain was a 12 on a 10 scale. I called to Noonie. She thought I was going to faint. So did I. Somehow, in the excruciating pain, I managed to lay myself flat on the bed.

And that was my position for 48 hours, the beach just 100 yards away. I couldn’t do anything without pain. No raising of my head, no turning over, no ability to sit up. The muscle pull, compounded by the pinched nerve, totally incapacitated me.

Could the story get worse?

Yes.

After two days of continued pain, still flat on my back and a call to my doctor, we had to summon the paramedics to take me to the ER. It was my first ambulance ride, my first emergency room visit, and my first experience with morphine. Two doses of that finally allowed me to sit up, stand up and make it to the car for the overnight trip home.

That was a month ago and I still have lingering leg pain and a strained lower back muscle. I’ve been scanned, pricked, and shocked in the past four weeks. I’m improving, but still taking it easy.

And that’s why I haven’t posted here.

I’m grateful for all who have prayed for me. I have experienced the results of those prayers.

The other day, I finally had the opportunity to spend a half-day with God in my right mind. No meds. Mental agility back to normal. Emotionally stronger. I was ready to listen to God while I read his Word.

Through all this, God has made it clear that July wasn’t a month to forget, but a month to pivot and rejoice. My desire for the past several months has been to know Christ. But I had hoped to avoid the last phrase in this verse: “I want to know Christ–yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings.” (Philippians 3:10 NIV).

A person knows Christ in a totally unique way in suffering. I can attest to that. Jesus has walked with me through the pain of the past month.

Another prayer I’ve had in recent months is to help other believers know the Christ of the cross. My painful ordeal helps me to be more compassionate and understanding with the people the Lord brings into my life. That was a big lesson for me.

Almost everyone is experiencing pain of some kind, whether it be physical, emotional or spiritual. We’re broken people. For so long, I’ve been in great health, running three miles at a time. I’m not running for a while. Or maybe ever again.

Whatever pain you bring to the table in your Christian journey, I see you differently than I did in June. The Lord allowed me to experience pain so I can now better empathize with my brothers and sisters who join me in this journey to know Christ.

I leave you with the verse from Paul that has inspired and guided me this year: “What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.” (Philippians 3:8 NIV)

What has God taught you through pain? I feel like my pain has been minimal compared to the pain so many friends experience every day. Share your thoughts.

June 22, 2020 Jfuglerwriter Comments Off on Jesus to the Cross

Jesus to the Cross

I was running a 3-mile distance the other day. In my final mile, I felt the weariness, pain and intensity. The heat of the day had raised my body temperature, making it harder to keep pace. But I was 2/3 of the way to the finish line. My mind was focused on the end and I managed to speed up a little. I was motivated, in my pain, to make it and finish well.

In that final mile, Jesus’ journey to the cross came to my mind.

  • It was a painful journey, much more pain than I was feeling. Here’s what I was thinking as I ran that last mile:Jesus journeyed to the cross by choice. He did it for us. It was the path to the abolition of the power of sin, victory over the serpent—his road to the resurrection.
  • Even on the cross, he was the Almighty God. He was on his way to victory. He was winning, not losing. His family and followers at the foot of the cross could only see his physical suffering and death, so they wept and mourned. They had no idea he was conquering Satan as he hung on the cross.
  • The Jesus on the cross is a Jesus of infinite strength. He could have come down, but it took more strength to stay up there and complete the race. He took the sins of all mankind on himself and paid the penalty.

When an Olympic marathoner enters the stadium, taking the last lap, having given his all, often staggering across the finish line, what do we do? We look in awe. The crowd erupts in applause as the first runner enters the stadium, makes his final lap and breaks through the tape. While we’re pained by their pain, we honor them for their grueling accomplishment.

If Jesus were a mere man, he would have been helpless on the cross. But he was the Almighty God. Even on the cross, he was his full essence—King of kings, Lord of Lords, the Alpha and the Omega, Majesty. We should stand in awe.

I don’t think I’ll look at Christ on the cross the same way anymore. That run of mine changed my perspective.

The next time we consider Jesus crucified, let’s see beyond what we see with our eyes and consider the spiritual war that Jesus had won.

For he himself said, “It is finished.”

November 13, 2018 Jfuglerwriter Comments Off on Prayer and Pain

Prayer and Pain

I just finished the morning listening to story after story of brokenness. The stories came from men and women who shared their experiences of broken lives. Then they went on to tell of other men, women and children all over the world who have suffered unspeakable pain and anguish.

We are all broken, aren’t we? Some more than others. A fallen world brings sin, pain and suffering. As you reflect on your past, I’m sure there are some pain points. Yet, as believers, we feel like we’re supposed to cover them up and live some magical Christian life.

That’s not why Jesus came. He came for the broken.

Jesus met the woman at the well who had gone through several husbands and was now living with a man who wasn’t her husband. Yes, she was living in sin, but did Jesus thrash her for her lifestyle? Sure, he brought it up, but he didn’t shove it in her face.

Instead, he offered her living water. He offered her eternal life. “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14 NIV)

Friend, whether it’s your own doing or your pain has been caused by someone else, Jesus is there for you when you call on him. He heals from the inside out. He draws you to himself, the water. He brings life to your soul.

Isaiah describes Jesus in this prophesy:

“He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:3 ESV)

Jesus knows your grief. He hung on the cross. He was betrayed. He was mocked, tortured, beaten. He was humiliated. Abandoned. He experienced the highest limits of physical, mental and emotional pain. He knows you and he knows your pain. He can relate.

He can also restore. He is your healer when you call on him in prayer. You may feel like God is distant right now because of the pain and abuse you’ve experienced, but he’s waiting for you to speak to him.

Prayer not only opens the lines of communication with God, but it opens the lines of healing. Your healing might take a long time and that’s ok. You’re not on a timer.

Do you need to cry out to God in your pain? This is a prayer from your heart, and it’s your heart that God wants to hear. And heal.

(From my upcoming devotional, Your Life With God: 30 Days of Incredible Prayer. Releasing 2019)

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