The Holy Spirit in Christians

My co-worker and I found this inmate sitting on that chair next to the Nurse’s station in their unit. He was obviously trying to grasp for some air. With every inhalation, it was a struggle as his neck veins became distended and straining to try to get some air. He couldn’t talk. The wheezing was very audible and I didn’t need to listen to his lungs with my stethoscope.

Reviewing his chart prior to responding to the unit’s call over the radio, I read he had a history of asthma. He was already given an inhaler for his own use. Anticipating it was a severe kind of asthma attack, I grabbed the nebulizer and the gadgets that belonged to him that could be attached. I ran to our pharmacy stock and got a dose of liquid Albuterol encased in a plastic sort of vial. The nebulizer will turn the liquid medication into a fine mist that the inmate can inhale. It would quickly relax the tightness of the airways of the lungs, thus, would help him to breathe.

“Don’t talk,” as I calmly tried to reassure him.

“Just get the most of this medication and try to relax,” as the nebulizer got turned on and a fine smoke at the other end of the blue tube started coming out. The other end, which the inmate put into his mouth as he started breathing the fine mist that formed.

The other nurse started taking his vital signs while I continued to monitor and talked to him gently.

“We have a problem now, Sir,” I added as his eyes just grew bigger, trying to determine what the problem was. I heard my co-worker stopped and listened intently on what I was about to say next.

Keeping his silence as he continued to inhale the smoke coming from the nebulizer, I continued, “You see Sir, we have a policy here of no smoking. The problem is: I’m encouraging you to do it now. So I think I violated that.”

His big eyes wrinkled as he managed to laugh a little, until he was laughing harder. I could tell his breathing was starting to ease a bit now and he seemed to be more relaxed. My co-worker started laughing, too.

The inmate opened his mouth, “Ma’am, thank you for making me laugh. I really appreciate you guys coming here so fast and giving me my nebulizer treatment here. I feel more relaxed now and my breathing is a lot better.”

“I could tell and that’s what we want to accomplish. So, what happened?”

“My fault, Ma’am. I am sensitive to milk. It seems to make me have an asthma attack. This morning, prior to breakfast, I had eaten a chocolate bar. It must be the milk or the chocolate, I’m not sure if that triggered my asthma. I’m so sorry.”

“That’s okay, Sir. You didn’t know. But now you do, so I hope you won’t hurt yourself with another chocolate bar. I figured your inhaler must not be working by then so I thought of bringing the nebulizer here.”

“Thank you so much Ma’am. Oh, what a relief that I can breathe now. Thank you! Thank you!” he exclaimed to me and my co-worker.

“You’re welcome, Sir. We’re just doing our job and I’m glad to see you breathing a lot better. Take care of yourself now,” I motioned for him to go back to his cell as I started cleaning up the nebulizer.

Happily, he walked back toward the metal door that would lead him back to his cell. His gait was steady, he was smiling and he was not struggling for breaths anymore.

A Christian is anyone who has the Spirit of God living in him or her. If you have sincerely placed your trust in Jesus for your salvation and acknowledged Him as Lord, then the Holy Spirit lives within you.

You can be assured that you have the Holy Spirit because Jesus promised that He would send Him. He grants us eternal life through Him [“And the ones who win this battle against this world are the ones who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.”-1 John 5:5].

He finds help in our daily problems and in our praying [“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we don’t even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groaning that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.” –Romans 8:26, 27].

We are empowered to serve God and do His will [“God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well”-Romans 12:6].

And we become part of God’s plan to build up His church [“Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ; until we come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ.” – Ephesians 4:12,13].

Are you choking from all this life’s troubles? Grasping for air that nothing in this world can satisfy your feeling of emptiness? Are you tired trying to stay afloat in this ocean of woes?
We all need the “Air” to breathe, to live, not just exist. Go to Jesus and open your heart and believe.

The Gate

The school year is nearing its end again. How many times have I dropped off and picked up my son from his school? I try to go early so I can always try to find a good parking spot near the gate where he usually comes out. Doing so, I have a good observation of people coming by and those other parents starting to fill up the parking spots, too before the school bell rings, signifying the dismissal of their classes.

The gates are always closed once the classes start the sessions in the morning and the school aide opens them at 3:00 p.m. before the students come out. I have observed many times, how some students would try to sneak in through the gates before the 3 pm school bell rings. Some had managed to get as far as the first gate, but sometimes they get caught, too before they are able to go in by the 2^nd gate.

I saw one young man climbed over it one time. But he was caught, too and got in trouble as I saw the school aide took him towards the school’s main office.

Oftentimes, I wonder how these students manage to sneak out of their classes as parents are notified if their children were not present in a particular class. Just makes me wonder…

Jesus compared Himself, too as the Shepherd Who watches His flock. Usually, at night, the sheep were gathered together so they can be protected from thieves, weather or wild animals. It is the shepherd who functions as the gate, letting the sheep in and protecting them.

“I assure you, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber. For a shepherd enters through the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they recognize his voice. They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t recognize his voice.” – John 10:1-5.

“I assure you, I am the gate for the sheep. All others who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. Wherever they go, they will find green pastures. The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness. –John 10:6-10.

Jesus is the gate to God’s salvation for us!

He is our Protector. He offers access to safety and security.

“How do you want to approach the gate?”

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Browsing at her first booking photo, her face was so clear. She looked healthy, with long, silky hair. This time, her face was thin, worn out, covered with acne and wrinkles etched on her forehead. Her hair brittle and disheveled and had a dull shine. Some of the teeth receded to the gum line. All these features caused by her cyclic use of illegal drugs within a 2-year span of time.

“Ma’am, I told you. I haven’t used street drugs for over a year now,” confessed this same young female inmate, as I wrapped the blood pressure cuff around her thin left arm, trying to get her over-all vital signs.

Her speech was rapid [I couldn’t even cut her off]. She had good eye contact but with an intimidating look as if to summon me to give her the medicines she was requesting earlier. Her behavior was very unpredictable - restless... Had not the deputy been there, she could turn into a violent monster. Though I mentioned before, by God’s grace, no one could terrify me!

Every night, she was down at our clinic, coming up with any physical symptoms she could think of and kept on requesting for some medicines for pain. She had abdominal pain, rectal bleeding, foot pain, and all pains you could think of, because she was hoping she would be given a higher dose of pain medication or even narcotics. She was given Motrin 600 mg. just the day before by the jail doctor. She swore, they didn’t give her any relief. [And I believed that knowing she had increased her need for higher doses of illegal substances in her system].

Her requests for sick call didn’t end at nights. She even would beg to be seen when morning came or P.M. shift came, hoping that with every new nurse, she would find someone who could perhaps, sympathize with her and would give in to her demands.

But as medical professionals, we knew what to look for. Unfortunately, her “talk” of being drug-free for over a year did not seem to match her “actions”. We all knew that she was withdrawing from a long time, habitual use of such illegal substances and her body was craving for them.

Deprived of its use, once incarcerated, physical symptoms started to manifest: chest pain, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting; not including the emotional problems that went with it – anxiety, fear and the intense longing to get that “high” she used to get while outside.

As Christians, how many times have we heard that phrase: “we should walk the talk?” I admit, I, too, forget this at times and I need to learn a lot in this area. I am a big work at this time and I pray the Lord will continue to mold me.

We must look up to Jesus. He is the only One Who truly “walked His talk”. He said in Matthew 3:8 –“Prove by the way you live that you have really turned from your sins and turned to God.”

In other words, we should examine our behavior. God looks beyond our “talks”. He looks into the intentions of our hearts and through our conducts.

Galatians 6:5 –“We are each responsible for our own conduct.”

Micah 6:8 –“No, O people, the Lord has already told you what is good and this is what He requires: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”

John 12:35 –“”If you walk in the darkness, you cannot see where you are going.”

Revelations 3:4 –“Yet even in Sardis there are some who have not soiled their garments with evil deeds. They will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.”

Thank you For Saving Me

There was this particular cell right next to the Medical Clinic that housed a maximum of 20 inmates. Most of them had difficulty walking because of their history of heart problems, back problems, or perhaps, they were just being treated with dressing changes for their wounds sustained from either injuries or fights.

Being a small number, I got to really know each of them. I had noticed that "Mr. Brown" with a heart problem might be out of his medications. So, I went over and handed him a few tablets after verifying that he was truly out of those important medications. I told him that I put his chart for the doctor to review it so the doctor could reorder the expired prescriptions. A thunder-like voice thanked me, as I was looking up to see his face through those metal bars; his tall stature obviously towered my short height.

Nothing out of the ordinary that morning as I tried to pass their medications, a daily routine before they would eat their breakfasts. If someone heard me, he would yell “Meds!” to wake up the rest on medications so they could form into a line while they came to me with a cup of water and their ID’s for verification.

The bunk closer to the metal bars had a new body I didn’t recognize that morning. A young man who must have gotten hurt or sick while I was on my day off. Being close, he was the first one to hear my footsteps and even before I announced “meds!”, he yelled at the top of his young lungs, with chest lifted up like how Tarzan would roar in the jungle: “Drugs!!! The drug pusher is here!!!” as he smiled sheepishly.

He knew the block deputy was out of sight, busy monitoring the inmates who were passing the breakfast trays to other housed inmates. He knew he could get away with his arrogant behavior of being disrespectful to me and trying to be funny with the other inmates in his cell. He knew I looked like a helpless nurse, being small in stature.

I confronted him with a gentle but authoritative voice, “Sir, it’s not funny!”
“If you’re trying to be funny, I encourage you to stop now because I can let the deputy know and have you be put on discipline because you are being disrespectful to me,” I added.

“Ha…ha…ha…Uh-huh. It is funny, too! You bring drugs!” he replied.

Standing solo in front of me, he continued this mocking act. No one else was laughing. Until a huge shadow crept up behind him. A thunder-like voice cut in with his non-stop yakking, “Are you making fun of this nurse? I know her…You don’t... She works very hard here. Why are you calling her drug pusher when she’s just doing her job?” I saw the tall inmate’s hands curled into big fists as he took a stance to balance himself steadily, as if waiting for some punches to be thrown at him.

“What?!” the mocking inmate replied in an annoyed tone of voice as he pivoted to see who tried to interrupt his fun. His face turned white when he saw how huge and towering the other inmate was. His endless chattering stopped immediately as his jaw seemed to have dropped into the ground.

Cowering like a mouse in front of a big cat, he mumbled softly, “No. I wasn’t making fun of her.” He started taking little steps toward his bunk.

“You can’t go yet!” commanded the huge voice. “You haven’t apologized to her.”

The mocking face earlier was now replaced with a fear-stricken, pale face, “I’m sorry, nurse. I won’t do that again.”

“Thank you, Mr. Brown. Thank you for saving me…” I uttered sincerely to this man who had heart problem but without any second thought had stepped in to rescue me.

Instead of accepting my sincere gratitude, he told me he was the one who owed me one. Because he would be forever grateful that I was there monitoring his health or his medical needs.

“That’s the least I can do for you, Ma’am,” as he bowed his head as if he was in front of a person with sovereign power.

There’s Someone Who monitors my health, too. He is interested with my healing. He sees me when I fall, only to reach out to me so He can lift me up. He wipes my tears and comforts me with His loving promises and instills joy in me, despite my sorrowful times. He provides so many things with all of my needs.

He healed my broken heart and when I accepted His love, He promised me an eternal life. His love is unconditional.

He wants to do that for all of us. If you are listening to Satan’s mockery of Jesus: “DON’T!” It’s not funny. It’s not a joke that Jesus gave His own life and died on that wooden cross. It was His way of paying for all of our sins.

“Meds!!! Wake up and get your Meds!!! Go to Jesus!” Bring your cup [life] that will be filled with the Living Water. Show Him your ID and He will verify that you are His child when you go to Him. Open up your heart…Believe…Stop mocking Him…

“Lord, thank You for saving me…”