For this I have Jesus

I'm lining up some more regulars posts for the blog this week, but in the interim I thought I'd share the story I told at the end of our New Year thanksgiving service on Sunday night in Millisle Baptist. I first heard this story via Rico Tice, of All Souls Langham Place, and it moved my heart deeply. I'm pretty sure it will move yours too:

Well known Pastor and conference speaker Charles Price, tells the story of a friend of his whose most well worn phrase in life was 'for this I have Jesus'. Whatever the circumstance, whatever the difficulty, this phrase would be employed as a means of showing the resources and help available to him. This friend printed a series of little yellow velvet bookmarks, and had them embossed in simple lettering with the words 'For this I have Jesus'. They were distributed widely.

Sadly this individual suffered from a major stroke, and his speech was severely affected. Charles Price rang to speak to him soon after he was discharged from hospital. The man's wife said that Price may have difficulty in making him out as the stroke had caused his speech to become extremely slurred. As the phone was handed over, through almost unintelligible words, Charles Price could hear the phrase loud and clear 'for this I have Jesus'.

This story was related by the preacher at Spring Harvest, much to the blessing of those who listened. It was used to illustrate the great truth of Philippians 4:13 that 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me'. Many in attendance were deeply affected, not least Christian singer-songwriter Graham Kendrick who later wrote a piece which used the phrase as its refrain.

Some time after the conference Charles Price received the following letter:

 ‘I was at Spring Harvest on the night you talked about ‘for this I have Jesus’. I came to find you at the end of the meeting, but I couldn’t find you, and of course it’s hard to find people in this place, so I got your address from the Spring Harvest office. I wanted to tell you about myself.

A while ago my husband was killed in a road accident. It was the worst thing that could have happened to me, we have two young children. The day before he was killed, a friend of mine sent me a letter and in the envelope she enclosed a little yellow velvet bookmark, and on it it said this ‘For this I have Jesus’. And I thought that’s nice and sweet, and I put it on the table.

The next morning my husband had gone to work, and a policeman came to my door about 9am and said ‘Your husband’s been involved in a road accident, would you come with me to the hospital. I went to the hospital with the policeman, and when I got there my husband had died, and I had to identify his body, and then go and pick up my children from their primary school, and we came back into our home. 

And when I got back to our home, there on the table was the little yellow velvet bookmark ‘for this I have Jesus’. I cannot tell you what that has meant to me. So much so, that we’ve written on the tombstone of my husband ‘For this we have Jesus’.

As we enter 2012, what a blessing to know that whatever the year may hold for good or for ill, 'for this we have Jesus'. We're not promised a rose strewn path of only pleasant things, but are promised the presence and enabling of an all sufficient Saviour, and that is enough.