Have you ever wondered how one person's compassion can transform an entire community? Join us as we share the moving story of Dr. Robert Jackson's father, a dedicated family doctor in Manning, South Carolina, whose commitment to making house calls and treating patients from all walks of life left an indelible mark on countless families. Through heartfelt tales and scriptural reflections, we reveal how the simple announcement that "the doctor is here" brought hope and healing to those in need, much like the biblical story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.
In our second segment, we invite you to reflect on the influential figures in your life who are reaching out to you and challenge you to consider your response. Dr. Papa joins us for devotions, offering insights on staying connected to the messages that resonate with your soul. As we conclude, we express our heartfelt blessings and urge you to connect with Jackson Family Ministry for more uplifting content. Don't forget to follow, like, share, or download the podcast to stay engaged with our journey. Visit our social media pages or website for more details and ways to get involved.
Have you ever wondered how one person's compassion can transform an entire community? Join us as we share the moving story of Dr. Robert Jackson's father, a dedicated family doctor in Manning, South Carolina, whose commitment to making house calls and treating patients from all walks of life left an indelible mark on countless families. Through heartfelt tales and scriptural reflections, we reveal how the simple announcement that "the doctor is here" brought hope and healing to those in need, much like the biblical story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.
In our second segment, we invite you to reflect on the influential figures in your life who are reaching out to you and challenge you to consider your response. Dr. Papa joins us for devotions, offering insights on staying connected to the messages that resonate with your soul. As we conclude, we express our heartfelt blessings and urge you to connect with Jackson Family Ministry for more uplifting content. Don't forget to follow, like, share, or download the podcast to stay engaged with our journey. Visit our social media pages or website for more details and ways to get involved.
Welcome to Devotion with. Dr Papa Welcome to More Than Medicine, where Jesus is more than enough for the ills that plague our culture and our country.
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Hosted by author and physician, Dr Robert.
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Jackson Papa, can you tell me a story? Do you really want me to tell you a story?
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Well, you go, get your brother and your sisters and I will tell you a story. Well, you go get your brother and your sisters and I will tell you a story.
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When I was growing up, my father was a family doctor in my hometown of Manning, south Carolina. Manning was such a small town that you could dial a wrong number in Manning and still talk for 15 minutes. You could drive one minute from the center of town in any direction and you would be out of town and in the country. There were about 3,500 folks that lived in the city limits and 26,000 people who lived in the county. There were more folks saved on the day of Pentecost than what lived in the Manning city limits. My father was one of four physicians five physicians, two GPs, two family doctors and a surgeon. My dad routinely made house calls. He delivered babies, he visited his patients in the emergency room, he always had a number of patients in the local hospital and he usually would see 50 to 60 patients in his medical clinic every day, five or six days a week, and he dearly loved his patients. As a consequence, he was dearly loved, respected and revered by his patients and by the community at large. He was not only a physician, but he was a decorated Vietnam veteran. He was a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard and he himself was a no-nonsense kind of guy when I was in high school, college and even in medical school, I often traveled with him to visit the homes of his patients. When he made house calls, he visited patients of middle income or even very poor, impoverished patients in their homes. Sometimes they were very sick, sometimes they were bereaved. Sometimes he was there to deliver babies, sometimes to pronounce patients who had recently died. I often heard this very relieved expression. When we entered the house I would hear patients say thank the Lord, the doctor is here. I heard that expression so many times. Thank the Lord, the doctor is here. So many times. Thank the Lord, the doctor is here. That expression indicated that family members were full of hope, full of expectation and relief. Their fears were relieved. Now why? I would submit to you that my dad, dr Jackson, knew what to do, knew what to say and knew what to pray. He was a take-charge kind of guy and he took charge of unruly family members. He took charge of drunk and intoxicated family members and neighbors. He comforted crying, weeping family members. He calmed angry and belligerent family members and he cared for those who were deathly ill. And I saw and observed him in all of these situations. He had been in all of these emotionally charged circumstances and he knew from experience exactly what to do or say in each circumstance. When Dr Jackson arrived on the scene, anxious or grieving or agitated, families suddenly had hope. Why? Because the doctor is here.
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Well, recently, I was reading in John chapter 11, and there was a part of a verse that just jumped out at me and when I read it it reminded me of this expression the doctor is here that I heard so many times when I was on house calls with my dad. So I want to read you John, chapter 11, verses 20 to 28, and then you'll understand. The situation is that Lazarus has recently died. In fact, four days have gone by before Jesus arrives in the town. He has been in the tomb for four days and when Jesus arrives, martha comes out to him on the outskirts of town. So let's read verses 20 to 28 in John, chapter 11.
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Martha, therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet him, but Mary stayed at the house. Martha then said to Jesus Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Even now, I know that whatever you ask of God, god will give you. Jesus said to him yes, lord, I have believed that you are the Christ, the Son of God, even he who comes into the world. When she had said this, she went away and called Mary, her sister, saying secretly the teacher is here and is calling for you. Well, there's that phrase the teacher is here. She may as well have said the doctor is here, the great physician is here, because Jesus, as the great healer, knew exactly what to do in every situation. In fact, there was no situation or circumstance over which Jesus did not have complete control and complete sovereignty.
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Just go back in your memory bank and think about it. You see, jesus at one time was confronted with a crippled, paralyzed man that was let down through the roof of a house. Jesus looked at him and he was not confounded or confused, but he looked at the man and he first forgave his sins and then he says to the man take up your pallet and go home. And the man immediately took up his pallet and he walked home to the amazement of the entire crowd. And then think of another occasion. Jesus was confronted with a man who was born blind. He was blind from his birth. Jesus was not confused or confounded with that circumstance either. He touched the man's eyes and he was able to see, and he exclaimed to the Pharisees, the religious leaders, that once I was blind, but now I see. Another occasion, jesus saw ten lepers, who begged him to help them and have mercy upon them, and without even touching them, just with a spoken word, he turned their rotting disease skin to skin that was as smooth as a baby's skin and he made them clean. This was not difficult for Jesus, for, you see, he was the doctor. The doctor's here, the teacher's here, the great physician is here.
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On another occasion, jesus was confronted with a demoniac, a man who dwelt among the tombs, who cut himself and screamed and yelled through the night. He couldn't even keep his clothes on and the people in that town couldn't even bind him with fetters. And he cried out to Jesus and said what have you to do with me? Jesus asked him his name and, seeking to intimidate Jesus, the demons cried we are legion. And Jesus was not frightened by a legion of demons. And, just speaking the word, jesus sent a legion of demons into 2,000 pigs who immediately rushed over a cliff and drowned in the sea. And then this man, suddenly calm, suddenly healed, suddenly fully clothed, begged Jesus to let him go with him. Jesus said no, go and tell all of your people what great things the Lord has done for you. This was not difficult for Jesus. You see, there's nothing too difficult for God. He cast out the demons and they have to obey him.
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And then, another occasion, jesus calmed the storm, a storm so terrific that the professional seamen were terrified. But with a single word, jesus calmed the wind and the waves and turned it into a sea that was like glass. And the seamen were terrified, wondering who is this man that even the wind and the waves obey him. You see, the doctor is here, the great physician is here, the teacher is here, and even the wind and the waves must obey him. On another occasion, there were thousands of hungry people there and then, with just a few fish and a little bread, jesus feeds the entire multitude. That's not difficult for him. You see, the teacher is here, the doctor is here, the great physician is here, he who is eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, is on the scene, and that's not difficult for Jesus.
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And then, on another occasion, the intellectuals, the scribes, the Pharisees, the teachers of the law. They seek to stump Jesus with their intellectual prowess and they all leave confounded, confused by Jesus, who is the son of man and the Son of God all in one individual. And they leave confused and confounded, because the teacher is here, the doctor is here, the Son of man, the Son of God is here, but now Jesus is confronted with a dead man. But now Jesus is confronted with a dead man, and not just any dead man, but his close personal friend named Lazarus, such a close friend that he's moved to tears as he observes the heartbreak of the sisters. So let me ask you did Jesus have to pause and think about what to do? Did he have to scratch his head and wonder what he would do in this circumstance? Did he have to consult a medical book or call a specialist? No, no, a thousand times, no, no, of course not.
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Jesus is the great physician, the healing balm of Gilead, the resurrection and the life, the light of life. He is eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God. He knows the end from the beginning. He knew what he would do in that situation before the beginning of time and when he prayed in verse 41 and 42, listen when he says to his father so they removed the stone and then Jesus raised his eyes and he said Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but because of the people standing around, I said it so that they may believe that you sent me. He prayed this prayer not for the benefit of himself or his father, but for the benefit of the bystanders. He and his heavenly father had been in agreement about that very moment since before the foundation of the world, since before the beginning of time, as the divine healer, as the great physician, and what he would do at that day, at that throbbing moment, as he called his friend Lazarus out of the grave, saying Lazarus, come forth Now.
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I want to direct your attention to the second half of verse 28. The first half says the teacher is here. The second half says and is calling for you. And the Bible says that Mary came quickly. You see, mary understood who was calling her. She understood that it was Jesus who was calling, that. Jesus was there. The doctor was there. The teacher was there. The great physician was there. He who could calm the seas was there. He who could heal the leper and turn his skin like baby's skin, he was there. He who could feed thousands with a little fish and bread, he was there. He who could heal the blind man and make him see. He was there. He who could make the paralyzed man to walk, he was there. He who confounded the wisdom of the intellectuals he was there and, yes, he could make a dead man live. He was there.
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Now, brothers and sisters, when I awaken each morning, I hasten to my kitchen table and I eagerly open my Bible and I say Lord Jesus, speak to me Now. Why would I do that? Because I know that Jesus is calling and I love Jesus and his word more than anything, and I listen, I hasten to answer his call and listen to his voice. You see, I know who is calling and I know that Jesus is there. The teacher is there, the doctor is there, the great physician is there, he who heals the blind man, he who heals the crippled, he who feeds the thousands, he who calms the raging storm, he who raises the dead man. He is there and he is calling.
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What about you, dear listener? Do you know who is calling for you? Do you listen and hasten to answer his call? Do you know who is there For you? See, the doctor is here, the teacher is here and he's calling for you. Will you come quickly? You're listening to devotions with Dr Papa. If you like what you hear, I pray that you would follow, like or share or download and understand that we'll be back again next week. Your doctor loves you and I pray that the Lord will bless you real good.
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Thank you for listening to this edition of More Than Medicine. For more information about the Jackson Family Ministry, dr Jackson's books or to schedule a speaking engagement, go to their Facebook page, instagram or their webpage at jacksonfamilyministrycom. This podcast is produced by Bob Sloan Audio Production at bobsministrycom. This podcast is produced by Bob Sloan Audio Production at bobsloancom.
