FEBRUARY 2026

Ever precious greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ! It is my great honor and high privilege to share my heart with you once again! It was a typical Tuesday morning for me. After my quiet time with the Lord, having received my tune-up and empowerment for the day, I was off to pick up my special buddy, Mark. As I have shared before, Tuesday is my main discipleship /counseling day. Mark is my first of the day. I just love on him with the love of Christ by encouraging him in the Way everlasting. But, when all is said and done, as always – Mark is my teacher sent from God!

This particular day, I had picked Mark up at about 8am. He voiced that he was hungry, and so we stopped at Wawa on our way to Walmart, as is our habit. Once I had parked, I noticed that Mark was having a hard time trying to get his door open. I asked him what was wrong. Then, I observed his right hand was all balled up and kind of tucked under his sleeve. I could tell he did not want me to see it. Mind you now, we had already been together in my truck for about 20
minutes, and everything seemed normal. I gently said to him, “Let me see your hand please.” As I spoke, he hesitatingly, even sheepishly, looked me right in the eye, and I knew something was very wrong. He then very slowly pulled his hand out of his sleeve and showed it to me! I almost fell out of my truck with shock! Three of his fingers were so badly burned that there was no skin left on them at all! It was totally swollen with all the raw meat exposed, some of it almost down to the bone! I was thinking the worst because of all the abuse I know that happens in the group home where he lives. I was irate! Being very protective of him, I asked, “Who did this to you?” I love him deeply, and compassion was flowing from me as a river of living water. Another time, he was run over by a hit-and-run in Lakewood and could not walk for months. . . but, I digress! In truth, the Lord always protects him – albeit (as with all of us) – junk happens.😏

He was trying to calm me down while playing it off like it was not a big deal. I said, “Bro, we got to get you to Urgent Care right now!” I was panicked at the horror of it all, while at the same time, trying not to alarm him. Curiously I said, “Mark, how did this happen?” He replied, “There is a steam pipe in my bathroom by the toilet, and I grabbed it trying to pull myself up.” I then asked, “When did it happen?” He replied, “Last Friday!” He had been suffering in fear and severe pain for four days! Amazingly, he did not want to go to Urgent Care! From his perspective, he did not want his caretakers to know what had happened because he falsely surmised, in his wonderfully precious simple mind, that he would get in trouble. He thought he would be punished and maybe lose his living quarters and care. I slowly explained to him that I would
take care of him and all would be well. We then quickly headed to the closest Urgent Care. When we got there, they said that it was so bad they could not treat him. They said he needed to go to an emergency room, ASAP, with an IV-drip! Lord have mercy!

It is hard for me to voice to you what it actually looked like. I thought in my heart, “He may lose his hand.” It was badly infected and covered with dirt and nasty-looking fuzzballs of every sort. He had been hiding in his room for days! It’s a good thing I had earned his trust, and he agreed to meet me. Finally, we made it to the emergency room where they treated him. I waited in the room with him during the whole procedure giving him loving comfort. At one point, I was so moved that I had to go into the bathroom myself and hide. As soon as the door closed, I broke down with uncontrollable tears. Without thought, I was weeping with compassion for him before the Lord. . . It is written, “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:14-15)

As I was weeping with tears of compassion for Mark, I heard the Lord speak in the stillness of my heart. He gently spoke, not with audible words, but deep down inside of me. The psalmist coined it, “Deep calleth unto deep. . .” (Psalm 42:7a). Sometimes, you just know in your knower – it is the Lord! The Lord, with His sweet and still, small voice taught me, “You are Mark, and I am you.” Immediately, I knew exactly what He meant. He was voicing to me the Truth, that to Him, we are all just like Mark. If I, in a human sense, was moved with compassion for my brother, how much more so is the Lord moved with compassion on us? We are members of His very Body, are we not? The Lord Jesus Christ willingly laid His Life down to purchase us back from our slavery! (John 8:34) How much more so (now that we are forever His) does He not
compassionately keep us? (1 Peter 1:5; Psalm 121)

The Lord is full of tearful, godly compassion for us because as believers we are the Lord’s special buddies.🙂 He wants to love on you and lead you in the Way everlasting! We are the ones who are so often acutely burned by our sin. Is your sin down to the bone? Has it infected you to the point of affecting others? Is it covered with the devil’s dirt and assorted fuzzballs? Do you know that sin snowballs? In fear, we often try to hide our sin. The Lord can tell you don’t
want Him to see it. Can we unwittingly think we will get in trouble if we worry what others may think?

Let us stop trying to hide sin up our sleeve. There are many doors you cannot open when you hide your sinful burns! The Lord is always saying, “Let me see; I will take care of you, and all will be well.” He is definitely not shocked by our sin; indeed, He already bore our sins in His body at the cross. (1 Peter 2:24) Don’t cower in fear while falsely surmising in your simple mind that you may lose your place in Christ. Contrarily, look up by faith and see your heavenly Healer
face to Face. Look Him in the eye. Don’t be sheepishly hesitant – Jesus Christ the Son of God, even God the Son, waits on you! It’s hard for God to voice to us the depth of offense that sin is to Him. Repent – for it is written, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John. 1:9)

Beloved, Christ’s blood is the eternal Urgent Care that the world knows not of – but thou knowest. Christ Jesus, Heaven’s own joy, remains the world’s only true emergency room! Come now, by faith. See Him high and lifted up. Come sinner man – come one, come all for salvation, for holiness, and for healing grace. Come to the Fount wherein the forgiving blood ever flows as a river of pure, cleansing water! Indeed, we need the precious Blood of the Lamb, ASAP, as the. . .

“ETERNAL IV-DRIP FROM HEAVEN!”

JOYFULLY IN JESUS,
LOVE, PHILIP