The Heart Remembers (22 page)

“Only those who receive Jesus get born again. They already have the
intellectual
knowledge of Him. They have Him in their
mind
. But that doesn’t bring salvation. He must be received into the
heart
. In Ephesians 3:17, Paul said to born-again people, ‘That Christ may dwell in your
hearts
by faith.’ There is a big difference between our
hearts
and our
minds
.

“Believing in Jesus in our intellect—our
mind
—does not give salvation. We must believe in Him in our
heart
, the very center of our being. Now you’re probably wondering how to believe in Him in your heart.”

“I sure am.”

He turned to Romans chapter 10, handed her the Bible, and said, “Read me verses 9 and 10.”

She located them quickly. “ ‘That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.’ ”

“Carlene, God says if you believe in your
heart
that He raised His Son from the dead, you will be saved. See that?”

“Yes.”

“Then notice that God says it is with the
heart
that we believe unto righteousness—having all our sins forgiven and washed away. Not the mind, the intellect. And it’s with the
mouth
that confession is made unto salvation.”

“Yes.”

“Now look at verse 13. What does it say?”

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

“So do you see? You believe in your heart when you call on the Lord with your mouth and ask Him to come into your heart and save you. This is receiving Him. So this is what gives the new birth. Now look again at verse 9. God says you must believe in your
heart
that He raised His Son from the dead. This ties with God’s definition of the gospel. Let me show it to you.”

He took the Bible from her, turned to 1 Corinthians 15, and handed it back to her. “Look at the first verse, Carlene. What does Paul say he is declaring to the people at the Corinthian church?”

“The gospel. He says he had preached it to them.”

“Right. And the gospel is found in verses 3 and 4. Read them to me.”

“ ‘For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.’ ”

“Right. Now listen as I quote what Jesus said in Mark 1:15. ‘Repent ye, and believe the gospel.’ Repentance, Carlene, is a change of mind that results in a change of direction. When we come into this world, we are sinners headed for hell. We’re going the wrong direction. When we hear the gospel and understand that we are lost in sin and are headed toward hell, we must change our mind about whatever religion or philosophy we cling to, and let it go. We must change our mind about Jesus Christ and turn around 180 degrees to Him in repentance. We must believe the gospel, ask for forgiveness for our sins, and ask Him to come into our heart and be our Saviour. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Good. You see, in the gospel, we are told that Christ died for our sins. The Bible tells us that on that cross, He shed His blood as the Lamb of God. But He didn’t stay dead. He arose from the grave, and is alive to save us from hell and to wash our sins away in His precious blood. When we repent, believing the gospel, and call on Him, receiving Him into our heart as our personal Saviour, trusting Him and Him alone to save us, we get born again. He saves our lost soul, cleanses us of our sins, forgives us, and makes us a child of God. We know this because the Scripture says so. Do you understand?”

“Oh, Dr. Logan, I most certainly do. I have never repented of my sin and received Jesus into my
heart
. I want to do this right now. Will you help me?”

Tears had already flooded Tharyn’s eyes and now were cascading down her cheeks. She took hold of Carlene’s hand as Dr. Dane
said, “Romans 10:13 says, ‘Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ Let’s bow our heads, and you tell the Lord you’re coming to Him as a repentant lost sinner, trusting only Him to save you and cleanse you of your sins, and that you believe the gospel, and want Him to come into your heart and be your Saviour.”

Tears flooded Carlene’s eyes. She closed them, squeezing Tharyn’s hand and weeping, and called on the Lord exactly as Dr. Dane had told her to do.

When she finished, Dr. Dane prayed for Carlene, asking the Lord to bless her, give her peace, and use her for His glory.

She smiled up at him, wiping away the tears on her face.

Tharyn wiped her own tears, bent over and kissed Carlene’s cheek, and with quivering voice said, “Oh, Carlene, I’m so happy for you!”

Dr. Dane told her that he would let Pastor Mark Shane know what had happened here, and that the pastor and Mrs. Shane would come see her at home and guide her further concerning her newfound salvation and what the Lord expected of her now that she was a child of God. He quickly added that the very first thing would be to get baptized and unite with the church as soon as she was able to do so.

She sniffed and wiped away more tears. “Oh, yes. I want to do that just as soon as I’m feeling well enough.”

Dr. Dane said, “Well, sweet wife of mine, we’d better see about those patients out there in the waiting room.”

Tharyn bent down and kissed Carlene’s cheek once more. “We’ll be checking on you.”

“Yes, we will,” said Dr. Dane, taking hold of the curtain that surrounded the section. “You try to get yourself a nap now.”

He started to close the curtain to give her privacy, but paused when she said, “Dr. Logan …”

“Yes?”

“Thank you for showing me how to be born again.”

He smiled broadly. “My pleasure. You rest now.”

With that, he closed the curtain, and took Tharyn’s hand as they walked toward the office door together.

It was ten minutes before five when Tharyn looked up from her desk to see Eric and Nelda Cox pull up out front in their buggy. Tharyn was taking payment from a man who had just been treated by the doctor.

By the time the payment had been made and the man was walking toward the door, Eric pushed it open for Nelda. She still had to use a cane to walk, but was doing better at it day by day.

“How is Carlene doing, Tharyn?” asked Eric.

“Quite well,” Tharyn said. “Her chest pains have eased considerably. Dr. Dane is with her. I’ll go let him know that you’re here. Please sit down in the waiting area.”

Tharyn hurried away, and was back in less than two minutes. She moved up to the Coxes, and Eric rose to his feet.

Smiling, with her eyes brightening, Tharyn said, “I’ve got wonderful news!”

“Tell us!” said Eric.

“Dr. Dane talked to Carlene after you left, Eric, and led her to the Lord! She’s going to be baptized as soon as she feels up to it.”

While the Coxes were rejoicing, they saw Dr. Dane come into the office, steadying Carlene as she walked beside him.

Nelda stood up, leaning on her cane, and headed for Carlene with Eric right behind her. They expressed their joy in Carlene’s salvation.

Tears filled Carlene’s eyes as she said, “I want to thank you both for the times you tried to talk to me about being saved. The Lord had to get me over my stubbornness by letting me have this coronary artery disease.”

“We’re just glad you opened your heart to Jesus,” said Eric. “Now you’re our sister in Christ.”

She smiled. “Oh, yes! Thank the Lord, I am!”

“So tell us about Carlene’s heart condition, Dr. Logan,” said Nelda.

“All right. Let’s everybody sit down over here in the waiting area.”

When they were all seated, Dr. Dane said, “We know for sure that along with the use of the nitroglycerin, Carlene is going to need plenty of rest.”

“I’m sure that’s true,” said Nelda.

Dr. Dane looked pointedly at his patient. “No more strenuous work for you, dear lady, until I say so. Since you have the Coxes, here, and the other neighbors you told me about, you must learn to let them help you. I’m sure they will be more than happy to pitch in.”

“We sure will,” said Eric. “And I know the other neighbors will.”

Dr. Dane nodded. “Some days will be better than others, Carlene, and in time you’ll be able to discern when and how much activity you can handle.”

She smiled. “Yes, Doctor.”

He rose from his chair and patted Carlene on the shoulder. “I feel quite sure that you will do just fine. Best of all … now that you’re personally acquainted with the
Great Physician
, you can depend on Him to help heal you of this problem.”

Tears filmed her eyes. “Oh, yes! How wonderful to be personally acquainted with the Great Physician!”

Running his gaze from Carlene to the Coxes, Dr. Dane said, “Tharyn has written instructions for mixing the nitroglycerin with water. I’m sending a bottle of it home with her. She must have the prescribed dose once a day until I say differently. I’ll come by the house periodically and check on her.”

Dane and Tharyn walked outside with Carlene and the Coxes, and Dane helped Eric get both women into the buggy.

Doctor and nurse held hands as they watched the buggy pull away.

The Logans were about to enter the office when they heard their names called. They turned about to see Jack and Sally Miller in their buggy, moving toward them along the street.

Sally was holding a tiny bundle in her arms, wrapped in a blanket.

Dane looked down at Tharyn, a grin on his lips and a beam on his face. “Here we go. You’re going to get your hands on little Lydia Marie, and we’re going to talk some more this evening about starting our family.”

Tharyn giggled. “Get ready!”

He laughed. “Oh, I’m ready!”

SIXTEEN
 

J
ack Miller swung the buggy up to the hitch rail in front of the office and smiled. “Howdy, Doctor … Mrs. Logan.”

“Hello,” said Sally. “I’m glad we caught you before you left for home. Little Lydia Marie has been asking to see her favorite aunt all day.”

Tharyn stepped up to Sally’s side of the buggy and opened her arms. “Well, let’s not delay it any longer! Aunt Tharyn is eager to see her little niece. How’s she doing?”

Sally turned the pretty baby’s face toward Tharyn. “She’s doing great.”

Lydia Marie smiled and made a “goo” sound.

Sally laughed. “When she makes that sound, it means she’s very happy.”

“Of course,” said Tharyn, taking the little bundle into her arms. “She’s about to get hugged and kissed by her favorite aunt!”

While Dr. Dane was talking to Jack, he watched Tharyn cuddle Lydia Marie and kiss her chubby little cheeks.

After a few minutes, Jack turned to Sally. “Well, honey, I know our baby would love to stay here and get all this loving from her favorite aunt, but we’d better be heading home.”

Tharyn kissed the baby one more time and handed her back
to Sally. “Okay. That’ll do till next time. Which will be tomorrow at church.”

Sally laughed, looked down at her baby girl, and said, “More loving from your favorite aunt tomorrow, sweetie.”

Lydia Marie smiled as if she understood.

Sally looked at Tharyn. “She says she is looking forward to it.”

“Not as much as I am!”

While the Logans were driving toward home with Pal pulling the buggy, Dane turned to Tharyn and grinned. “Happy now?”

“Of course. But I’ll be even happier when the baby I cuddle and kiss is Miss Elizabeth Ann Logan. Or, of course, Mr. Dane Logan Jr.”

Dane laughed. “Well, I guess we need to keep praying about little Miss Elizabeth Ann Logan. Or, of course, little Mr. Dane Logan Jr.”

That night, when the Logans were praying after reading their Bibles together, they both asked the Lord to guide them and to have His perfect will about when they should start their family.

Somewhere in the middle of the night, Tharyn found herself dreaming again.

In the dream, it was midmorning, and the sun was shining into the kitchen through a side window as Tharyn stood at the sink. She was looking out the window above the sink into the backyard, and a smile curved her lips as she fixed her gaze on her little five-year-old daughter who was swaying back and forth in the swing her father had made for her.

Little Elizabeth Ann was positioned on the swing seat so she
faced the house. Her long dark brown hair fluttered in the air as she set her dark brown eyes on her mother and let go of one rope to wave to her. “Hi, Mommy!”

Tharyn felt a lump rise in her throat, waved back, and hurried out the door. When she stepped off the porch and headed toward the child, Elizabeth Ann dragged her feet to stop the swing, then hopped off and ran to meet her mother, smiling and opening her arms.

When they came together, Tharyn swept her up in her arms. Before she could tell the child she loved her, Elizabeth Ann said, “I love you, Mommy! I love you so much!”

Tharyn felt warm tears fill her eyes and moisten her cheeks. “I love you, too, sweetheart! So very, very much!”