Quote from Forum Archives on August 22, 2003, 11:12 am

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

Once again, we've reached the end of another work week. I have
3 children, two of whom are preschool age and one of them who is
going into fourth grade starting next week. We have quite a few
entertainment videos to provide an entertainment alternative to
regular television, and one of the collections of videos
includes Psalty's Kids Praise. The particular video I'm
thinking of is called "Jumpin' Up Joy of the Lord". It's about
a boy and a girl who have lost their kitty, "Joy", but Psalty,
(not listening very carefully), things that they've lost their
joy of the Lord.

That message is useful in more than one respect. The message
that Psalty sends to the kids is that we can always have the joy
of the Lord, regardless of our circumstances. The message that
the kids unwittingly teach Psalty is that it is important to
stop, look, and listen to others before jumping to erroneous
conclusions. Hey, I can use both of those messages. Miss
Snicketty, a grouchy neighbor, learns that the children love
her, even in spite of her short temper with them as they search
for the kitty. Miss Snicketty finds the kitty and the children
hug her and exclaim how much they love her, and her heart melts.

I pray that God will continually do a work in each of our
hearts, not only today, but each moment of each day. Let's keep
our accounts with God short, let's listen, not just talk, and
let's learn to be patient and love one another as we, too, get
our joy back. Have a great weekend!

Your Brother in Christ,
Brian

____________________________________________________________

INSIGHTS from Bill Bright
Reflections from the late Founder and President/Chairman
Emeritus of Campus Crusade for Christ International

How Jackie got her joy back

Dear friends:

Jackie had been a Christian for several years, yet she was
frustrated.

"I feel like I am on a spiritual roller coaster," she said.
"For awhile I feel close to the Lord and excited about serving
Him; then I give in to temptation and sin, and then I feel
complacent and distant from God."

Jackie was describing a problem that plagues many Christians
today -- how to live a more consistent, victorious life for our
Lord Jesus Christ.

Let me ask you: Have you been troubled by inconsistency,
discouragement and defeat in your Christian life? Well, I have
good news for you. You can get off that spiritual roller coaster
and enjoy a victorious, consistent walk with the Lord Jesus.

Here is the secret: Keep short accounts with God through an
exercise I call "spiritual breathing."

Think for a moment on how your body needs to breathe. When you
exhale, you are ridding your lungs of carbon dioxide and other
impurities that would cause disease if they stayed in your
system. Then, when you inhale, you breathe in the oxygen that is
crucial to maintaining a healthy body.

So it is with spiritual life. When we sin, our fellowship with
God is broken. That is why we feel distant from God, and become
complacent and discouraged.

Several days after Jackie learned how to breathe spiritually,
she experienced hateful thoughts toward a neighbor. As soon as
she realized what she was doing, Jackie "exhaled" by praying,
"Lord Jesus, I have taken over the throne of my life through
sin. I acknowledge to you my hatefulness for my neighbor.
Thank you that you died for my sin. I repent of it and I give
back to you the control of the throne of my life. Fill me
afresh with your Holy Spirit of love."

Then, by faith, she "inhaled" a fresh infilling of the Holt
Spirit. And by keeping a short account with God, Jackie's joy
was restored within moments.

>From the beginning of my Christian life, God gave me a strong
desire to live a holy life and become a fruitful witness for our
Lord Jesus Christ. Yet, the harder I tried the more frustrated I
became.

One day God graciously showed me the answer. It was through
this concept of spiritual breathing. I know from many years of
experience -- it works.

Yours for fulfilling the Great Commission each year until our
Lord returns,

Bill Bright

-------

The late Dr. Bill Bright was Founder and President/Chairman
Emeritus of Campus Crusade for Christ, an organization which
began as a campus ministry in 1951 and now has more than 27,000
full-time staff and up to 500,000 trained volunteer staff in 196
countries in areas representing 99.6 percent of the world's
population. In the past 50 years, Campus Crusade for Christ has
seen approximately 6 billion exposures to the gospel worldwide.
The film, "JESUS," which Bright conceived and funded through
Campus Crusade for Christ, is the most widely translated and
viewed film of any type ever produced. Since its use began in
1980, the film has been translated into 812 languages and viewed
or listened to by some 5.5 billion people in 236 countries. Dr.
Bright was also the author of more than fifty books. Dr. Bright
recently co-founded Global Pastors Network to "Touch, Teach and
Train" a group of 5 million new house churches around the world
24/7/365 at
link.crosswalk.com/UM/T.asp?A1.78.14013.1.293748.

Copyright (c) 2003, Bill Bright. All rights reserved. However,
readers may copy and distribute this message as desired, without
restrictions in number, as long as the content is not altered.
Forwarding this e-mail to friends is encouraged. For many free
evangelistic and spiritual growth materials, visit the Campus
Crusade for Christ Web site at
link.crosswalk.com/UM/T.asp?A1.78.14013.2.293748. See
link.crosswalk.com/UM/T.asp?A1.78.14013.3.293748 for Bill
Bright's own materials.

Additional devotionals are available from Crosswalk.com:
link.crosswalk.com/UM/T.asp?A1.78.14013.4.293748

For Copyright Terms visit
link.crosswalk.com/UM/T.asp?A1.78.14013.5.293748

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____________________________________________________

=====
--
Brian Masinick, mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: www.geocities.com/masinick/

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