Quote from Forum Archives on November 7, 2003, 9:47 pm

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

Yesterday. the message asked the question: "If you could live
your life all over again, what would you do differently?"
Today's message closely relates to the title and theme of my
friend's Internet ministry, "Sowing Seeds of Faith". Larry
Davies has built a ministry that goes well beyond his local
church, not because he has a big ego that stretches around the
world, but because he has a desire to reach people well beyond
his little community in the state of Virginia in the United
States of America. He wants people to know the love of Christ.

I feel the same way, so that's why I started writing devotional
messages. At first, I just sent them to my pastor and a few
friends at church, wanting to discuss matters that stretched us a
bit outside of our comfort zone. I'd talk about my interests
with people I know at work. A few of them asked me to include
them in the list. A couple of years later, I became part of a
mailing list called 1Corinthians7@welovegod.org, which many of
you read today. At first, I was a part of the list because I was
going through some family problems of my own. Later, the
moderator of the list had to resign and asked for someone to take
her place. I volunteered.

Around that same time I was introduced to Larry Davies and his
Sowing Seeds of Faith prayer ministry. I asked for prayer
because of my own family issues. Before I knew it, though, I
spent more time praying for others because I cared. The next
thing I knew, I was a regularly contributing prayer partner.
Today, I'm the editor of an international prayer list that gets
sent out three times a week.

I have plenty of problems in my life. Getting and keeping a full
time job to support my family has been an ongoing problem now for
over two years. Being patient, yet diligent, as I look for good
work, continues to be a daily struggle for me. Every day, I have
to ask myself what God wants to do in and through me. The one
thing I seem to be able to do is share my faith, my personal
shortcomings, and the grace of God, with others.

I've sure not performed any miracles. The message below says
that John the Baptist didn't perform any miracles, either. That
gives me hope. John was highly favored, enough to find
prominence in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, yet he didn't do any
miracles, he was just faithful to what he knew.

I can't even claim the things that John the Baptist could claim.
All I want to do is to share that my real source of hope comes
from Jesus Christ. It is He who provides me with daily
opportunities to serve Him. I often wonder how many
opportunities I fail to even recognize and how many more
opportunities I've squandered by either being unfaithful or by
being a poor witness. That's not what my heart desires. My
heart's desire is to be a light, a bright witness to Christ. It
needn't be flashy, it simply needs to be faithful.

Yours in Christ,
Brian

Evangelism
By L. B. Cowman
Edited By James Reimann

February 24

Though John never performed a miraculous sign, all that John
said about this man was true. (John 10:41)

Perhaps you are very dissatisfied with yourself. You are not a
genius, have no distinctive gifts, and are inconspicuous when it
comes to having any special abilities. Mediocrity seems to be
the measure of your existence. None of your days are
noteworthy, expect for their sameness and lack of zest. Yet in
spite of this you may live a great life.

John the Baptist never performed a miracle, but Jesus said of
him, "Among those born of women there is no one greater" (Luke
7:28). His mission was to be "a witness to the light" (John
1:8), and that may be your mission and mine. John was content
to be only a voice, if it caused people to think of Christ.

Be willing to be only a voice that is heard but not seen, or a
mirror whose glass the eye cannot see because it is reflecting
the brilliant glory of the Son. Be willing to be a breeze that
arises just before daylight, saying, "The dawn! The dawn!" and
then fades away.

Do the most everyday and insignificant tasks knowing that God
can see. If you live with difficult people, win them over
through love. If you once made a great mistake in life, do not
allow it to cloud the rest of your life, but by locking it
secretly in your heart, make it yield strength and character.

We are doing more good than we know. The things we do today -
sowing seeds or sharing simple truths of Christ - people will
someday refer to as the first things that prompted them to think
of Him. For my part, I will be satisfied not to have some great
tombstone over my grave but just to know that common people will
gather there once I am gone and say, "He was a good man. He
never performed any miracles, but he told me about Christ, which
led me to know Him for myself." George Matheson

Taken from STREAMS IN THE DESERT- Reimann Updated Edition (Title
Trademarked) by Mrs.CHARLES COWMAN; JAMES G. REIMANN.
Copyright a~ 1997 by the Zondervan Corporation. Used by
permission of Zondervan.

365 Guidelines for Daily Living (c) 1997 by Dr. Harold J. Sala:

Devotional from www.purposedrivenlife.com/

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

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