Quote from Forum Archives on June 23, 2003, 11:56 am

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

As we begin another week of work and activities, I want to
remind you that each of you are special people, each
individually and PERSONALLY created by God for His eternal
purpose. Now who knows what that purpose might be? I don't
know about you, but I go through life seeking to accomplish
whatever my purpose may be. At one time, I thought that purpose
was to be a good software engineer. Though I'm now less sure of
that single minded goal as a purpose, it was the place I was at,
and I did it, and I usually did it well.

In this week's message, Neil Anderson writes about each of us
using our unique set of energies, talents, and gifts to serve
others. If you're a parent, do it well. If you're a software
engineer, do it well. If you're the manager of a company, do it
well. Whatever job you do, think of it not merely as a way to
provide for yourself (which it certainly can be) nor as just a
way to get ahead, or any other particular thing. Our jobs are
important, and I believe God wants us to do our jobs very well.
But there's a greater principle here. In whatever we do,
wherever we are, as Christians, our role is to be an ambassador
for Jesus Christ.

I first started writing Email notes to others because I was not
content simply working each day as an engineer alone. That's
one thing I do, and I enjoy doing it. But there is so much more
to life than any particular job. Our lives are all about
relationships with people - from all different walks of life.

I've always wanted to share my faith with others, and when asked
about what I believe, I do not want to be one to back away from
responding. But at times, I felt like I was holding back. So I
asked myself questions about who I was, what I wanted to be, how
I wanted to be known. As I began to learn about myself and who
I was and answered a few questions for myself, more questions
always arose, but one thing stayed the same - I wanted to be
able to say that I shared my faith with others.

Like so many of us, I've floundered at that, not always knowing
what to say, how to react. I was also embarrassed at times
about my own behavior, concerned that I may present a poor
impression to others about the Lord that I love so dearly.

There came a point in my life where I simply decided that I had
to share who I was and what I believed anyway, and let people
know that the deficiencies they may see were mine, not that of
my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I don't know where each of you stand in your relationship to
God, nor do I know to what extent any of you choose to share
what you believe with others.

I started sending messages several years ago now to the 1
Corinthians 7 mailing list because I knew there were people who
were trying to keep their marriages and their relationships
together, but those relationships weren't always what they could
be. I know my own relationships have been less than idea.

I came to the point of realizing that all my emotional baggage,
all of my interpersonal difficulties, and all of the other
problems that I had were primarily issues of the mind and the
spirit. Knowing that God is a God of Spirit, it clicked for
me. I realized that all of the scriptures that I had read and
studied for so many years clearly stated that it is God who is
the answer to all issues. First, God is Spirit, and those who
worship Him must worship in Spirit and in truth. So that told
me I had to be honest with myself, and honest before God.

Next, it told me that all my own efforts and abilities were
insufficient to get the job done. Something was inherently
lacking. I needed to be saved from my life, saved from myself.
That's where this whole idea of "salvation" comes into play. I
understood that Jesus is the personification of salvation.
Jesus Christ lived a perfect life. In every way, He was fully
God, and yet He really was a person, just like you and me. He
came to seek and save the lost.

Well, I thought I had it together, but I realized that I, too,
was "lost", and needed to be found. I realized that I was not
perfect and that, yes, I "sinned" - that is, I did not meet
every qualification that God set out for His people. But who
does? Do you know? Well, the Bible lays that one out clearly,
too. Only ONE person, His Son, and that's Jesus Christ. Some
people call that exclusionary, closed. People don't mind talking
about spiritual matters, or even talking about God. But as soon
as you mention that Jesus Christ is the ONLY One who can save
us, there's often a LOT of resistance, even rebellion, to that
kind of message.

But let me tell you something. It's the only message that
really makes any sense, when you go through the whole range of
things, ranging from success to despair and various places along
the path in between. King Solomon, David's son, the one who
built the temple for the Jewish people, got a chance to realize
these things, too. He asked for wisdom from God, and God gave
it to him. Solomon got affected by the environment around him.
He got lost in his success. At one point in his life, he
concluded that all endeavors in life are meaningless... but you
have to read further to catch what was really being said.
Solomon realized that searching after things without God is an
empty hunt, bound to bring despair and a sense of failure.
Trying everything on our own puts us in the same place.

Jesus Christ, in contrast, reminds us to seek first the kingdom
of God and His righteousness. He says that when we do that, our
most fundamental needs will be fully met in Him.

I'm writing this long message because I want you to know that
you are deeply loved, fully accepted, and completely forgiven.
As a Christian, that is your identity in Jesus Christ. You no
longer have to compete out of some sense of accomplishment or
guilt. You are freed to be the person that God has made you to
be, and that's real freedom. You are free to use and develop
your unique gifts and abilities, and share them with others, so
that one day, when you get to see God, face to face, you will
hear Him say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant. Now
enter your rest!" instead of something else.

My friends, the things we do, in themselves, don't save us from
our sins. Jesus Christ is the One who saves us from our sins.
However, the things we do play a very important role. The
things we do affect both us and others, and they also tell a
great deal about what we believe about the gift we've already
been given by God - the gift of His Son.

Do you so love God that you're willing to accept His gift of His
Son, the tremendous sacrifice He made when He gave His own life
to pay for ours? If you accept that gift, does it swell up in
you a response of gratitude? If it does, then God is
accomplishing something already in your heart, just for Him.

I urge each person to consider the kind of response you may wish
to return to God. My prayer is that your response might in some
way acknowledge the greatness of God, demonstrate gratitude, and
show it in your every day attitudes and actions.

Dear Lord,

I want to bloom for You in every way, and I want to give my life
to You in my attitudes, actions, what I think, say, and do. I
acknowledge that there are so many ways in which I come up far
short. Please forgive me for not consistently giving You first
place in every single area of my life. Please restore to me the
eternal hope that I have in You, renew my mind with that great
hope and promise, and activate my actions so that in response to
You, I may serve You through my life and my actions toward the
people around me.

I know You won't ever give up on me. Please remind me of that
each day this week and help me to faithfully serve You in every
way.

Your Brother in Christ,
Brian

____________________________________________________________

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NEIL ANDERSON'S DAILY IN CHRIST
from Freedom in Christ Ministries

June 23

USING YOUR UNIQUE GIFTS AND ABILITIES

Do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry (2 Timothy
4:5).

For the Christian, true fulfillment in life can be summarized by
the popular bumper sticker slogan, "Bloom where you're planted."
Peter said it this way: "As each one has received a special
gift, employ it in serving one another" (1 Peter 4:10). Your
greatest fulfillment in life will come when you discover your
unique gifts and abilities and use them to edify others and
glorify the Lord.

God allowed me to understand this vital principle before
entering the ministry while I was still employed as an aerospace
engineer. I knew God wanted me to be an ambassador for Him where
I worked, so I started a breakfast Bible study in the bowling
alley next door. My announcement about the Bible study had only
been posted in our office about an hour before a Jewish fellow
pulled it off the wall and brought it to me. "You can't bring
Jesus in here," he objected.

"I can't do otherwise," I said. "Every day I walk in here Jesus
comes in with me." He was not impressed with my response!

One of the men who found Christ in the Bible study took over
when I left Honeywell to enter seminary. A few months later I
went back to visit my friends in the Bible study. "Do you
remember the Jewish fellow?" the leader asked.

"Sure, I remember him," I said, recalling his brash opposition
to our Bible study.

"Well, he got sick and almost died. I went to the hospital and
visited him every night. Finally I led him to Christ."

I was ecstatic at the realization that I had become a spiritual
grandparent. The sense of fulfillment was exhilarating. And it
all happened because I started a simple little Bible study where
I worked in order to do what Paul said: "Do the work of an
evangelist, fulfill your ministry" (2 Timothy 4:5).

Father, I want to bloom where I am planted and resist the
defeating temptation to compare myself to others.

-----------
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all that God has called me to do." Come see for yourself!
www.parable.com/parable/item_0785268839&rid=1302.htm

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____________________________________________________________

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

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