Quote from Forum Archives on January 15, 2002, 8:45 am

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

I want to welcome any of you reading these messages who are
recent subscribers to the 1Corinthians7@welovegod.org mailing
list. I'd like to point out that you are welcome to respond to a
message at any time. Note this: for those of you receiving this
message through the mailing list, when you reply to the message,
it gets sent to 1Corinthians7@welovegod.org, which is this
mailing list. If you'd like to send a message or a comment to
the entire mailing list, feel free to do so. If you want to
write only to me, send your message to masinick@yahoo.com.
(Otherwise, those of you on the mailing list intending to send me
a note will be surprised when it gets sent to the ENTIRE mailing
list).

Generally speaking, most people simply read the messages, but you
are welcome at any time to make a comment, ask a question, or
even question the accuracy or validity of statements that are
made.

In today's message, I'm continuing with the thread started
earlier by Neil Anderson in his latest devotional series. Today,
Neil writes about our personal quest: a search for significance.
Each one of us wants to feel significant, we want to matter.
Some of us look for significance in our jobs, in our hobbies, or
in our friends, or in our marriages. It is OK to pursue these
things, there is nothing inherently wrong with any of these
pursuits. If, on the other hand, we think we can find our source
of significance in any of these areas, we are bound to be
disappointed.

God created us for His purposes. We find true significance in
our relationship with Him, because that is the way God created
each of us. Neil develops this theme in today's message. You
can find more of his messages at the references included below.

Your Brother in Christ,
Brian

If you are looking to feed and challenge your faith, visit
Crosswalk.com's Spiritual Life Channel at:
spiritual.crosswalk.com
-----------
N E I L A N D E R S O N D A I L Y D E V O T I O N A L
from Freedom in Christ Ministries

January 15

OUR ESSENTIAL IDENTITY

Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our
likeness" (Genesis 1:26).

Adam was created physically and spiritually alive. He possessed
eternal life from his first breath and enjoyed God's abiding
presence in the Garden of Eden.

Furthermore, unlike the animal kingdom that operated by divine
instinct, Adam was created in the likeness of God with a mind,
emotions and will, giving him the ability to think, feel and
choose. No other created being can make that claim.

After creating Adam, God said, "It is not good for the man to be
alone" (Genesis 2:18). So He created a suitable helper for him:
Eve. They both enjoyed a sense of belonging to God and each
other. Not only that, God gave them a purpose: to "rule over the
fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle
and over all the earth" (Genesis 1:26). Adam and Eve didn't have
to search for significance; they had it in their relationship
with God. And because God was present with them, they lived in
perpetual safety and security.

Eternal life, identity, purpose, significance, security and a
sense of belonging are all attributes of mankind created in the
image of God. Adam and Eve experienced these attributes in full
measure, and we were destined to enjoy them too. But when Adam
sinned, he died spiritually and forfeited everything God had
provided. Being separated from God, Adam's glowing attributes
became glaring needs.

As children of Adam born separated from God, we come into the
world with these same glaring needs. We wander though life
striving to make a name of ourselves, looking for security in
temporal things, and searching for significance apart from God.
Is it a hopeless quest? No! We are able to fulfill these needs by
establishing a personal relationship with God through faith in
Jesus Christ. Everything Adam enjoyed in the garden before he
sinned is now at our disposal.

Loving heavenly Father, thank You for sending Jesus to die for my
sin so I may have eternal life. And thank You that in Christ my
need for identity, significance, security and a sense of
belonging can be met.

-----------
This daily devotional is published and distributed by
Crosswalk.com. It is written by Neil Anderson at
< www.ficm.org >.

You can purchase "Daily in Christ" and other titles by Neil
Anderson at christianbook.com (Christian Book Distributors -
CBD). < shopping.crosswalk.com/bye/devo_na >

Additional devotionals are available from Crosswalk.com:
< devotionals.crosswalk.com >.
-----------
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go to religiontoday.crosswalk.com/CurrentFeatureStory/

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go to religiontoday.crosswalk.com/CurrentNewsSummary/

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____________________________________________________________

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

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