Quote from Forum Archives on September 5, 2000, 12:32 pm

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

Are you excited at all by this message? I sure am! I am driven
to sing loud praises to God because of things like this. The
message from Beth Fisher is a long one, but well worth reading.

For those of you who either haven't been on the mailing list very
long, or have not seen anything in the past from Beth, let me
just tell you that our "sister in Christ" is one who has gone
through a lot. Her health has been very shaky in the past year,
and finances have been rough. Does that describe any of you?
Please read on.

Beth has written to us, on occasion, to bring us up to date.
Whenever she does so, she brings prayer requests and needs before
us, but always gives thanks to God for what is happening, and how
God works things out in her life.

Well, the message that Beth sends, in some respects, is no
different than that. She still brings requests before us, things
we can pray for, as fellow Christians, people who love God and
love one another. But this particular message is extra-special.
It is absolutely filled with words of praise, all acknowledging
the role that God has in Beth's life and in the lives of those
around her.

My friends, it is my prayer that each of us can come to the place
where we see God at work among us, in all things, great and
small. When we acknowledge God in this manner, it brings Him the
honor and glory that He deserves. It is for THIS reason (and the
fact that God has an incredible love for us) that He serves us.
Isn't that COOL? God serves us, we respond, praising Him, giving
back what He so richly deserves!

I pray that every one of us can find something today to thank God
about... if nothing else, we can thank Him for the bold testimony
of our sister in Christ, Beth Fisher.

Dear Lord, I give YOU all praise today for the work You are
accomplishing in our lives. Whether we feel in the deepest
valley (even near death) or we are on top of a mountain today,
Lord, may our innermost thoughts acknowledge You as God and bring
You praise.

I lift up those with special needs today, and ask Your comfort
and peace for them. I share in thanking and praising You for who
You are and what You are doing. You truly are an Awesome God.

Brother Brian

--- Beth Fisher <designsbyfisher@inteliport.com> wrote:
Hi,
Brother Brian, and fellow Christians. God is awesome.

I know that y'all know that, but we can never say it enough.

I'm having a major mountaintop experience, and God is showing me
things like never before. If y'all don't mind me taking several
minutes of your time, I'd love to share some thing with y'all.

God has been performing an awesome transformation in me. I've
read the book A Seeking Heart, about finding true worship in the
everyday. In everything we do, we can show our praise to our
awesome Creator, Father, and Lord.

Please know that I'm reporting these things totally to glorify
That which is in me, and not myself. God is awesome, and even
though I've often failed Him, He has still managed to show
Himself to others through me.

He's so amazing. This may get to be kind of long, but please
bear with me, because I've got to share this again (I've done so
with family and local friends in person) or I'm going to burst.

It started about 5 months ago. I really felt like God was
calling me to do something or serve Him in some radical way. I
had no idea what, when, why, where or how, but I felt that call.
But, I had Satan right there saying things like, "Why should you
have to do that haven't you done enough" and "You've already been
through so much, God doesn't expect any more of you", and "Well,
don't you remember when you committed such and such sins."

Well, we visited a different church a couple of months ago, and
the message was about Satan, what he is, and what he is not. It
was amazing, because it opened my eyes so much to what God
required of me.

So, I knew I had a mission, but had no idea what. I decided to
try talking to the pastor of this church, and through no fault of
his or mine, our schedules have not been compatible enough to
meet yet, we are supposed to Friday.

Okay, so I knew I had a call, and God was edifying me with the
tools I need to complete this task even though I still didn't
know what the task was. I found myself famished for the Word,
and craving EVERYTHING spiritual. I found myself being thrown
into close contact with my neighbors through various summer
activities, and guess what??????? This was the call God had for
me. I knew once I saw the needs our immediate neighbors have,
that I was put here just for that. I looked into the Lighthouse
home ministry, but cannot afford the package right now, but I'm
starting my own neighborhood witness project. (Actually God's
own!)

Anyway, I've also had a cousin who was physically, mentally,
emotionally and sexually abused as a child. She is now 52 and
raising her grandson while her 31 year old son lives with her,
but won't hold down a job, and won't support his son. My cousin
is on disability, and financial situations for them are far worse
than anything I've ever seen, but this cousin is also suicidal at
times. She professes to be a Christian, but I had my doubts.
She came to stay with me this weekend, with her grandson, and we
talked and talked and talked. I discovered the best way to
tackle the actual salvation question by telling her that we were
going to wipe the slate clean, start from scratch and build from
the foundation up. We went through the steps of salvation, and
we realized that my fear was correct. But, she did come to know
Christ personally. It was awesome. (You'll find I'll use that
word frequently in this letter, there's no other word I can find
that fits).

Well, her grandson desperately needed school supplies. The way
that her self-esteem was when she got here, if I'd have called
one of the local charities to help with them, it would have hurt
even more. I didn't have a dime to spend on the supplies that
wasn't intended for bills, but my family and I prayed over it,
and truly felt led by the Spirit to do this. We knew that if we
abandon and surrender all to Him for His purpose, He will provide
for us.

I also bought both my cousin and her grandson a Bible each. Good
study Bibles that they can understand. It was so neat to sit
back and watch God's hand in everything, though. She and her
grandson were supposed to come up here the first weekend this
summer. At that point, if God would have led her here, I'm
really afraid that Satan would have won a major battle. God used
this attach from Satan to keep me humble, and I wouldn't have
seen it had it been 3 months ago. You see, even though I knew
that they appreciated what I was doing, they never actually said
thank you. I would have been offended had it happened then, but
God was showing me that I was doing this for His glory, not mine,
and that this was to benefit them, not me.

I'm also going Thursday to have lunch with my cousin's son (the
boy's father) and to "care front" (Not confront or attach) him.
He needs a wake up call, and I feel led to do this, so please
pray for this. He has been approached by several members of our
family, and hasn't changed, and I don't think that I'm any
better, but I'm going to try a different approach.

Okay, that was project #1

Project #2 (Please pray for these projects daily, they are
ongoing ministries that my family is doing)

We have a couple in the neighborhood who have 2 kids (+ 2 from a
previous marriage of his) she is pregnant again, and they are
getting married September 30. She is having some problems with
the pregnancy, and really wants this baby. We have mowed lawns
(her fiancee is a long distance truck driver and is out of time
all the time.), fixed meals, talked and listened.

She's precious and we are getting to be good friends.

Project #3

We have a 16 year old girl across the street from us that we had
never met or even seen since we moved into this house 1 year ago.
When we talked, and she was asking me what kind of music,
magazines, etc. my girls liked, I told her that I SENSOR
everything they bring in the door (they even do it themselves if
I over look something.) I figured we would go another year with
out seeing her again, and she now stays over here alot. She's
sweet, but has been unrestricted in her behavior, and really
needs good Christian fellowship.

Project #4

Our neighbor right next to us have a young (about 1) son that
just had surgery done. The wife works days, the man works
nights, and they also have a daughter that's almost 3. The
wife's brother is handicapped, and she has major problems
psychologically. We've baby-sat for them to give them a break,
and just dropped by to visit.

Project #5

My parents (my mom is 74 and my dad is 72) are my neighbors on
the opposite side. I went to them Saturday rejoicing in the way
that they decided to raise me (for Christ) after I heard from my
cousin what it was like growing up in her home. I also called
all 4 of my sisters and 2 brothers, my mother-in-law, and several
other family members and friends and told them that I love them
and how blessed I am to have them in my life.

Okay, God is working all this, letting me homeschool, and
renewing my spirit constantly.

He is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!

Satan is wreaking havoc on my health, though. He's learned that
right now anyway, he can't get me in the spiritual realm, so is
aiming for a very vulnerable site for me.

Another thing that has happened, is that I'm seeing such awesome
things in my children. All three of them are Christian, but,
well, I don't know how else to put it but like this, and this may
be confusing, but I'm trying to include everything and it's
getting to be a lot.

During our worship service, I felt a presence that I have never
felt before. I know I was saved when I was 6 and I know that
I've had times when I was living in the "perfect" will of God.
but never have I had a worship relationship like this. I wasn't
worshipping the God afar off in heaven, I was worshipping the
Lord and Savior that resided in my heart. It was amazing!

At the first note of the altar call, I went to the altar. Just
to rejoice. I have a great friend at this church that I've know
for years, who joined me at the altar, because she knew exactly
why I was there. We've talked about this all week, and I was so
excited about Sunday coming.

She told me this, "Beth, I have to tell you, when I was sitting
in the choir I was staring at your girls. They are beautiful.
They have outer beauty, yes, but they have a peace and a love for
the Lord, and the true joy that comes from that all over their
faces. I turned around right then and looked at this sight
again, because I had seen the same things myself. It was so
awesome.

Then, I went and got my cousin from her seat, and took her to the
altar, my friend talked to her, and our pastor's wife talked to
her.

My 12 year old looked over at me during the praise and worship
songs, and said, "Mom, I really, actually FEEL God's presence
here." We have been struggling with our church, because we have
such friends there, but this constant spiritual hunger that I
have right now was not being met, and we were visiting trying to
find a place to be fed.

Well, needless to say, we found it.

Okay, enough for right now. I've had 3 asthma attacks tonight,
and I'm physically drained. But before I go, this experience let
me to write another poem. It, too, only took about 5 minutes to
write down, but was amazing to me, and I want to share it with
you.

Your awesome splendor dawns before me
Like a flash across the sky
It shines Your love in every corner
Making doubtful shadows fly

Your glory has no equal,
Your majesty no competition. In You my raptured soul
Can only be still and listen

You breathe Your Spirit in me
Renewing my troubled soul It brings much needed healing;
Makes my life complete, whole.

It brings heavenly music
Where blaring noise prevailed
It shows me that when I seek Your face
My mission cannot fail.

It brings sweet peace and harmony
Where utter chaos reigned
It whispers all the mysteries
Your precious grace explains

It leads my heart to sing to You;
To shout with a mighty voice
To let my love and adoration
Grow as I rejoice.

For only now in bowing to you,
And falling on my knees
Can I soar with unabandoned freedom,
For now I'm truly free.

I'll share more later,
In our Precious Lord's service,
Beth
designsbyfisher@inteliport.com

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