Quote from Forum Archives on August 30, 2000, 12:55 pm

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

Recently, I have been sending you devotionals without many
personal comments attached. It has been my fervent prayer that
each of us can see our own need for reading scripture, meditating
on what we read, and praying for guidance and insight. I
believe, with all of my heart, that the issues that each of us
face are answered, not by me, or by any one of us, in our own
wisdom, but by the Word of God, and the wisdom gained from it,
thanks to the Presence of the Holy Spirit within us.

Perhaps to some, that sounds like nonsense. The Bible says, very
plainly, that the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. It
also says that the majority of people will view those who believe
(and actually follow) scripture as fools. The apostle Paul was
often viewed this way, as he traveled from place to place. In
his day, he was viewed by some as a lunatic. Today, some may
view me in the same way. That is not my concern at all. My sole
concern is to cultivate my own personal relationship with Jesus
Christ and share my experiences about that relationship with
others - pure and simple.

Like Paul, I don't consider myself as anyone special at all.
Quite the contrary. I am quite aware of who I am, and what I am
capable of. It is ONLY by the grace of God that I am able to do
anything good at all, yet it is also by the grace of God that I
am able to do many good things.

Some of us are discouraged by our jobs or by broken
relationships. These things are very real. I feel for any of
you who are in that place today. I have been there, too. From
1993 until 1995, I was on a two year Long Term Disability (LTD)
from my employer, because my marriage had fallen apart, layoffs
were happening at my company, and my emotions collapsed. It took
a long time to get over all of that. I actually despaired life
itself.

In my own anxiety, fear, and sense of hopelessness, I cried out.
I always believed in my God, yet I was not turning to Him as my
source.

But finally, I reached my bottom point. I had no other options
left. Aren't we stupid that way, sometimes? We wait until we
have no other choice before we seek God. That is my confession
to you. That is what I did. Yet, my testimony is not complete.
Finally, I DID turn to God. When I really yielded my life fully
to Him, He really started to begin the work in me, which had
begun much earlier in my life, but had grown dormant.

You see, I knew all of the scriptures --- ones that say stuff
like: "Do not be anxious", "Seek first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness", "Cast all of your cares on Him, because He cares
for you"... I could go on and on. (I hope a few of you write
back to 1Corinthians7@welovegod.org and tell us where those
scriptures can be found. You can look them up at
bible.gospelcom.net/ )

(I'll give you some hints: Look at the "Sermon on the Mount",
which can be found in Matthew, chapters 5-7. The apostles Paul
and Peter both wrote about these topics, too. See Philippians 4
and I Peter 5).

My life has truly been transformed. I have made many more errors
in judgement since those days, but I have never been distressed
for more than short periods of time ever since, because I have a
hope that goes way beyond my current circumstances. No matter
what ever happens to me, I have a love of my own - a love that
comes from my Creator. No job, no broken relationship, no
sickness or pain, can ever take that from me. It can be the same
for you, too. My personal prayer is that everyone on this list
will know and understand, from their own personal experience,
what the joy of is personal relationship with Jesus Christ is all
about, and what a difference it makes, every day. May each of
you come to experience that peace in your life. If it hasn't
already happened to you, I pray that it happens today.

Brother Brian

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