I am sending this email to you because I believe that the Holy Spirit has prompted me to write you. I am a believer who, like all believers, is tested by the fires of life’s experiences as God attempts to mold me into the perfect image of His Son, Jesus Christ.
I’m a 54-year-old male who accepted Jesus as my personal Savior in 1990 at Sarasota Baptist church in Sarasota, Florida. An ex-supervisor had made an appointment to talk with me. When he began his conversation by telling me that he was visiting with me to talk to me about my spiritual life, I asked, “What do you want to know?” He said, “ If you died last week, do you know that you would go to heaven?” Born and raised as a Roman Catholic, I remember looking down at my desk for about 20 to 30 seconds, then raising my head to face him I answered, “ No, I am not going to make it.” He then asked, “ Where are you going?” My retort: “Purgatory.” He told me that Purgatory is not mentioned in the Bible. I answered him by saying, “I don’t know, I have never read The Bible.”
| "God has used you mightily in my life in bringing victory to me, and consequently to my spouse, children, and all the people that God has intersecting my life on a daily basis. Thank you my brother, for answering the call!" |
He asked me to join hands with him and pray. I had never joined hands with another man before in my life, but since it was my ex-boss (for whom I had much respect), I submitted to his authority. He prayed, and I do not remember what he said in his rather long prayer. But after persistent requests to join him in attendance at his church, I finally submitted one Sunday in September of 1990. That day Jesus Christ became my Lord and Savior. Hallelujah … to Him be the glory and honor forever and ever!
Between that 1990 acceptance of Jesus as my Savior and February of 2009 (almost 19 years), I have had many ups and downs, as well as peaks and valleys in my walk with Jesus. The peace of Jesus was elusive. Here one moment and gone the next. This has persisted for 19 years! Then, one day in February of this year, I was looking for an old audio music tape when I came across an audiotape that I had purchased from In Touch Ministries many years ago. The tape was entitled, “Contentment in All Circumstances.” The Holy Spirit told me, “Listen to that tape,” which I did. I listened to the audiotape over and over and over for three weeks. I listened to that tape, studying and meditating on every word and writing the words down until I had it memorized and programmed into my brain. I even put the steps on a piece of paper in my wallet so that I could quickly remind myself of what I needed to do when I felt discontentment coming on.
The four steps you taught me were: 1) God, I see this as coming from you; 2) God, I am making the decision to submit to it and not rebel; 3) God, I am making the decision to trust you like the apostle Paul in Romans 8:28; and 4) God, with your help I am drawing from all the fruits of the Spirit in me: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self- control from my soul (my mind, my will, my emotions). If I lack them, increase them in me so that I can lead an obedient and victorious life in You.
Well, like you said on the tape, “Are you ever going to come to a time when you finally have it and never lose it?” No, but you will come to a time when you will have a peace and contentment like the apostle Paul who, as you taught me, had to learn “to be content in all circumstances.” I loved your chuckle in the tape when you asked your congregation, “Do you know how the apostle Paul learned contentment? By being REAL DISCONTENT! That’s how he learned it.”
The “light bulb” went off in my head, and I realized I wanted what Paul learned. I wanted PEACE and PATIENCE. However, I was led to know that I would first have to TRUST IN GOD in ALL CIRCUMSTANCES. Romans 8:28 would literally have to be alive in my heart.
God has used you mightily in my life in bringing victory to me, and consequently to my spouse, children, and all the people that God has intersecting my life on a daily basis. Thank you my brother, for answering the call! God has used, is using, and will continue to use you to bring His message of love, joy, peace, hope, victory, and salvation to all who listen to you. I continue to pray for you, your ministry, your congregation and all believers and non-believers that God might grant them the grace to see themselves as He sees them and to then empower them with His Holy Spirit to begin their new lives in Him.
