20 May How God Can Bring Us Great Faith And Joy
We all need to learn to increase our faith in God, and to therefore be full of peace and joy. How does God teach us to do so?
One great way to increase our faith is by recalling all that God has done in our lives. As we recall what He has graciously done for us in the past, we will be reminded that whatever we are struggling with now in our lives, we can be confident that He will once again help us through it!
God has taught me over and over again to recall His past blessings in my life. As I have done so, He has used my memories to assure me of His great love for me, and that He will continue to help me whenever I face struggles and weaknesses! He helped me in the past, and He will continue to help me in the future no matter what I face.
I’d like to share some of the ways God has worked in my life over the years. I share them not to boast in myself, but to share the amazing mercy and blessings of God in my life. May these stories help to build your faith as you face your own challenges in life!
When I moved to Gainesville, Florida to go to college, I went to a new church, and the members showed me great love. Their love led me to a greater understanding of God’s love. I then decided to become a true disciple of Jesus, and I got baptized. Recalling the amazing love of God and of my fellow disciples in that church is one of my greatest joys and blessings!
Whenever I visited my hometown on college breaks, my new walk with God helped me to be a more loving son to my mother. Over time, she developed her own faith in the love of God and Jesus, and she asked me to baptize her! Baptizing my mother is one of the greatest memories in my life. During my years in Gainesville, I was able to be part of many people’s growth in faith—it was a great privilege to witness and share in their decisions to become disciples of Jesus, and to then get baptized and be saved!
Another amazing thing happened during those years. Soon after I was baptized, our college group attended a church retreat, where I met a girl named Geri Guba, who had driven up from Fort Lauderdale. We became friends, and soon she decided to move to Gainesville to join our church and attend the University of Florida. We started dating, and God then used my church leader to assure me that Geri was the woman whom God had graciously sent to me to eventually become my wife! We got married, and God taught us how to love and serve one another as husband and wife!
Ger and I had the privilege of working in full-time ministry serving churches. For more than forty years, we had the joy of helping many people to study the Bible and be baptized. This was an amazing blessing and joy to them, and also to us!
After our marriage, we had two children. When our oldest was five, we then moved away from the church in Gainesville to lead a church in the Atlanta area. In time we had two more children. In the coming years, we were able to lead several other churches in various places. During that time, God taught me to lovingly serve His churches, but to also be loving at home and focused on my children. He taught me that I could and should serve both my church family and my own family!
As Geri and I showed our children the love of God and Jesus, all four of them eventually became Christians as they became mature. This was one of the greatest joys and blessings God has ever given to our family! Today all four of our children are married to faithful disciples, are deeply devoted to God and Jesus, and are doing a great job in raising their own children. God has graciously taught and helped them in their lives, and He is still guiding and blessing them now!
God has sent me to lead various churches around the United States, and as I recall all the places He sent me, it brings me amazing joy! God also allowed me to help send out His disciples to help to start churches in other places, and He also allowed me to speak to churches all over the world. All those experiences are amazing blessings in my life, and they show God’s great love and mercy to me. In all of these travels and ministries, God gave me many great spiritual friends in my life, and we are still close to each other even though we no longer live near each other!
I share all of this with you to remind you that God is working in your life, too. As you recall His various blessings in your past life, your faith will increase as you face new challenges. Let’s all remember the great blessings and mercies God has given us throughout our lives. This will bring great joy to our lives, and will increase our faith in God!
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