From Stress to a Peaceful Life
Our family was attending a Baptist church when my wife Chris decided to leave it and join Remnant Fellowship. She did this because of the teachings in the Weigh Down programs that she had taken. She said that she had misunderstood much of the Bible and that Weigh Down had given her insight into her misunderstandings. She also felt that the church we were attending had misunderstood the Bible, which is why she left. We had talked about many issues and she tried to convince me but I didn�t agree with her. Over the next few months we would discuss many issues, but I would remain unmoved. The fact that she left the church didn�t bother me in principle because the fellowship wasn�t great. There were affairs, lying, etc. that made us notice, but I felt that I needed the spiritual guidance that the pastors offered. My wife countered that the spiritual guidance there was wrong, as evidenced by the fellowship. I disagreed.
However, during the time that we went to our separate churches (about 6 months), I could see changes in her. She lost 60 pounds during that time and more importantly she went off anti-depressants. My wife had been on anti-depressants for the entire time that I had known her, and she had turned into a very difficult and unreasonable person whenever she had tried to come off them. The fact that she stopped taking them and still behaved well was a miracle. She gave credit to God and to Weigh Down. But this still didn�t change my mind. I thought that the changes that I saw in her were great, but what she believed was foolish. I could see her changes but dismiss the teachings. One of the issues that we disagreed about was salvation. She said that we need to be obedient to God in order to be saved. We need to stop sinning. I believed that we could not stop sinning and that God saves us when we ask Jesus into our hearts.
Then in February of 2004 I got a few weeks off work, and I was led by the Spirit to answer some important questions. I spent four to eight hours a day for a week going through the Bible answering questions like, �How do we get saved?� and �How can we tell if we are saved?� and �Can we continue to sin and be disobedient after being saved?� and �Is it possible to stop sinning and stop being disobedient?�. The answers cut me to the core. I thought I knew the answers because I had gone to church for years, but the Bible showed me that I misunderstood. But God showed me what I needed to know. I went back to read all the literature that I had previously relied on, and none of them affirmed what I had read in the Bible. There was only one place other than the Bible that taught the truth that God showed me: the Remnant website. I was surprised because I had done one of the Weigh Down courses (Exodus from Strongholds), but it didn�t change me. But I know now that I was veiled at the time, and it was only because God opened my eyes that I was able to understand. This was at first very difficult for me. Not only was I wrong (which triggered issues of pride in me), but more importantly I wasn�t saved. I was convicted by God that I was living in defiance of Him. John 3:19-20 states, �This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.� I was in the light and I hated what I saw. I hated my life because it was full of sin and self. But God blessed me with another chance. He forgave me and I now had the understanding that I was to stop sinning, to live life under his guidance and to turn to Him for all my needs.
The result is that I am now a much happier person. I am living a life that I previously thought impossible. I no longer suffer from constant worry about finances, and I face tests and trials regularly that I see as opportunities to honour God. And if I do not pass the test or trial, then I work on laying down that sin or idol, because I want to be right in God�s eyes. The faith that I have now is real and true; I now live my life in full view of God (without thinking that I can hide from him) and I give God all the credit for transforming me. I hold John 3:21 in my heart: "But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
God bless you.
Bernie Opp, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada