June 11, 2003
Email: David
Benrexi
Did God ever tell you to do something?
Did anyone ever hand you something and say, "God told me to give this
to you."?
Did you ever read someone's book and get to the part where they say
Jesus walked into the room and said something?
I call this newsletter 'MY DADDY LOVES ME' because God told me to.
That's also how I came up with the name Zephaniah records and Zephaniah
3:17 Ministries. We recorded 'Pink or Blue?' a year ago today because
God told me to. We give them away to pregnancy centers because God
told me to. We're doing it in 22 states so far, and they are the
ones God told me to contact.
I bring this up because I shared in the last letter that Art Edwards,
who discipled me as a new believer, gave me guidance on my first full day
as a child of God that changed my life forever. He told me to start
each day by thanking God for giving me that day, and then ask Him what
would He like me to do with the day. Whatever answer I received,
I should do it.
As a redeemed hippie flower-child, I thought that was so cool, and I
began to ask God for guidance daily and receive it. Does God tell
you what to do? Do you ask Him what does He want you to do?
My experience has been that if we don't ask for guidance, we don't get
it, but if we do, we get it.
"How do you hear from God?" I've been asked many times.
"He puts thoughts in my head!" is the best explanation. I hear
from God a lot, because I acknowledge His presence, and also because I'm
always asking questions. Sometimes I hear things from God that I
know I need to write down. I've learned this from experience.
Some of the most profound things God has told me that I was sure I'd remember,
I've forgotten.
I'd like to take you back into my past in the very early days of my
new life in Christ. Jo and I were saved in the summer of 1980 while
living in a tent in Cave Junction, OR. We had no money. I had no
job. We didn't have a car. We had two daughters and a baby
on the way. We stayed with a woman who attended the church for about
a month. I started working as a forestry aide and we moved into a
trailer that was 9' x 32' in a woodsy setting. The rent was $75.
I got a car for $200. We were very happy. I had been reading the
bible 20 chapters a day and got through the whole book in about two months.
My job started right after that, and I had to wake up at 5am, dress up
in rugged clothing, and drive for almost an hour to work for ten hours
and get home exhausted around 6:30. It was $3.75 an hour.
I had to make a life style adjustment. Someone else may have decided
to get up at 4 am to read 20 chapters in the bible, but I, instead, got
a pocket new testament and would read one or two chapters in the New Testament,
during break and lunch time. I worked with fifteen other guys who
would light up reefers and pass them around during break. Was I tempted?
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Was I teased?
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My life was changing every day, and getting up early and showing up
for hard physical work was a challenge I relished. I knew God was
pleased. I knew also that He was preparing me and refining me.
I enjoyed my time reading the Bible as much as ever, and would be very
focused on the shorter passages I read. It was "sticking".
I want to tell you about the first time I ever heard God speak to me
in what seemed to be an audible voice. In all the years since then,
this has only happened a handful of times, and never more strikingly than
what I'm about to share.
You remember perhaps that I told you how I used to deal with marital
conflict. Whenever my wife would say something that I didn't want
to hear, I would turn my back on her and walk out the door. Usually
I'd come back within a few hours and sometimes even apologize if I thought
it was necessary to get back in her good graces. In four plus years
I had probably walked out on her over a hundred times.
Now that we were new creations we were getting along better than ever
and arguments had apparently ceased. But shortly after I began my
job, my patience began to wear thin and I found myself feeling somewhat
irritable. One day, my sour disposition got the best of Jo, and she
and I said some words that were not kind. After trading two or three
volleys, I reverted to my old weapon. I turned my back on Jo, the
woman I had promised to love and cherish, and walked out the door of our
trailer. I was planning to go for a little drive and cool off for
a while, when I heard a very clear voice say, "Go back, and tell her you
love her!"
I felt like the hair on the back of my neck was standing up! I
immediately did an about face and walked back in the door. I looked
Jo right in the eye and said, "I love you." That stern admonition
from the Lord brought an end to my sinful game of trying to make my wife
insecure. I had so much still to learn about love and God's purpose
for marriage, but hearing His voice woke me up as no book, discussion,
or counseling session could.
God chose a woman for me whose companionship reminds me every day that
MY DADDY LOVES ME!
I am married to a daughter of God/ He has given a great treasure to
me/ I will love her for the rest of my life/ My wife is a daughter of God
She is beautiful/ She makes me laugh/ She's my closest friend/ She shows
me the Father's love (chorus)
She believes in me/ When I feel afraid/ She knows what to say/ To keep
me in the race (chorus)
She tells me the truth/ Though sometimes it hurts/ And she touches me/
As only a woman can (chorus)
To listen to this song, visit www.mydaddylovesme.org
It is song #7 on 'Draw Near to God'
Ask God what you can do to bless someone else today. Do you think
He'll tell you something? I believe He will. Will you do what
He tells you? I believe you will.
--David Benrexi