��We are often troubled but not crushed. Sometimes in doubt but never in
despair. There are many enemies but never without a friend and badly hurt
at times but we are not destroyed� 2 Cor. 4.9

�Mr. Alex is a white,� in his early thirties, an engineer by profession,
has difficulty at work with supervisors. He is from a broken family. He
is divorced. His parents divorced and are remarried. (I am sorry to bring
in all these hurting news. Hope this won�t hurt my na�ve brothers and
sisters in Jesus. If anyone is hurt please tell me. I am sending this so
that these lessons may help people to straighten up their brokenness
before they plunge into modernism and problems). Alex terminated any and
all communication with parents. Being rich and famous, he was lost in sin
and alienation from God. He found it difficult to stay in any commitment
so to amuse himself his resort w! as brothels. He is a fallen away
catholic who is in the process of rehabilitation. Alex wants to re-marry
but is afraid of commitment.� He had problems at work and everywhere. He
didn�t know how to sort them out.��

In the very words of Alex �I feel lost because I have trouble in the work
place�. He had some heated arguments with his boss for a genuine reason.
He was worried about loosing the job.� He shared his inner wounds� � I
thought that was the end of the line�. He felt being destroyed.�Alex
couldn�t recognize that he was hurting from past relationships in life.
He was carrying hurts from his brokenness, failed marriage, wounded
family and alienation from God. Alex carryied hurts. He had a couple of
broken relationships. Being afraid he found refuge in brothels. At last
in Jesus he is rehabilitated.���

Often times people qualify themselves,� hopeless� but at the breaking of
the Word of God, they correct � found hope in Jesus�. It is always
important to make them acknowledge the hope they discover in Jesus.
People who thought to have numerous problems came to realize that they
carry the death of Jesus in their bodies, �so that the life of Jesus may
also be seen in our bodies� 2Cor 4.10. People are confused often times
because they fail to find reliable people in life, they feel that they
don�t have friends, but the Word of God make the difference. They realize
that they have a good friend in Jesus.�

We may be badly hurt and when our bodies or minds carry deep wounds, we
may mistakenly believe that we are totally destroyed.� St. Paul comforts
us � but we are not destroyed� 2 Cor.3 9. It is at times difficult to
differentiate from being badly hurt and totally destroyed. People are
confused and that is the work of the evil one. � Their minds have been
kept in the dark by the evil of this world� 2 Cor 4.4. The work of the
evil is to prevent us from believing in Jesus and his message, to see
light and to live in the light. �They do not believe because their minds
are kept in the dark by the evil� 2 Cor 4.4. To profess our faith we need
to be liberated in Jesus.� � No one can confess Jesus is the Lord unless
led by the holy Spirit� 1 Cor 12.�. It is the work of God to enable us to
put our faith in God. Faith is a gift from God. Without God touching us,
we are faithless creatures groping in the dark.���

Darkness is the other side of brightness. Anyone who lives in the light
that is God, are the children of the light and anyone who are opposed to
God are in the dark and evil is the prince of darkness. The master of the
darkness � keeps us from seeing light shining on us� 2 Cor 4.4, and the
light is the � light that comes from the good news about the glory of
Christ� 2 Cor 4.4 � who is the exact likeness of God� 2 Cor 4.4. But
there is always a ray of hope for the people who live in darkness. It is
the people who live in the darkness who could visualize light, who could
appreciate light. �out of darkness� the light shall shine in our hearts�
2 Cor. 4.6 . �A people that lived in darkness have seen a great light�
and that is the light of justification in Christ. We are justified and
redeemed in our faith in Jesus. Jesus is our mediator, Jesus is our
source of life and salvation.�

When we are unaware of the Glory of God in us, we are in darkness and in
doubt. That is the moment of troubles for us. � We are often troubled,
but not crushed; often in doubt but never in despair� 2 Cor 4.8.� This is
a great gift not to be in despair. God�s voice will call us out of
despair if we believe in Jesus��

God Bless us

Fr Thomas Mathew/May 24th 2002/USA

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