The Joy I Have In Christ by Tyler Franklin Featured

Written by  Tom Franklin Published in: D.R. Blog On: 31 March 2013 Read: 3739 times
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The day that I accepted Jesus as my Savior was the day I began experiencing the joy that comes with His presence, guidance and purpose.  I have joy because He has been faithful in never leaving me or forsaking me in our family’s travels through Costa Rica, Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.  Now that He has led me to be a foreign church planter I have peace and joy in knowing that He has a plan to prepare me for His purposes.     At the age of two, my family went to train in Costa Rica with my grandparents Rev. John and Karry Barnes and great grandparents Rev. Jeff and Maudie Meek. Church and Church activities surrounded me. Because of this, I understood at a very young age my need for Jesus Christ. While attending a Sunday school class at the age of seven, in prayer, I remember asking Him to forgive me of my sins (1 John 1:9) and be my Savior (Rom 10:13). That day, joyfully, He also became the Lord of my life and I began looking forward to being with Him in heaven forever (John 10:28).  Without a doubt that was the day, I began to experience the joy of having a personal relationship with Him. I later learned that to maintain my relationship with Him I would need to talk to Him daily through prayer, to read, study, meditate, memorize, obey and live His Word.  Real joy, I’ve learned comes by my relationship with Him and getting to know Him better day by day...     Jesus never has left me even in the strange and difficult circumstances of my life. At the age of nine, while my family was serving as missionaries in Cuba, I witnessed my dad be taken away from us by state security. The G2 accused my dad of being CIA, politically subversive, and counter revolutionary. However, the real reason they arrested him was because my dad had been a part of starting four growing Baptist Churches, which Cuban officials did not want. During this uncertain time I was reminded of Matthew 28:20, “… lo I am with you always…” and Hebrews 13:5 “…for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” The Bible also says in Nehemiah 8:10 “…the joy of the Lord is my strength.” Knowing that Jesus was with me and my family during this time gave me strength to trust that God was in control. After six days of interrogation, our family was forcefully deported to Costa Rica and told we could never return. Even though this broke my parents hearts, God had a plan and the Churches continue to grow. Remembering this experience is one of my greatest joys in the Lord because I have no doubt that He is always in control of the large and small details of our life no matter the situation.      After this, God guided my parents to serve in the Dominican Republic. For several years, while my parents were busy starting another church, I never gave much thought to how I could serve or be used by God, but by the age of fourteen, I began to see people lives change in our church. I wanted to be a part of this. I desired others to experience the joy I had of knowing Jesus Christ. I began to pray and asked the Lord to guide me in how I could serve Him. One day I went to my Dad and asked him what I could do for the church in Tamboril, Dominican Republic. He gave me the job of creating PowerPoint presentations to accompany worship songs and sermons. A few months later Jesus guided me in volunteering to teach Sunday school for children ages 6-10. Sharing Bible stories, organizing and leading exceptional activities such as Vacation Bible School and Friend Day was not only fun but rewarding. One of the greatest joys I had in serving the Lord was when one of the kids in my Sunday School class, Maviel, got saved and later took over the responsibilities of the sound booth at church. Jesus answered my prayers and guided me step by step in how to serve him.      Not only was Jesus with me in Cuba and guided me in how to serve Him in the Dominican Republic, he also gave me the joy of helping others after the earthquake in Haiti. In January of 2010, a massive earthquake hit the capital of Haiti and killed 300,000 people. My parents were led to go and help 16 different Baptist churches. At the age of 15, I was able to accompany them on several trips and be involved with the “Buckets full of Hope” project, as well as reconstructing a destroyed Church building and in 2012 having the opportunity to be involved in starting a new Church. Although it was hard work, showing and sharing God’s love and being a part of giving Christians a place to worship gave me enormous joy in the Lord.      I am also filled with joy in knowing that God has designed a specific purpose for my life. He has prepared me and guided me through many events so that I might serve him even better. In January of 2012, at the age of 17, I surrendered my life to serve Him. With that commitment in mind, I began to ask the Lord to guide me in what college would best prepare me to accomplish His will. Though I am still investigating, I believe right now that I need to look for a college that offers classes that will not only teach me practical lessons on how to administer the business aspects of a nonprofit organization but also can teach me valuable leadership skills I can use in the local church. There is a lot of joy in knowing that God has a purpose for me and I believe that will one day lead me to establish not only a non-profit charitable organization here in the United States but churches as well, in a specific country that God will lead me to so that others who do not have a personal relationship with Christ can know and worship Him. I believe where God leads me to next can be the first of many stepping-stones to make an impact on the world.      Since the day that Jesus became a part of my life my joy has only grown. Joy in knowing that Jesus is by my side at all times, knowing that he will give me wisdom to make the right choices, and knowing that he has designed a purpose for my life. This joy gives me a sense of value, security, and confidence. My desire is to share the joy that Jesus has given me with others, please pray for me, as I discover step-by-step where He is leading me. Pray that I will listen to that still small voice behind me saying, “This is the way, walk in it” (Is 30:21)

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Last modified on Wednesday, 07 December 2016 19:36
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