Going Beyond Limits Spiritually
On April 5, 2014,
the fifth day of the Going Beyond Limits challenge, a group of women from Vive
Church and I attended Trinity Church's Women Of Worth conference. The speaker
was Susanne Cox, a woman with an amazing testimony that is only matched by her
husband's testimony. Susanne's story highlights a woman who was an alcoholic
for 16 years and a drug addict for 10, but by God's amazing grace she received
salvation and the new birth. She spent two years as a missionary in India
witnessing to young girls who were taken from the sex trafficking trade. Little
girls as young as nine were sold into slavery by their parents for as little as
$4 and forced to have sex with grown men. Susanne said they could have as many
as 30 partners in one day. As you can imagine, these girls were broken
spiritually and physically beaten. But Susanne and another missionary worked
tirelessly to bring life, joy, and hope to these girls.
After hearing from Susanne on Saturday, I and a few of the women returned on Sunday night to hear her husband, Ron Cox's, story. Ron Cox was married to a woman who got Huntington Disease. This disease basically turns your body against you and curls you into a fetal position. You lose the ability to move etc. She was diagnosed with the disease when their children were one and five. Ron faithfully cared for his wife himself for 15 years, bathing her, feeding her, etc. During that time he also started a church that grew to have a membership of 2000. When he was no longer able to care for his wife, she was placed in a nursing home where he visited her every day for another 10 years. It wasn't until after his wife's passing that he met and married Susanne. Together they have a ministry that moves hearts because it tells the story of God's grace, mercy, and faithfulness.
I would like to share a few points that I received from them:
1. Choose to obey God.
2. The degree that you allow God to change you will be the degree that God will work through you to change others.
3. Don't desire to do things for God, instead your desire should be for God to do things for Himself through you.
After listening to Ron Cox preach on Sunday night, I went up to the altar to receive a fresh anointing from the Holy Spirit. I begged God to fill me with His holy fire and He said to me, "You're not ready." I did not argue with Him. I knew He would not fill me that night. After being saved, I spent my time filling myself up with idle things, mostly movies, instead of spending time with Him and building up our relationship. I basically spent my days not trying to forget Him per say, but not focused on carrying out His will. Now after one night I expected Him to bless me beyond measure; uh huh. "You'll have to work for it." Ron and Susanne Cox are successful in their ministry because they earnestly and continually seek the Lord. If I want to help change the world and bring people to Christ, I'm going to have to spend my time in prayer and reading the Bible; cultivating the relationship that I neglected. It's not that God doesn't want to bless me or pour out His spirit on me, but my spirit has to be right in return so that I can appreciate the blessing and use it for His glory.
After hearing from Susanne on Saturday, I and a few of the women returned on Sunday night to hear her husband, Ron Cox's, story. Ron Cox was married to a woman who got Huntington Disease. This disease basically turns your body against you and curls you into a fetal position. You lose the ability to move etc. She was diagnosed with the disease when their children were one and five. Ron faithfully cared for his wife himself for 15 years, bathing her, feeding her, etc. During that time he also started a church that grew to have a membership of 2000. When he was no longer able to care for his wife, she was placed in a nursing home where he visited her every day for another 10 years. It wasn't until after his wife's passing that he met and married Susanne. Together they have a ministry that moves hearts because it tells the story of God's grace, mercy, and faithfulness.
I would like to share a few points that I received from them:
1. Choose to obey God.
2. The degree that you allow God to change you will be the degree that God will work through you to change others.
3. Don't desire to do things for God, instead your desire should be for God to do things for Himself through you.
After listening to Ron Cox preach on Sunday night, I went up to the altar to receive a fresh anointing from the Holy Spirit. I begged God to fill me with His holy fire and He said to me, "You're not ready." I did not argue with Him. I knew He would not fill me that night. After being saved, I spent my time filling myself up with idle things, mostly movies, instead of spending time with Him and building up our relationship. I basically spent my days not trying to forget Him per say, but not focused on carrying out His will. Now after one night I expected Him to bless me beyond measure; uh huh. "You'll have to work for it." Ron and Susanne Cox are successful in their ministry because they earnestly and continually seek the Lord. If I want to help change the world and bring people to Christ, I'm going to have to spend my time in prayer and reading the Bible; cultivating the relationship that I neglected. It's not that God doesn't want to bless me or pour out His spirit on me, but my spirit has to be right in return so that I can appreciate the blessing and use it for His glory.
If you want to
learn more about Ron and Susanne Cox’s story, or if you would like to donate to
their cause to help the girls in India visit Legacy of Purpose.
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