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I don't know about you, but for me, the past couple of years, have been jamb packed full of unbelievable changes in my life. Most of these changes have been what many would consider, "negative," but I'm beginning to see things a bit differently. But before sharing that with you, here are just a few of the, "negative," things my family has had to face:
1) In the fall of 2006, we were given six weeks to move out of a wonderful mountain side home at a retreat center where I had worked for a year and a half.
Our home was the second up from the bottom in the center
2) As we were in the process of moving, my wife BJ (Brenda Jean) needed to be hosptialized, and was diagnosed with liver failure at about 2:00am Thanksgiving morning.
3) My Thanksgiving dinner that year was a backed stuffed burrito from Taco Bell as I was on my way to visit BJ at the hospital.
4) The first four days in our new home I spent alone (except for our two cats).
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5) After doing the final clean on the mountain home, I came back to our new home to find it had been broken into.
Front door secured with a 1x4 after the break in.
6) My part time job (associated with the above mentioned mountainside home) ended.
7) On July 3, 2007, my full time job ended, and I haven't been able to find a steady full time job since (anybody out their got a job for me?).
8) My life insurance policy, our home phone, and internet connection were canceled due to non-payment.
9) A couple of weeks ago, while working on a temporary job, I split my head open on the concrete header of a crawl space opening!
The wound about 5 hours after the injury happened
There are many more things I could share, but I think you get the picture.
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With all the above, you may be asking yourself now, "How could anyone consider these things to be anything else but negative?" Well, it's often been difficult (a bit of an understatement) for me to see the positive side of negative circumstances, yet though the above mentioned circumstances have been very stressful to live through, and as I write this, there are still a number of things that, in the natural, haven't improved as yet, I recently read a testimony which helped me put all this negative stuff in perspective. The testimony was of a man who had lost his job, and when he got home and told his wife, her immediate response was, "Praise the Lord." He excitedly agreed with her! How could they respond like this? Well, the bottom line is they whole heartedly believe the word of God when He says through the Apostle Paul in Romans 8:28 and following:
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"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn  among many brethren. Moreover, whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:
'For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.'
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
In other words, these people could say in the midst of a great trial, "Praise the Lord," and mean it, because they recongnized their difficult circumstances were an opportunity for God to bring about something awesome in their lives! In their case, the many difficulties that they faced with such an awesome postive attitude, groomed them to now operate an international ministry that is seeing people healed, set free, and saved by the power of God!
So, what good has come from the things my wife and I have faced in recent years? Well, hold on to your hats, and prepare to be blessed!
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 Though we were given six weeks to move, and though we had no money for a down payment on a home of our own, someone was prompted to give (not loan) us $10,000.00!! Not only did this cover the needed down payment, but we were also able to purchase a washer and dryer (which didn't come with the home we'd purchased), and in addition, we had some money left over to put in an account to help us make payements on months that we were short, which honestly, was most of them!
Then shortly after the new home was broken into, I began praying and asking the Lord to grant me the opportunity to share the gospel with whoever had been guilty of this sin against our family. Within a few days of this prayer, the detectives showed up saying they had recovered the items which had been stolen (a computer and my wife's camera), and to make a long story short, I was given opportunity to share the Gospel with one of the two young men who had done this, and I let him know not only did I forgive him, but more importantly, God forgave him. About a month or so later, he actually came to church with me!!
Just as a side note, the mountains behind us are where we previously lived, and they are a reminder of the awesome things God has been doing in our lives!
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Regarding my wife being diagnosed with liver failure, she'd been laying around complaining about not feeling well for some time, and at least now with the diagnosis, we knew what we were dealing with. She wasn't just being lazy (as I had occasionally thought from time to time), but she really had a serious condition, and knowing this helped me to gain a better perspective on the situation, and start getting her the help she needed!
When my employer told me that my part time job was coming to an end, he put me in touch with a cabinet shop down the street, and, at least for 8 months, until they ran out of work for me, I was able to work full time instead of part time! For many years prior to this, God knew I had actually wanted to work in a cabinet shop, but I'd never had the opportunity to do so. God promises us that He will give us the desires of our hearts, and in this case, He did just that!! Also, a few months before the cabinet shop ran out of work for me, God spoke to my heart through a dream, and through some other related circumstances, about advances in medical technology that were coming in the future. I didn't understand right away what He was trying to tell me, but while looking on the internet for a better paying job, a particular ad caught my eye. When I called the person who placed the ad, I learned that was a born again believer, and in a matter of only three weeks from the day he began a new safe, non-toxic treatment, he'd been healed  of a five year battle with bladder cancer, his Doctor declared him cancer free. Immediately, I knew the product he'd taken was the one the Lord had been speaking to me about, and that I needed to begin telling people about it. If you'd like more information on this, please call me at 865-719-9096.
Since our home internet service was disconnected, I've had to go to the library from time to time to check my e-mails and look for work (that's where I'm writing this article). As a result of this, a couple of weeks ago, I met a man at the library who was facing an unwanted divorce. Over the next few weeks, as the Lord reminded me, I prayed for his situation, and just a couple of days ago, I learned that the Lord has softened his wife's heart, and they are now in the process of working things out! If our internet service hadn't been disconnected, I would have never had a chance to speak to this man and to pray for him. God is so awesome, and has a purpose for everything!!
When I split my head open, even though I learned from a nurse friend of mine that the wound really needed stiches, in part because the wound was already starting to heal, and also because I couldn't afford another doctor bill, I opted to just pray and ask God to complete the healing. That was two weeks ago, and the wound has totally healed on it's own, with only one application of an antibiotic ointment!
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Finally, while writing this article, I realized something else good has actually come from all of this. To be specific, sharing these testimonies with you have served to encourage me greatly, reminding me once again that though there are still things I need to overcome, the Bible says in Revelation 12:11, "And they overcame him (satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony...!" Are you struggling with, "negative," things in your life? Well, maybe this would be a good time to take an inventory of the good things which have happened along the way. Then, find a way to share these good things with others. You may be surprised how much better doing this will make you feel, and you never know who God may enable you to encourage! Also, remember that worrying (and I've certainly done my share) won't make things any better! As the Bible puts it in Matthew 6:26 and following:
"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you  will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."
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Shalom and Blessings in our Messiah!
Richard W. Fischer, Jr.
To share your comments, questions, or prayer requests, send an e-mail to:
To read other miraculous personal testimonies, click on the links at the top of this page.
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