6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things.
A high-profile music and acting star experienced a dramatic change in his life about a year and a half ago; he talked about it in an interview, saying: “Some people think I lost my mind. Some people think I was brainwashed. People think a lot of different things, and I get that because, you know, when it comes to Jesus, I was so against that, and I thought everyone who followed Him was crazy and wrong,” adding, “And then I had like literal personal encounters with Jesus, like, insane, life-changing stuff.”
That is a quote from an interview with Bru on the Radio, as quoted in a Movieguide article about Joshua Bassett. That article said:
The music star publicly shared his faith in January 2023 after he had two undeniable encounters with Christ in a short period of time. Less than a month later, he committed himself to the Lord and was baptized.
Since then, Bassett has been open about his faith and the radical change in his life he has experienced since becoming a follower of Christ. His commitment to the Lord has been especially impressive, as he has faced intense backlash from his fanbase who have criticized his conversion.
Bassett said in that aforementioned interview: “The peace that I was looking for, I was reading all these books and trying to find, like, that answer to life and why we are we here and looking for that love, and every single time I felt like I was getting progress, but I was actually reaching a dead end. And I was even more and more depressed and more and more addicted, and I fell into these holes, and I wasn’t feeling that peace until I literally had the most insane encounter with Jesus..."
He added: “And then I finally felt the peace that I was always looking for...And so, it wasn’t like somebody told me, you know, about God and I just fell into the belief because I was convinced. I had to know for myself, and God showed himself to me, and I literally experienced His peace, and so that has just radically changed everything.”
That most recent Movieguide report referenced a previous article, which stated:
Pop icon and Disney Channel star Joshua Bassett recently got baptized, sharing a snippet of his testimony on Instagram.
“No other teacher gave me anywhere near the peace that Jesus Christ did,” Bassett said. “I’m here to publicly declare him as my Lord and Savior.”
“I grew up Christian,” he shared. “And I ran the other way as far as I could go, in pursuit of ‘truth,’ and that only ended in addiction, depression, suicidal ideation, eating disorder, etc.”
“The gospel is GOOD NEWS for all willing to love and obey Him who keeps your heart beating,” he added on Twitter.
Joshua wanted to know the real Jesus, and he has experienced the reality of salvation and the peace that comes from knowing Him. He was searching, and God met him along that path. We can consider whether or not we are seeking to know Jesus in all His fulness and experience His abundant love.
This young singer and actor talks about the peace of God. Philippians 4 describes it as a peace that "surpasses all understanding." Jesus offers us that peace, and we can think about the degree to which we have received it. The enemy will try to steal that peace, and circumstances will weigh heavy against it - our ability to seize and appropriate that peace is dependent on the submission of our hearts and minds to the presence of God.
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