GOD changed me from a hater and denier into a LOVER OF HIM!
Oct 4, 2017 10:34:44 GMT -6
whatif likes this
Post by jlr1701 on Oct 4, 2017 10:34:44 GMT -6
Hey everybody,
I just posted this to Facebook, and I thought I would share it here too.
My awesome friend Kristen commented last night that if a decision on whether to buy a very expensive old VHS concert tape was my only conundrum, that life must be good. And I responded that life is extremely good! And let me explain why:
Yes, my father is terminally ill, and I am his full time caretaker. My mother is also dealing with stuff going on because of her age. Because of Hurricane Harvey, I've had two really bad months at my booth, and right now it is costing me money that I really don't have to spare to have it and keep it going. But... that's nothing compared to what my friends whose houses flooded are going through right now. So yes, there is a lot of stress in my life. But it is not bothering me one bit because God is much stronger than any amount of stress that may be hitting me at any given time.
And that brings me to the biggest reason that my life is so amazingly awesome right now -- what GOD has done in my life! And not just what He has done but what He is doing right now at this very moment!
It started several months ago when God miraculously freed me from the festering, always churning, seemingly bottomless pit of internal anger and rage that I lived with for MANY YEARS! I used to be a very angry person! I learned to act like everything was fine when I was around others, but inside I was usually raging about something. And sometimes that rage would explode and I would scream and throw stuff through walls or I would scream profanity at the top of my lungs over the phone at whoever had me pissed off at that moment. And everyone who has been friends with me long enough knows how often I used to post angry rants on Facebook... And even when I wasn't actively raging at someone, angry fantasies usually occupied my mind when it was idle. ALL of that anger and ALL of that rage is just simply GONE now! I didn't expect it to happen and I didn't ask for it, but yes it absolutely got my attention! And, clearly, it was a supernatural MIRACLE that only GOD could have accomplished! And yet... as awesome as that miracle was, it wasn't enough to bring me back to faith in Christ. So God kept working... Thanks to a book I found in a thrift shop here locally, I discovered the New Thought movement, and for a while I thought maybe this stuff was for me. It turned out not to be, but God used that material to soften my heart toward Him and to get me thinking seriously about Him again.
And then... I discovered the www.unsealed.org website and a few others similar to it, and God really got my attention! I started thinking about biblical prophesy seriously again, and I realized that we are indeed living in the very last of the Last Days before the return of Christ! I got really excited, and I still am! I don't have a clue when Jesus will return. No man knows the day or the hour, but we can know the season, and we are definitely there! ALL of the signs of the times in which we live are there and EVERYTHING is in place!
But the soon return of Jesus Christ aside for the moment, God used that information to bring me fully back to faith in Him! And He has completely restored my faith in the truth of His Word! I have heard the claim so many times that actually reading the Bible will turn you into an atheist. I even made that claim myself back in my hardcore atheist days. But... I find that that is actually the farthest thing from the truth! When I read the Bible, I stand in awe of how beautiful it is! I rejoice as I read about who God is and what He has done for us and I learn about who I am in Christ because of His finished work on the cross! The more I read God's Word, the stronger and more vibrant my faith in Him becomes! His Word is Truth, and it is LIFE! I love to read and study the Word of God!
God has confirmed His reality and the truth of His Word in so many ways! He has sent books and websites my way, and wonderful study Bibles, but the work He has been doing in my life on a personal level is the most amazing thing! I spent so many years publicly and vocally and very angrily opposing God. I HATED God and everything He stood for. I totally gave up on God, but the amazing thing is that He never gave up on me! God's Love broke through all of that anger and all of that hatred, and He transformed me from a hater and denier of God into a LOVER OF GOD!!
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the most beautiful and the most amazing message that mankind has ever received! God humbled Himself and became a human being, so that He could show us the way back to Him! Jesus Christ willingly bore my sins in his body on the cross! He died for my sins and rose again for my salvation and justification before God. I have been made right with God because of what Jesus did for me. And I have eternal life RIGHT HERE AND RIGHT NOW in Jesus Christ! It doesn't matter to me at all whether I have one day or 51 more years on this earth. For me to live is Christ and to die is gain! I have the amazing privilege of dedicating every fiber of my being to the Lord Jesus Christ and living for Him every moment of every single day! And when my time to leave this world comes, I will spend eternity worshiping the God and the Savior who GAVE ME LIFE and FREED ME from so much misery! And whatever trials I go through for whatever remains of this life here on earth are NOTHING compared to what my future holds -- an eternity in Heaven with my Lord Jesus Christ! An ETERNITY!! It will NEVER END!! I get the incredible honor and privilege and JOY of worshiping Jesus Christ FOREVER!! And not because of anything I have done, but because of who He is and what HE has done!!
I'm having a manic episode? No, not hardly. My mental health is just fine, thanks. I have found LIFE and JOY and PEACE beyond belief in the last place I expected to find it -- in the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the Lord Jesus Christ! I will sing His praises FOREVER!! And I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of GOD living inside of me! It is my JOY and my SALVATION!
The Lord is my strength and my shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving. (Psalm 28:7 NLT)
I just posted this to Facebook, and I thought I would share it here too.
My awesome friend Kristen commented last night that if a decision on whether to buy a very expensive old VHS concert tape was my only conundrum, that life must be good. And I responded that life is extremely good! And let me explain why:
Yes, my father is terminally ill, and I am his full time caretaker. My mother is also dealing with stuff going on because of her age. Because of Hurricane Harvey, I've had two really bad months at my booth, and right now it is costing me money that I really don't have to spare to have it and keep it going. But... that's nothing compared to what my friends whose houses flooded are going through right now. So yes, there is a lot of stress in my life. But it is not bothering me one bit because God is much stronger than any amount of stress that may be hitting me at any given time.
And that brings me to the biggest reason that my life is so amazingly awesome right now -- what GOD has done in my life! And not just what He has done but what He is doing right now at this very moment!
It started several months ago when God miraculously freed me from the festering, always churning, seemingly bottomless pit of internal anger and rage that I lived with for MANY YEARS! I used to be a very angry person! I learned to act like everything was fine when I was around others, but inside I was usually raging about something. And sometimes that rage would explode and I would scream and throw stuff through walls or I would scream profanity at the top of my lungs over the phone at whoever had me pissed off at that moment. And everyone who has been friends with me long enough knows how often I used to post angry rants on Facebook... And even when I wasn't actively raging at someone, angry fantasies usually occupied my mind when it was idle. ALL of that anger and ALL of that rage is just simply GONE now! I didn't expect it to happen and I didn't ask for it, but yes it absolutely got my attention! And, clearly, it was a supernatural MIRACLE that only GOD could have accomplished! And yet... as awesome as that miracle was, it wasn't enough to bring me back to faith in Christ. So God kept working... Thanks to a book I found in a thrift shop here locally, I discovered the New Thought movement, and for a while I thought maybe this stuff was for me. It turned out not to be, but God used that material to soften my heart toward Him and to get me thinking seriously about Him again.
And then... I discovered the www.unsealed.org website and a few others similar to it, and God really got my attention! I started thinking about biblical prophesy seriously again, and I realized that we are indeed living in the very last of the Last Days before the return of Christ! I got really excited, and I still am! I don't have a clue when Jesus will return. No man knows the day or the hour, but we can know the season, and we are definitely there! ALL of the signs of the times in which we live are there and EVERYTHING is in place!
But the soon return of Jesus Christ aside for the moment, God used that information to bring me fully back to faith in Him! And He has completely restored my faith in the truth of His Word! I have heard the claim so many times that actually reading the Bible will turn you into an atheist. I even made that claim myself back in my hardcore atheist days. But... I find that that is actually the farthest thing from the truth! When I read the Bible, I stand in awe of how beautiful it is! I rejoice as I read about who God is and what He has done for us and I learn about who I am in Christ because of His finished work on the cross! The more I read God's Word, the stronger and more vibrant my faith in Him becomes! His Word is Truth, and it is LIFE! I love to read and study the Word of God!
God has confirmed His reality and the truth of His Word in so many ways! He has sent books and websites my way, and wonderful study Bibles, but the work He has been doing in my life on a personal level is the most amazing thing! I spent so many years publicly and vocally and very angrily opposing God. I HATED God and everything He stood for. I totally gave up on God, but the amazing thing is that He never gave up on me! God's Love broke through all of that anger and all of that hatred, and He transformed me from a hater and denier of God into a LOVER OF GOD!!
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the most beautiful and the most amazing message that mankind has ever received! God humbled Himself and became a human being, so that He could show us the way back to Him! Jesus Christ willingly bore my sins in his body on the cross! He died for my sins and rose again for my salvation and justification before God. I have been made right with God because of what Jesus did for me. And I have eternal life RIGHT HERE AND RIGHT NOW in Jesus Christ! It doesn't matter to me at all whether I have one day or 51 more years on this earth. For me to live is Christ and to die is gain! I have the amazing privilege of dedicating every fiber of my being to the Lord Jesus Christ and living for Him every moment of every single day! And when my time to leave this world comes, I will spend eternity worshiping the God and the Savior who GAVE ME LIFE and FREED ME from so much misery! And whatever trials I go through for whatever remains of this life here on earth are NOTHING compared to what my future holds -- an eternity in Heaven with my Lord Jesus Christ! An ETERNITY!! It will NEVER END!! I get the incredible honor and privilege and JOY of worshiping Jesus Christ FOREVER!! And not because of anything I have done, but because of who He is and what HE has done!!
I'm having a manic episode? No, not hardly. My mental health is just fine, thanks. I have found LIFE and JOY and PEACE beyond belief in the last place I expected to find it -- in the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the Lord Jesus Christ! I will sing His praises FOREVER!! And I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of GOD living inside of me! It is my JOY and my SALVATION!
The Lord is my strength and my shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving. (Psalm 28:7 NLT)