“God is looking for men through whom He can do the impossible.” - A.W. Tozer
For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.
Check out this testimony by Jeff - a former drug addict and online porn producer:
Yes, I was everything that I’ve listed in my title and more. I was a drug addicted, spending some 140 hours out of a week, high on E. Yes, I was an online porn producer shooting thousands of hours of video and millions of images.
However, now I am a Christian and I’ve been saved for 18 months. I want to be very clear on something. The day I was saved, this didn’t all go away for me. I didn’t suddenly become a better person or better then any of you. I’m just a guy, struggling to become what God would want me to be. Everyday I struggle. I wonder how God could love me after all I have done. I lack a lot of self esteem when dealing with others because of my past. I often wonder how in the world they could like me. I don’t date, at all, because I feel a real girl could never love me back because of my past. I didn’t just wake up the day after I was saved with a new brain and thoughts. I still struggle with some of the things that put me where I was and what I had become. My mind was and still is in many ways, polluted by my past and things I still see and run into everyday. I feel like such a loser when I end each day knowing the mistakes I made, even minutes before I fall asleep. You see, I’m not a whole lot different then I was just 18 months ago. I’m a sinner, we all are. Yet, God still loves me, no matter what. You see, I am in Christ, I ask Him to forgive me of my sins back there on July 18 2006. And Romans 8:1 says there is NO condemnation for those who are in Christ. That means, despite my daily mistakes, He forgives me…. and you! I can be real and who I am without the guilt of my mistakes. That does not give us a free pass ot continue to sin, but it does give us His grace so that when we do, we can address it, through Christ, then move on. I can be Jeff, the former drug addicted porn producer, yet still be all that God would have me to be. Satan wants us to be bound by our past. He wants us to think we can’t be anything more then the mistakes we make. He wants us to be reminded, everyday on all the things we have done in our past that we are embarrassed about and things no one else knows. He does that to defeat us, so we don’t move forward… so we stay a captive to our past.
I’ve let Satan dictate my future based on my past over the last month or so. He reminds me EVERYDAY that I was exactly what the title of my page says. He has told me that I will never amount to anything because of it. He has told me that I should live in a state of oppression due to the things I’ve done. He says… “Jeff, no one will like you, no one will follow you, and you will not be allowed to work in some areas. You will always be a second class citizen!” Folks that is a LIE! Of course he would say that. He, Satan wants everyone to live that way… oppressed and depressed. He knows that if he can control our minds, he controls us.
Maybe that you today. Maybe you feel as if you can never amount to anything because of your past or things you think about or do in private. I’m here to tell you that it’s a lie. You can, for the God of creation is in control. Don’t you think that the God who spun the Universe into place is bigger then your past and failures? Oh my is HE! God longs for you to be free of all your past and the things that haunt you. Give him your past. Let it go! Tell people that you are just human, trying to make it through. Being real and transparent to others will show them there is hope for them also. It also is a HUGE kick in the teeth for Satan who wants our past and failures kept hidden, eating away at us. Once it is out, we give God the victory and it destroys Satans plan to oppress us.
Anyways, I just felt like sharing that today. It was a subject that was covered in our Church today and something I was really dealing with personally.
- Jeff
Related Links:
- and heat pours in instead!
Lacey 13
Originally uploaded by flyleaf_forever
We’ve all been there. Our best plans to fix our problems result in more problems - not less! The harder we try, the more we fail - and it all leaves us feeling worthless and tired. I guess that’s the hard lesson that we have to learn in life. Strength comes from our weakness! Why? Because only when we reach the realization that we are weak and powerless will we let God in to fix what is broken in our lives. We are the broken ones - in body, spirit, and soul. Only God can heal us, and give us the power to not only live, but live victoriously in Christ!
FLYLEAF - ‘Perfect’ (MP3 clip)
Sick of circling the same road
and sick of bearing the guilt
So open the windows to cool off
And heat pours in insteadPerfect in weakness
I’m only perfect in just Your strength aloneAll my efforts to clean me
leaves me putrid and filthy
And how can You look at me
when I can’t stand myself?I’m tired, to be honest,
I’m nobodyPerfect in weakness
I’m only perfect in just your strength alonePerfect in weakness
I’m only running in just your strength alone
From God’s word…
2 Corinthians 12:9
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
“Many people think of God watching us though He were looking for a chance to spear us through with a lightning bolt. If you or I feel that, it’s because of our own sense of shame and guilt for what we’ve done. That guilt deserves to be felt, but it isn’t God’s attitude toward us; it’s our own sense of alienation because of our sin. It doesn’t represent God’s heart.” - Jack Hayford
“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’ So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
Who are you God?
WATERMARK - ‘You Are’ (MP3 clip)
Keeper,
Sustainer,
Shelter,
Life and Love,
Righteous,
Mysterious,
Spontaneous,
Madly in love with me…You are these things
Father, You are my everything
You are to me
Jesus, You are my everythingYou hovered over all that was void
And You made beauty out of nothing
You made it all and saw it was good
You made it wonderful …
Because You’re wonderful
