Saved By Grace

Who are you?  How do you define yourself?  What motivates you to make your decisions every day?  Is it fear, guilt, comfort, logic, finances, safety, or God’s direction and guidance?  Giving our lives to Jesus is the first step to having a relationship with Him, then He wants us to spend time with Him in His Word (the Bible), listening for His voice, and obeying Him. The closer I am to God and the more I learn to trust Him and obey Him, the more peace and confidence I have in my life.

I am a daughter of the most High King, Jesus Christ, His beloved, His friend, His anointed, His instrument on Earth to bring Truth and love to others. 

I gave my life to Jesus at the age of 18 in college, after some acquaintances shared the Gospel message with me and somehow, I knew it was true.  I grew up attending a church, but somehow never heard the Gospel message there or in my home.  Before giving my life to Christ as my Lord and Savior I had struggled with many things at various times of my life including at times feeling suicidal, thinking I was retarded, thinking that I was unlovable, wondering if I was gay or bi-sexual, having an eating disorder and basically questioning everything about who I was and what my life was about. I felt lost and useless. 

When I gave my life to Christ, the first thing He gave me was a purpose in my life; to tell others about Him.  He gave me an identity as His beloved daughter and friend and that got rid of all feelings of being suicidal.  Over the years, God has graciously taught me to trust Him, given me internal peace of mind, taken away my brief teenage questioning of my sexual identity, taught me to express my feelings instead of having them manifest in an eating disorder, given me confidence as His daughter and increased my hope and faith in Him every year as I grow in obedience.  Learning to trust Jesus does not happen overnight…it takes time and meditation on His Truths, reading the Bible, and obedience.  It takes mentors, faithful friends in the faith, and a strong Christian community to do life with.  It is a journey until they day we die and go to be with Jesus.

Looking back, my faith and positive attitude has grown the most during the biggest trials because I chose to put my trust in God in those trials.  There have been times when my own disobedience is what led to the trial and other times I have no idea why I went through a trial but you can be sure that God worked everything together for my good when I chose to trust and obey Him (Romans).  I share all of this to encourage you on your own faith journey with Jesus.  The season you are in may be hard with little to no light but if you look for the light on purpose, you will find it and God will lead you to victory and what is best for you.  This life is so very short.  Make it count.

Last night, during listening prayer, God showed me people going out doing all kinds of daily things and then in an instant it was like a bomb had gone off and there was nothing.  Life on earth was over. God said to me, “This life is short.  Worldly stuff means nothing. Make your life count for Me.  It will all be over in a blink.”  Only what we do for God matters. 

I am so very thankful for the peace God gives me and the layers of healing He has allowed in me internally over the years.  God is a miracle worker. I recall the pain, anxieties, lies that I was in bondage to and how different I feel now; how free, whole, beautiful and called for a wonderful purpose.  This peace is not situational, it is internal based on God’s truths about me.  I will be growing in these truths until I die and yes, I slip back into old stinky thinking patterns occasionally but it is less and less often.  And learning God’s truths and how to apply them in our lives happens like layers peel off an onion…I believe it would be too overwhelming if God showed us everything we need to change all at once so He lovingly molds us into His likeness over time.  As Joyce Meyers says, “I’m not where I want to be but thank God I am not where I used to be.”

Dear friends, I want you to find God’s peace and maintain it in good times and in bad, to be set free to be all God has made YOU to be.  You are uniquely made for a divine calling and purpose.  “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32. 

I am learning to be like the person described in the following verses and I want that for you too dear warrior for Jesus.

 Jeremiah 17:7-8, “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
    whose confidence is in him.
⁸ They will be like a tree planted by the water
    that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
    its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
    and never fails to bear fruit

And Psalms 1, “Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
² but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.
³ That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers.”