22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.[b] 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For,
“All people are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.”[c]
And this is the word that was preached to you. 1 Peter 1: 22-25 NIV
I have struggled many years with my past. I have given it to God so many times. Many of you may have done this also....you go to a christian conference, special church service, or just a regular church service around Easter. You hear the truth about how your sins are forgiven and God remembers them no more. You give God the guilt and shame in that moment only to take it back a short time later. Then you walk around with the guilt and shame on your shoulders weighing you down until the next time you decide to give it to God. It's a cycle that Satan likes to keep us in. I have been attending church now for 17 years, I keep thinking to myself this should not be a problem for me. I KNOW Jesus died for my sins.....I KNOW his blood was shed for me.....I KNOW I am washed white as snow!!! I know all of this but is it in my head and just not made it to my heart? I have struggled for years as I'm sure many of you have done as well.
I can confidently say today the message has made it to my heart!!! There is hope! I recently attended an Extraordinary Women's Conference and let me tell you....God moved in a huge way in my life. Before I get to the conference I do have to say that God had been nudging me on something from my past. He has been encouraging me to share my testimony of my past. Well Satan decided to jump in there and throw his two cents in. So I negotiated with God..."not now, we have too much going on"...."I can't talk to my husband about this, he has enough stress in his life and I don't want to add to it". I managed to squash it down, like we do when we really don't want to do it. So I go to this conference and the first speaker is a man named Joe White. Within about 30 minutes of him speaking I was crying and God was speaking directly to me through this man! At the end of his session he reminded us that our sins where taken on by Christ and if we chain ourselves to Christ we are forgiven. We are purified in Christ! He asked us to write whatever our burden was on a piece of paper and walk it up to the front and finally give it to God. While I didn't walk my piece of paper up to the stage to be nailed on that cross, I did give it to God. I turned it all over to Him. I completely understood in my heart that Christ died for me. Every sin I commit, past, present and future were nailed to the cross. Christ took upon himself that day, my sin, my shame, my guilt, my past! He willingly took it so that I could be forgiven by the Almighty God! He loves me so much he shed his blood and had his body broken so that I could live in Heaven spotless and blameless! I gave it all to God that day and I can't even express the peace I have now. I don't know if I will take it back from God, I am hoping that I don't but even if I do....I know God will continue to love me and forgive me. He will cover me with His grace and mercy daily. Now as far as my testimony....well God is still working on that with me. I have made progress and I am excited to see what He has planned for me.
“My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.” Psalm 62:7 NIV
“All people are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.”[c]
And this is the word that was preached to you. 1 Peter 1: 22-25 NIV
I have struggled many years with my past. I have given it to God so many times. Many of you may have done this also....you go to a christian conference, special church service, or just a regular church service around Easter. You hear the truth about how your sins are forgiven and God remembers them no more. You give God the guilt and shame in that moment only to take it back a short time later. Then you walk around with the guilt and shame on your shoulders weighing you down until the next time you decide to give it to God. It's a cycle that Satan likes to keep us in. I have been attending church now for 17 years, I keep thinking to myself this should not be a problem for me. I KNOW Jesus died for my sins.....I KNOW his blood was shed for me.....I KNOW I am washed white as snow!!! I know all of this but is it in my head and just not made it to my heart? I have struggled for years as I'm sure many of you have done as well.
I can confidently say today the message has made it to my heart!!! There is hope! I recently attended an Extraordinary Women's Conference and let me tell you....God moved in a huge way in my life. Before I get to the conference I do have to say that God had been nudging me on something from my past. He has been encouraging me to share my testimony of my past. Well Satan decided to jump in there and throw his two cents in. So I negotiated with God..."not now, we have too much going on"...."I can't talk to my husband about this, he has enough stress in his life and I don't want to add to it". I managed to squash it down, like we do when we really don't want to do it. So I go to this conference and the first speaker is a man named Joe White. Within about 30 minutes of him speaking I was crying and God was speaking directly to me through this man! At the end of his session he reminded us that our sins where taken on by Christ and if we chain ourselves to Christ we are forgiven. We are purified in Christ! He asked us to write whatever our burden was on a piece of paper and walk it up to the front and finally give it to God. While I didn't walk my piece of paper up to the stage to be nailed on that cross, I did give it to God. I turned it all over to Him. I completely understood in my heart that Christ died for me. Every sin I commit, past, present and future were nailed to the cross. Christ took upon himself that day, my sin, my shame, my guilt, my past! He willingly took it so that I could be forgiven by the Almighty God! He loves me so much he shed his blood and had his body broken so that I could live in Heaven spotless and blameless! I gave it all to God that day and I can't even express the peace I have now. I don't know if I will take it back from God, I am hoping that I don't but even if I do....I know God will continue to love me and forgive me. He will cover me with His grace and mercy daily. Now as far as my testimony....well God is still working on that with me. I have made progress and I am excited to see what He has planned for me.
“My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.” Psalm 62:7 NIV
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