Out of the Darkness; Into the Light
Yesterday I took my daughter-in-law out to lunch for her birthday, and had a very pleasant time. I am so proud of God in her life. He has taken her from a very lost and confused young woman who was raised in the Jewish faith, saved her many years ago, and has made, and is continuing to make all things new in her. She once was lost, but now she's found. She's found in Him. She shared with me that the Lord is dealing with her about the walls she has erected over the years, and is showing her how to dismantle them. Oh, the wonderful work of the Spirit! My heart leapt as I heard this! He is still at work in them (her and my son) both to will and to do of His good pleasure, conforming them to His image.
As the conversation developed, I ended up telling a brief snippet of my testimony, prompted by one of her questions. A few years ago, I wrote a booklet about our families' testimony, including my won personal one. I had given a booklet to each one of our children. I guess either my daughter-in-law had forgotten it, or maybe she didn't have time to read it then. Nonetheless, now here I was re-enacting how God saved me.
I can't remember the specific year it happened. I had thought previously it was when my second son, Pat, was 16, which would have made the year 1990. One day when my 3 teenaged children were getting ready for school and about to get in the car, Pat was at the back door, and for some reason I was yelling at him. Our lives were filled with strife then. For some reason, on that day, my husband had had enough of me treating the kids like that, and so he intervened and pushed me to the floor. Many years later, he said that he had wanted to push me through the french doors on the front of our house. Anyway, they left the house, and my husband took them to school.
I was all alone on the floor, and it was very quiet and eery. I was scared, so I just remained there; I was paralyzed. I was filled with guilt, feeling like a condemned criminal waiting execution. In reality, I truly was a prisoner of my sins.
In the quiet, God brought a vision to me with interpretation and warning. He said, "If you continue to live like this, this is what your life will end up looking like and being." The vision was one of a ruined corn field, with moldy and diseased plants; no life, only death there. Immediately, He spoke to my spirit again and said that if I would turn to Him, that He would restore the years that the locusts had eaten in our lives. There was no choice. The path was clear. The die had been cast. I wanted and I needed Jesus to save me. And I indicated to Him, "I choose You."
As I relayed how God had come to me and presented me with an offer that I couldn't refuse, my daugther-in-law's eyes began to tear up. Seeing her tears made me look at what God had done for me even more clearly. Here I was a mother and wife who had failed in every sense of the word, lying there reaping what I had sown for many years, without hope, and Someone looking on, cared for me! And He came to me! He offered me a way of escape from all the pain and suffering, while I was yet a sinner; Christ died for me. There is still so much to glean from this, and I know I will continue to do so until I see Him face to face. This kind of love is unthinkable to our finite minds; surely unknowable to our hearts that have only known human conditional love.
I bought a shirt for my 13 year old grandaughter for her birthday which says, "I know where love comes from, then it says,"John 3:16." Yes, for God so loved Me, that He sacrificed His only Son, for Me. He choose to suffer tremendous pain, even the pain of having His heart ripped out as He gave up His own Son on my behalf, so that I wouldn't have to suffer anymore. He would suffer instead. And, He thinks I was worth it. A lost, lonely, sin-filled and tormented soul, lying limp on the kitchen floor, unknown to anyone but Him. He saw; He came; He loved. He offered me His light and Help in exchange for my darkness. What a deal beyond words. I am still stunned as I realize more fully just what He has done for me, because of His love.
It has been so long since I have heard this song! The love He has for me and for every sinner who is is bondage; who is figuratively, or like me even literally, on the floor and couldn't get up because I was stuck in my sins, He offers this same love and forgiveness and hope to you, if you will but receive it through His Son's death on your behalf. He died so that you might have life. Don't die in your sins, like I would have. Live!
P.S.-If you would like a copy of our families' testimony, I will send you one in the mail. My email address is on my profile, for you to let me know your postal address.
Hello, Taiwan!!!
As the conversation developed, I ended up telling a brief snippet of my testimony, prompted by one of her questions. A few years ago, I wrote a booklet about our families' testimony, including my won personal one. I had given a booklet to each one of our children. I guess either my daughter-in-law had forgotten it, or maybe she didn't have time to read it then. Nonetheless, now here I was re-enacting how God saved me.
I can't remember the specific year it happened. I had thought previously it was when my second son, Pat, was 16, which would have made the year 1990. One day when my 3 teenaged children were getting ready for school and about to get in the car, Pat was at the back door, and for some reason I was yelling at him. Our lives were filled with strife then. For some reason, on that day, my husband had had enough of me treating the kids like that, and so he intervened and pushed me to the floor. Many years later, he said that he had wanted to push me through the french doors on the front of our house. Anyway, they left the house, and my husband took them to school.
I was all alone on the floor, and it was very quiet and eery. I was scared, so I just remained there; I was paralyzed. I was filled with guilt, feeling like a condemned criminal waiting execution. In reality, I truly was a prisoner of my sins.
In the quiet, God brought a vision to me with interpretation and warning. He said, "If you continue to live like this, this is what your life will end up looking like and being." The vision was one of a ruined corn field, with moldy and diseased plants; no life, only death there. Immediately, He spoke to my spirit again and said that if I would turn to Him, that He would restore the years that the locusts had eaten in our lives. There was no choice. The path was clear. The die had been cast. I wanted and I needed Jesus to save me. And I indicated to Him, "I choose You."
As I relayed how God had come to me and presented me with an offer that I couldn't refuse, my daugther-in-law's eyes began to tear up. Seeing her tears made me look at what God had done for me even more clearly. Here I was a mother and wife who had failed in every sense of the word, lying there reaping what I had sown for many years, without hope, and Someone looking on, cared for me! And He came to me! He offered me a way of escape from all the pain and suffering, while I was yet a sinner; Christ died for me. There is still so much to glean from this, and I know I will continue to do so until I see Him face to face. This kind of love is unthinkable to our finite minds; surely unknowable to our hearts that have only known human conditional love.
I bought a shirt for my 13 year old grandaughter for her birthday which says, "I know where love comes from, then it says,"John 3:16." Yes, for God so loved Me, that He sacrificed His only Son, for Me. He choose to suffer tremendous pain, even the pain of having His heart ripped out as He gave up His own Son on my behalf, so that I wouldn't have to suffer anymore. He would suffer instead. And, He thinks I was worth it. A lost, lonely, sin-filled and tormented soul, lying limp on the kitchen floor, unknown to anyone but Him. He saw; He came; He loved. He offered me His light and Help in exchange for my darkness. What a deal beyond words. I am still stunned as I realize more fully just what He has done for me, because of His love.
P.S.-If you would like a copy of our families' testimony, I will send you one in the mail. My email address is on my profile, for you to let me know your postal address.
Hello, Taiwan!!!
posted by Patti Blount @ 6:17 AM
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