Not long ago I was asked by a listener to share on the podcast about how I came to know Jesus. Some of you listening who know me personally have probably heard at least a part of this story. For a lot of you, we’ve never met; you only know what you see (or hear) about my life as it is today. But that’s not the whole story—it never is.
What’s remarkable to me is that 25 years ago I would have either told you I was a Christian or that I didn’t need religion to be a good person—funny how those two positions could exist in the same person, but they did. The truth is, I was so far from God that it is only by His grace that I am here today, a transformed and redeemed person, compared to who I was then.
In case you believe otherwise, I didn’t choose Him; He pursued me until I finally reached the end of myself, gave up, gave in, and said, “Yes” to His most gracious and generous gift—Jesus. His death on the cross and His resurrection provided for me a free gift I could not earn and did nothing to deserve.
This bonus episode is a bit about the life events that led up to me receiving Christ and what happened in the years that followed as He continued to pursue my heart, heal the brokenness caused by my own decisions and rejection of Him as well as the wounds inflicted by others. He truly made me a new creation, just as Scripture, says, “… anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
For years I had been living in the muck and the mire of my sin; but nothing about it was “living.” I was really just surviving one heartbreak to the next, longing for a man who would commit his life to me and love me for who I am, even though I didn’t really know myself. Little did I know, I got exactly what I wanted, in perfect form, in Jesus.
If you’ve ever believed another person could make you whole or complete you, or if you’ve looked to people, experiences, adventures, education, notoriety or achievement to give you worth and value, you know that all of these things disappoint and fall incredibly short of those deeply held desires. Jesus is the answer to our hopes and dreams. He is enough. And, if He hasn’t already, He will complete His work in you, just as He is currently doing in me.
Thank you for wanting to hear my story, and I pray what you hear is HIS story and that He would get all the glory for what He’s done in me.
MENTIONED ON THE SHOW:
SCRIPTURE:
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
~ Romans 8:1 (ESV)
Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman ~ From Luke 7
36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. 37 When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. 38 Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”
40 Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.”
“Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied.
41 Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”
43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.”
“That’s right,” Jesus said. 44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.
47 “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” 48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?”
50 And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
~ Luke 7:36-50 (NLT)
I waited patiently for the Lord to help me,
and he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the pit of despair,
out of the mud and the mire.
He set my feet on solid ground
and steadied me as I walked along.
He has given me a new song to sing,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see what he has done and be amazed.
They will put their trust in the Lord.
~ Psalm 40:1-3 (NLT)
I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
~ Psalm 27:13-14 (NIV)
For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.
~ Zeph 3:17 (NLT)
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