2. The movie The Passion of the Christ
Check out this clip from the movie set to a song called "The Reason"...it's incredible: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNgbBYdDZA8&NR=1
3. Romans 5:6-8:
"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
4. What God has done in my life:
In the last few years, God has been doing great things in my life. He brought me out of an unhealthy relationship and brought me to an open and loving church family. Now, I am finishing up a master’s degree at Columbia International University and am completing my counseling internship at my church, Spirit of Joy. Both CIU and Spirit of Joy have played an integral role in my life in helping me understand and experience the truths of God and to grow in my relationship with Him. The ways that God has grown me in the last few years have been amazing. However, my life has not always been this way.
In March of 2003, I broke up with my fiancée whom I was supposed to have married two months later. This was devastating for me, but it was what God wanted. It took many months of praying and a great lack of peace in my heart, though, before I finally realized it. Even though I knew our break-up was what had to happen, it still did not make it any easier when it finally did. That was probably my lowest point ever. I had grown up in a Christian home and knew that God was supposed to take first place in my life. I think God did take first place in my life until I met this man. During the four years that I dated him I put him first over everything, including God. This led to a skew of my morals and values and suddenly I began doing the things I used to think were wrong to do, things I thought I would never do. My life was completely out of control. Anything that I wanted, I let myself have—indulgences of all kinds. Through all of this, thankfully God continued to call me back to Him. When I finally surrendered and let God have control of my life, i.e. when I broke up with my fiancée, I had to let God take control of all the areas of my life that were out of control. This was very difficult because I wanted to be in control.
The Bible passage that became my theme passage during this period of time and continues to be is Matthew 16, a passage in which Jesus was speaking to His disciples. He said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?” Basically, through this passage God was saying to me that I needed to give Him control of all the areas of my life that I had tried to control for so long—I needed to “lose my life” for His sake. All this time, I had been trying to save my life for myself, doing whatever it was that pleased me, but in the process I was really losing out on the best part of life—an intimate relationship with God.
Of course, there was the problem of my sin. During the four years of my fiancée’s and my relationship, I disobeyed and dishonored God in more ways than I care to admit. So, how could God possibly forgive me for my sinful choices? How could I become right with God after being wrong with Him for so long? There was certainly nothing I could do to change my past or to erase my sins. But the answer lies in Jesus Christ. God sent His Son Jesus to die on a cross to pay for my disobedience. God freely forgave me and turned my life around when I confessed my sin and surrendered my life to Him. Therefore, God no longer sees my sin; all He sees is a clean, new person.
God used one of the hardest times in my life for the greatest good in my life. Today, I am living in a restored, amazing relationship with God. I am very thankful that God loved me enough to send His Son Jesus Christ to die for my sins so that I am able to have this personal relationship with Him. Though my life is certainly not easy now, it is a lot more manageable and fulfilling because I am not living it alone. Jesus is with me every step of the way, and I look forward to the day when I will spend eternity with Him in heaven.
5. Do You Know Jesus?
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