The Wonderful Power Of A Testimony

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Blood Of Jesus, Celebrate Recovery, Forgiveness, God, Healing, Jesus Christ, Love, New Life, Revelations 12:11, Struggles, Testimony

Oh boy, do I love hearing someone give their testimony. To hear how they hit rock bottom, call out to God for help. To hear how the blood of Jesus washed over them to bring forgiveness, healing and a new life is such a joy.

Each time I hear one I can’t help but to stand up and clap. Clap to praise God for who He is and for them for sharing and letting God have control.

Everyone has a story to tell. It may not be like mine or yours, as each one of us have different struggles. But that’s just it…we each have struggles.

And it doesn’t matter what struggles that person had or still has…it’s the fact that if God can forgive them and change them then God can change you and I.

By calling out to God and allowing Jesus’ blood, that was shed for you and I, to wash over us and cleanse us of ours sins we become a walking testimony of God’s grace and mercy. That is when we become a overcomer and a conqueror, never giving up on our faith because we know that God is faithful and will finish the good work He began in us.

Please share your story with others! Give them hope! Give them a reason to call on God in their own lives for healing, forgiveness, newness, and love.

 

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Dirty Laundry: Time To Clean

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Blood Of Jesus, Dirty Laundry, God, Life

Have you ever really cleaned a closet? I mean taking everything out and reorganizing everything as you go. I personally have. And I will tell you it’s a chore and a blessing at times to. There are a lot of things that get thrown into a closet. There are boxes in there that hold a lot of memories and while cleaning you just have to look into those boxes and remember..sometimes alone and sometimes it’s “Hey honey, come check this out!” And then after sharing the memories you put it right back where it was and close the lid. Maybe you cried, maybe you didn’t. I usually do whether it is in joy or sadness.
We would love to have everyone look into our closet and see freshly ironed shirts and pants. We like for them to look into our shirt drawer and see them neatly folded as well.
That would be perfect! But this world is a fallen mess! And our closets look nothing like that picture you just envisioned while reading the note above. Life sometimes is not pretty. Sometimes life hurts and we take our emotional clothing and just throw it in the closet, thinking it will go away or clean itself. 
They won’t! They will stay right there until you take it out, shake it off, put in through the washer..basically deal with it. You have to deal with the dirty laundry sometimes. And it hurts everytime you uncover another one. 
The cool thing about marriage is that you have someone who is willing to go through the closet of your life with you! And you know why? They love you and whatever hurts you hurts them. You are one. They want you to heal!
It really is time to clean the closets of our lives. That ole shirt we threw in the corner needs to be taken out. You grab one sleeve and and ask you spouse to grab the other. Shake it! Get the dust off and examine it. Together look at it and find that dirty spot that made you throw it the closet in the first place. Share the memories of that stain. Remember everything that affects you affects your spouse. Then pray together to find a way to wash the stain out. It may take several washings cuz there could another stain under the first one. 
And when it comes out of the dryer hang it with the “clean” shirts as a reminder of the healing that took place. After all we have the best detergent in the universe…the soul cleansing blood of the lamb.

Day 28 Of Inspiration: By His Stripes We are Healed

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Blood Of Jesus, Daily Inspiration, Isaiah 53:5, The Cross

There Is Power In The Blood: A Missed Teachable Moment

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Blood Of Jesus, Raising Godly Children, Teachable Moment

I had one of those teachable moments the other day. One I let slip through my fingers because I didn’t see it. I was not looking for one. actually.

I had decided to clean the living room rug the other day. So I asked my son, Brandon, to help. We started by spraying some solution on the rug to draw the dirt to the surface. We allowed it to dry for a while. After it had dried, we carried the rug outside and hung it over the fence to the dog pin.

We then get the water hose and change the setting on the nozzle to where it sprays a jet stream of water instead of the mist that we use for the outside plants. I take the hose and showed Brandon how to spray the rug down by starting at the top and working down. After I did the very top of the rug, I handed the hose to Brandon and showed him where to start. I told him to watch the dirt being washed away by the water.

Brandon’s response to seeing the water turn dirty as it ran down the rug was “Ewww!” I laughed because the rug was not that dirty but there was a notable difference in the coloring of the water. But he thought it was cool plus he was able to play in the water and spray just about every blade of grass within his reach.

For some odd reason I was thinking of our little job this morning and realized what it represented. It represented the shedding of Jesus’ blood and the washing away of our sins. I wish I had seen it for what it was at the moment. But I didn’t. I completely missed it.

I have told my children about what Jesus did on the cross and what the shedding of his blood meant for us many times. But dang it…to have this moment present itself as a visual aide to the washing away of our dirt..our sins…

I should have said “Brandon, look at the dirt. See how the water is washing the dirt away? The dirt is like our sins and the water is like the blood of Jesus. See how much dirt is actually in the rug? See how much power the water has? The water is washing the dirt away. That’s kind of what our sin looks like…a bunch of dirty stains on our heart. And the blood of Jesus has the power to wash those dirty spots away and make us clean, just like the water is cleaning the dirty spots on the rug.”

It does not matter if our hearts are a little dirty or downright filthy the blood of Jesus can and will wash away all the dirt. We just have to confess and ask for forgiveness.

Please parents, I know we are busy. I know we have a lot on our plates. But if a teachable moment comes by and we miss it let us promise ourselves that we will revisit that moment as quick as possible so our children will not forget what they did. And then let’s explain what happened and what it represented. Even if it is a small moment as washing a rug.