The new me!

I gave my life to the Lord in the year 1991 when I found myself in a situation that I knew I could not handle on my own. My whole world came crashing down & I didn’t know where else to turn. Thankfully, I know at least one person was praying for me. A few people had witnessed to be about Christ every now and then but there was one person who stands out. He was very persistent and took time out to show Christ’s love. Maybe he did have a little something for me at the time which was not reciprocated but he never compromised his love for God. (Thank you Mr. O). Everybody relates to love and it was the true agape love shown by Mr. O that brought me to the Lord one lonely evening when I was at my wits end. I remembered everything he ever told me about God’s loves for me. I had enough of my life as I knew it and wanted out of my situation at the time. I gave my life that fateful evening in my bedroom, with tears flowing …just God & I – a wonderful experience & my life has literarily never been the same again.

It’s been many years after and I look back at where I came from and can honestly say …”If it had not been for God on my side”…… The life I led then…. Hum! I think about it sometimes and I truly cannot believe myself. I question my thoughts, judgment and actions then and find myself asking…”What were you thinking?”. I can only thank God for His grace, mercy and love for I believe that’s all that sustained me.

I wish I could tell you I became a saint from that day forward but I was far from that in fact I had up’s & down’s , high’s & lows and trust me, I’m still a work in progress. In actual fact, my truest journey in the Lord began when I rededicated my life to Him in 2003. It’s not so much that I was doing terrible things or I did not love the Lord before then, it’s just that our relationship before 2003 was at my own convenience, with a boat load of excuses to come with it. My zeal for Him was lost in the issues of life that I placed first but Thank God for Love!. He loved me enough to reel me back in. I still have not arrived, but one thing I know though is I’m a better person today than I was yesterday. For real! I strive to be a better person on a daily basis and this is not by discipline or formula but by surrender. (Remember? Not by power, not by might but by the Spirit?) Don’t get me wrong, discipline is good, formula is good (seven steps to being …..) but by living a life of surrender to God, a cleansing process began in my life that will ultimately make me the vessel He wants me to be. As I present myself as a living sacrifice, He helps me deal with those things that surface that are not part of His plan for my life. Some things I thought I had overcome resurface but by laying them down before Him and truly taking my hands off He is able to take away stuff He cannot use. Stuff that are of the flesh, stuff that have not been placed before Him for refinement. How do I check myself? – if it’s not the "Fruit of the Spirit" then it needs to go. Fruit of Spirit…Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self Control. My real check, the Holy Ghost in me!

So What?: (Phrase Coined from the Purpose Driven life daily devotional)
Love: Love unconditionally - sew seeds of Love and Love God with all your heart
I Cor 13; Mat 23: 37
Surrender: Give your life over to God, it’s the best thing you can ever do for yourself.
Mat 6:33