He Came to Church!
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
In my last post, I had invited this young man to come to church and guess what? He did. He showed up! Thank you Jesus.
As our service was starting, I recognized some new boys who had just gotten to the facility, then I introduced this young man, he asked if I wanted him to say anything, I replied if you feel God is leading you to, go ahead, so he comes to the front of the service and begans to tell the boys how long he had stayed in the facility, how he went home, got back into drugs, called us and asked if he could come to live with us.
He spoke of how he had accepted Christ there at the facility and how did end up living with us for a year, what his life was like then, how he went to Russia on a Mission trip and on several Habitat for Humanity trips, and how his life was so good, that when problems came, he always knew God was there and everything was going to be okay.
He then shared how after he moved out of our home, he slowly went back to the old life and he is now on four years probation, and his life is full of problems, that things have went from bad to worse. He stumbled along and would look to me to help out, so I prompted him and he would continue. He encouraged the boys to give their heart to God and to stay away from drugs and alcohol. Later I hugged him and told him I was proud of him for being transparent and allowing God to use him. I reminded him that God loves him and it is never too late to turn and run back to him.
We had a guest speaker for church that day and he taught on Grace. I thought how appropriate. He explained how... Grace is a gift, we can't earn it, we have to accept it and when we do accept this free gift, He paid the price and the penalty for our mistakes. He redeemed us from the curse of the law, and in doing so, he adopted us, so now we are His children and it is eternal. He will never let us go and as His children we are to practice a life of repentance. He explained how much God loves us and when we understand that, we will want the free gift He is offering to us. It was an incredible message.
G- Gift
R - Redemption,
A- Adoption
C - Children
E - Eternal
So now I continue to trust God to work out His plan in my life, in your life and in this young man's life. I pray each of you have the opportunity to share the Good News of Christ's love with someone this week. God bless all of you.
As our service was starting, I recognized some new boys who had just gotten to the facility, then I introduced this young man, he asked if I wanted him to say anything, I replied if you feel God is leading you to, go ahead, so he comes to the front of the service and begans to tell the boys how long he had stayed in the facility, how he went home, got back into drugs, called us and asked if he could come to live with us.
He spoke of how he had accepted Christ there at the facility and how did end up living with us for a year, what his life was like then, how he went to Russia on a Mission trip and on several Habitat for Humanity trips, and how his life was so good, that when problems came, he always knew God was there and everything was going to be okay.
He then shared how after he moved out of our home, he slowly went back to the old life and he is now on four years probation, and his life is full of problems, that things have went from bad to worse. He stumbled along and would look to me to help out, so I prompted him and he would continue. He encouraged the boys to give their heart to God and to stay away from drugs and alcohol. Later I hugged him and told him I was proud of him for being transparent and allowing God to use him. I reminded him that God loves him and it is never too late to turn and run back to him.
We had a guest speaker for church that day and he taught on Grace. I thought how appropriate. He explained how... Grace is a gift, we can't earn it, we have to accept it and when we do accept this free gift, He paid the price and the penalty for our mistakes. He redeemed us from the curse of the law, and in doing so, he adopted us, so now we are His children and it is eternal. He will never let us go and as His children we are to practice a life of repentance. He explained how much God loves us and when we understand that, we will want the free gift He is offering to us. It was an incredible message.
G- Gift
R - Redemption,
A- Adoption
C - Children
E - Eternal
So now I continue to trust God to work out His plan in my life, in your life and in this young man's life. I pray each of you have the opportunity to share the Good News of Christ's love with someone this week. God bless all of you.
posted by Live, Love, Laugh | 9:42 PM
16 Comments:
Assume LLL
Doesn't it feel so great when God uses you? And I look at every person as a treasure like God does and Jesus is the key
Matthew 13:44
44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
When we talk to someone and tell them about Jesus , His love , how He care and how He knows your hurt.
Its like a Indiana Jones movie were he's looking for the treasure and doing things to get these hidden doors open.
Jesus's love opens the doors that are hidden.
God Bless You Sis
That's wonderful! Thanx for sharing the story, Dana.
Sounds like he's getting back on the right track. Way to encourage him along the way!
You are such an encouragement...to far more people than you'll ever realize.
This is fantastic! I love your blog =)
I've also heard that Grace stands for:
G - God's
R - Riches
A - At
C - Christ's
E - Expenses
Bless you!
I also wanted to say that living, loving and laughing are three of the best activities in life. Good on you for being such a blessing!
Thanks for stopping by my blog and for the kind words. Sounds like you have a great ministry going there - very much needed in our time in history. ec
Hello LLL,
Thank you for visiting our Prayer List.
I enjoyed reading your blog and I think you do real good work. It's so great to be used by God to lead people to the Lord.
I will visit your site more often:-)
God's Grace.
So great to hear that he made it to church and was willing to stand up and talk to the others!!
Praise God!! And you're such a wonderfully supportive person in these boys' lives. Rock on, my sister!
Wow. I am always so humbled by your stories. I wanna be like you when I grow up!!!
Dana, that's great....I bet you're beaming from ear to ear! God bless you and all that you seek.
Remember:
Ask
Seek
Knock!
Wonderful news!So glad to hear it.
I love to hear these stories. We know our Heavenly Father is bringing them in but when we can read about actual happenings we get blessed real good!
God's mercy and grace. Two of his greatest gifts.
forgiven,
wow that is a great analogy and yes it feels great when God uses me, it is very humbling even to think He could use something I have said or done, who am I?
Mike,
Your welcome, I guess this is a story that is unfolding, I wonder what the end will be, I am praying for it to end a certain way, but only God knows for sure.
Amstaff,
I hope he is, It is hard to stand by and watch as He continues to make bad choices. I talked to him on the phone today and told him he knew what to do, now all he had to do is do it!!
Joe,
God encourages me. The reason I live is to share Him. I know I needed Him and He was there, so all I can do is offer Him to others!
Kitty,
I love that! I have never heard that one about GRACE!
mreddie,
thanks for stopping in!
Corry,
Thank you for being such a blessing!
Shelley,
I was so surprised when he wanted to speak, I never expected him to.
Jayleigh,
I hope you are feeling better!
Jennifer,
You are a real blessing to me, you always perk my interest in knowing more in depth what I already believe.
Bonnie,
You always make me laugh, you bless me in so many ways.
Ordinary,
I am still praying for your family and Matt!
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