Three years. I can barely believe it. I didn't even realize what today was until I got a sweet message from a friend just encouraging me in my walk and thanking me for being a part of his. Three years of walking close with Jesus. I've spent most of the day reflecting on this legit verse in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!". What a difference between my "old" & "new"!!
I'm fairly certain I greatly confuse the people I knew back in high school, and I love it. The punch-throwing, back-talking, sailor mouthed hooligan is only a faint memory (that yes, still comes back to life in moments of weakness). I love the look on peoples' faces when they hear stories of the old me, almost as much as I love being a walking, talking testimony to the redemptive power of the God I serve. That He, and only He, could take a lost, blind wretch like me, send His son to die, and love me despite of it all blows my mind. I so want to constantly exist in this state of wonder. Even just reflecting on how far He's brought me in a year overwhelms me. Heck, for that matter, months!
I went back and listened to the Ring podcast of when I gave my testimony last year. I can distinctly remember sitting down after and being certain that I'd made zero sense and had just spent the last five minutes rambling and sounding very self-focused. But NAY! God's so much bigger then me! My story has so much power in it (even the abridged version I gave). I love the way the lyrics from Chris Tomlin's "Our God", "Our God is greater, our God is stronger" don't necessarily define what He's greater then, because He's greater then everything. He's greater then my insecurity and my past, and He needs me to love my story so I can share it with others and bring them to Him with it.
Today's my birthday. The day I actually started living.
I'm struggling to find my normally graceful words to talk about this because all I can do when I'm really excited is squeal and smile. (Insert squeal and smile here) I'm so thankful for my phenomenal community at the Ring, the people who walk with me everyday, the ones who are walking ahead of me as an example, and for Meg and Josh, the best leaders anyone could ask for (Clergy Appreciation Month-holla!) I'm thankful that God snatched me from the grave and gave me life, and I'm thankful for the command I have on my life to point back to Him.
Here's a link to the podcast with my testimony, if you're interested. There's other people on it as well, and the whole thing is for sure worth listening to. (I start at the 32 minute mark) I hope if you listen to it, it points you back to what it's really about. Not me, but my Savior.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ring-community-church-podcast/id345942819
Podcast #52 (in case the numbers change, its from 9/20/09)
{Note: if you don't want to listen to the whole thing, you need to click on the "view in iTunes" link so you can actually fast-forward.}
Jesus has the power to make me
Fearless
No comments:
Post a Comment