Many people ask this question when they come to the cross and surrender over their lives to Jesus– now what?

For me, after that first confession of faith, a beautiful but difficult process of healing, transformation and growth began.

There are a few things in my life that changed immediately.

First, I quit smoking weed. I didn’t need it anymore. By the power of God, that chain fell right off of me. I will confess that I have relapsed a handful of times. My recovery hasn’t been perfect, but nothing gave me freedom from addiction like Jesus did.

Second, I started reading my Bible every day. I wanted to know God’s Word, and I didn’t want to fall for any of the world’s lies about what the Scriptures say. I was also praying which was something I’d never really done before, and writing many songs.

Third, I surrounded myself with people in the faith. I went to my Christian counselor on Wednesdays, bible study on Thursdays, Celebrate Recovery on Fridays, and worship on Sundays. I was blessed to have men and women invest in relationships with me so that I could learn from them.

I didn’t do any of these things out of obligation. I was actually freed to enjoy them by the power of God. Jesus really brought me into a whole new life.

The idea for this podcast came together through years of disappointments and doubts, where God continually revealed Himself to me through the redemption of my pain, rather than the absence of it. I began to understand that there was a holy connection between suffering and of God’s glory, that the process of sanctification could not be bypassed or rushed through or we would miss the true purpose: Forming God’s character within us so that we become vessels of His very presence.  Suffering & Glory– through the cross of Jesus Christ, these two things come together, married in a sense, inseparable for the Christian being continually renewed by the Holy Spirit.  I want to share with you my testimony– my story about how God’s grace flooded my life and changed everything. For this episode, we’ll focus on how I came to know Christ, and then next episode will be part two, where I share what I’ve been through since coming to Christ.

We have three enemies bent on our destruction: the world, the flesh, and the devil. We are at war. Every day, we face battles that will test our faith, and reveal what we believe about who God is and who we are in Christ. These truths make God’s promise to be with us even more precious, and I can personally testify to seeing His glory even more through my hardest times.

The war in the spiritual realm began when creation rebelled against the Creator. We talked about how the Fallen angel Lucifer, also known as Satan, inhabited a Serpent and convinced Eve to disobey God, and then Adam followed suit. God pronounced a curse on all creation, but also promised that He would bring redemption through the seed of the woman. That seed is Jesus Christ, and He has the power to overcome Satan because He is fully man, and fully God. On the cross 2,000 years ago, Jesus paid the price for sin and offered salvation to all who believe. Before He took His final breath, He said, “It is finished.”

These three words are so powerful for anyone in the midst of a suffering season. We have an already-but-not yet, signed, sealed, and delivered victory over sin and death and hell in Jesus, who was raised on the third day and is seated on the throne of Heaven at the right hand of the Father.

But Satan has not yet been cast into hell. The fallen angels still run amok here on the earth, and we can see it all around us. Poverty, injustice, brutality, disease, greed, abuse, corruption, you name it. We find it hard to trust our neighbors, our governments, our own families, because sin is still present here on the earth and the influence of Satan still rages on.

The Scriptures call believers in Christ not to take a passive role in the spiritual war, but to take an active role. We are called to trust in God, to abide in Him, and to take up our weapons and fight. What weapons? Not swords. Not guns. Not fists.

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“The Lord is My Salvation” Keith and Kristin Getty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjOGX5zT8KU

Scripture: Exodus 14-15

“How Long, O Lord (Psalm 13)” Sovereign Grace Music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdUnNIktxxI

Scripture: Psalm 13

“E6” Evvie McKinney

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxtpI43UwMA

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-18

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In the previous episode, I explained that the Scriptures reveal a sacred link between suffering and glory. All of our grief, pain, illness, persecution, and anxiety has a cosmic purpose that magnifies God and brings eternal good to those who are in Christ.  Before I address the process of sanctification, in which God makes us more like Jesus through suffering– I will talk more about this in future episodes– I want to sit with you in your pain.  Why?  Because I’m in pain, too. I don’t know what you’re going through, but I know we all have it. And if we’re not in a season of suffering now, we either just got out of one, or there is one coming. It’s just a reality of life in this broken world where sin and death are present.  But we are not alone.  This is the promise of God to His children, originally stated in Deuteronomy 31:6 and then restated with personal pronouns in Hebrews 13:5– God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."  Never means never. God doesn’t lie. He always keeps His word.   But what if you don’t feel it? But what if you don’t feel God?  That is what this podcast is all about. I pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal His presence to you by grace and through faith. If He does for even just one person

Are you in a situation you just don’t understand?  Are you trying to discern God’s will, but struggling to understand why things look the way they do?  Maybe you thought for sure you were going to get that job, win that competition, pass that exam, or marry that man? Maybe you’ve been praying for the desires of your heart. Maybe you’ve lost something– or someone– dear to you.  The uncertainty, the anxiety, the lack… it’s hurting you. It’s causing you to suffer.  If that’s you today, sister, I want you to know that you’re not alone.  Through His Word, God offers so much hope and meaning to those who suffer, and if we’re willing to hear it, we can truly find comfort and peace in the midst of trials. My goal is to encourage you through what God has revealed to me about the purpose of pain in His working out of all things for our good and for His glory.