Verse of the Day - 2 Corinthians 5:17

. . .anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! ~ 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT)

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Can anyone reading this say 'Amen!' to this declaration from God's Word?!? Do any of you know the reality of new life in Jesus Christ? If you have given yourself to Him, of course you do! Without Jesus Christ, we are spiritually dead in our sins -- the walking dead, I like to say. But the power of God, through Jesus Christ, makes us alive spiritually, and I believe you can tell the difference. You can look back on your own life and see the change, acknowledge the transformation. No, you're not perfect, but God has changed you on the inside, and you are simply not the person you once were. Am I right?

I grew up in a Christian home and accepted Jesus into my life at the age of 5 years old. But as I grew, I struggled with sin and self, even at an early age. Yes, I always prayed at bedtime, and I went to Sunday School and learned Bible verses, but my life was a spiritual battlefield. I knew right from wrong and deep down, I mostly wanted to do what was right, but it seemed I was relatively powerless to win those battles. As I got to be a teenager, I more and more wasn't concerned about doing what was right -- I just didn't want to get caught. So God let me have my way until one day, at 17 years old and three weeks into college, I saw the + sign on the pregnancy test. Life forever changed as I quit college and was married six weeks later. BUT -- I was stricken with remorse over my self-led life and how I'd messed things up. I repented and turned toward God. No more was my walk with Him non-chalant. I turned toward Him and sought after Him. I read my Bible and prayed with sincerity. I met daily with a Christian woman God placed in my life during that first year. I was changed for real. Changed for good. Does that mean I haven't fallen into sinful patterns since then? No. When I have chosen to walk my own way, against the leading of the Holy Spirit, I have fallen . . . at times, very hard. But God has never turned His back on me, and has used those times for teaching me important lessons about Himself, about me, and about life. My life is changed because my agenda is different, my attitudes are different, my whole character structure is different. I am being conformed to the image of Christ -- what an amazing change that is.

That's my testimony in a nutshell. And, if you are a Christ follower, you have a testimony of old life/new life also. I would love to hear it! Tell me about how "the old has gone, and the new has come"! Leave a blog comment, so that I and others can hear your story and be encouraged. We need to be a testifying people of what God can and does do in people's lives. He is a God of miracles, and every heart that is changed from death to life is an absolute miracle! So let's share the stories of God's miracles in our lives. Give Him glory and praise for what He's done!

Love,
Joelene