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Sep 09, 2024 06:00am

From Shame to Salvation

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When I first began posting about Jesus on social media, the comments started rolling in quickly.

If I wrote about our need to protect our eyes and minds from pornography, they’d bring up a TV series I used to watch.

If I shared about being sanctified and not drinking alcohol, they’d bring up bars and clubs I had once been in.

If I shared about purity and the beautiful gift of marriage, they’d bring up past relationships I had been in.

And the worst part was that it was all true.

It was my past. I was there, I was with those people, and I did those things.

Choosing to follow Christ and sharing it with the world isn’t easy. The enemy used those comments to bring about fear, anxiety, shame, worry, anger, and hurt.

I could have easily quit. I could have said it was too much. There’s too much of my past to ever overcome.

But then I read this little quote: “Bringin’ up my past is like knocking on my old house. I don’t live there anymore.”

They only knew what they had once seen. In their eyes, I was still that girl.

But miraculously, graciously, and mercifully, God saw past it. He knew who I was, and He chose to redeem me.

He had a purpose and plan for my life, and those comments wouldn’t stop me from sharing with the world how Christ can make all things new.

I am living proof of God’s goodness and the incredible work of the Holy Spirit. I want others to know that no matter who you are, where you’ve been, or what you’ve done, God can save you and use you.

Acts 9:17-21
“Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized,
19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.
20 At once, he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.
21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?”

Saul was widely known as a persecutor of Christians. His hatred towards these people had become who he was and what he was known for.

But in a moment, all of that changed.

When we encounter Christ, change happens. At the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit enters our hearts and changes us from the inside out. Saul was living proof! But those who were there and knew the old Saul just couldn’t believe it.

So they resorted to bringing up his past.

What if Saul let that stop him? What if, at that moment, he gave up? What if he said, “Forget it!”?

God’s love, strength, power, and calling are greater in our lives than any words could ever be.

Just wait. Just watch. You’ll see. God has BIG plans to use Saul for His glory.

And He wants to do that in your life, too.

Don’t be afraid to step up and let God use your past to show His goodness.

Come to Him. Broken, beat up, used up, filthy, tired and worn. Bring it all to the feet of Jesus.

And surrender.

Here I am, Lord.

I have nothing, I am nothing, but I am yours. Use this broken vessel as you will because I owe everything to you.