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God Bailed Me Out

This hope does not disappoint us, for God has poured out his love into our hearts by means of the Holy Spirit, who is God’s gift to us.

[ Romans 5:5 (GNT)]

Beverlynn says:

God saved my life, when I was sent to jail by a lady I’ll call, Judge LW. She sent me to a SUS place for people with mental illnesses who were on doctor medication and couldn’t say off street drugs. Boy, was I angry with this lady! But in the end I realized that it was not her fault. If I wasn’t on street drugs in the first place I would not have been sent to jail.

I got my life together, and now I am ten years clean. I have a job, a home and a better lifestyle. I still have seizures and other medical problems but the only medication I take is the seizure medication ONLY because seizures hurt especially badly when you don’t know they are near. God has been an awesome God to me. He gave me a new dream and a new chance with life.

I never would have thought that I would be able to get off SSI even though they say I owed 7,753.00. I owed the fire department for ambulance service when my chest was hurting from stressing and worry about things I could not change by myself. These problems are still in my life BUT the stress isn’t.

I tell people that I am still, and will always be working on my recovery. I have been to Albany, NY a number of times to tell my story…of how the depression had me in its grip. But that now I don’t even take the medication, because when God gave me a job at the age of 52 I got better with my mind.

I didn’t realize how much I missed working. I am a better person because I have a higher power in my life that wakes me up in the morning and goes with me to work at night. I have not looked back since. I have gratitude in my life, and I am happy because my mother and father are still alive. Even though my dad is in the fourth stage of Alzheimer’s, at least my mother still knows and recognizes me, and that is what counts right now. Praise God.

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Circle of Prayer

Circle of Prayer is a ministry of the American Bible Society, a Christian ministry that has been engaging people with the life-changing message of God’s Word for nearly 200 years.

Also check out our Bible Search and Scripture journeys tools.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Story posted on Friday, June 18th, 2010 and is filed under Drugs & Alcohol, God's Love, Hope, Your Stories. | No Comments »

Jesus was the cure to my Addictions

Thus saith the Lord God; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded.

[ EZEKIEL 36:33 (KJV)]

Jodie says:

I stumbled down a road of despair; felt that my voice couldn’t be heard thru the layer of labels & paperwork that grew endlessly in my file each year. Files under the feelings and actions of depression, self mutilation, drugs and even prostitution… What struggle are you facing? – You’re not alone, I’ve been there.

Can u relate in any way? Have u ever felt anger, fear, or hate?

I turned my back on society in a heart beat because I grew sick & tired of people. I decided no-one else was gonna have any control or say. You know how it is: you get a hurt a few times & put the walls up so high within, no one can see in… Yet they are up so high up you can’t see over them either.

I lost track of time as addictions took over, demons had me tripping up everywhere, running in circles from everything & everyone… that’s the game u begin to play, but I never knew- theres no way out, nothing to gain.

At 19 yrs old I woke up & realized I had a choice- Jesus was that choice. Jesus had died on the cross for my sins & in Him I could find peace… I gave God my life, asked Jesus for forgiveness and slowly but surely things in my life started to change. I got to reading the Bible, talking to Jesus thru out each day through prayer, and hope has filled my heart, love & compassion overflowing- freedom came.

What I can say today without question is that you need Jesus in your life today! ONLY He can set you free from your pain.

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Circle of Prayer

Circle of Prayer is a ministry of the American Bible Society, a Christian ministry that has been engaging people with the life-changing message of God’s Word for nearly 200 years.

Also check out our Bible Search and Scripture journeys tools.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Story posted on Friday, June 4th, 2010 and is filed under Drugs & Alcohol, Evangelization, Grace, Hope, Overcoming sin, Your Stories. | No Comments »

The Power of God

Jesus answered, “What is humanly impossible is possible for God.”

[Luke 18:27 (GNT)]

Avery says:

I was in my junior year of college first semester in 2007, I was an out of state student and financial aid only helped out a little, so to cover the balance for tuition I took out student loans. I knew as being a child of God, there had to be some ideal way that only God could allow for me get more financial help. So, I started working for my college major’s department, that way I put at least a few dollars in my pocket. Then one morning I woke up believing and trusting God that he would answer my specific prayer. My prayer was simply to get a scholarship in a way where all I had to do was sign my name on a dotted line. Now this was a challenge for me to have that much faith and trust in God to answer this prayer knowing how impossible it sounds. BUT with God anything is possible.

Couple days later a great friend of mine called me, I was on the way to class when she sternly said, “Avery come to the technology department now! One of the advisors has an extra scholarship to hand out to a student who had a 3.2 or higher GPA so I gave them your name.” I went straight to the advisor and they checked my status to make sure I was eligible and said here’s a form that you fill out as scholarship recipient…just date and SIGN at the bottom!!!

And on top of that I received a scholarship every semester till I graduated, which was May 2008 with summa cum laude honors. I was soo overjoyed. So don’t under-estimate the Power of God and the Power of Prayer and remember while praying be specific. Thank You Jesus!! God Bless you all!

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Circle of Prayer

Circle of Prayer is a ministry of the American Bible Society, a Christian ministry that has been engaging people with the life-changing message of God’s Word for nearly 200 years.

Also check out our Bible Search and Scripture journeys tools.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Story posted on Friday, June 4th, 2010 and is filed under Hope, Struggles, Your Stories. | No Comments »

God is the ONLY solution

In view of all this, what can we say? If God is for us, who can be against us?

[Romans 8:31 GNT]

Emily says:

As a sixteen year old who has suffered depression and overcame three years as a cutter, I believe that God heals all wounds! Psalm 147:3 says, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” It has been almost a year without having a blade touch my skin and amazingly, I do not have any more scars! They have disappeared, no medicine, no science can do that…only GOD!

I don’t think I could ever explain to you how alone, how abandoned I felt, leading up to the things that I did. The one thing I found out though is that God is the only answer, the only solution to my problem. I still have problems with trust and being close to people. However, I have never in my life felt closer to God than I do now. God is my one friend that I can always depend on. Nothing I can do will ever take His love away, even when everyone else has left me.

If it wasn’t for God, I don’t know if I would have ever stopped cutting. I don’t even know if I would be alive! I think it is important for every single person to develop a relationship with Jesus Christ and establish him as your personal LORD and SAVIOR! He will never leave you no matter what, and if you have him, you don’t need anyone else.

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Circle of Prayer

Circle of Prayer is a ministry of the American Bible Society, a Christian ministry that has been engaging people with the life-changing message of God’s Word for nearly 200 years.

Also check out our Bible Search and Scripture journeys tools.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Story posted on Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 and is filed under God's Love, Hope, Sadness, Struggles, Your Stories. | 1 Comment »

Faith after losing my job

So then, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through preaching Christ.

[Romans 10:17 GNT]

Lyle P. says:

When I lost my job, I found out that my faith was really in myself and not in God – and that the only way to build a real faith in Jesus is through His Word.

I am a middle-aged, middle-class male, raised in a Christian family and happily married with 4 wonderful children. Like many people, I sometimes struggled with doubt and sin but felt like I generally had my life together, with a strong faith that could withstand difficulties.

Until my job ended. Then, my security fell apart, my bucolic suburban bubble was popped, and I was forced to confront my own mortality, fears and self perception – at the same time that my kids were hitting their teenage years. I was struggling to hold things together, while still modeling to them a trust in the Lord – as my savings were dwindling rapidly.

My faith was at a low ebb. I was fearful. But then my new faith was born, one which has come not from vague sentiments or feelings or my own strength but rather is anchored in the person of Jesus as revealed through his own book, the Bible. His Word tells me of a loving person who lived a consistent life, regardless of circumstances, and talks repeatedly about an accessible God who can be trusted and who wants to give me peace. And His Love is changing my life from one filled with fear and regret to one built on a real, revealed faith built on His Word.

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Circle of Prayer

Circle of Prayer is a ministry of the American Bible Society, a Christian ministry that has been engaging people with the life-changing message of God’s Word for nearly 200 years.

Also check out our Bible Search and Scripture journeys tools.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Story posted on Tuesday, June 1st, 2010 and is filed under Bible, Hope, Struggles, Your Stories. | 3 Comments »

Cry out to God

For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.

[John 3:16 (GNT)]

Truc says:

I was an ordinary teenager, no different from any other till one day that all began to change. I had lost sight and interest in all my goals, I was lost in depression and began to get a sinking feeling that the world was against me. I thought to myself that it’s because I’ve been hurt that all these unlucky things were happening to me. So, in my hour of need, I read The Bible and cried out to God. I said, “Father forgive me,” knowing that everything is God’s Will, and God is a Just and loving God. Now, I am getting better, I am hopeful and looking to the future. I learned that we just have to share ourselves with God, and He will know how, and with what, to response to us with.

I believe in God, as He is always in my life.

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Circle of Prayer

Circle of Prayer is a ministry of the American Bible Society, a Christian ministry that has been engaging people with the life-changing message of God’s Word for nearly 200 years.

Also check out our Bible Search and Scripture journeys tools.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Story posted on Friday, May 7th, 2010 and is filed under Bible, Hope, Sadness, Your Stories. | No Comments »

Jesus, My Savior

Jesus spoke to the Pharisees again. “I am the light of the world,” he said. “Whoever follows me will have the light of life and will never walk in darkness.”

[John 8:12 (GNT)]

Reginald says:

I believe with all my heart that Jesus has transformed my life. To me, the devil talks to me in my own voice so I think whatever he says is the truth. But I know now that it isn’t the truth, it’s a lie. The only truth I know is found in the gospel of our King the great God Almighty, The Bible! If it doesn’t align up with the scripture then it isn’t the truth.

My life was saved when I ask Jesus to come into my life, forgive my sins and wash me with his blood. This was the beginning of a relationship which grows everyday in leaps and bounds. You see I was hooked on things that I thought made me cool and popular. Instead I realized that these very things were dragging me down a tunnel straight to hell. Satan had a grip on my life and I fell into darkness and was completely devastated. I had no job, no friends, no where to turn to I was lost in darkness. But in a moment of desperation, I cried out to the Lord for help as my last resort. I had ignored the Lord so many times before that I doubted my cries, saying to myself “I had my chance and blew it.” But this was not to be, for when I cried out to the Lord Jesus Christ, he gave me his grace. It was the same grace he had given me countless times before when I was young, then again when I was sick, and yet again when I was scared. No matter how dark things had gotten, Jesus was there with his light to show me the way out. The difference this time around was that I accepted him as my Savior, My rock!

The light is much brighter in my life now. I keep my eyes on His light everyday. I can testify that Jesus is the light of life. I still experience life’s ups and downs, and even when things aren’t going well, I still rejoice knowing that Jesus will carry me when I can’t walk, He can give me peace in chaos, and that He will grant me a way when all hope is lost. He is the King of everything seen and unseen, everything that the mind can conceive and all that it can’t. Today I choose to give up my old life and follow the light of life my savior and rock, Jesus Christ! A-Men!

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Circle of Prayer

Circle of Prayer is a ministry of the American Bible Society, a Christian ministry that has been engaging people with the life-changing message of God’s Word for nearly 200 years.

Also check out our Bible Search and Scripture journeys tools.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Story posted on Friday, April 30th, 2010 and is filed under God's Love, Grace, Hope, Overcoming sin, Your Stories. | No Comments »

Comfort in Life’s Circumstances

The LORD is my shepherd; I have everything I need. He lets me rest in fields of green grass and leads me to quiet pools of fresh water. He gives me new strength. He guides me in the right paths, as he has promised.

[Psalm 23:1-3]

Carolyn K. says:
This verse provides me with spiritual comfort. It lets me know that God is with me in any
situation. That He is guiding me and my life. That all situations involves Him and that even
if it is one of darkness, that He will protect and guide me through.

This verse has impacted me through the suicide deaths of two of my teenage sons, through a residential fire, divorce, estranged relationships with children, loss of jobs, estrangements from
extended family members because I chose to leave a life of worldliness.

Of being alone and not having those you love to support the direction I’ve decided to live in the Lord.
And that through all this and much more, because I’ve turned my will and life over to God’s care and protection, Ive remained sober and dedicated to the Lord since 1982. And have tried to encourage others to seek and have a relationship with God. That to do so, will both change the person and their lives.

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Circle of Prayer

Circle of Prayer is a ministry of the American Bible Society, a Christian ministry that has been engaging people with the life-changing message of God’s Word for nearly 200 years.

Also check out our Bible Search and Scripture journeys tools.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Story posted on Thursday, March 18th, 2010 and is filed under Death, Divorce & Marital Conflict, Drugs & Alcohol, Hope, Suicide, Your Stories. | No Comments »

Verses for Comfort & Hope

And with all his abundant wealth through Christ Jesus, my God will supply all your needs.

[Philippians 4:19 GNT]

Dasheka says:

Due to the economic hardship that America seems to be in today, this verse is seems to comfort me. It reminds me that God is always with me and assures He will make sure that all of my needs are met. All I have to do is trust and obey him. I have to also allow Him to do the rest.

You can use this verse for any situation in your life; if you want to get married, if you are sick, if you are in a bad relationship – no matter what is going on in your life, this verse applies.

Others verses are Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not to thy own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.”

James 5:13-18 “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.”

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Circle of Prayer

Circle of Prayer is a ministry of the American Bible Society, a Christian ministry that has been engaging people with the life-changing message of God’s Word for nearly 200 years.

Also check out our Bible Search and Scripture journeys tools.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Story posted on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 and is filed under Bible, God's Sovereignty, Hope, Your Stories. | No Comments »

I stumble, but God has not left me

I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for. Then you will call to me. You will come and pray to me, and I will answer you. You will seek me, and you will find me because you will seek me with all your heart.

[Jeremiah 29:11-14 GNT]

Jody says:

For as long as I remember, God had always been a part of my life, but i never really knew Him. I pictured God as a punishing, menacing God who was always watching me… waiting for me to mess up so He could punish me.

When I was 14, I was sexually abused by my step-father. I was scared but at the same time I felt like I was wanted and finally loved by someone, because my parents were divorced. When I turned 16, I realized that it was not right, because I started to hear my friends talk about boyfriends, and it made me feel sick to my stomach. I tried to kill myself by taking pills – that was the start of my in and out of psych hospitals, a string of abusive relationships, and self destructive behavior.

My step-father has since passed on after accepting the Lord as his personal savior. I have forgive him, but it seems like I have not forgiven myself. I’m getting tired of my self destructive behavior – I was just arrested for domestic violence and child endangerment (I am guilty of domestic violence but not child endangerment). For the past 14 years since I had accepted God as my personal savior, I have been hot and cold with my relationship with Him. I want to be back in His arms, where I can be a testimony to others on what God has done for me. He gave me 2 beautiful sons and even though I have fallen so many times, God has never left me nor forsaken me. I know that God’s promise for a better life is coming and I have a strong faith in my God that he will have mercy on me.

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Circle of Prayer

Circle of Prayer is a ministry of the American Bible Society, a Christian ministry that has been engaging people with the life-changing message of God’s Word for nearly 200 years.

Also check out our Bible Search and Scripture journeys tools.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Story posted on Friday, January 22nd, 2010 and is filed under Drugs & Alcohol, Hope, Loving your enemies, Sadness, Your Stories. | No Comments »