shareyourstorynow.org

I'm a New Creation

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

[2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV]

Toni writes:

When I rededicated my life to Christ in Jan. 1994, 2 Cor. 5:17 was the first verse I memorized.

It’s special to me because it assures me that I’ve been forgiven and made new in Christ.

When I decided to make Jesus my Savior and Lord, my life changed for the better. It didn’t happen overnight, it was a process, but it happened.

I don’t have to live in the past of sin and death anymore. I have been created new and am continuing to learn and go forward in the things of God.

As a sinner I lived a life that was fulfilling to me. I thought I knew what I wanted, but in all actuality I really didn’t know. I made bad decisions and suffered the consequences of them.

When I was six years old, my mother and father divorced. I was angry, became bitter and had unforgiveness in my heart. I didn’t want to ever get married or have children when I grew up. I started to experience alcohol and would have become a teenage drunk.

I truly believe the prayers of my maternal grandmother were heard and the mercies of God were upon my life. I moved to live with my grandparents, which was the best move for me. I received godly influence from my grandmother at that point.

I believe this verse of scripture (2 Cor. 5:17) really put my life in perspective when I read it, heard it, and meditated on it.

I was renewed in the spirit of my mind. I put on the mind of Christ Jesus.

My confidence and self esteem increased a great deal after reading God’s word. The word of God is life changing and is still changing my life today.

I now have been married for seventeen years and am the mother of a beautiful daughter. I have co-pastored a ministry and now am assistant pastor, along with my husband, of a great church.

I thank God for the power of His word. There are so many scriptures that have impacted my life, but 2 Cor. 5:17 is my favorite as a true believer.

Story posted on Monday, May 12th, 2008 and is filed under Praise, Bible, Hope, Drugs & Alcohol, Your Stories, Struggles, Divorce & Marital Conflict, Conversions, Life Verse. | 1 Comment »

From Homelessness to Salvation

I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

[Philippians 4:13 NIV]

Richard H. writes:

I am a 56-year-old divorced man living in Florida.

I had a really messed up childhood, starting at the age of 3, when I was adopted. I felt unloved and unwanted from the very beginning, which resulted in a lot of trouble at school, in the service, and in my marriage of 12 years to my high school sweetheart, who divorced me in 1979.

I could not hold down a job. Every job I would get I would get fired or quit for one reason or another — but the real reason was drugs and alcohol.

Eventually I lost my apartment because I could not pay rent and ended up being on the street homeless. I stayed that way for 4 years.

I thought my life was over, and I contemplated suicide many times, but I didn’t want to go to hell so I decided against it. But I was extremely miserable and had no friends.

I finally got out of the homeless camp and broke into a warehouse, where I lived in a 12×12 room.

One night I was sitting outside my warehouse, drunk as could be, when a man leaving the corner bar came walking down my street. As he approached, I saw myself in him.

This part is hard to explain, but I will do the best I can. As he got closer, I started to weep and I cried out, “God! Help me! I cannot keep going this way! Just take me out of here! I don’t want to live any more!”

And for 20 minutes or so I wept on my knees till I was exhausted. Then I got up and flopped myself down on the old broken-down couch I used for a bed and drifted off to sleep.

At six o’clock in the morning, I was awakened by someone calling my name, “Richard, Richard, Richard, you
must stop drinking, you must stop smoking, and you must go back to church.”

And as he said that, a feeling of warm liquid flowed through my body, starting from my head to the bottoms of my feet, and I yelled out, “Thank you, Jesus!”

I knew instantly that Jesus Christ had healed me, and this was before I knew what any of this meant. But I knew that I would never need drugs or alcohol ever again! I knew it!

He put a love into me so amazing that there are no words to express it. He totally turned my whole life around.

I put my trust in him and asked him to lead me to the church he wanted me to be a member of, and he did. I asked him to find me a home and a job, and he did.

And the good news is I have never looked back. I have the same job and go to the same church that he led me to.

But that is not the best news. The best news is I know where I am going now when I leave this world — I’m going to heaven. And I know why I am here, and it’s to serve him — and I do with all my heart.

He is real! And if you don’t know him, I implore you to get to know him. He waits for you with open arms. He will be the best friend you will ever have, and he loves you very much.

God bless you! And thank you for taking the time to read my testimony.

And if you know of anyone who needs to hear this, please don’t wait! Send it to them. This might be the last chance they will have to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal savior.

Story posted on Friday, May 9th, 2008 and is filed under Drugs & Alcohol, Loneliness, Praise, God's Love, Hope, Your Stories, Conversions, Grace, Struggles, Divorce & Marital Conflict, Suicide, Life Verse. | 1 Comment »

Only By God's Grace

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

[Isaiah 6: 1-3 NIV]

Mohammed A. writes:

Reading these verses makes me see how worthless I am before God and makes me realize that it’s just by God’s grace and mercy that I can come before him even in prayer.

Story posted on Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 and is filed under Your Stories, Prayer, Verses, Grace. | 1 Comment »

What Does the Bible Say About Mothers?

Then he [Jesus] looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

[Mark 3:34-35 NIV]

This month we’d like to honor our own mothers and all mothers! We invite you to spend a few moments reflecting about your mom or a mom figure in your life. Reflect on the questions below; and we invite you to share your thoughts.

• What does the Bible say about mothers?
• What verse reminds you of your mom?
• How, if at all, did your mom influence you spiritually?
• If you’re a mom, what has the Bible taught you about being a mom?

To answer any of these questions or to make a comment, use the comment box below. To read what others have written, scroll down to the comments below.

Blessings to you (if you’re a mom, we wish you extra blessings!),

The ShareYourStoryNow Team (Andy, Abby, Nat and Scott)

Story posted on Monday, May 5th, 2008 and is filed under Bible, Your Stories, Christian Families. | 9 Comments »

Homeless But Not Hopeless

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

[Romans 8:38-39 NIV]

Michael W. writes:

I am one of three men in Raleigh, NC, who are true life miracles of God’s undying love for us all.

In March of last year, we three were singing on the streets of downtown Raleigh when approached by a cameraman from WTVD 11 ABC, who asked if he could film us singing, and we said sure.

From there it led to two big stories, aired by the news station’s anchor Barbara Gibbs.

Here’s a brief update about us from the local ABC news website: “Homeless Singers On the Road to Success.”

Since that time, we have appeared on numerous programs and in churches. At one point, I was contacted by the producers of The Ellen Degeneres Show. They had received an email I sent them about us, and they may be flying us to Hollywood to have us sing on their show … we’re just waiting on one more phone call.

This is all so unbelieveable!

I mean it taught us all that God will use whom he will to do his will.

One thing that blesses us the most is the magnitude with which we are blessed when we bless others with our voices.

It is so beautiful, and it reassures us that absolutely nothing will ever seperate us from the love of God, which is in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Story posted on Friday, May 2nd, 2008 and is filed under Hope, God's Love, Praise, Your Stories, Verses. | 2 Comments »

Thanks to Jesus, My Life Turned Around

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

[1 Peter 4:12-14 NIV]

Melissa writes:

Well it has been a year since I met my savior, the one who helps me get through life! Jesus.

My life before I met Jesus sucked, it really did. I used to go out every Saturday night, get drunk, drive in random cars, all the while my mom was thinking I was at a friend’s house asleep in bed.

I used to always get in fights with friends, and life wasn’t good at all. I started hanging with people a year ahead of me; those were the people I’d get drunk with. I just wasn’t complete and didn’t know where I was heading in life.

Then october last year my friend had her baptism, and I went and watched. I felt something in that church - I felt the love, hope and faith that there was through all the people.

That night was the start of my journey.

Although of course the journey was not easy. It took three more weeks to get back into the church. It took seven weeks to give my life to God and like ten weeks to start actually making friends.

My school friends didn’t understand my choice and my decision. They hated me going to church. After a while they ditched me.

I felt like everything was dropping from beneath me. I was wondering why God was doing this.

I got home one day and was crying. My youth leader texted me and said, “Look in the Bible I gave you, it has all the answers.”

So I sat there on my bed and opened it up to 1 Peter 4:12-19, which is a scripture about suffering for being a new Christian. And I mean it was all about how God gives us trials to see how we handle situations and how we get through them.

A week after I found that scripture, everything went better. I found new friends, who believed in what I was doing, and everything was great.

I believe that that night on my bed, when I found that scripture, God was speaking to me. He doesn’t have to speak through words of mouth, but he spoke to me through scripture, and I’m forever grateful for that.

My life a year after has changed so much, I can’t believe it. My family and friends have noticed.

I know pretty much everyone at church. I’m in the band, and I do kids camps for unfortunate children. I do kids transport to school, and I don’t get drunk on Saturday nights.

I go to the best youth group in the world, and I’ve got the best leaders and mentors, who are pretty much my family - I couldn’t live without them.

I’m planning on getting baptized myself in March next year. And, well, for my relationship with God, well, I’m still learning. But I’ve learned so much already! I love him. He’s my world. He died for me, and I’m so pleased about how my life is.

I still have hard times, but there are many more good times than bad.

Story posted on Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 and is filed under Praise, Bible, Drugs & Alcohol, Your Stories, Verses, Conversions, Struggles. | 3 Comments »

I Can't Give Up On the Dream

I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

[Philippians 4:13 NIV]

Regina writes:

Philippians 4:13 lets me know that no matter what happens, I can’t give up on the dream that God put inside of me. I can do all things through Christ Jesus and trust that He will bring that dream to life.

Story posted on Monday, April 28th, 2008 and is filed under Hope, Your Stories, Life Verse. | 4 Comments »

My Guardian Angel Used Scripture

Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.

[Micah 2:10 KJV]

Gary M. writes:

Marvelous seeds of salvation were sown into my childhood and were instrumental to my conversion later in life.

When I was eight years old, my two older brothers got their first BB gun, and I followed them outside to watch them shoot. After shooting a few leaves and twigs, they noticed a little bird singing on a branch. They shot it.

It fell and lay dead on the ground. One moment it was happy and singing; now it lay lifeless. This was the first violence I had ever seen.

My brothers, fully aware of what they had done, became fearful that mom and dad would find out. So they decided to bury the evidence.

After getting the shovel, they became vindictive towards me, believing I would tell on them. So they took the shovel, cut off the bird’s head and threw it at me. And they laughed when I fled for fear.

And when I stopped and turned, I heard a voice that I now know was the voice of my guardian angel (Matthew 18:10). The words spoken to me were not of my internal voice, but a plaintive, compassionate adult tone.

The words my angel spoke into my ear at that moment were, “This is not your world.” How could an eight year old boy even consider such a lofty thought?

These words spoken by my angel were taken from Sacred Scripture, for 26 years later (when I gave permission for Christ to come live in my soul) I discovered those words in the book of Micah, “Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest …” (Micah 2:10).

The first seed of salvation sown into my life was the seed of the Word of God.

Story posted on Friday, April 25th, 2008 and is filed under Bible, Your Stories, Conversions. | 1 Comment »

The Power of Praying With My Husband

I know, O LORD, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps.

[Jeremiah 10:23 NIV]

Abby, our program manager, writes:

Recently my husband and I were looking through some old journals that we each had when we were courting, and we started to tell each other what we were feeling at those exact moments and how badly we wanted to get married.

It felt like our wedding day would never come! Now looking back it makes both of us laugh, but at that time it was extremely frustrating.

I remember how much we prayed over our marriage and all the steps we had to take soon after (moving, buying a home, etc). It was probably the craziest time we have ever been through, but some how it all went smoothly and without a hitch.

The one thing we both agreed on that helped tremendously was prayer and diving head first into His Word. We sought His face and His will through it all.

We didn’t want to take a step without knowing that He wanted us to.

Now two years later we still make time every day, even if it is just 10 minutes here and there, to pray and read the Bible together. If he travels, or if I travel, we call each other and pray together.

Even with the bumps on the road, we know that God will guide us down that road and then some.

Story posted on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 and is filed under Team Corner, Bible, Your Stories, Prayer. | 2 Comments »

Abby's Interviewing Artists This Week

Hey there, it’s Abby, manager of ShareYourStoryNow.org. I’m in Nashville, TN, at the annual Gospel Music Association (GMA) event.

The team and I are here to interview Christian music artists (lucky us, I know!), such as Casting Crowns, Rebecca St. James, Natalie Grant, Superchick, Salvador and Jaci Velasquez. We’ll be publishing the interviews on the site soon!

While I’m here interviewing artists and taking in the whole GMA event, I’ll post comments on this page about my experiences and interactions. I’ll give you the inside scoop!

Also, feel free to respond to my comments by posting a comment or question below.

Blessings from Nashville,
Abby

Story posted on Saturday, April 19th, 2008 and is filed under Bible, Your Stories, ABS Stories. | 7 Comments »