Out of the Prison

I was so blessed today to get to spend time with my dear friend, Nancy. We spent the day catching up of course, but then began talking about how God has delivered each of us from the very pits of despair. I realize, and maybe this applies to you, that there are people sitting in our churches every Sunday, so tied up in spiritual and emotional bondages. Things that they hold onto, regrets of decisions and choices that have been made and now continue to haunt us so many years later. We know we have been forgiven, but it's like we can't let go of the guilt and the shame. Then little by little we being blaming ourselves,  punishing ourselves from something from our past, that God has forgiven us of, when we asked Him to.

You may wonder what that may look like.....often times we don't realize that we are doing this behavior. It may take on the form of addictions to escape the pain our emotions are causing us.  Not just addiction to alcohol or drugs....I realize in our churches a lot of times those are the ones that are preached on. But there are others....online gambling, pornography, prescription drugs, cycles of abuse (whether verbally or physically)....the list could go on and on. We go from relationship to relationship, looking for acceptance, lashing out at others with a very harsh critical spirit all because we don't even like ourselves, therefore it is difficult for us to like or even love others. The list could go on and on.....

But I came by to tell you today that God is the ultimate healer! When we are in bondages like these, it's like we placed ourselves in a prison cell.....never to be free again. But the God I serve brings freedom. Not only can  He bring healing, but with it He bring restoration. You don't have to live on the island of regrets and hurt any longer....You can be Free!

When God stepped in to my regrets and took those things away I was able not just to like myself and others but I was free to experience love in my life and to extend that love to others. I felt as if the weight of the world was lifted from my shoulders. No more did I have to walk around feeling defeated, Jesus paid the price for my sins, all my sins, on the cross. I was no longer in bondage to my past, nor to anyone who tried to continue to remind me of my past. I learned to walk a different path, it was not easy at first, it was a process....

God can do the same for you! What are you waiting for.....

Regina