"FROM OLD TO NEW" someone reading to me... "Oh yes, you were a sinner. You were dead in your trespasses and sins. You followed in the ways of the world and, yes, even the evil one who rules the dominion of darkness. You gratified the cravings of your sinful nature. You followed its desires and thoughts. And you will never be able to look down on anyone and say, "Well, at least I wasnt that bad." You were bad and you must never forget that. Your need for a savior was no less than the child-killer you read about in the newspaper or the sorry-looking figure you see in handcuffs on the evening news. Oh, your mother and friends may have said you were wonderful, but none of them knew much about God's standards-his radical standards-hi right and true standards. But you looked at and studied those standards with an open heart and saw yourself for the first time, and you cried out with the apostle,"Wretched Man (or woman) that I am." But then, by the grace of God, you made a right courageous choice. You looked up into his eyes and said one of the most important words anyone can ever say to God. You said, "Help!" Like the Roman centurion, like the canaanite woman, like the invalid at the pool, you said, " I need help." You said, "I need your help." And the God looked back at you and said, "I will help. I am in the helping business. I am in the redeeming business. I am in the forgiving business." And then God worked a miracle. He took a sinner who was lost in anempty way of life, traveling toward hell and without hope, and he made you new. And that is what you are today. You are new. You don't belong to the old anymore. You belong to the new. You confessed, "Jesus is Lord" and went down into the water. You were buried with Jesus in Baptism and your old life was consigned to the grave (and by way,let it stay here). You came out of the water and are not the same. A new Spirit is filling you up. Heaven's view of you has changed and now your view of everything can change. Once you looked at things from a human point of view. Now you do so no longer. Everything Jesus did has now been applied to your life. Everything he achieved has been accredited to your account. When God looks at you today, it is as though he is looking at Jesus. Incredibly, you stand before him without spot or blemish and free from accusation(and this remains true for as long as you live if you continue in your faith). The old has passed away. The old you is gone. The old sentance of death is gone. All things become new. Take some time to just let that soak in. It is amazing that you won't get it quickly. In fact,only in heaven will you surely understand it all. sorry for a long post guys. But this was told to me by the one who baptized me 8 years ago on April 3rd, 1999. Funny thing was i was 33 t the time, my real birthday was a week before March 28th and it happened to be Easter weekend. so it has a sentemental value of the life i live today. Thanks for all of you here at Adland, my online family, although i have other online familys, your my first and surely will not be my last! Your Adland Prayerwarrior
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