LAKEVIEW MISSIONARY CHURCH

Weekly Update for February 15, 2023

GOSPEL CHANGE

Mona spent decades as a meth addict. But after having three daughters with three different men and a couple decades of living the drug-addicted life, she decided she was done. She had been to church before as a young woman. She knew about Jesus. But she had never really placed her faith in Him for her salvation nor had she committed herself to follow Him.  
            But something was different. She went to church, got saved, and decided she was done with drugs. For decades drugs had power over her and controlled her, but after committing her life to follow Jesus everything changed. She left the abusive relationship she was in, she no longer craved drugs, and she started taking steps to get a job and be a better mother to her three daughters.
            Mona told her story to whoever she could. She often told people she was amazed that she was able to leave her previous lifestyle and that she thought nothing would ever change. But God did the work. God removed her addiction. God gave her the courage to leave that relationship. And God helped her become a better mom.
            When we hear these stories they are encouraging reminders for us that Jesus makes us new when we place our faith in Him for salvation.
            “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17, NASB). The source of the new creation is shared by Paul a couple verses later, “He [God] made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21, NASB).
            I trust that you have experienced changes when you placed your faith in Christ. Perhaps not as drastically as Mona, but I’m sure there are things that have changed. Maybe it was a struggle with drinking alcohol, the language you use, eating habits, gossip, affinity for gambling, or a weekly glance at pornography. The grace of God and our faith in God makes us into a new creation.
Christopher L. Scott