Encouraging Email

I was really encouraged by an email I received today from an individual who gave their life to Christ last weekend. They grabbed hold of the fact that they didn't have to clean their life up first before they came to Christ. The Lord is looking for the relationship first and then His Spirit will begin to take care of the rest. Here are some excerpts that I hope encourage you, as it did me.

“I have always been one to do things on MY terms. I have a hard time listening to others because I feel under attack. I usually do not ask for help because it means I have been defeated. Notice something? There are an awful lot of I's in there. When I used to go to church I felt that God was pointing his finger at me. Although it was probably because I needed to hear it, I felt singled out. HOWEVER, this past Sunday, everything you said I had been praying to hear!

It's funny how He works. ... When you said, “He [God] says come as you are”, I lost it. Remember how I said I do things on my terms? I knew I had wanted to work on our relationship, but I wanted to fix some things first. …”

This individual goes on and shares about all the things they had wanted to clean up in their life. And then writes about how meaningful it was to be surrounded at the altar by so many loving people from our congregation. I love their last statement in the email I got…

“Now when people ask me how I'm doing I say with a smile, "I'm saved. How are you?"

God is good.