Talking with someone today, I was reminded of just how powerful God is\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
I recounted how, despite being very head-strong & capable, I was unable to quit certain substances (or activities), even for one night: I was thoroughly addicted despite my best attempts. Even my hatred of being addicted was not enough to \u2018empower\u2019 me to change.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But something far, far deeper than my many addictions was my love of things that were bad. Whether it was fuelled by rage or gratification, the very core of who I was (and what made me tick) was dark, evil and selfish.<\/p>\n
Despite being unaware of it, *everything* was about me – what I wanted, what I would get, how I would feel. This drove every single action, decision and plan. But I still believed I was a \u2018good’ person\u2026crazy!<\/p>\n
Once Jesus showed up though, in that very second, *everything* changed. Suddenly I was aware of my selfish & abusive ways, I could see things from a whole new perspective.\u00a0I was instantly horrified at my actions (and the way they had hurt others), in disbelief I could be so incredibly cruel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As powerful as all this was, it was secondary to something far more amazing and powerful: God was real! My eyes were opened to fact that He created me, had been there all along and, despite my hatred of Him, rebellion, habitual sin and abuse of His people, He offered forgiveness! (What kind of God would do this??! I deserved death & hell, I was responsible for my injuries & pain and I had blamed this \u2018god\u2019 I hated for all of it.)<\/p>\n
Understanding all this for the first time was the most powerful, gut-wrenching, painful AND JOYFUL experience of my life. This God, knew I would do all that, would hate Him and yet died for me anyway! Purchasing forgiveness, He offered a whole new life, one that lasted forever.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My whole outlook changed too: now I cared for people, I wanted to help them, even if they abused me\u2026this change was *massive*!!<\/p>\n
This change was in no way<\/span> due to me: nothing I had tried up to this point made any real difference. Previously, the best outcome was just some level of (impartial and) temporary abstinence – which didn\u2019t interest me.<\/p>\n This was completely different\u2026powerful, deep and lasting. From that second, nearly 24 years ago, I have been a different person. Still many failures, still nowhere near where I would like to be, but the change is undeniable\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n For 8721 days, I have been amazed at: This is so far away from religion (the notion that we can fulfil a heap of rules to be better \u00a0please \u2018God\u2019), it astounds me that people can\u2019t understand the difference.\u00a0<\/p>\n But then I remember what the Bible says: \u201cpeople are born spiritually blind & dead\u201d – they are incapable of good and even knowing what \u2018good\u2019 is without God. The Bible described me to a T:\u00a0<\/p>\n Convinced that I was \u2018good\u2019, smart and aware, I was actually incapable of wisdom, unable to be objective, deceived and brain washed. I had gravitated to beliefs and people that confirmed my prejudice, I then propagated those lies to others. When blind, it is *so* comforting to be surrounded by others who affirm our reality, no matter how absurd.\u00a0<\/p>\n I see this agenda everywhere now, a deep determined to keep people away from the only One that could help (not just with the physical or psychological!).\u00a0<\/p>\n The only One that offered Life, the only One that had the answers I needed, the only One that didn\u2019t want or need *anything* in return\u2026 Jesus!\u00a0<\/p>\n If you want a genuine change, don\u2019t turn to religion, turn to Jesus.\u00a0 Far from just a historical figure, moral teacher or angel – Jesus is the only One who is there for you, has always been there for you and always will be – don\u2019t wait until it is too late!\u00a0<\/p>\n #thankYouJesus #theKing #Hescomingback!\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know whether he [Jesus] is a sinner,\u201d the man replied. \u201cBut I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n John 9:25 (NLT) 25\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Talking with someone today, I was reminded of just how powerful God is\u2026\u00a0 I recounted how, despite being very head-strong & capable, I was unable to quit certain substances (or activities), even for one night: I was thoroughly addicted despite my best attempts. Even my hatred of being addicted was not enough to \u2018empower\u2019 me to change.\u00a0 But something far, far deeper than my many addictions was my love of things that were bad. Whether it was fuelled by rage or gratification, the very core of who I was (and what made me tick) was dark, evil and selfish. Despite …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1977,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[18],"tags":[64],"class_list":["post-1978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-for-thought","tag-changed-life"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/I-was-blind-but-now-I-can-see-Jesus-testimony-drugs.jpg?fit=1078%2C1362&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pasDCW-vU","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1978"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1979,"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1978\/revisions\/1979"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wildeden.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
the desire to please God – who I hated & thought didn\u2019t exist.\u00a0
my love of people, near and far – who I only used for self gratification. \u00a0
my hatred of sin – which I previously loved & pursued.\u00a0
my fears, failures and mistakes – which I was blind to before.\u00a0
the love, care, protection and provision of God the Father
the purity that Jesus offers to dead beats like me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If you are at rock bottom, don\u2019t wallow or give up, turn to Jesus.\u00a0
If you are sick of being addicted, don\u2019t binge & whinge, turn to Jesus.\u00a0
If you are lacking fulfilment, don\u2019t be disillusioned, turn to Jesus.\u00a0
If you are loosing hope, don\u2019t look within, turn to Jesus.\u00a0
If you are confused, don\u2019t worry, you\u2019re not alone, without God it is impossible to have wisdom: turn to Jesus!\u00a0<\/p>\n\n