John 10:6-10 Jesus told this simple story, but they had no idea what he was talking about. So he tried again. "I'll be explicit, then. I am the Gate for the sheep. All those others are up to no good—sheep stealers, every one of them. But the sheep didn't listen to them. I am the Gate. Anyone who goes through me will be cared for—will FREELY go in and out, and find pasture. A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have REAL and eternal LIFE, MORE and BETTER life than they ever DREAMED of. (I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the FULL, till it [b]OVERFLOWS [AMP]).
I read this after the videos I'm about to post. But the one thing that I have been thinking over the past few weeks when I've been in my funk is "I don't get this - I want more, I SHOULD be having more life then I feel. I have Jesus. What is going on? Something is off etc. etc. etc." My heart was hard AGAIN. But once I watched the videos my heart began to melt a little at a time and as I thought about the goodness of God and how much He loves me and how much power He has I began to believe and think about what it says in the bible that God has called us to have a life that is more and better then we've ever dreamed, abundant, full, and overflowing. As I read the scripture again I saw what happened. "Anyone who goes through me will be cared for - will freely go in and out... AND "the thief was there to steal and kill and destroy." I freely went in and OUT. And my joy and hope got stolen when I chose not to be in the safety of my shepherd, my Daddy, God/Jesus.
So first I watched Flyleaf's Lacey's testimony from being an atheist at 10 years old, to planning on killing herself at 16, to God chasing her that day and her allowing Him to come and heal the broken places that saved her life... This is just one of the many videos of her telling her story on YouTube.
and this was the part of the video I typed up and posted on facebook:"He's seen you crying yourself to sleep every night & He didn't intend for you to live that way. He came so that you would have life and have it to the fullest. When we talk about sin, we need to understand what sin is - Sin is not God saying "you can't do this, you can't do this" because He wants to take something away from you. He's saying, "if you do this, it will be death - if you do this it will be life" & He says "Please, choose life so that you can live. Please I made you, I know how you work. I made this whole Earth, I know how it works, & please I'm telling You, This is Life, This is death. Please choose Life so you can live. ""
And then I watched/listened/worshiped to this:
If you don't want to sit for the whole 8 mins then I recommend starting at 5:55
And this part stuck out -
I don't want to hide in the darkness anymore- You delight God - so break the chains off my heart
That is what I had been doing. Hiding in the darkness.
I soaked in each word of the song that I had heard so many times but prayed/sang the "You delight God - so break the chains off my heart"
And you know what? He did just that. He's so faithful to cut the ties that bind up our hearts and minds when we let go. I honestly felt comfort sitting in the darkness when I was - it was familiar and I liked it. But I really didn't like it...I didn't like what it did to me over time.
So now I'm feeling much better then I have in a long time. And I'm going to continue to pray that I live my life abundantly. And I hope you're encouraged as well :)
*If you want a written out quick story on Lacey Mosley here's something I got from - believe it or not - urbandictionary.com
Throughout her earlier years, she was an outspoken atheist. At age ten, she began dabbling in drugs, and at thirteen fell into it even worse. "I was trying to figure out who I was and anything to separate me from my family, or to separate me from my situation at home was good to me," Mosley said. "It was like a warzone going home."
When she was fourteen years old, she received a bass guitar for Christmas and began playing Nirvana and Green Day songs with her brother who played guitar.
At sixteen, Mosley was kicked out of her home after a fight with her mother involving the police, and moved to Gulfport, Mississippi to live with her grandparents. There she attended high school and joined a band that was in need of a bass player. She went on to sing for the band, and picked up guitar so she could write her own songs.
During that same year, she went through bouts of depression and had suicidal tendencies. "I lost my boyfriend, I lost my brothers and sisters that I watched every day, and I lost my drugs that I did. I really felt like that was the end," she said. "So I decided to kill myself the next day." After her grandmother forced her to go to church, Mosley experienced something supernatural that brought her to God. "My life totally changed after that."
"I used to be in a really negative band, and that seemed to almost fuel my emptiness because that's what the songs were about." After a while, she quit the band and began playing by herself.
