2 Corinthians 5:17 (New Living Translation)
17. This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
Have you ever seen someone change drastically? Of course I am talking about a person being saved from their sins, truly repentant, a life changing event. Well, I must share with you about someone that I saw with “my very own eyes”, change completely. The first time I saw this person, I was actually frightened. His reputation preceded him so I had already heard of serious crimes, alcohol, and drug abuse. Just about anything that was going on, you can be assured he was involved. Several years later, we had heard he had given his heart to the Lord and was not only going to church, but was witnessing to everyone he met. People were amazed! Of course, the first thing many folks think is “well,I wonder if this is real”? I can tell you, it was real, the most “real” transformation I have ever witnessed. An occasion came up when we visited the hospital and he was there. The room was full when we walked in, I was looking around but I didn’t see him anywhere. All of a sudden this man spoke to my husband, “come on in, and sit down”, at that point, I was the one that needed to sit down, I couldn’t believe it! As hard and bitter as he had looked before, he was as gentle and full of the Holy Spirit of anyone I had ever been around! His very appearance had changed, I would never have known him at all. It is very hard for me to explain how powerful the presence of God was in that room. We were told while he was there, people were coming from all over that hospital for him to pray for them. We have seen him on several occasions since then and Jesus in him is changing lives, he is ministering to people that maybe other folks couldn’t reach. As I am sharing this with you, I am wondering if all of us should change like this? I know that not everyone goes down the same path, there are things I can’t imagine that happens to people. Is it how much we have been saved from? I know we do change gradually, becoming more and more like our Heavenly Father, but to me this was miraculous. I will let you sort this out, what do you think?
