Life Changing Moments
“For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with Him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.”
Colossians 2:12 (NLT)
Each year, we witness life-changing moments at our Super Summer Baptism Celebration at Woodlands Church! It’s the greatest visual display of faith and my favorite event of the year! What a thrill to see God at work, healing hurts and restoring lives! Each one is a grace story, and we’ve literally witnessed thousands of them! This week we’ll examine some of the greatest life change moments in the Bible as well as experience the stories of men and women today whose lives are being forever changed by the grace of God. These Divine encounters are living testimonies of the transformative power of God. You can begin again! You can be raised to a new life! God is writing your story, and it’s a good one! Just give Him the pen and see what happens.
One of my favorite God encounters that created huge life change in the heart of a woman trapped in immorality is found in John 4 at a well in Samaria. There, Jesus encountered a Samaritan woman in the heat of the day and said to her, “‘Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.’” Jesus appealed to a thirst for love in her life that no human relationship could satisfy. She had tried so many times, five times, in fact, with five different husbands, and the man she was now living with was not her husband. Jesus had hit a cord in her heart. Notice how quickly she responded, ‘Please, sir,’ the woman said, ‘give me this water!’” John 4:13-15a (NLT) Maybe that’s your heart cry as well.
When Jesus turns the light on in our lives it produces a desire for change, real change! We experience life, the life God intended for us to live with the Creator Himself restored in His creature, making of us a new creation in Christ! Old things pass away, and everything becomes new! This is what happened to this Samaritan woman. When she encountered Jesus at that well, her life was changed forever!
This unnamed woman was so impacted by the love of God that she “left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, ‘Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could He possibly be the Messiah?’” (Vs. 28-29) Love breaks through all barriers! His light was shining through her now!
Curiosity must have gotten the best of the people because John said the people in the village came streaming to see Jesus, and many believed in Him because of what the woman had told them. In John 4:42b (NLT), we read their response, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard Him (Jesus) ourselves. Now we know that He is indeed the Savior of the world.”
Like that woman, your story matters too! It is the greatest evidence for the existence of God and His redeeming love! Our stories are stories of grace you and I need to share that will bring others to Jesus. One such story was shared with me following a Super Summer Baptism of how God delivered a husband and father from an addiction to pornography that had already destroyed two of his marriages and was threatening his third. Here's his story:
My life before Christ was filled with anxiety. I could find no relief from the stress and pressures of this world. Trying to measure up to expectations that I could not possibly meet, I was struggling to deal with life. I had a secret sin, pornography. I believed the lies Satan tells:
It’s ok when your wife is too busy for sex.
It won’t affect my marriage.
It doesn’t hurt anyone.
I was almost shocked when Pastor Kerry announced from the pulpit, “Porn is sin and is a big problem in the church.” I was convicted immediately. It hit me like a ton of bricks. The truth the pastor spoke was confirmed by Scripture. I knew it to be true from the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:28, “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
I knew I should quit, right? It was a hard thing, because I was comfortable with my sin. Most of my life, it was there to comfort me and relieve stress. So, I failed, I slipped back into old habits. I felt my shame.
After one particular failure, I had reached the end of my rope. So, I prayed, asking Jesus to save me from myself because I was helpless to stop. Then I continued with my life. But there was a difference, I wanted, no, I had to get rid of all the porn. I no longer wanted to be around it. It repulsed me. Something had changed inside me. No, Jesus had changed me. Now instead of porn, I craved God’s Word. I wanted to be at church every Sunday to worship my Savior!
Like the woman at the well, this man experienced a life-changing moment with Jesus and was raised to new life by the power of God! Just as God is writing their story, He is writing yours! Have you committed your life to Christ? Have you taken that first step of obedience in baptism as a Christ follower? Jesus began His earthly ministry with a public baptism! Miracles followed that simple step of obedience to His Father. I wonder what miracle will follow your experience as you take that same step of baptism.
Our annual Super Summer Baptism Celebration is this weekend at a Woodlands Church campus near you. Register now and experience the miracle awaiting you!
Another important part of your daily devotional is spending time with God in prayer. The Woodlands Church Prayer Board lists prayer requests submitted by our members and provides a way to send them some encouragement by using a button on the page to let them know that you prayed for them. Whether you use the Prayer Board, or pray from your heart, the goal is to build the habit of incorporating prayer into your quiet time.
Need prayer yourself? Let us know by submitting a prayer request on the Woodlands Church Prayer Board.