a story of forgiveness, part 2


Bibbia con rosa by Vortix - Own work. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons - httpcommons.wikimedia.orgwikiFileBibbia_con_rosa.jpg#mediaviewerFileBibbia_con_rosa.jpg

Psalm 119

7 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul:
the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple

Soon after my husband and I were married, we moved to the small town where he had grown up. It was a close-knit community and I knew only his family there.

I’d begun to read my Mother’s Catholic New Testament and asked around at the place where I worked for a Bible study. God led me to a home study directed by a young couple who were church planters with the CMA (Christian Missionary Alliance), friendly lovely people. Their group was beginning a study on Ephesians, and there for the first time I encountered Biblical teaching on the Church. I thought it was strange that they were studying “the Church” when I was the one who had a claim to The True Church!

Soon, friction started but not hostility. The young preacher tried to help me understand the true Good News, the Gospel of grace, and to show me that there is only one Gospel as revealed in God’s Word, and that it wasn’t a matter of opinion, it wasn’t something to debate but to submit to. Only Jesus could make me right with God; there was nothing I could do.

Ephesians 2

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Historisches_Kinderkarusell

Historisches Kinderkarusell – the painted merry-go-round of this world (Wikimedia)

At times, feeling resentment and loving the world – Vanity Fair, Bunyan called it – and thinking there must be a better way to fix my life and get what I wanted from God, I considered leaving the group, but each week I hurried there.

Though I was fighting the truth that God alone is Lord of the Church and each one of us, and has the right to deal with us as He wants to, I was being drawn to these dear friendly people, experiencing their kindness to one another and me. By God’s doing, they became a fragrance of life to me. (A Thai friend of mine, a Buddhist, once said that when people spoke to her of the Lord Jesus she smelled a beautiful scent like flowers.)

2 Corinthians 2

14 Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. 15 For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? 

But eventually, under conviction and full of turmoil I left the group. A slave to selfishness, I also left my husband. . . 

14 thoughts on “a story of forgiveness, part 2”

  1. In regards to your Buddhist friend, I hope she will eventually find Christ. To the world we are the aroma of death and to those who will inherit salvation, we are a fragrant aroma.

    Thanks for part deux.

    Liked by 1 person

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  3. Wow. It is a very honest testimony and I’m sure it is difficult to remember the times when you ran from God. Yet, it is also a great reminder of God’s great mercy. Heading to part III.

    Liked by 1 person

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