"i invite YOU in": the GREATEST LIFE-CHANGING TRUTH

I’ve been asked frequently these past 11 months, “What do you attribute the credit to for your massive change—your tragedy or prison?” Some assume I am different these days because of my prison experience, while others believe it was the tragedy itself that affected me so radically. I guess you can say BOTH of those traumas were extremely instrumental in my life beginning to “walk to the  beat of a different drum.” However, the ultimate catalyst that over-rides that melody is the transformation that stems from experiencing God’s boundless harmony.Let me explain:  You see, I didn’t change me, my situation didn’t change me, nor did prison change me.  All of the above were outliers, but the major magnifier is the truth that God’s love is what changed me. And that became ever so clear through my circumstances.  And now I pursue it humbly.  I thank Jesus for going through hell, in order for the world (and me personally) to know heaven.  It boggles my mind to think of what Jesus went through, how He willingly endured the cross, to prove that greater love has no one but God.  We cannot obtain more of it or lose any of it, for it is a perpetual love that is given in spite of our sinning.  And what a sigh of relief that truth brings to my heart.However, on the flip side,  I notice that when I focus on not sinning, I sin.  When I desire to change, I struggle with change.  But when I concentrate on God’s unconditional love, I’m free from sin and I begin to change.  And so I always wind up at the same conclusion:  It’s all about His love for me and I don’t hesitate to receive it freely.  And once received, I want to reciprocate it.  Not that my love is of any worth compared to Gods, but my loving Him back is what keeps me on track.I love because He first loved.  He loved me even as I sinned against His love for me.  He loved me then, just as He loves me now.  He knew what I would do, yet He loved me all the way through.  I’m redeemed by His love and His love is what I pursue.I may never reach it—but by His grace alone—His love has reached me. His love breaks addiction and bondage.  His love revives and resuscitates.  His love washes anew and cleanses afresh.His love makes you lose yourself-- which is winning back your life in Christ.  His love sets you free.  His love sets you straight.  His love is our agent of change; and His love is a guarantee for the rest of our days.So 11 months into freedom, my change isn’t mine at all. It’s ALL Gods for picking me up every time I fall.  So backed by God’s harmony and the beat of His hearts melody, here is the greatest life-changing truth set to the tune of a child’s song: “Jesus loves me… this I know,….for the Bible tells me so!”