IF YOUR BROTHER INTRODUCES ME AS HIS WIFE, WILL YOU AGREE?

After some sessions of teaching a while back, a lady requested to see me. She said, “I have no more emotions. I have been involved in all sorts- my case is so bad that I have an abortion because I got pregnant for a member of my family”. She recounted all sorts of stories.

After she shared all, I emphasized the place of God’s love for her. It was then she looked at me and said, “Pastor, if your brother brings a wife home to introduce to you and you discover it is me, would you agree that I should marry your brother?”

I smiled and said to her, “As long as you have given your life to Jesus, the former you is dead. The person he brought home is a new creature. I believe that with all my heart and I will definitely accept you as a sister-in-law”. Although it was an example, you could see the lady without emotions having that smile on her face as a testimony of God’s grace.

Friends, if you understand what the grace of God is, you will not sit in judgment over others. Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future. We all only met at a junction called grace. If some of those you admire greatly today should open their mouth to tell you where they have been before grace found them, you will be in awe.

There are amazing believers today who used to be cult members and some armed robbers. Do you know the way it was hard for the apostles to accept the salvation of Saul? Grace can be too good to be true. No matter how messed up you are, God can make a new man out of you.

Listen! A manufacturer is different from a mechanic. If you take a bad car to a mechanic, he will repair it and make it work. But no matter how bad a car is, if you take it to the manufacturer, it will come back as new. God is not into repair or renovation work when it comes to our redemption. No! The moment you come to Christ, you become a new creature.

There was a morning I cried my eyes out to God. I stumbled on this scripture:

“yet now God declares us “not guilty” of offending him if we trust in Jesus Christ, who in his kindness freely takes away our sins” Romans 3:24

I knew what it means for a judge to say “not guilty”. It means I am free from the penalty of the offence. The judge cannot say “not guilty” and then add, “I hereby sentence you to 50 years in prison”. It is impossible.

So, I made a list of all the messes of my past and began to ask God about them all. God raised the bar for me that morning. As I mentioned all the things I called weighty sins, all His response to me was “When…?” I tried to remind God, but He again asked me, “When?”

He showed me the scripture: “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.”

Isaiah 43:25 NIV

He said, “I am Love. I do not keep a record of wrongs”. God does not remember. Ahh! I cried.

Beloved, let no guilt or condemnation tie you down. Once you put your trust in Christ, you are free from guilt, shame and condemnation. If he or she refused to marry you because of your history, someone prepared by God will marry you because of your destiny. Your future with God is bigger than your past in the world.

God has dealt with the past, do not let your past deal with you. If the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future- eternal condemnation. Walk free beloved! The prison door is open. Walk out on shame. Walk out on guilt. Walk out on condemnation. Dance with the King who set you free. Look at you – God’s Choice!

Dance! No more shame! Your best just began.

temilOluwa Ola, Eruwa.