header

Archive for the ‘Lessons Learned’ Category

Posted on: April 15th, 2013 by Laurie Coombs 1 Comment
watch yourself, watch ourselves, take care, take care lest, deceived, deception, deceive, Lord, be watchful, devil, satan, paul, timothy, scripture, bible, biblical, 1 Timothy 4:16, 1 Peter 5:8, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy 4:23, Deuteronomy 8:11, Deuteronomy 11:16, Not a Fan, Deuteronomy 4:9, Can a Christian commit murder, can a christian murder, watch yourself, watch yourselves, Christian, Christ, God, Jesus, following Jesus, what does it look like to follow jesus, christ follower, follower of christ, disqualify you from being a christian, coming to christ, coming to jesus, murder, murderer, repentant murderer, knowing jesus, david, is it possible for a christian to commit murder, wrestling with God's truth, man after god's own heart, Bathsheba, david chosen, guard our hearts guard your heart, guard, sin creep in, cultivated emotions, poison mind,  anger

Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children. – Deuteronomy 4:9 Anthony claimed he was a Christian at the time of the murder, and I had a real problem with this. As a non-Christian and even after coming to Christ, I didn’t understand how someone who professed faith in Jesus could do something like this. Doesn’t a sin of this magnitude disqualify you from being a Christian? You can’t claim to be a Christian and commit murder, I thought. Recently, however, when telling me about a book he was reading by Kyle Idleman called Not a Fan, Anthony said, “I wonder, had I not come to prison would I have stayed a fan of Jesus or become a follower?…

Posted on: April 4th, 2013 by Laurie Coombs 1 Comment
every action has a reaction, cause and effect, reap what you sow, forgive, forgave, God forgives, forgiveness of sins, forgiveness, forgiven, consequence, consequences, washed clean, effects of sin, adultery, marriage, divorce, slander, relationships, Bible, Biblical, murder, effects of sin, Galatians 6:7. Paul, Galatians 6:8, Galatians 5:9, repentance, repent, sin, salvation, lessons learned, Jesus, Christ, Christian, Christian forgiveness testimony, forgiveness testimony, testimony, Christian testimony, forgiving the unforgivable, following Jesus,

I have had to take responsibly, have been humbled by the selfishness of what I did and have to live with the consequences every day. – Anthony (January 3, 2011) Sin wrecks havoc on our lives. Ultimately, every sin has a consequence. And since we don’t live completely unto ourselves, there’s a ripple effect produced by our sin that cannot be retracted. [Tweet that] Every action has a reaction, and this is true with sin as well. Even when we do finally receive grace to come before God and receive His mercy and forgiveness, the effects of our sin remain while living in this fallen world. Now, I’m not saying God doesn’t redeem our sin and ultimately use it for good and for His glory; He does (see Romans 2:28). And when forgiven by God, He remembers our sins no longer. We are washed clean and will not suffer consequence after…

Posted on: March 28th, 2013 by Laurie Coombs 5 Comments
Martin Luther, the 95 theses, repentance, forgiveness, change your mind, change one's mind, turn, sin, turn toward Jesus, Holy Spirit, justify sin, justifying, see sin, conviction, we will never be perfect, God draws you to himself, don't delay repenting, license, unrepentant sinner, the life Jesus died for us to have, Matthew 21:28-32, parable of the two sons, the entire life of believers to be one of repentance, taking responsibility for actions, true repentance, repentance can take time, repent, repenting, what is repentance, repentance definition, repentance is a process, murder, forgive, forgiveness, forgave, Christ, Christian, Jesus, God, Strong's Concordance,

When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said “Repent”, He called for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance. – Martin Luther, The 95 Theses In one of my letters to Anthony, I wrote, “I simply believe that we all need to take full responsibility for our actions and blame-shifting isn’t representative of that! Until we come to this point of taking full responsibility for our actions, I don’t believe we can come to a place of true repentance.” I still believe this to be true. But I now know that repentance can take time. Though God is certainly able to bring us to repentance quickly, it seems to me that repentance is, oftentimes, a process. [Tweet that] This was certainly the case with Anthony, and I’ve found this to be true both in my life and in the lives of other Christians as well. Repentance Now, I…

Posted on: March 23rd, 2013 by Laurie Coombs 5 Comments

In this brief video, I speak about how Jesus led me toward emotional healing from my past.  Healing only came once I surrendered myself completely to Jesus and allowed Him complete access to my pain. Be sure to watch to hear about how Jesus brought me greater understanding which led to healing. Healing Comes With Greater Understanding from Laurie Coombs on Vimeo. {Greater understanding of the situations in our past can lead us toward healing.} Question: Has Jesus healed you emotionally from your past? What was your experience? Share in the comments.

Posted on: March 21st, 2013 by Laurie Coombs 1 Comment
God, Jesus, Christ, Christian, forgiveness, forgive, Christian forgiveness testimony, forgiveness testimony, following Jesus, grace, mercy, lessons learned, lessons, learn, self denial, self deception, sin, sins, introspection, Bible, scripture, none are good, all have turned away, enemy of god, creator, in the world but not of the world, how are christians different, humility, humble, pride, murder, prison, sentence, life without the possibility of parole, letters, letters to a murderer, murderer, justify, justification, God's standard, perfection, you are no better, compare, comparison, comparing ourselves to others, competition with others, stop comparing, folly, sin, John 2:22, judge others, judge ourselves, good person, do good people go to heaven, who is a good person,

Jesus said to him, “…what is that to you? You follow me!” – John 21:22 We cannot accurately judge our sins or behaviors by comparing ourselves to others. [Tweet that] And when we do so, our assessment of ourselves, our sins, and the consequence of those sins will, most assuredly, be skewed. I addressed this issue with Anthony as we were working toward forgiveness. I wrote,       …one more thought that I have has to do with comparing ourselves to others.  I think this is dangerous, yet I believe we all do it to a certain extent….      …we, as Christians, are not to judge ourselves based upon those around us. Many of us look around and consciously or unconsciously compare ourselves to others in the world. We look around and see that there are people out there who have done x or committed y, then we look to ourselves and say, “well,…

Posted on: March 18th, 2013 by Laurie Coombs 7 Comments
Ephesians 4, Ephesians 4:26-27, Ephesians 4:26, Ephesians 4:27, no sin is justified, no sin is justifiable, we cannot justify sin, justify, justice, justifiable, sin, laurie coombs, reason why sin, why do we sin, what is sin, unforgiveness, idolatry, sin anger, do not sin in your anger, be angry, anger management, why am i so angry, how do i not sin, how to be a better mom, how to be better, feelings, what do we do with feelings, murder, murderer, letters murderer, justify murderer, reasons why sin, reason, reasons, crime, victim, help for victims, how do i forgive, forgive, forgiveness, forgave, forgiving, forgiving the unforgivable, unforgiveness, unforgivable, apology, heal, healing, heal from past, wounds, past wounds, past hurts, Jesus, God, Christ, Christian, change heart, is it possible to change, how do i change, jesus changes us. self loathing, self hatred, christian forgiveness testimony, forgiveness testimony, testimony,

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. – Ephesians 4:26-27 There is always a reason behind the sins we commit. There is a reason I sometimes lose it and yell at my kids. There is a reason I find myself rooting through my pantry, looking for something to fill me (though I’m not hungry), when I should be going to Jesus to be filled instead. And there was a reason I stood in condemnation of Anthony, the man who murdered my dad, unable to forgive him for a decade. Honestly, there are times when the reasons behind our sins seem legitimate. Sometimes our kids need to be disciplined. Sometimes we need to be filled. Sometimes we have been wronged. The feelings we feel are legitimate. Sometimes, for example, we should be angry about the sins and…

Posted on: March 14th, 2013 by Laurie Coombs 9 Comments
There but for the grace of God...

“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven…” – Luke 6:37 A 16th century English church Reformer named John Bradford allegedly said, “There, but for the grace of God, goes John Bradford,” as he watched executioners lead his fellow prisoners to their deaths. Bradford, who had been imprisoned in the Tower of London for his Protestant faith by Queen Mary I of England, was later burned at the stake, dying a martyr’s death. It is said that, “Before the fire was lit, [Bradford] begged forgiveness of any he had wronged, and offered forgiveness to those who had wronged him. He subsequently turned to his fellow and said, ‘Be of good comfort brother; for we shall have a merry supper with the Lord this night!’” (Wikipedia). What an amazing man of God! Forgiveness was the last sentiment Bradford felt, not judgement. How easy it would have been for him to…

Posted on: March 11th, 2013 by Laurie Coombs 8 Comments
Romans 3:23, you are no better than him, you are no better, you are not better than her, letter, letters from a murderer, murder, murderer, repentant murderer, repent, repentant, judging, judge, do not judge, lest you be judged, rebuke, the Lord rebuke, I am no better than the man who murdered my dad, i am no better, I am not better, worldly truth vs biblical truth, we are all sinners, in need of god, in need of jesus, we need jesus, we need god, god, jesus, christ, christian, god shows no partiality, need grace, need mercy, why do we need grace, amazing grace, repentant sinner, moses, david, saul, paul, moses murder, moses led, egypt , slaves, slavery, bathsheba, david murder, paul murder, paul kill christians, 1 corinthians 1:26-29, 1 corinthians, 1 corinthians 1:26, 1 corinthians 1:27, 1 corinthians 1:28, 1 corinthians 1:29, beggars before christ, poor in spirit, redemption, clean, washed clean, scandal behind forgiveness, forgive, forgiveness, forgave, biblical forgiveness, what does forgiveness look like, no distinction, judge not

…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God – Romans 3:23 You are no better than him, I felt the Lord say to me. I was taken by surprise. Stunned, really. I had just gotten another letter from Anthony, the man who murdered my dad. I was angry and was contemplating what Anthony wrote, while crying out to God, How could he? How could he think that? Why doesn’t he see the truth? Who does he think he is? Then came the rebuke, You are no better than him. I fell silent and was put in my place, instantly. All my judgement, all my condemnation came to an immediate and abrupt stop, and I knew––I am no better than the man who murdered my own dad. [Tweet that] It was a difficult truth to swallow. Truths like these don’t usually sit well. Perhaps it’s because we’re listening to the world,…

Posted on: March 7th, 2013 by Laurie Coombs 10 Comments
Mark 3:28-29, Mark 3:22-17, Mark 3, blasphemy, blasphemy against the Spirit, Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, Satan, Holy Spirit, Spirit of God, what is blasphemy, God is faithful, God is faithful to forgive, God forgives, Jesus forgives, Jesus saves, all is in forgivable, God forgives all sin, all sin, sin, death, wage of sin is death, penalty of sin, death, will good people go to heaven, do good people go to heaven, who goes to heaven, how do you get to heaven, how do you go to heaven, who goes to heaven, who will go to heaven, good deeds, bad deeds, murder, God, Jesus, Christ, Christian, Bible, good be rewarded, bad punished, sin and forgiveness, power of god, forgive, forgiveness, why is sin bad, what's the big deal about sin, sin is sin, Jesus saves, Romans 6:23, folly, wise, salvation loss, lessons learned, how God sees you, Grace, forgiveness, faith, how do you believe in Jesus, stand before jesus, Jesus judge, I am no better, jesus died for every sin, merciful

“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin” —Mark 3:28-29 For years, I didn’t want to think that the man who took my dad away could experience any joy in this life, let alone be forgiven by God and go to heaven. Yet, I was blinded to the ways of God at this time and didn’t have a proper understanding of sin. All sins will be forgiven for those who place their trust in Jesus. Not just the sins that seem small in our eyes. All. Yet there is one offense, Jesus tells us, that is the exception––blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan––see Mark 3:22-27), which He calls an eternal sin. All other sins, however, are forgivable…

Posted on: February 18th, 2013 by Laurie Coombs 7 Comments
wait for the lord, lord, wait, waiting, blessing, bless, blessed, trusting God, God, Jesus, Christ, Christian, peace, will, will of God, free will, Lessons Learned, lessons, doing things God's way, God's way, patience, path of life, how to life, how to live a good life, how to find peace, find peace, finding peace, waiting hard, how to wait, trusting god, our way, god's way, following jesus, faith, discernment, scripture, scripture waiting for the Lord, Isaiah 55:9, scripture interpretation, bible interpretation, bible, scripture, psalms, Isaiah,

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. – Isaiah 55:9 One thing’s for certain: we need to wait for the Lord. As mentioned in my last post, I was terrified to take even one step unless I was certain of God’s direction during my journey toward forgiveness. I knew––with complete certainty––that I would mess it all up, apart from Jesus’ counsel. Here’s what the Bible has to say about waiting for God: Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! – Psalm 27:14   Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. – Psalm 33:20 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him… – Psalm 37:7a Wait for the Lord and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on when the wicked are cut off. – Psalm 37:34 I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. – Psalm 40:1 Do not say,…