The Influence of a Thought

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Laurie Coombs

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. – Philippians 4:8

I’m a “thinker,” by nature. I think and analyze constantly. I’ve always been this way. And over the years I’ve learned that this trait can serve as one of my best assets or it can work against me proving to be one of my greatest weaknesses, which is why Jesus spoke Philippians 4:8 over me very early in my walk with Him.

Honestly, when Jesus found me, I was a mess. My thought patterns were extremely toxic, and because of this, I learned quickly the power our thought life has upon us.

The Influence of a Thought

Follow me for a moment.

First, you have a thought.

That thought impacts what you feel in that moment.

Your momentary feelings determine your overall emotional state.

Both your feelings and emotional state impact the lens in which you view your situation and your world.

And, ultimately, impact your behavior and your decisions.

Our thoughts impact what we believe about God, what we believe about ourselves, what we believe about others, how we think others view us, and so much more.

Thoughts impact our emotions, our decisions, our actions, our relationships, and our worldview. [Tweet that]

Thoughts are powerful, indeed!

Consequently, we need to ensure that our thoughts reflect truth, and that we’re not carried off by Satan’s deceitful schemes or by the world’s fallacies or by our own folly. We need to recognize our thoughts and weight them against God’s Word, against His truth with intentionality, not passively accepting every thought we have as truth.

So, what did Paul tell us to think about?

He told us to think about anything that is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise. In other words, think about good things.

It is true. There are so many things that are wrong with this world as a consequence of sin. And while we can see these things for what they are, we are not to think or meditate on them for long. But instead, we need to meditate on all things good.

And there is much good to be found!

The Key to Contentment

I believe this is the key to unlocking the secret of contentment and a spirit of thankfulness in our lives. Paul continues to write in Philippians 4:11-13, “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

This is it my friend. This is how we are intended to live. We need to be placing the truths of the Gospel at the center of our hearts. No matter how bad things get in your life, there is always good to be found. There is always something to be thankful for. And rest assured, there is always redemption coming down the line. [Tweet that]

Let’s be intentional with our thoughts. [Tweet that] Let’s grab ahold of what’s good, cast aside what’s bad, and learn, as Paul did, the secret of how to be content in this beautiful, fallen world of ours.

After all, the beauty of God’s world only intensifies when we can see brokenness redeemed.

… take every thought captive to obey Christ. – 2 Corinthians 10:5

{Your thoughts matter. Intentionally choose good thoughts.}

Now, take a moment. Recognize all that’s good in your life and all the good you can find in others. See the beauty of God’s creation and thank Him for opening your eyes to His goodness and love. If you have a moment, share your thoughts in the comments.

To read more about my journey toward forgiveness, read Freedom Through Grace or {Redemption} Your Testimony May Have Saved a Life.

{Lessons Learned} Healing the Broken Places

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Laurie Coombs

I didn’t want to go digging around my past, but I knew I needed to. I knew some residual effects of my dad’s murder had to still be there. As I walked through some of the most difficult times in the weeks, months, and years following the murder, I remember thinking I sure hope this doesn’t screw me up.

My dad wasn’t married at the time of his death which meant that my brother, sister, and I were legally responsible for picking up the pieces when he died. Our extended family helped quite a bit––as much as they could, really, which I am so thankful for––but there was only so much they could do. My mom, however, was the backbone that held us all together, and I will forever be grateful to her for that. She played an integral part in the process of helping us wade through all the mess. (Thank you, Mom!)

Still, there were some things that my brother, sister, and I needed to take care of. No one could do it for us.

We were the ones who needed to put together the funeral arrangements.

We were the ones who needed to take possession of my dad’s house (which was where the murder took place) once the investigation finished.

We were, quite literally, the ones who cleaned up the mess that was left behind.

We navigated my dad’s estate through the legal process of probate, helped finish the construction of the home my dad was building for himself, got both homes ready to be sold, and sold them to their prospective buyers.

All the while, we were meeting with the District Attorney who was readying her case against Anthony and endured two and a half years of preliminary hearings leading up to the murder trial. Then, there was the trial itself, during which time my family and I sat for a week, day in and day out, listening to testimony after testimony, trying to avoid seeing pictures that might deepen the wounds, and hearing the defense attorney’s distortion of truth for the sake of winning his case.

This was also the time in my life that I was finishing up college, getting engaged, planning a wedding, getting married, and beginning my career as a teacher.

Truly, it was a crazy time in my life!

But after about three years, things seemed to settle down and come to a close. Justice was served and the estate was settled. And that was it. I feel like I was suddenly thrown into chaos, but at the end of three years, it all abruptly ended, and my life began to resemble a “normal” life once again.

I tried to put it all behind me. I tried to move on. Yet, no matter how hard I tried to rid myself of the pain, it still remained. It wasn’t until I met Jesus years later that I was led to rummage through all my junk and was finally able to allow Jesus to heal what had been broken.

But it wasn’t easy. In fact, it was one of the most painful, difficult seasons in my life. When we ask Jesus to heal us, we must understand that healing can be painful.

Healing a broken heart requires that we allow God to bring us back to our most broken places, to the darkness of our soul in order to see and understand our situation anew.

But it’s painful. It’s like opening an old wound, digging into it, removing the shrapnel that was embedded years before, and closing the wound properly for the first time.

Once we heal, the scars remain. But one thing I’ve learned is that it is God’s intention to take those scars, turn them into our strengths, and use them for our good and the good of others to His glory.

He is, after all, our Redeemer. What an amazing God we serve!

{Healing a broken heart requires that we allow God to bring us to our most broken places.}

Question: In what area do you need healing? Have you experienced healing? Was your healing painful? Share in the comments.

To read more about my process of healing, read {Lessons Learned} Healing Comes With Greater Understanding.

To read more about my journey toward forgiveness, read Freedom Through Grace or {Redemption} Your Testimony May Have Saved a Life.

{Lessons Learned} Be Gracious or Forgiveness Flows Out of a Changed Heart – Part 2

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Laurie Coombs

Early on in my walk with God, I was told that the Bible says that we’re sinners. Logically then, I thought, this would infer that I sin. It was a novel concept to me. Really, it was.

Up to this point, I never really thought about sin, and I certainly never thought I was a sinner or that I needed anything, let alone the help of a supposed God that could very well be the figment of someone’s imagination.

Truly, I was blind to the ways of God.

One day, after attending church for several weeks, however, I prayed. God, I said feeling a bit foolish, if I have any sins, show me. And boy did He deliver! I went from self-loving and self-idolizing (even though I was in a very bad place at the time) to self-loathing in no time at all.

Once stripped of all deception, I began to see who I truly was. And let me tell you, it was ugly.

But as I mentioned in Part 1, God doesn’t show us our sinful nature to beat us down, but instead, showing us our sins is intended to drive us into the arms of Jesus. Our sins show us our failures. They show us that we cannot do any good on our own. Truly, they show us our need.

No. We are not to loath ourselves as a result of our sin. But our sin should drive us back to where we were intended to be all along––in close communion with Father.

God choses undeserving sinners, washes them, and gives them new life. This is the grace of God.

Grace is a beautiful thing. [Tweet that]

But once we receive grace, we need to extend it to those around us.

When we understand that we are who we are by the grace of God alone, it should help us to see others through that same lens. We’re all prone to sin. We’re all prone to folly. And once we recognize this truth, it should compel us to live graceously with others and to forgive them.

You see, if we are around one another long enough we will hurt each other. We will sin against one another. We will fail one another. And while none of this is okay or justifiable, we need to have more grace with each other and forgive as we have been forgiven. [Tweet that]

As I have written extensively about before, there came a point as I was being led toward forgiving Anthony, the man who murdered my dad, that God clearly told me Laurie, you are no better than Anthony. And while it was difficult to hear, it is true. I am no better than any other. And I thought, who am I to withhold grace and forgiveness from another when Jesus so freely gave them to me? [Tweet that]

Truth is, we are all in need of grace. Let us all bring a bit more grace into our relationships today.

{Be gracious and forgive.}

Question: Who do you have a difficult time being gracious to? Why? Share in the comments.

To read more about my journey toward forgiveness, read Freedom Through Grace or {Redemption} Your Testimony May Have Saved a Life.

Romans 8:28 Rings True

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Laurie Coombs

Last Thursday began like most days. Toward the end of my quiet time with Jesus, my girls came into my bedroom in all their morning cuteness, blurry-eyed and hair a fright. We cuddled together for a moment before beginning our morning routine of showering, dressing, and the like.

My girls usually finish getting ready before I do, so they ran downstairs, busying themselves with coloring and drawing in the kitchen. Moments later, however, I heard Avery, my younger daughter, yell, “Mom, Ella poked me with a pencil!”

To which Ella replied, “But it wasn’t very hard!”

Really?!? I thought. It was all going so well.

Turns out, Ella intentionally “poked” or stabbed (to be more exact) Avery with a pencil. Not okay in my book. But after disciplining Ella, we had a serious talk about hurting others.

Ella is seven. Up to this point, we have taught her about Jesus, we’ve talked about Jesus being her Savior, but I never asked them to pray the prayer for salvation.

I didn’t want this prayer to be something forced or something they just did because they’re told it’s what they’re supposed to do. I wanted it to be authentic. From their heart. I wanted them to desire Jesus and realize they can’t do this thing called life without Him!

This would not happen through any effort of my own. This would not happen by me leading them to say a prayer asking Jesus into their heart before they had the desire. What children need––what we all need––is the grace of God.

Salvation comes by grace through faith!

It is a gift from God. And it cannot be manipulated into being.

Ella and I talked about hurting others. We talked about the condition of her heart. We talked about our need for Jesus. And I can honestly say that for the first time, she was broken over her sin, and she realized she needed Jesus.

“Have you ever prayed for Jesus to save you?” I asked.

“No,” she said, tears streaming down her face.

“Do you want Jesus in your heart? Do you want Him to save you?”

“Yes,” she said without hesitation.

We talked extensively about what that meant and about who she knew Jesus to be.

“But I want you to say the prayer,” she told me.

“No honey. Mommy can’t do that,” I said. “I pray for you all the time, but this is a prayer you need to pray.” I told her that her relationship with Jesus is something that is her own. It’s something she needs to cultivate. No one else could do it for her.

“But I don’t know what to say.”

Facing one another, we held hands and began to pray, both of us crying like babies. With genuine sincerity, my little Ella prayed a “repeat after me” prayer for Jesus to be her Lord and Savior.

What began with her committing a sin against her sister ended with her brokenness and her salvation, and I praise Jesus for His grace.

“You’re way ahead of me,” I told Ella with a smile. “I wasn’t saved until I was 29!”

“Whoa,” she said, bright-eyed.

Thank God for grace.

Since then, I’ve been thinking. My dad was saved only months before his death by Jesus through the very events that led to his murder (more on this later). I was saved as a direct result of the effects of my dad’s death. And now, my daughter has been saved as a result of my salvation.

Romans 8:28 rings true.

{Jesus is our Redeemer.}

Question: How have you seen Romans 8:28 played out in your life? Share in the comments.

To read more about my journey toward forgiveness, read Freedom Through Grace or {Redemption} Your Testimony May Have Saved a Life.

{Lessons Learned} Do You Need Jesus to Forgive?

Posted on April 25, 2013 by Laurie Coombs

I had a feeling something was still there. Some residual scarring caused by my dad’s murder. In a way, I wanted to go there. Get it all out. Heal completely. But at the same time, I feared what would be found.

I sure hope I’m not really screwed up, I thought.

But I knew some soul work needed to be done. Digging would have to take place. And the root of whatever was left behind would have to be excavated and restored.

I tried to do this on my own for nine years after Dad died. I tried to “pick myself up by my bootstraps” and move on, reasoning that Dad would have wanted it this way. He wouldn’t want me to succumb to the wave of despair that threatened to swallow me whole.

So, I moved on. Each time the thought of Anthony came into my mind, I chose with precise deliberation to cast these thoughts aside.

I forgive him, I’d tell myself, knowing full well that I didn’t. I thought if I did this long enough, it would become my reality. It was the only way I knew how to move toward forgiveness, and I hoped this would allow me to shed the effects of my past.

Even the secular world tells us to forgive. “You must forgive and forget,” we’re told.

And, so we do. Or we think we do.

We will ourselves into believing that we’ve arrived at the desired destination. That we’ve forgiven.

I forgive Anthony, I told myself. I do.

Then, I became a Christian after completely falling apart. And I mean completely falling apart. I’ve written about this time before, but for our purpose here, I must tell you that I don’t think I would have gotten to this point of complete desperation and complete lack of hope had it not been for my unforgiving heart (The one I thought was forgiving, mind you).

So, there I was, a baby Christian, one year after surrendering my life to Christ when the call to forgive came. Quite frankly, I was surprised.

But I’ve already forgiven Anthony, came my rebuttal to God.

Soon, I learned that forgiveness––real forgiveness, that is––can only be accomplished through Jesus, the one who died to make forgiveness possible.

It’s the same with all things.

We cannot love, in the full sense of the term, without first receiving God’s love.

We cannot extend true mercy or grace without first receiving God’s mercy and grace.

So to, we cannot forgive, completely and unconditionally, without first receiving God’s forgiveness. [Tweet that]

It is Jesus who made forgiveness possible, and it is He who guides us onto our own path toward forgiveness. [Tweet that]

I’ve mentioned this before, but I don’t think I can emphasize it enough. Forgiveness is a process. It is not something that occurs instantly. And it requires a decision to pray for Jesus to guide you toward that end.

So, I encourage each of you to take another look at your life. Take another look at you relationships. And prayerfully assess whether or not you hold unforgiveness in your heart. And if you do, I implore you to seek God and forgive.

Forgiveness will set you free. [Tweet that]

Remember, forgiveness begins with prayer. [Tweet that] Pray for God to lead you toward freedom today.

{Forgiveness is only possible through Jesus.}

Question: Has God been showing you unforgiveness in your heart? Who do you need to forgive? How have you tried to forgive apart from God? Share in the comments.

To read more about my journey toward forgiveness, read Freedom Through Grace or {Redemption} Your Testimony May Have Saved a Life.

How Jesus is the Fulfillment of God’s Love

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Laurie Coombs

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16

No doubt about it. We are loved.

Truly loved, despite all our shortcomings.

The Feinberg Challenge

Over the last 40 days of Lent, leading up to Easter, I joined Margaret Feinberg (along with thousands of other Christ followers), in her 40-Day Bible Reading Challenge. Together we read through the Bible. Yep. The whole thing.

Honestly, it was crazy, but it was amazing at the same time! Beginning in Genesis and ending with Revelation, we read an average of 30 chapters a day (though I’m a day behind, so I’ll be finishing up today).

When first presented with all this craziness, I was intrigued, but I didn’t think I could do it. After all, I have children who need their mommy and a husband who needs his wife, but God made it happen. Day in and day out, I was given the time needed to soak in the truth of God’s word.

And when God’s truth continually washes over you, something begins to sirs within your soul. [Tweet that] God works. He teaches. He shows you things you’ve been missing all along or have forgotten amidst the busyness of life.

Throughout this time, there were days I was moved to tears as I read (well, ok, I actually cried most days). The more I read, the more the love and faithfulness of our mighty God was impressed upon my heart.

I just love how Sally Lloyd-Jones describes the love of God in The Jesus Storybook Bible for kids. She says God loves us “with a Never Stopping, Never Giving up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love.” Isn’t that an amazing description?

And it was this love that become so real to me during my reading.

God’s Story

The whole of the Bible tells the story of God. It tells of a people––made to love and be loved by God––who rebelled against their loving Father, bringing sin into the world. From this moment on, God sought to bring His people back to Himself once again, saying I will be your God and you shall be my people.

Truly, the Bible shows love affair between God and His people in which He faithfully pursues the hearts of man. [Tweet that]

Still, God’s people rebelled. They rebelled over and over and over again. Yet, God never forsook them though He had every right to do so. But instead, God chose to love them, despite rebellion and sin.

The Climax

God’s plan ultimately culminated with Jesus.

Jesus was God’s love displayed in flesh. He was the way. The way back to God. As said before, God could have left us in our sinful state of hopelessness. But instead, He provided a way back to Himself. Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

For 33 years, Love walked the Earth.

Love healed wounds.

Love set free the captives.

Love showed us the way as He called and said, “Follow Me.”

And Love was nailed to a cross on Calvary.

But ultimately, Love rose again, bringing us new life.

This is what Easter is all about. The love of God, who is faithful to provide new beginnings. [Tweet that] It’s like we get a mulligan. A do-over. What was behind has passed. And all that is required of us is to receive the free gift of salvation. To receive Christ. [Tweet that]

Jesus holds out His hand, offering us mercy, grace, salvation, love, hope, peace, and so much more.

Reach out and take hold of the promises of God. Receive His Love.

Happy Easter!

{Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s love. Receive Him.}

Question: How have you been blessed by the Word of God? How has the story of God impacted your life? Share in the comments.

To read more about my journey toward forgiveness, read Freedom Through Grace or {Redemption} Your Testimony May Have Saved a Life.

{Lessons Learned} Healing Comes With Greater Understanding

Posted on March 23, 2013 by Laurie Coombs

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.

To read more about my journey toward forgiveness, read Freedom Through Grace or {Redemption} Your Testimony May Have Saved a Life.

{Lessons Learned} No Sin is Justifiable: How Anthony Stopped Justifying Murder

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Laurie Coombs

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 atrocities committed in this world, for they anger God, and the anger we feel is what’s called righteous anger. But still, we must not sin regardless of whether or not there is a reason to.

No Sin is Justified

A couple weeks ago, I said all sins are forgivable, and this is true. All sin is forgivable, but ultimately, no sin is justifiable.

This issue was discussed extensively with Anthony during our correspondence. There was a reason Anthony killed my dad. And at one point, things got pretty heated as we discussed just that.

I felt Anthony was justifying the murder, saying that in some way he was justified to kill my dad because there was a “reason” behind what he did. As you can imagine, that didn’t sit well with me.

Anthony wrote:

I am in here with people who killed someone for no reason, or drugs or killed 2 people and have less time than me. I don’t think that’s justice. I am sorry.

We were discussing his sentence––life without the possibility of parole––which I believe is just for his crime. And when I read his words, I was set on fire. I responded and said,

…while you have said that you will “forever be sorry for what [you] did and how [you] hurt [my] family,” your last two letters seemed to indicate that you’re justifying your actions by claiming you had a “reason” for killing my dad. While I will never dispute the fact that my dad made some mistakes, there is absolutely no justification for what you did, and the fact that you had a “reason” for committing murder doesn’t make your actions any more or less of a crime.

Even though Anthony apologized for murdering my dad, I felt he was trying to justify his behavior. He, of course, didn’t see it that way. Anthony wrote back:

I have never said I had a “reason” for killing your dad but you wanted to know what led up to that day, what was my emotional state and such. I felt it was safe to give you an overview of the stuff leading up to it. This also seems to have been misconstrued as justification, not so.

Even though he maintained that he was not justifying his behavior, he repeatedly pointed to the actions of others involved, essentially saying, yeah I did it, but look what they did. When all I wanted to hear was, I did it. I am sorry. Period.

To Anthony’s credit, I asked him a lot of questions about the circumstances leading up to the murder. And he willingly gave me his perspective, which I am thankful for because it allowed me to gain greater understanding, leading to further healing.

Still, it felt as though he was using his “reasons” to justify taking my dad’s life. In my eyes, he was remorseful, but not yet repentant.

Months passed, and I was given grace to forgive despite Anthony’s justification. But then, I watched as Jesus began to change Anthony’s heart.

Two years later, Anthony wrote:

I needed to own what I did. I murdered a man. I did it…. I wanted to feel justified in what I did because the alternative was to hate myself, but when Laurie forgave me, she allowed me to forgive myself. I could also go to God humbly and ask his forgiveness. And God is so faithful, so I know I am forgiven.

Isn’t that why we all justify our sin? It’s difficult to live with ourselves once we come to understand that there is no one to blame but ourselves. Yet, there is comfort to be found in the forgiveness of God, which can be seen in Anthony’s story.

When we see his story, we see the power of God at work. God took an unrepentant murderer whose only option was to justify his behavior to escape self-loathing, and he transformed him by his grace. Jesus showed Anthony the Gospel. And Anthony finally came to a place of repentance and healing, as his excuses fell to the ground.

Through this process, both Anthony and I were shown that while the circumstances leading to sin can certainly bring understanding, they are by no means justification for our actions.

{There is always a reason behind the sins we commit, but no sin is justifiable.} [Tweet that]

Question - Each of us have been tempted to justify our actions at one point or another. I now I struggle with this from time to time. How about you? Do you take full responsibility for your sins or do you tend to justify your actions or place the blame on others involved? Share in the comments.

To leave a comment, click on the link above. This will take you to the post where you can leave your comment at the bottom.

To read more about my journey toward forgiveness, read Freedom Through Grace or {Redemption} Your Testimony May Have Saved a Life.

{Lessons Learned} We Are No Better Than Repentant Murderers

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Laurie Coombs

…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, with all its corrupt conceptions of how things should work instead of turning to the Word of God, which tells us that we are all equally sinners in desperate need of grace and mercy. The difference is: some know it and others don’t. [Tweet that]

God Shows No Partiality

Truly, God shows no partiality between repentant sinners. Take a look at some of the most influential patriarchs of our faith:

Moses ran away from his privileged life in Egypt after killing one of Pharaoh’s men prior to being called and empowered to lead Israel out of Egyptian slavery.
David committed adultery with Bathsheba, impregnated her, then had her husband placed on the front line of battle to ensure he would be killed, yet God still calls Davis a man after His own heart and used him mightily.
Paul sought after and personally oversaw the murder of several early Christians prior to being saved, transformed, and called to spread the Gospel to much of the world.

Talking a close look at the record of these men and others who were used mightily for the Kingdom of God brings the truths of 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 to light. It says:

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

It is quite likely that if you are saved, you were once foolish, weak, lowly, or despised. We all come before Christ as beggars, poor in spirit, and in desperate need of redemption. [Tweet that] We are all equally guilty of sin before a Holy God.

Yet, the moment we come to Christ by faith, we are all washed clean. There is no distinction. My cleanliness is no better than Anthony’s. Once again, this is the beauty and scandal behind the forgiveness of God.

{We are no better than repentant murderers.}

Which of God’s truths do you have difficulty swallowing?

Share in the comments.

To read more about my journey toward forgiveness, read Freedom Through Grace or {Redemption} Your Testimony May Have Saved a Life.

A New Creation: The Old Has Passed Away

Posted on March 3, 2013 by Laurie Coombs

While at a holiday party a few months ago, I ran into an old friend I hadn’t seen in quite some time. We were roommates in college (while Travis and I were dating) and were living together at the time of my dad’s death. He knew me pretty well back then, but after graduating from college, we saw each other only occasionally and lost touch.

I sat down next to him at the party, and before I knew it, he asked me about my writing. “I heard you’re writing,” he said. “What do you write about?”

The last time I talked with him, I wasn’t even a Christian yet (nor is he a Christian now). I knew my answer would not be what he’d expect.

I told him how I became a Christian. How I was given the proof and grace I needed to believe in Jesus. And how Jesus called me to love and forgive Anthony, the man who murdered my dad. And what God did through my journey toward forgiveness and the two and a half years of correspondence with Anthony.

He looked at me, mouth open, not knowing what to say. “Uh…wow, Laur. That’s crazy.”

“Yea. It is,” I said. “It’s amazing what God’s done in my life.”

Then after a moment, he said, “you know…the old Laurie would have just told Anthony to f*** off.”

I have to admit, I was a little surprised by this comment. But he was right. “You’re right,” I told him. “That’s exactly what I would have done. But I’m different now.”

He looked at me and simply nodded.

I am different now. Very different.

How thankful I am for grace.

A New Creation

When Jesus saves us, we literally become a new creation––we are born again. Second Corinthians 5:17 tells us, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

We don’t need to live out of our old selves. The old has passed away. But instead, being a new creation, we live by the spirit which allow us to be different and empowers us to follow Jesus radically wherever He may call. [Tweet that]

Our new nature compels us to die to ourselves and be something different, something the world stands in awe of and can’t quite figure out. We can love like never before. We can forgive others like never before. We can reconcile relationships like never before. And we can allow Jesus to shine though our imperfect lives to those around us, bringing others to know and love Him.

This is how I want to live.

This is how I want you to live. Imagine how the world would change if Christians––ALL Christians––lived like this.

{Our new nature compels us to die to ourselves and be something different, something the world stands in awe of and can’t quite figure out.}

What has Jesus changed in you that is apparent to those who knew you before coming to Christ?

Leave a comment.

To read more about my journey toward forgiveness, read Freedom Through Grace or {Redemption} Your Testimony May Have Saved a Life.