Tuesday, May 24, 2022

Made New.

I grew up without a father and had a warped view of men from bad examples of men I've seen in my life. I carried rejection and pain with me from that. In school I was bullied and called gay all the time because I was more feminine than other boys. I didn't even know what gay was. Then I became angry and hung with the wrong crowd drinking, smoking weed, etc. At a party a male friend of mine sexually took advantage of me and this opened a door of confusion in my life. I began to experiment with makeup, cross dressing/drag as a way to cover myself and hide behind an alter ego.

Then, I started getting involved in new age witchcraft. Doing spells, crystal work, kundalini yoga, spirit guides, etc. I was living these ways for years. A little over a year ago I started feeling empty and these things didn't fill the void in me. I cried out to God and said if this isn't what you want for my life give me a sign. The next day I got a dream from God of the Bible verse Ezekiel 6:4 telling me to stop doing witchcraft. But I still had one foot out and the other in trying to figure out the truth.

Some time passed and I came across a video of a testimony called From New Age to Jesus. This video convicted me, and I put all of my new age/witchcraft stuff in a trash bag and threw it in the dumpster. I began to experience demonic attacks after this. These beings I thought my spirit guides were actually demons. I was experiencing sleep paralysis, demonic dreams, attacks, etc. I looked into why these things were happening to me and found out that this is a very real thing. Demons are real.

Around this time, I also received a dream of Jesus telling me to be set apart and follow him. Time goes on and I came across an online map where I connected with a believer in my area. She gave me the gospel and talked to me about being born again. I knew this is what God was calling me to. I set up a day on January 3rd to meet up with people in my town I had never met before to get baptized, set free of demons, and filled with the Holy Spirit.

I received freedom and a new life. It took some time for me to find good people to fellowship with and grow with. But I finally did find some good brothers and sisters, but I still felt like God was calling me for more. I was having dreams of traveling with a couple that were missionaries, but they were out of country and weren't planning on coming back. Little did I know when I was having these dreams that God was telling them to come back to America. When they came back, they visited Chariton and I told them about these dreams, and they shared with me God was putting on their heart for me to travel with them. God began to confirm again and again this was what he wanted. So, I put in a 2 weeks' notice at my job and left Chariton and am traveling wherever God's calls, learning and growing each day, and trusting him in everything.

Jesus can change your life if you let him. I'm a completely different person than I used to be. I tried just believing in God or saying a prayer to be "saved", but there wasn't true freedom in my life until I obeyed the gospel and stepped into the watery grave where I left my old life behind.

You can't enter the Kingdom of God without being made a new creation. There has to be a death and rebirth spiritually. And this is through water baptism and being filled with the Holy spirit. Repent, be baptized, and receive the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38) There will be signs that follow. Mark 16:17-18 "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." This is for everyone.

God wants us all to walk in the full inheritance he gives us when we become children of God. Yes, Jesus paid it all when he died, but we still have to make a choice and obey the gospel to become a part of God's Kingdom and walk it out every day.

[Skylar Stroud]



Acts 26:18 ... To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

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