|
My Name is Joe, and I am 28 years old. I was blessed to have come to know the Lord
Jesus at the age of five. It was through the teaching of my parents that I came to know
Christ and began to grow in my faith. I was blessed to be a part of a Christian school
where their motto was "training in righteousness." I was baptized in May 1997 in the
Jordan River during a college trip to Israel. Based on the presence and conviction of
the Holy Spirit living inside of me and based on
Eph. 2:8-9
and other related passages
in Scripture, I have full assurance of my salvation in Christ.
Despite having known the Lord, however, I struggled with habitual sin for many years.
Praise the Lord that although I used to be in shackles to pornography and other forms
of sexual impurity, I am now set free by the precious blood of Christ. I have never
been married and at 28 years of age feel so blessed to be set free well before that
ever happens! I tried ending the habitual aspect of this sin on my own for three years,
but then on August 2, 2000, after crying out to God on my knees for deliverance and
confessing that I couldn't do it on my own, I was then freed of my "slavery" to sexual
impurity. The struggles lingered, however, with many battles--some of them were intense
all the way through 2006. I would win many by the grace of God, but I would also lose some
battles.
God personally convicted me of certain music I was listening to that I needed to
throw away. The Holy Spirit also showed me that I had to stop browsing websites that only
gave the enemy an 'open door' into my life. Although the sites were not pornographic,
they still appealed to my sinful nature. Since I have eliminated or "radically amputated"
these, I have had incredible victory in my thought life, and the Lord is enabling me to
take captive each thought -- to make it obedient to Christ
(2 Cor. 10:5),
is enabling me to cancel out every impure thought via the cross of Christ, and is enabling me to be
victorious over the enemy on a regular daily basis now! Praise the Lord! In addition,
there were other forms of demonic oppression in my life, but the Lord has healed,
delivered, and set me free of that as well and I am now walking in freedom by His
grace. God has taken the place of all of the worldly treasures I once admired. In
other words, I don't have to have this stuff---as my old self used to cry out. I no
longer "need" this stuff in my life. All I need is the Lord.
I also want to mention that though I used to be extremely shy and had this social
problem of fearing people, I am now on the radio doing what I never imagined doing,
and doing what I didn't want to do initially--and that is in addition to anchoring
and reporting the news--hosting a talk show! It is a Christian program where the
Lord is using me to speak out against evil and bring the truth to light. It is my
goal now to reach out to those who struggle with addictions, demonic oppression,
and ones who have been abused in some way via a radio ministry that I hope to be
national and international someday. The Lord has allowed my radio show as it is
now to be broadcasted live locally in DE and on the internet every week. Praise
the Lord, and I couldn't have made it this far without Him!
"Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; behold I will cause breath to enter
into you, and ye shall come to life." Ezek. 37:5
|