I Was ___.

I was given the sentence = I was _____ But Jesus came and Now_____.

My church was making a video to show in a Sunday service and was asking various people to participate in it by completing this sentence and saying it on camera.

I was in darkness But Jesus came and Now I am surrounded by His light.
I was damaged goods But Jesus came and Now I am repairing everyday.
I was hurt But Jesus came and Now I am healing.
I was living two different lives But Jesus came and Now I am living only one life for Him.
I was a hot mess But Jesus came and Now I am a happy mess.
I was broken But Jesus came and Now I am mending.
I was hurting myself But Jesus came and Now I am helping myself.

Me being my wordy over zealous self, decided to print out the sentence on multiple pieces of paper, fill in the blanks and then pick out the best one.

I was dying inside But Jesus came and Now I am learning to live.
I was talking too much about myself But Jesus came and Now I won't shut up about Him.
I was in so many pieces But Jesus came and Now I am pulling it all together.
I was so filthy But Jesus came and Now I am so clean.
I was full of chaos But Jesus came and Now I am learning to be calm.
I was a wreck But Jesus came and Now I am redeemed.
I was so stupid But Jesus came and Now I am making smarter choices everyday.
I was a flirt But Jesus came and Now I only have eyes for Jesus.
I was always wanting something But Jesus came and Now I only want more of Him.
I was walking disaster But Jesus came and Now I see the beauty in this natural disaster.

I was having a hard time figuring out which one really summed me up best and so I think I narrowed it down to 27 different ones. One sentence could never sum up what has happened in my life. I was sad, now I am happy, just didn't cut it for a description of what has profoundly and forever changed me as a person. Everything in my life, perception, behavior, and my thoughts have radically changed since I started really living with God as my center; It is the only way for me with my love for the Lord being my main motivator for all things.

I was wasting my life But Jesus came and Now I am giving my life to Him.
I was deluded But Jesus came and Now I see reality.
I was lying to myself But Jesus came and Now I see and want only the truth.
I was so wrong But Jesus came and Now I know what is right.
I was wandering But Jesus came and Now I am wandering in the right direction.
I was without a dream But Jesus came and Now my dream is for more of Him in my life.
I was poor in every respect But Jesus came and Now I am rich in blessings.
I was empty But Jesus came and Now I am full.
I was thirsty But Jesus came and Now I am thirstier for more of Him, His love, goodness, power, joy, grace, mercy and forgiveness.

I decided I would grab one of the pieces of paper out of my purse read 3-4 on camera and let the guy filming decide which was best. Great plan right? Guess which one the camera man choose......It is one of the ones written above.

When I arrived I immediately confessed that I had written a bunch and couldn't decide and would let it be up to him. He stressed that I needed to not read them but just say them from memory in the camera. I grabbed a sheet and said I think three different ones. On the fourth one he said, "Great, got it the last one is the perfect." No, no, NO, NO, NOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Not that one any one but that one....here let me say a few more, please,please, please don't use that one.

He said, “Nope, sorry that is the one I am using.” But I...I....I really couldn't come up with a good argument since I had said he could choose. Plus I was late for a Friday night class so I tried to let it go mentally. I continued to try for the next two hours of class to let it go, quite unsuccessfully. One of the guest speakers after class asked me how the video went and I instantly produced all of my papers threw them down and said, “Look, guess which one he choose”. I pointed it out and He laughed and laughed. Then said, “Oh I am sure he is just teasing you these other ones are better, he probably will NOT use THAT one.”

I kept contemplating stopping back in there and begging the video-grapher to PLEASE use a different take. I realized though that it was my worst enemy Pride rearing its ugly head and that is why I didn't want that clip to be in the video. After all I had written it down and it is very true about myself -very true, so I should not be so embarrassed about it.

The Sunday church service in which it played, I was teaching the kids in Sunday school and have to this day never laid eyes on the video. Old enemy big P of course pecks at me wanting to see myself in all my embarrassing glory.

After the service was over and all the kids had left the classroom I walked out into the sanctuary to socialize and the first person I saw said, “I liked what you said on the video.” I gulped and ever so casually said, “Oh, what did I say, I haven't seen the finished product?”

She said, “Oh, it was cute you cocked your head to the side and said, 'I was a FLIRT but JESUS came and Now I only have eyes for Him.'” I weakly said, “Uh, did it at least get a laugh?” She said, “No, nobody laughed.” Yeesh, I was thinking to myself I didn't even get a lousy laugh, how completely and utterly embarrassing.

She went on to say, “I thought it was good because I am sure there are some flirts in here that might have felt a little prick of conviction.”

That warmed me up and I smiled and said, “Thanks, I think I really needed to hear that.”
It is absolutely astounding to me how a little compliment when it is essentially needed can change my whole perspective.

“A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” Proverbs 25:11

I really was a HUGE FLIRT but now Jesus came and I really do only have eyes for Him. It is pretty amazing because it is like a huge facet of my personality is now dormant. I will write more about that later I suppose. Also I could fill pages and pages with “but now JESUS” came because there is so much of my life that has been transformed that I could go on endlessly. Seriously, just ask.

Lord, help the inappropriate flirts, help anyone that is a --before just begging to become an –after. Please continue to work in me and change me, change me, change me to be more like You. Help me to kick ugly Pride in the pants and let my worries of what others may think plague me no more. Please Lord lead more people to be able to write their own sentence of

–I WAS ____BUT JESUS CAME AND NOW _____.

Heaven helped me 2/17/09
God bless you,
A*