RISE UP AND WALK
(By: Daren Ochoa)
Almost three years ago in November of 2008, I was divinely delivered. I will first start out saying that I was raised a Jehovah Witness from birth. I quit going to church at about the age of 13, after my father had left home to live a homosexual life style.
After that, I got involved with drugs, alcohol, and gangs growing up.
I got away from the gangs after my first child was born in 1998, but the mentality was still there and I still drank and used drugs.
Three years ago I found myself in a downward spiral. My wife was pregnant with my fourth child. I was unemployed and drinking heavily and I had just got my third DUI. I did not think there was any hope. I wanted to quit drinking and using drugs but I couldn't.
Shortly after my third DUI - which I had gotten on October 12, 2008 - I found myself on my kitchen floor crying and weeping uncontrollably, saying, 'God - if you are real - I need your help.' It was a true heartfelt cry for help.
A couple of days went by and my brother came by and gave me a Bible. I did not know he was a Christian. He had never told me about Jesus. He gave me the Bible and told me not to worry about the situation that I was in because God loves me and He looks over His Word to perform it.
Then he showed me a scripture in Romans 8 that reads, 'Who shall bring a charge against My elect? I'm the only God that justifies.'
I had never read the Bible before, but that sounded pretty good. I got in the Word (Bible) right away and only a couple days had gone by when I had this dream. In the dream, I walked into a house and walked down a dark hallway. There was a man in the back room. He came up to me and told me that I had always been trying to get away from him, but that I was not going anywhere. He put his hand on my chest and held me down with great force.
Then my dream instantly switched. I was standing in this huge old style church. I was standing before a table, with a man on my left and a man standing before me in front of the table. The man on my left held my hand up before the man in front of me and told me he was going to interpret what he would tell me, but the man in front of me did not say anything. He just held up pictures of me when I was young and threw them at me. They whipped past my head and came back again. When they came back, I felt something pulled out of my chest. I watched the pictures disappear as they flew to the other end of the church. Next, I instantly woke up.
Ever since that night I have been divinely changed. I was delivered from drugs, alcohol, and pornography!
Almost three years have gone by (as of 2011) and none of God's promises have returned to Him void. My wife is now saved and my family is totally restored.
I truly understand that anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. Old things are gone and behold all have become new. (See: 2 Cor. 5:17).
I was ordained as a Deacon in my church in 2010 and now I'm ministering the Word of God. I know my deliverance was birthed in travail and now God is using me mightily in prayer as well to do the same for others.
GOD showed me later in His Word what he had done for me in Ezekiel 36: 26-29. It's so awesome. He does nothing apart from His Word!
Dear Reader - are you at peace with God? If not, you can be. Do you know what awaits you when you die? You can have the assurance from God that heaven will be your home, if you would like to be certain. You can even have that assurance RIGHT NOW! Either Jesus Christ died for your sins, or He didn't (He did!). Are you prepared to stand before God on the Judgment Day and tell Him that you didn't need the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross to have your sins forgiven and get in right-standing with God? We plead with you...please don't make such a tragic mistake.
To get to know God, to be at peace with God, to have your sins forgiven, to make certain heaven will be your home for eternity, to make certain that you are in right-standing with God right now ... please click here to help you understand the importance of being reconciled to God. What you do about being reconciled to God will determine where you will spend eternity, precious one. Your decision to be reconciled to God is the most important decision you'll ever make in this life, because in Christ, it is impossible to put a value on the worth of your soul in light of eternity.
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Remember: All that we do in this life comes back to our God-given purpose which is to serve and glorify God. The money and assets we accumulate, the fame and power we've attained or seek to attain - all of the things of this nature will one day pass away, but those lives of others we impact for Jesus Christ will last for eternity, and we will be rewarded for the part we helped play by impacting those lives ... for eternity. (Matthew 6:19-21 is our assurance)