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From Desperation to Transformation - Encouragement for Today - April 30, 2020
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Peace and perspective from God's timeless truths. Encouragement for Today --------------------------
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Peace and perspective from God's timeless truths.
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Encouragement for Today
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[Stephen Arterburn]April 30, 2020
From Desperation to Transformation
[STEPHEN ARTERBURN](
Lee en [español](
âDonât copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.â [Romans 12:2]( (NLT)
Years ago, my friend Pastor Chuck called me to ask if I could meet with a young woman whoâd been a crack addict and was now suicidal and asking for help. Twenty minutes later, a weak and fragile woman with a very strong vocabulary of four-letter words began spewing her anger and bitterness at me.
She was a model, and photographers provided the drug to add life and action to her photo shoots. Sheâd recently stopped using crack, but the longer she went without the drug, the deeper into depression she sank. At her darkest moment, she was going to kill herself, but instead she went to Pastor Chuckâs church for help.
We talked for over an hour, and I did not feel very helpful.
As she prepared to walk out, I reached for something that had just arrived in my office the day before. It was a new Bible that helps provide Godâs truth for those involved in recovery from alcohol, drugs and other problems that require a growth plan. I hated to part with my copy, but this young woman needed something more than my feeble words to help her be transformed.
I handed her the Bible, opened it to the book of John and said, âI donât think my words have been too helpful, but I know these words can transform your life. If you would start with the book of John, it can lead you to the life you once had and more.â Those were the best words I could come up with to encourage her to read that Bible and discover the recovery program inside. As she left, I prayed and wondered what would become of this desperate woman.
Six months later, I was back at the same church when a young woman came walking up the center aisle carrying a Bible so tattered it looked like it had gone through a washing machine.
It was the same woman whoâd shown up in my office when she was suicidal. She now had a much brighter face and carried her very well-worn copy of the Scriptures. I was stunned and asked, âWhat happened to you?â
She replied, âI stopped believing the lies of Satan and started believing the truth of Jesus Christ, and my life has been transformed.â She told me how she started a ministry helping young women not to make the same mistakes she had made. Her life had truly been transformed by the truths of Jesus Christ. As dramatic as her transformation was, it is available to us all.
We donât have to be addicted to something or be suicidal to need transformation. The promise of profound transformation is found in [Romans 12:2]( âDonât copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know Godâs will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfectâ (NLT).
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