Throughout high school, I enjoyed a really close and personal relationship with God. I could see how good He was to me. But after university, it began to feel like everything I knew about God and the church was just a lie. Later, at age 22, I drifted even further away from God.
I started trying out all the things that the world had to offer: smoking, clubbing, sex, and drugs. The next 10 years seemed like lots of fun and the secular world seemed so enticing. But along the way, I began to seek comfort and support from people, especially men. The more acceptance and attention I received from them, the more I was hurt and damaged—to the point I lost all respect for myself and my body.
I started dating a man who made me feel better even though he treated me with disrespect. We got engaged. I was nearing 30 years of age and did not want to end up alone for the rest of my life. But I later realized that money was more important to him than me, and we ended our relationship.
I was broken and at the lowest point in my life. The following Sunday, I decided to attend a church that I had been driving by every day on my way to work. It was the first time I stepped into a church after more than 10 years.
My life completely changed from then on. I began walking a journey with Jesus. During this time, I asked Jesus to help me, and I smoked my last cigarette by the end of that year! And I have not had the desire to smoke again—all by Jesus’ grace and power.
I also started to listen regularly Joseph Prince’s messages on grace and my life has truly been impacted. God started to heal my broken heart and show me how much I am accepted in Him by Father God. He also opened my eyes to see how much He had loved and protected me throughout my time in the “wilderness.”
Today, God has healed my heart completely! I know who I am in Christ and who He is to me. I am forever so grateful to my Jesus, for the price He paid, and for always saying to me, “I chose you, and you are forever accepted in Me.”
The message of grace is really the hope for a lost world. Thank you, Joseph Prince, for spreading this message across the world, even to Africa. It is touching and changing lives every day!
Michelle Bezuidenhout | South Africa
Glory to God….. Freedom