My Second Chance

The Bible says that “the Word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time saying….” and I am so thankful and joyful that God indeed is the God of a Second chance and third and fourth, etc. I had been in full time ministry for several years, and in the course of events that transpired, I fell in sin and backslid on the Lord. Satan, although he is a defeated foe, and His fate is sealed, I discovered that he is a very crafty, deceiving enemy, who if you do not keep your guard up, in spite of declarations of devotion to Christ you may have made in the past, will search and discover an area of your life, where you have lowered the shield of faith, and exposed a vulnerability, and there begin to exploit your weaknesses. My fall was by no means the fault of others. I made the decision to walk an opposite path than righteousness, and found myself in a far country, away from Father’s house, desiring to eat swine food. In the mean time, Satan in his insatiable appetite for human destruction, stepped in and destroyed another family. Ten years I was away from God, and not wanting to think about it much nor discuss the subject of faith, I still could never fully escape the presence of God. With a church on every street corner, with christians that I had fellowshipped with running in to me every where that I went, and a number of believers praying for me, escaping the “hounds of heaven” just wasn’t going to happen. One day at the request of my wife, the local Church of God pastor came by to see her with His wife. I had no idea that they were coming by and my wife forgot to tell me. When there was a knock at the door, of course, I opened the door and that would change my life forever. I sat there trying to be a gracious host, and yet conviction gripped my heart. He asked me if I would like to pray, and for what seemed to be an eternity, I finally said yes to God and a fountain opened up and tears poured from my eyes and I prayed for God’s forgiveness and sensed His loving arms holding me and my sins were removed that very moment, and the Father welcomed me home. I have a very different life now, God has done miraculous works of restoration in my life, and I have just been invited to pastor a church just a few weeks ago. After I returned to God, I felt as though God could never use me again, especially when there are so many christians who refuse to forgive you or accept you if you have been divorced. I dont criticize them for their feelings, I understand them from having been looking at the same issue from their side. But I would like for them to know, that I do not have leprosy, and if I did, I have been cleansed and have shown myself to the Great High Priest, Jesus Christ the Righteous, who in His loving kindness and mercy has forgiven me and pronounced me clean. There are a number of believers who have gone through the tragedy of divorce, broken families, single families, step families, that few want to reach out to them and minister unto them without feeling offended by them. God help me to be one that will. Divorce is a terrible thing for anyone to experience. There is alot of pain, misery, rejection, condemnation and guilt. No one wins, every one loses, and by the grace of God, I want to do all that I can to stop this sunami tide from swallowing up any more Christian marriages, and inform couples that there is a God who cares about them, who wants them to succeed, and that He can heal the hurts, reconcile the misunderstandings, and fill in the gaps that have been severed, so the two can become one again….God Bless You___Pray for us!