Letters to God #13 by Dana – Dinner With The Devil

Tags

Addiction, Conviction, Dana C, Inmate Testimonies, Jesus Christ, Testimony

Dana has written several “letters to God” – you can see them here.

Dear God,

Thank you for this day and every other day You have been gracious enough to give me.  Thank You for getting me through this difficult season of missing my family and children.  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who comforts us in all our affliction.”  (2 Corinthians 3:4)

Lord, lately I’m confused as to who I am, who I’m supposed to be and who I want to be.  Am I the addicted criminal deemed a danger to society, or the lost daughter, sister, mother and friend from a day so long ago I can’t remember?  Am I inmate number xx-xxxxx facing a total of 43 years, turned Christian, who is trying to survive this cold place or am I a combination of all three; just looking for answers and trying to have faith that God will make sense of it all?  Lately I feel not only disconnected from You my God, but also from myself.

Letters to God #10 by Dana – “Forgiveness for 4 counts of attempted murder”

Tags

Addiction, Consequences, Conviction, Dana C, Forgiveness, Grace, Inmate Testimonies, Jesus Christ, Letters from inmates, Repentance, Spiritual growth, Testimony

Dana has written several “letters to God” – you can see them here. 

Dear God,

Thank you for another beautiful day in such an ugly place.  How ironic that I had to come to the “concrete jungle” of chaos and noise to find joy and inner peace.  Because it’s true, O Lord, I’m happier than I’ve been in a long while in one of the most unhappy places on earth.  For I laugh more than I have in years.  I smile almost constantly, and I wake up without guilt or sadness from the turmoil of my once lethal life.  Don’t misunderstand me Lord Jesus.  I know why I’m here and I haven’t forgotten my journey or just how many miles I need to go on my road trip to eternal life.  I just mean that finding You, the peace of the Holy Spirit, and accepting You as my Lord and Savior has done wonders for my soul and has made it easier to enjoy the simple things, see the big things and know what’s important.  So even though I’m fully aware that I’m incarcerated facing 40+ years, housed with other women deemed dangers to society just like me, I can appreciate that I’m happily sober, relieved to be safe and alive and sometimes overwhelmed with the beauty of Your love and enduring forgiveness for sinners like me.  So as my pod-mate says, “Lord, you really do have a sense of humor, and You work in mysterious ways.”  Praise God!

Dirty Tables by Erika

Tags

Conviction, Erika, Forgiveness, Jesus Christ, Testimony

This was written by one of “my girls” who gave her life to Jesus Christ while she was in jail.  You can read her testimony here.  I love this story, because of her humble heart and willingness to be obedient in a situation where most of us would have probably ignored God’s prompting and had a long list of rationalizations.  I am so blessed to count this beautiful young woman as a friend.

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DIRTY TABLES

I was working as a hostess at a restaurant.  It was late, and we had three tired servers and one sleepy hostess, me.  We were just finishing up with the late night rush, and we were relieved that the flow of people was finally over.

Then a large group walked in. They pointed to a large, round booth that they wanted to sit at.  It was open and clean, so I had no reason to object.  I seated them and let them know their server would be with them shortly.

God’s Forgiveness Through Us – Part 1

Tags

Conviction, Forgiveness, Gospel, Jesus Christ

This study follows the “Getting Past Guilt” study, which focuses on receiving the forgiveness that God offers through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Forgiveness is the UNDESERVED cancelling and release of a debt, pardoning the offender, and declaring the offender ‘not guilty’.  It means to release, to liberate, and to set free.

We all should realize how much we NEED forgiveness, because we have a constant need for forgiveness – from God, and from others.  So we should be very willing to offer forgiveness to others when they mess up, right?  But it doesn’t seem to work that way, does it?

Getting Past Guilt – Part 3

Tags

Conviction, Forgiveness, Gospel, Guilt, Jesus Christ, Repentance

God WANTS us to experience the conviction of the Holy Spirit, because conviction is a GOOD thing!  It is critical for spiritual growth, and a very necessary part of the process for us to see our sin and seek God’s forgiveness.