Encouragement

[BlueOrchid]

Hi,
I wanted to start this thread as encouragement to brothers and sisters that have been downtrodden since finding out they were lied to about many things. I do not handle being lied to very well. For a long time I pushed away my concerns until I could not do that anymore. I fell into a deep depression, feeling far away from God and not knowing what He wants from me. Since then I have a testimony and things keep changing.

Our God is a powerful God, but I never used to believe that fully. I never used to believe in the power of prayer, and now I do. I want to encourage all who have questioned their sanity and who don't know where to begin... It's ok to feel betrayed because you have been betrayed. I used to keep everything inside and I was so angry. But when I started crying my heart out to God and not holding back anything, things really started changing. I started casting all my cares onto Him, because He careth for us. It doesn't matter how "small" our pain is, compared to someone else who may have been through worse. It validates our pain when we believe Jesus loves and wants to heal us, if only we let Him. Kind of like how Jesus wanted to wash the diciples feet, but it took humility on both parts. I had hardened my heart for so many years, unwilling to let Jesus heal me. But now my faith is now being built up every day. I never thought I could be healed and set free from so much. There is still so much to go, but now I have hope, and I never had that before. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Religious spirits just want to control and manipulate and there is no freedom in that. No matter how much someone tells you a religious spirit is not a religious spirit. If people cannot freely express their adoration and praise to God, and there's a set acceptable way to worship, the Spirit of God is being quenched. It's so sad. It makes me weep how much lies have kept people from the freedom God wants us to have. And not only that, the power to be a light and not hide it under a bushel.

I never thought I would get out of the despair I was in. It got to the point where I thought I would die. I felt like I was on the verge of becoming a shell of a person, forever. I felt like I had nothing, not even a soul. I was so discouraged. But God found me in my despair. Again I can't stop saying I never thought it would happen to me, I never thought I would be in the place to have a testimony and to want to encourage others. But that is where God brought me now, and I am humbled that all my pain has been turned into a means to lift up others.

I love the brothers and sisters in the local church movement. I love all the brothers and sisters on this forum. I am praying for everyone every day. We are in such a point in history that all I want is to worship in spirit and truth. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom!!! I hope and pray we can encourage and pray for each other, lift each other up, so we can be known for our love. There has been a lot of lamentations on this forum, and for good reason. Whatever it is, everyone has been through something. I used to be afraid of speaking from my heart because of all the times I was beat down. I was not destroyed. Thank you Jesus!!
I love you all so much.