TURNING FROM WICKEDNESS

Friday - March 12, 2021

Posted
“Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: ‘The Lord knows those who are his,’ and, ‘Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.’” – 2 Timothy 2:19
 
Meleah Jones’ stepfather sexually abused her when she was 10 years old. “I ended up running away when I was 12. I just knew I didn’t want to go home, I didn’t want to go home. I hated it. I began to drink and use drugs, hanging out with the wrong people” she said. 
“Earlier, I had lost contact with my real dad and then at the age of 15, I found him. He just happened to live in Nashville. So I moved to Nashville and things just started getting worse in my life.”
She drifted from relationship to relationship. When she became pregnant she quit school.
“I had my daughter at the age of 17 and I raised her by myself. I didn’t have any help. She has never met her real dad. I was trying to be both the mother and the father, which was very hard.”
Then a friend told Meleah a way to make big money, at night.
“It was at a strip club. So I decided to try it and I believe I was 17 when I first started. So I went from one club where I could make $200 a night to the next place where I could make $1000 a night. I was getting deeper into drugs and I was getting caught up in the money. It was awful.”
Meleah went to jail twice; the first time after a drug bust, the second time after a fight broke out in the club.
“After that, I had hit rock bottom. I knew deep down that there was something else out there for me; like, this can’t be my life. I was a stripper and a single mom. I was tired of it.”
She went to a doctor to get prescription pills, but he shared the gospel with her. 
“I had never heard that. Nobody had ever told me that before. I just sat there and I thought about it. He said, ‘can I pray with you?’ and I said yes. He began to praying and I really don’t know what he was praying about, but I just started crying and crying and crying.”
Today she is happily married
“He is the healer. He’s the God of restoration. If he will do it for me, I know He will do it for whoever else is out there hurting that has been in my shoes.”
 
Jesus desires for everyone to turn from sin and to bring Him glory. Today in prayer, praise the Lord for saving you.
 
"Repentance is not a fatal day when tears are shed, but a natal day when, as a result of tears, a new life begins." - Ilion T. Jones
 
God’s Word: “And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 
maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation." – Exodus 34:6-7