The jail ministry had its 8th graduation for the ladies recently. This particular graduation was truly spirit filled. The presence of the Lord was noticeably at the ceremony. The ladies have an opportunity to give their testimony, if they wish. There is no pressure for them to speak. I have seen some ladies not say anything. Alternatively, they will go up with another lady to speak together. Remarkably, this graduation was different.
In this graduation, each lady stood up boldly alone and gave their testimony. In some cases it was very emotional for them. I believe Jesus transforms lives! Conversely, that is not to say that Satan will not come after us. It is a guarantee that he will, according to the Bible. Nevertheless, God has given us our Armor, our Fruit, and many other weapons to fight the enemy. I implore the ladies to USE THEM! Because Satan does not want them to know about their weapons! Furthermore, I remind them we never reach a point of arrival with our Faith. Unreservedly, we grow from glory to glory as God is forever teaching us more and more.
After the ceremony, we had an opportunity to fellowship together over lunch. Our conversation focused on Jesus. The ladies shared once again on how they desperately want to walk the life of Faith. I shared it is a process. As long as we keep our eyes on God He will get us where we need to be. I explained to them it will not always look like we want it to look. Moreover, it feel like we want it to feel. Undoubtedly, this is where our TRUST is built. God is FAITHFUL.
Continue to PRAY for these ladies. My heart goes out to the other men and women who are incarcerated or have been incarcerated. Many of them see the error of their ways. They have many hurdles and struggles they have to overcome. Nevertheless, with Jesus as the Shepherd, we know He will lead, guide, and transform their lives.
It is Jesus who will help them to overcome. It is Him who will do the transformation. Pray that these men and women will keep their eyes on Him! Pray that they will make better choices. Pray that they will also get the needed support when they reenter their communities. As I have told them, they have already been SET FREE.! Jesus took care of that on the cross. Now, you have to walk in your FREEDOM day by day, hour by hour moment by moment. HE WILL GET YOU WHERE YOU NEED TO BE!…Amen!