Candice Rasco - You Dont Know My Story!: Testimonials and Words of Encouragement

Chapter 1

Starting Out

I have come to learn that God can save whoever He desires to when he desires and how He desires. He is not confined to this box that we sometimes try to place Him in. He is way bigger than that. As a child of the Most High God, we have to understand a few things: One is that we have to know that the only way to God is through Jesus.

Yes, Jesus is the redeemer of the saints. And if you claim to be a believera child of Godthen you must come to the realization that you cannot accomplish that without first acknowledging that Jesus is Lord and the Messiah, the true sacrificial Lamb of God. When you have acknowledged that Jesus is Lord, and you have accepted Him truly and completely into your heart and your mind, then it is time to accept Him into your soul.

The Word says in Romans 10:9: If you declare with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. When you accept Him (Jesus), you go on in obedience and then get baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spiritsome say Holy Ghost (I say Spirit because God Himself is a Spirit, being so I feel more comfortable with saying Holy Spirit).

After all this is done, they say, Oh well, begin to study to show thyself approved so that you will know for sure who you are and whose you are. The Bible says in Matthew 6:33 (KJV): But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. God is a loving Father and would never leave His children ignorant. So the seeking is solely for our benefit.

We need to learn all there is to know about our destiny as a born-again child of God. As a baptized child of God, we know that we are reborn renewed. The old us died, and we rose up out the water a new creation. As a new creation, we are joint heirs with Jesus, and we can claim victory in our lives just as He did because of His sacrifice for us on the cross. You may ask well: How can one be victorious in all that they do? Well allow me to tell you.

We are victorious through our obedience. True victory comes through obedience. This is very import that we understand this. We have to have faith in the God that we serve, and then we have to choose to follow His will and His way in true obedience. Obedience to God unlocks the full manifestation of the blessings He has for us.

A lot of people dont fully seem to understand this, or they try to go around it, but you cant. We have to be obedient to Gods will and His ways. Its hard to be obedient to God if you are not willing to humble yourself and submit and if you dont love God.

Every believer always says, Oh, I do love God. I love Jesus. But the Word says in John 14:15(KJV): If you love me, keep my commandments. This is how we show that we love God by submitting to the word and will of God in obedience. He shows His love for us daily through His mercy and His grace.

We need to understand that God doesnt see love as just mere words. He searches the heart of each believer and pays attention to the things that we do, because love is an action word. Jesus showed us His love for us through His sacrifice. That was an action. And we have to show our love through our actions with each other daily.

It is also beneficial to us to know that the God that we serve is a God of order. He has a way of doing things in a structure. He doesnt deviate, and God doesnt change. He is the same today, yesterday, and forevermore. We must have faith that the Lord, out of His magnificence, will accomplish what He said that He would in our lives.

We are all here for a particular purpose that God knows alone. And in order to understand what it is that He needs us to do, we must seek His face daily and have faith and believe in Him at all timesyes, in all times, the good the bad and the ugly times that we go through in this life. We have to have faith and just keep on trusting God to lead the way. Yes, trusting in God can seem difficult in the bad times. But if we meditate on the goodness of God, He will give us perfect peace.

He will give us a peace that surpasses all understanding. I am a living witness to this very thing. I was going through one of the hardest times in my life. I was homeless with two kids going to college. Trying to work and be a mom was very challenging to me. I truly thought that I was going to lose my mind.

I remember crying out to God, Please help me. But I stayed reading the Word and seeking God. And even though I was sleeping in cars on park benches and riding the L in Illinois all night because I had nowhere to go, I chose to trust God. I had no other choice. I knew from whom my help came from. So I did lift up my eyes to heaven and sought out God for deliverance, and He gave me peace and let me know that weeping may endure for a night, but yes, joy comes in the morning.

I just had to keep pressing for that dawn to break forth in my life, and it did. I have endured many hardships including assault and abuse, but God was a constant positive influence in my life, keeping me through it all. Jesus was a friend to me when everyone else turned their backs on me. When family deceived me and let me down, I had Jesus.

He would always show up right on time. Thats how I know we serve an on-time God, because when I thought all hope was gone, God would show up and show out for me. Will it be easy? No, nothing in this life is easy. Somewhere along the way, we all will experience struggle some more than others, and this can either be for two reasons: You are disobedient, or it is part of Gods will and purpose for our lives.

I know, through experience with God and the Holy Trinity, that when I chose to be obedient, I would see a change in my life. But when I was operating in my flesh, my life was twirling in a downward spiral fast, and I was being hit at every area in my life. I was so tired of going through in this life that one time I allowed the enemy to speak to me and convince me to take my own life, but God intervened in such a way I knew it had to be God.

This is how I know that when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Lord, our God, will come in our lives to lift a standard that we do not drown. The Word of God says in Isaiah 59:19(AKJV): So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. In 1 Corinthians 10:13, the Word says, No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

God wants us to be victorious. He wont let us fail as long as we allow Him to lead the way and not continue to always want to do the things we feel we want to do. You may wonder, Well how can I receive this help, this power, this anointing that I need so much in my life? Well Im glad that you asked, because I have the answer. In order to receive the things that God had for us, we have to position ourselves to receive it.

We have to align our lives up with the word and the will of God. And when we do that, we will see the change we need to see in our lives. Remember, God is a God of order. And when we follow His order and design for our lives, He blesses us. When we dont do what the Word of God says, we miss out on the important things that God needs for us to get and understand His will for our lives individually, as well as collectively.

God has a plan for you, for me, for everyone. And in order to know what that plan is, we have to consult with the Alpha and the Omega, the Creator of all creation. That alone is amazing that someone that powerful knows us and wants to have an intimate, personal relationship with us. He wants to be involved in our everyday lives. I find that to be so fascinating, and it makes me want to be closer to a love that strong.