My Testimony

On March 4^th, 2012, I obeyed Jesus and declared my faith in Him as my Savior by entering into the waters of baptism. I also shared my testimony, telling about how God saved me and what He saved me from, even though I was so underserving of His wonderful grace. I decided to put my testimony here on my blog, for anyone who may be interested in reading it. It is my prayer that it may be an encouragement to you, and a proclamation of God saving the worst sinner I know, myself. As I read through it just the other night, it put me at awe (once again) at how amazing God is, and how thankful I am for His grace. So, here it is; just one of many stories of God’s goodness, Christ’s sacrifice, and how a totally undeserving sinner is now living in joy…all because of His wonderful mercy and grace...

    

      "My name is Brooke Myers, and I am 16 years old, with a story I’m sure quite a few of you can relate to. I was born into a Christian home and attended church as a little girl. In 7th grade I transferred from public school to The River Academy, a private Christian school here in Wenatchee. During my time there, I maintained good grades, had a steady job, earned my own money, and participated in competitive swimming for nine years. I swam year-round for the Barracuda club swim team, and then eventually during the fall for Eastmont high school. On year-round swimming, I placed first numerous times, and went to championship meets. For High school, I made it to districts and continued on to state. According to the world’s standards, my friends, and even my parents, teachers, and coaches, I was a pretty good girl...and I knew it. As a matter of fact, I loved it, and I began to find my identity in being approved by others. I became very good at appearing humble when I spoke to people, however, my ultimate goal was for them to know about all of my wonderful accomplishments that I had fought so hard to achieve. I aggressively sought the approval from other people, depending and relying on their praises for the things I had accomplished. I became identified by not only the things I did, but also the things I didn’t do. I never did drugs, drank alcohol, or “partied hard”, which brought me to a point where I was self-reliant and self-righteous. However, I did feel distant from God and began to question if I ever really knew Him. So began the next stage of my life.

    To get to know God better, and make myself feel better, I set out to read the Bible in a year, journal, participate in Bible studies, and pray during the day instead of just at night. How did this all work out? Well, I read probably one book of the Bible that whole year, did a journal entry about once every two weeks, and I still ended up falling asleep when I prayed at night. One of the entries I did write explains the desperate need I was feeling for someone to intervene. In August 2010 I wrote:

“I feel like my spiritual life is going down a drain. I keep messing up. I don’t have a clear view of what’s right and what’s wrong. I don’t feel a connection with God. This hurts so much to say, but it’s true. I want to start new. A new day, a new life, a new road ahead of me.”

     Up to this point, I had tried to find acceptance and approval from other people and myself. I didn’t realize it at the time, but looking back I see how my idols were eating at my soul, which is ironic because I kept feeding them with my time, my energy, and ultimately my heart…but that just left me empty, desperate and lonely. These idols did not speak to me, nor did they care in the least about me.

     Praise the Lord that my story and His story don’t end there. He was in the middle of authoring a greater story, one that would show the greatness of His Son’s work, rather than mine. God did intervene; He changed my heart, and filled me with the Holy Spirit, but most of all, by His grace alone, He crushed my idols and forgave me for worshiping them instead of him. In Titus 3, Paul couldn’t have explained it any better when he says:

“But when God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we have done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of his grace, he declared us righteous and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.”

     This passage hits all the key things I was struggling with, and spoke to them. God saved me, not because of any righteous thing I had done, but because of His mercy. All the ways I was trying to get closer to God were wasteful, and some of them were even sinful. That’s why it’s so ironic to think I had done it all, when really I had nothing to boast in. The Lord revealed to me it isn’t about my “achievements”, but what Christ has done. Understanding this brought me to true repentance, humility, and ultimately to Jesus. Now, kneeling at the cross, I am blessed with a new life, a new heart. My previous sinful desires are gone; I am released and set free! By God’s grace, I am declared righteous and now I don’t have to find acceptance from all the things I have previously been pouring myself out for. I have full acceptance in Christ. I have been gifted worth, value, and an identity in Him alone.

     While I still struggle with the idols of achievement and approval from others and myself, I have found that the Holy Spirit is helping me not to merely behave better, but to believe better -- to believe bigger, to believe fuller, deeper, more passionately that Christ has secured what we could not.

     Everything I sought after -- my need for approval, for security, for meaning, for acceptance -- was and is found in His full and final acceptance of me in Christ. I have been freed from the obsessive compulsion to perform, to earn and to work for God’s approval. My identity is now anchored in Christ’s performance, not mine; His strength, not mine; His accomplishment, His perfection, His work, His righteousness, not mine. Work is finished, rest secured. Performance done. I now know that because I don’t have to do anything to please God, I am now free to do everything for Him!"

Hate Well

 Quote from “Note To Self”:

The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil.

Pride and arrogance and the way of evil

And perverted speech I hate.

~Proverbs 8:13

“Dear self,

     In all your longing to love as Christ loved, you sometimes forget that true love for one thing will, or at least should, produce a hatred for whatever stands against it.  Do not neglect cultivating hatred, an intense hatred, for the right things. Authentic love and zeal for God will produce abhorrence for all that stands oppose to Him and His purposes. Genuine love for your neighbor will produce within you antipathy toward all that robs him of his dignity or leads her away from God.

     Do you hate pride and arrogance? Injustice and the way of evil? Hurtful speech? Do false gospels and false teachers create a holy hostility in you? Do you hate works-righteousness and the false promise of peace with God through performance? I hope you do.

     And what about your own sin? Do you see it? Is it ever before your eyes? Do you really hate it for what it is, or do you simply dislike its unpleasant consequences? If you hate your sin only because of the pain it has caused you in this life, then your hatred sterns from self-love and does not come from a burning love for God.

     At times you have wondered why you are so complacent, unmoved. You have grown frustrated with your lack of progress in the faith. It may be because you lack true and balanced passion- love and hatred. One will move you to recoil from sin, and the other will move you to hold on to Jesus.

     Consider the apostle Paul, who wrestled with the ugly reality of sin in his life (Rom 7:7-25). Paul’s hatred for sin and love for the Savior led him to war against the flesh and to hope in Jesus. And while he was resigned to the hard truth that this side of the resurrection he was shackled to the corrupting influence and presence of sin, his confidence was always grounded in the unchanging love and abounding grace of God.

     If you are following Jesus, cherishing the gospel, and loving God and neighbor, then you will hate well. If you do not hate evil, you will find yourself more susceptible to temptation, slower to respond to corruption, and unmotivated to contend for the faith. Hate is a real part of your faith-don’t forget it."

Spring Break and the Holy Spirit

     This past spring break, I have had some wonderful opportunities to witness God’s Spirit at work. Our family of 4 traveled to Turks and Caicos for spring break, and boy do we have stories! I had some very fun chances to experience “out of this world, takes your breath away” feelings such as admiration, gratefulness, humility, peace, love, and pure joy that I get to share about…

     First, let me admit that before we left I was very bitter. I was upset that I wasn’t going to be able to spend Easter Sunday with my new family here at Grace Covenant. We were going somewhere foreign, where we have never been before, not knowing a thing about the churches there, or even if there were any at all. I wanted so badly to be here in Wenatchee, where I was comfortable with my family and friends. I even asked my mom if we could come home early for it! But that would mean we would only be in Turks and Caicos for 3 days, so that idea didn’t quite fly. To be completely honest, I was putting off Easter, almost dreading it…totally forgetting what it is all about.

     Now, before we left for our journey, my dad had a wonderful idea to bring some Bibles down with us to gift to people. We didn’t know who, where, or even when we would have the opportunity, but we had faith that God would provide one. So along with each of our 49.9-pound suitcases (not exactly a “light packing” family…) we made it a priority for six Bibles to make it down to the tropical island. I was SO excited to give these away, but quite curious as to whom God would place in our lives. Kids? Adults? Boys? Girls? Many people? Just one? I spent a great amount of time praying for God to lead us to witness to someone. Guess what? He answered!

     We arrived Monday April 2^nd in the afternoon and immediately headed down to a café right next to where we were staying. A very gracious hostess showed us to our seat, and we began to chat it up. She was very courteous to us tourists and gave us information on where to eat, shop, lie in the sun, and even tips for churches to attend on Easter Sunday. We went back to our room that night, and I wondered what her story was…whether she was a believer or not. Didn’t think too much about it, until we ran into her at the restaurant once again. This time, my parents talked to her even more, and later on we learned that she was a Christian who totally and completely puts her trust in God. For a little background, Turks and Caicos is very pricy. For an example, a box of lucky charms was 6$...yea, brutal. So my parents were asking this waitress, our new friend, how the locals did it and if they got a discount. She replied,  “No, we don’t get a discount, but God always comes through. Whenever I need the 721$, he provides it for me.” She was very humble, and very thankful.  This opened up some awesome conversation, and that night the Holy Spirit revealed to me through my dad that this woman was the person to give the Bibles to. We all grew to love her so dearly; we couldn’t wait to give them to her!

     A few days later we met her at the other restaurant she worked at (2 jobs!) and I had the privilege to hand them to her, and explain how God has put it on all of our hearts that she’s the one, and how our hopes were that she might be able to gift them out to some people at her church who may not have one, or even friends. She began to weep, remained speechless, and we just hugged. She was the one God pointed out a long time ago for us to meet. We met a new sister of ours, in Christ, and her name is Joanne.

     Now for Easter morning. We took the advice of Joanne, and attended a Baptist church. The moment we arrived, we felt very welcomed, loved, and connected. The hospitality was amazing, and soon the service began. All I have to say is Baptists know how to do it! I’m serious; they were rocking out-dancing and everything! It was amazing! It was so cool because it wasn’t mindless but it was very much heart-felt. They were all singing and praising Jesus, our risen Savior! I had the realization that my GCC family was thousands of miles away praising the same Savior, and giving thanks to the same God, it was so cool! God humbled me and revealed to me it isn’t about where I am. He is there, He is God. It isn’t about who I’m with. He is there and Jesus is alive! Through all of this, I had the most amazing feeling: This is what it’s going to be like in heaven, except we will all be one and united. How cool is that!? I was so silly to think I couldn’t have a great Easter in Turks and Caicos, because quite frankly it was the most memorable ones. The Holy Spirit was at work the whole time.

     Wow, now that’s a lot of writing, and if you have made it this far, thanks for bearing with me. All of this is to encourage those who think its all about where you are or who your with, because it’s not. It’s not even about us; it surly isn’t about me. It’s about Jesus, and what He has done and the joy we all get to share because of the work that is finished! Amen?!. I feel so blessed to have been able to witness the Holy Spirit work in others lives, as well as my own, to convict, transform me, and remind me about who Jesus is…

“Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated Him to the place of highest honor and gave Him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father.”

~Philippians 2:6-11

Theology Conviction

“John Bunyan heralds the gospel of sanctification sweetly with this bit of verse:

Run, John, run. The law commands

But gives neither feet nor hands.

Better news the gospel brings;


It bids us fly and gives us wings.”

~Gospel-Driven Sanctification” by Justin Holcomb

Oh how sweet those words are. Encouraging. Hopeful. Inspiring. The law requires us to “run here, do this, do that…” but doesn’t provide any aid whatsoever. The gospel, on the other hand, offers a better way, the good news that it “bids us fly and gives us wings”. It’s a gift, the most wonderful gift.  How amazing it is, it leaves me in utter admiration…

As some of you may have heard in my testimony a few weeks ago, this was me, the 100% self-righteous “I’ve got this” girl. Ever sense I have been freed from the weight of working out “my” salvation, I have experienced so many things. God has blessed me with so much, and I am always excited to share what He has been doing in my life. Recently, I have been reading Note to Self, which is basically a devotional. It has great stuff, all gospel centered. One morning God revealed to me through this book an idol of mine, and that is my pride in “my" theology. Now the funny thing is that I’m 16 years old, how much theology can I really “have”? Is it really enough to be prideful of it? Yes. I mean can you say irony? I was very proud that I know a lot about God…know more about God and His plan than a lot of people do my age.

I know that I was born into a state of total depravity (not to be confused with utter depravity).

I know how God sent His Son as a substitutionary atonement for my sins.

I know about Christ’s virgin birth and Incarnation.

I know how the Trinity is unified and diverse.

I know how I am saved by faith alone.

One more thing…

I know that Satan fell out of heaven because of the sin pride.

I will say this once again, oh the irony. Being proud about knowing God? I didn’t even know that sin existed! But it does, and I was caught in it; caught in the same sin that kicked Satan out of heaven. I took the gift, and elevated it above the Giver.

By God’s wonderful grace, He revealed this sin to me and convicted me of it. I repented and am continuing to do so when the Holy Spirit convicts me to be worshiping that idol. But to be clear, knowing these things are not bad at all! They are good! They are wonderful! They are a blessing from God because He is a gracious God who reveals Himself to us. I am ever thankful for doctrine class, foundation training, books, and blogs that teach these wonderful truths to me. They are so glorious because we have a glorious God who, by His grace alone, allows me to understand it, love it, and crave more of it. There is one more thing I would love to share. How can I know these things and not love to share them? How can I keep them merely to myself? This is indeed great news, and in being able to understand it, I pray I may be able help others and encourage them with the gospel, as some of my dear friends encourage me. The gospel in and of itself is so freeing, bidding us fly and giving us wings. Praise the Lord, for He is good!

Why "God is Good"...

When wondering what I should title my blog, I debated between a whole bunch of random ideas that came to mind, and finally decided on “God is Good.” Why? Well lots of reasons. First off, I am not very crafty or witty when it comes to creative names. I did come up with a lot of ideas…but they all sounded pretty lame. The second reason I decided on “God is Good” is because it’s true! I will explain more on how and why later. But first, let me clarify some things.

The statement “God is good” can unfortunately so easily be turned into a nonchalant saying, or better yet, a cliché. For instance, when someone is having a rough day and you are feeling obligated to give them some words of encouragement and nothing else comes to your mind, you can always resort to “Well…uhh…hey…don’t worry…God is good”, leave immediately afterwards without any further conversation, and feel pretty good about yourself for being so godly. So while your friend is in tears because of (fill in the blank) and that’s all that comes to mind, my guess is that those three words said without any more explanation or encouragement most likely didn’t help them out too much. But hey, you were able to get God into the conversation…so brownie points to you…Oh boy, how I have experienced this exact conversation, and yes, I am the fool trying to give comfort by saying those same words.

My goal for titling my blog “God is Good” is much more than the cliché explained above. God is good. This is a true fact that I whole-heartedly believe, and would pray that my days are filled with this truth, not in the sense that I would suddenly have a “perfect life” with no pain, hurt, envy, or anything else that might cause me to sin, because that just isn’t true, or possible. Hear me loud and clear when I say that life is hard and has it’s challenges. I know. Everyone who is reading this knows. But also hear me on this: When we have Jesus on our side, He alone carries us through them. He alone is the one to turn to, because He alone is the one that accomplished everything we could and cannot do. So let’s rest in that truth, and preach it to ourselves daily. This is why I am writing this blog; in hopes that it will be a place where I can witness what God has been revealing to me, and how even when I doubt, He is God and He is good. I have so many specific stories I could share about when I find myself in disbelief of this truth, I am in utter anxiousness. Friends, I am here to proclaim it is by God’s grace and turning back to Him where we find peace…the only place where we can truly rest. Praise the Lord, for he is good!

~”The High Priest of ours understands our weakness, for he faced all the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” Hebrews 4:15-16