"In the past, he let all nations go their own way. Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy." - Acts 14:16-17
Janie Burkett was raised in a quiet town in Oklahoma. She was a pastor's daughter with a happy childhood and loving family.
But at age 10, her father became a traveling evangelist and Janie hated her new life on the road.
"My childhood from that point on was hard because everything that I had known was crumbling," Janie said. "I began to comfort eat. It was the one thing that would be there when everybody else left. I was 200 pounds at 15, 16 years old."
At the age of 15, while her parents were preaching at a revival, Janie was raped by a boy her age. After five years on the road, Janie's family settled down in a small Texas town. Janie plunged into the party life.
"I began to get in with the wrong crowd," Janie said. "Then when I took my first hit of cocaine at 17 is when it was 'over the top.' The whole insecurity faded. And, this is what caught me with the drugs, because it completely took away the reality of what I thought about myself. But, as soon as the high faded off the insecurity came right back. So, I was hooked, my first hit and I was hooked."
While her drug use was rising, Janie's weight was plummeting and she became bulimic.
Years went by and at age of 22, Janie was a high profile drug dealer with 17 warrants out for her arrest.
"They had set my bond at $1.5 million dollars," Janie exclaimed.
She was finally imprisoned. "I was transferred back to the Women's State Prison to serve out my 40 years," Janie said. "I remember looking out the window, seeing all that was before me, it was just me and Jesus.me and the Savior who died for me."
"And I said God, I have made a mess out of my life," Janie said. "I said if you can take this broken person and make something good out of it, then do it. And I ask you Lord, that if it be your will, would you please overturn this sentence? But if not, then give me grace to accept the fact that this is where I will spend most of my life and give me peace and love to do it."
"My inside began to change," Janie said. "I began to read my Bible. I began to pray, my anger began to break and my hate began to break and the love of God began to flow through me." Janie was paroled early because of good behavior.
Today, Janie is drug free and has completely reconciled with her family. She is also a full time speaker telling others about the love of Jesus that can change hearts.
Jesus Christ changes hearts and lives. Today in prayer, pray for those who do not know Christ and share with them your testimony how Christ changed your heart.
"So much so-called "testimony" today is really autobiography and even sometimes thinly disguised self-advertisement, that we need to regain a proper biblical perspective. All true testimony is testimony to Jesus Christ, as he stands on trial before the world." - John Stott
God's Word: "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile." & Romans 1:16
By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2014, Devotional E-Mail
DEVOTIONS IN ACTS