“Who could ever love me? I’m the worst of sinners. I’ve had two abortions; I’ve slept with hundreds of men; but Someone out there loves me… and I have to find out who.”
After a experiencing child abuse and a desperate turn to prostitution, Julie Woodley felt being beyond help.
“I was having flashbacks. I was just sobbing, the medicine cabinet was there with the pills. I picked up the pills and just looked at the pills and I said ‘No; God, help me.’”
“I took that bottle of pills, I threw them in a waste basket and I fell back on the bed and I cried myself to sleep.”
Julie’s story changed when God showed up.
“In the middle of the night, I heard a voice. And the voice said ‘Julie, I love you.’”
The voice grew louder and louder until it woke Julie from her sleep.
“I felt this hot love just run right through me; it was more real than anything I had ever experienced and I knew that Someone out there loved me.”
Julie was changed, but she didn’t know what her next steps should be. In the next several days a God-appointed encounter with a Christian woman led her to a Bible study.
“There were all these men and women in the room together, and they’re all hugging each other; I’d never seen that before except for if it was sexual. But I thought, ‘This is the best drug trip I’ve ever been on.‘”
That night, the Christians in the Bible study told Julie about Christ and His death on her behalf. He died in her place and wiped her slate clean, so she could start over with a new identity.
“That was the best news in the world because that’s why I wanted to commit suicide; I wanted to start over. I wanted all of the darkness, all the sin, everything away from me and I wanted to start over. So that night I became a Christian.”
The horrific nights and dreams that had plagued Julie for years vanished when the Holy Spirit invaded her heart.
“I went home that night. It was the first time in twenty-four years I didn’t have nightmares.”
Jesus brought healing to Julie. Now she works as a trauma counselor to help others find the healing in Christ that she experienced. Jesus wants to heal you too. Will you let Him?
Key Scriptures: Matthew 5:8
Featured Songs: No Longer Slaves by Bethel Church; Draw Me Nearer by Meredith Andrews; Jesus Loves Me by Chris Tomlin
