Lynn finally found us and couldn’t believe what she heard. She had been in all types of counseling over the previous ten years: Christian psychology, secular, psychotherapy, and Biblical. Nothing worked! Eventually, she told us in all those we ended up discussing the week’s problem; I would be told what to do in the upcoming week. Depending on the philosophy behind the counseling, I would be told something to believe, do, or even a Bible verse to obey, but any little improvement didn’t last. Finally, I got tired of discussing the week’s problem and cried out to God, “Father, don’t YOU have an answer for my struggles? I’ve been in counseling for ten years and am no better off than when I started!”
Soon after, someone told Lynn about our ministry, Grace Life International, and she contacted us. Within the first three sessions, she realized that this counseling was different. It was not only Biblical, but the counselor used a process that got to the root of her problem and then provided God’s solution in Christ. By the time she completed her counseling, God had transformed her from an extremely depressed person to one of the most joyful people you will ever meet.
Lynn’s story has been repeated over and over in thousands of lives in our 28-year existence. Half the people who come to us have been referred from others who have been transformed and healed by Jesus through our counseling.
We believe strongly in what Jesus said about His ministry when He proclaimed it in His local synagogue. He did this by reading from Isaiah 61:1-3, as recorded in Luke 4:18-19:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Jesus came with power, grace, truth, and love to share the good news with the physically and spiritually poor. He can heal their hearts that have been broken by others’ sins, failures, mistakes, religion, sins, or pasts. He can free people who have been held captive by a sinful habit or negative emotions. He can give spiritual understanding so the renewing of their minds can transform them. He can liberate people who have been oppressed by unwittingly opening doors to Satan.
In fact, He has already accomplished all of this for everyone in Himself, but in our counseling, He works through us to help people experience what is already true about them.
Some think that all we do at GLI is teach people their identity – who they are in Christ and who Christ is in them. In our discipleship counseling, we do that, but not until we’ve helped them get to the root of their struggles. The root is LIES about God, themselves, and others, and how to live life that they have come to believe through life circumstances. These lies are the basis of how we learned to cope with life, either positively or negatively.
It’s only then that the truth of our identity in Christ and Christ in them begins to take hold so they can be transformed, healed, and freed.
Do you know someone struggling with depression, anxiety, loneliness, perfectionism, destructive habits, anger, low self-esteem, legalism, the inability to change, etc.? If so, please have them contact us by email, text, or phone. Also, if you are one of them, we invite you to contact us as well. Jesus loves you and them and so do we!
Mark Maulding, President and Founder
