You Can Be Free—Yes, You Can. by the Grace of God, Yes You Can.: Testimony of God’s Love, Grace, and Transforming Power

By Cynthia Smith

There’s a time in our lives when we have to look in the mirror, really see us, and deal with what we’re not happy or at peace with. Have you made choices you regret? Are you saying yes when you want to say no? Are you tired of your thought patterns, especially those not in line with God’s will for your life? Do you want to learn how to do things differently when managing relationships and your spiritual life? Do you have bad habits or addictions you want to be free from? Are you struggling with unforgiveness?”

You can have anything you want or desire concerning these areas of your life and more with your determination and God’s help. In You Can Be Free—Yes You Can, by the Grace of God, Yes, You Can, author Cynthia Smith helps you think about your life in a more positive way and helps produce new desires.

Smith shares how God’s transforming power, through his love, took a damaged, addicted, and wounded woman and turned her life into a beautiful butterfly, soaring in the amazing healing and delivering power of God. He then miraculously radiated that same power and love into the lives of others in many wonderful and positive ways.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Oct 28, 2020
• ISBN: 9781664204904

Cynthia Smith

Cynthia Smith is a reformed and transformed Christian woman, whom by God’s amazing grace has been freed from her drug and alcohol addictions since 1988, which resulted in her salvation in 1991. She has since earned an associate degree in human service and now lives in full ministry being a light for the Lord.

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Copyright © 2020 Cynthia Smith.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Bloomington, IN 47403

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973 1978 1984 2011 by Biblica, Inc. TM. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-0489-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-0491-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-0490-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020917164

WestBow Press rev. date: 10/27/2020

CONTENTS

Introduction: Freedom Will Come

Preface

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1 The Path of the Past

Chapter 2 A Voice of Instructions

Chapter 3 Reflections of the Past

Chapter 4 The Amazing Power of Prayer

Chapter 5 Escape from the Enemy’s Trap

Chapter 6 Discipline through Prayer and Fasting

Chapter 7 Faith Being Developed through Spiritual Intimacy

Chapter 8 Filled with Holy Ghost Power

Chapter 9 God’s Power Revealed

Chapter 10 Secrets Revealed Part 1: When It Started

Chapter 11 Secrets Revealed Part 2: Trauma and Effects

Chapter 12 Secrets Revealed Part 3: Pain, Pain, Pain

Chapter 13 God’s Divine Protection: The Spared Life

Chapter 14 Sin’s Consequences

Chapter 15 Time to Be Healed and Delivered

Chapter 16 Seeds of Obedience and Purpose Planted

Chapter 17 Rehearsing the Blessings with a Grateful Heart

Chapter 18 Assurance of a Gift

Chapter 19 Deliverance from Pride

Chapter 20 Letting Go of Past Blame

Chapter 21 New Beginnings with a Painful Ending

Chapter 22 God’s Transitioning

Chapter 23 Painful Self-Discoveries

Chapter 24 God’s Amazing Grace and Open Doors

Chapter 25 Greatest Temptation

Chapter 26 Quest for Restoration and God’s Perfect Will

Chapter 27 More Lessons to Learn

Chapter 28 Steps of Faith

Chapter 29 Divine Separation

Chapter 30 A Reason for Everything

Chapter 31 Unforgiveness to Forgiveness

Chapter 32 True God-Given Freedom

Chapter 33 Conclusion

Information Concerning Salvation

Steps to Peace with God

General Prayer for All

References

INTRODUCTION:

FREEDOM WILL COME

And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. & Now the Lord is the Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

—John 8:32; 2 Corinthians 3:17 (KJV)

I f you are reading this book, it was ordained by God. I believe in my heart that you are in the perfect will of God as you read this book, doing just what God wants you to do right now.

You will find in this book how God’s transforming power, through His love, can take a damaged, addicted, and wounded woman and turn her life into a beautiful butterfly, soaring in the amazing healing and delivering power of God, and then cause that same power and love to radiate into the lives of others in many wonderful and positive ways.

We have to find out for ourselves that in life there are times of pain, hurt, disappointment, and deception. But through the journey and the process, we have the opportunity to discovered God’s amazing grace, amazing love, and amazing power to transform a life. You will read words that will provoke thoughts sure to touch the deep recesses of your heart and soul, as well as awaken your spirit with a renewed hope.

You will read about someone who, in her addiction, had for years given up hope for a better life and didn’t think she would live to see age twenty. In this journey of discovery we will find that if we are not living a holy life of integrity for God through Jesus Christ, walking in God’s wisdom, we will find ourselves in a place of feeling lost and hopeless, not knowing what to do or what steps to take next. Hearts can lose hope because of the painful things that happen to us in life and from what we see happening around us on this earth. But in my experiences, I have found that God is close to the brokenhearted, and through our patience, He gives hope to the hopeless (Psalm 34:17–18; Romans 15:4). The journey helps us to learn there is always something good to look forward to when we choose to live for God every day, spiritually and naturally.

May you allow God to open your heart and mind to receive what He has for you. May you allow His transforming power to touch your life in those areas you have been praying about, not only for you, but also for others you care about and have been praying for. May you be spiritually empowered and your faith be strengthened as you read how God can transform the life of anyone. If you have not met Jesus Christ yet, you will be introduced to Him throughout this book. At the end of this book you will find a prayer that you can pray to begin a personal relationship with Him if you choose to.

Your personal action plan for your spiritual life can be activated or renewed as you read, grasp, and apply what your heart captures through reading the pages of this book. May you learn to trust God more and surrender more to His love and His awesome transforming power for your life, allowing Him to put a resolve in your heart, telling you, You can be free- yes you can; by the grace of God, yes you can.

PREFACE

T his book is the personal story of how someone’s life can be miraculously transformed by God’s power, grace, and love through acts of obedience, righteous living, and taking an honest look within. There are experiences that will convince anyone that his or her life can be transformed by surrendering to God’s authority working in one’s life.

In this book you will read how the power of God’s Word changed my whole life around—the sinful thoughts, hurts, anger, pain, unforgiveness, jealousy, negative mindset, envy, doubt, fears, sinful self-defeating behaviors, and the bad habits in my life. Today I am a conformed, productive, and free Christian woman filled with God’s love, peace, and joy. When the Holy Spirit of God has the freedom to live His life through us, miraculous things happen, first in us and then through us. His Word says, Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17). There is true freedom from within that can only come from the power of God working within our lives. It’s a God-given freedom that will flow from us into our churches, homes, on our jobs, and all other places we carry His love, power, and His presence.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I thank my three blessed daughters for their complete honesty in our conversations, which has helped me to release those areas of my past that kept me stagnant for so many years. Thank you for having my back in prayer no matter the misunderstandings that separated us at times. Thank you for your unconditional love, even when it was hard to love me. Thank you. I love you so much, but always remember that Jesus loves you the most and the best!

To all my blessed grandchildren, you have been a major part of my life with all of your unconditional love and honest words that helped me to realize there is always something to learn in this life, no matter how old we are or how spiritual we think we might be. Thank you. I Love you so much, but always remember that Jesus loves you the most and the best!

To all my family, my six blessed sisters and my blessed brother, you all have been so encouraging when it comes to writing this book and living this Christian life. I thank God for you. You have traveled with me and will continue to travel with me in my heart everywhere I go. Some of you have made a great impact in my life with your words of wisdom, your kindness, your unconditional love, and especially all the truths you’ve spoken to me, even when I did not want to hear it. Many of you have never ceased praying for me while on this Christian journey, and you never stopped believing in me. I have felt your prayers! Thank you. Many of you have been there for me through this growing process, listening to me whine and complain through the pain and confusion, through the bad choices, through the joys, and through the tears. But you have always loved me and allowed me to be who I was without trying to change me. From my heart to yours with much love, respect, appreciation, and gratitude. Thank you.

To every pastor, first lady, evangelist, teacher, prophet, prophetess, apostle, friend of God, and young ministers of the gospel that God has set me under, I have a new appreciation for each of you. Thank you so much for all your acts of obedience to the Lord on my behalf and my family’s behalf. Thank you for every preached word, every prayer, every prophetic word, every word of encouragement, every rebuke, every act of love and kindness, the laying on of hands. Thank you for all your prayers for the deliverances and healings that came through your obedience. And thank you for staying strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, and being consistent in the Word and in the spiritual things of God! All of you have gone through more than anyone can see with the natural eye for the sake of God’s kingdom, and yet you all are still standing and yet faithful to the Lord. Because of many of you, and all of my sincere efforts to please God with my life, I am still standing strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, and God has made my spiritual foundation very strong and very firm in Him! From my heart to yours with much, much gratitude, respect, love, and appreciation, thank you!

1

The Path of the Past

I was about five years old. I had just come back from the shoe store with my dad, and I was so excited! I jumped out of the car, ran up the porch, and sat down in the middle of the porch, tearing away at the top on the shoebox to get out my new little pink and blue sandals. After I put them on, I stood up and looked at my feet with a big, big smile on my face. I was so happy and full of joy as I looked at the most beautiful shoes in the world on my little feet. I was full of joy, happiness, and laughter but not only for my new little shoes; I loved my daddy even more for buying them for me. That day it seemed like I might have been the happiest little girl in the world!

But what happened? What happened to that happy, friendly little five-year-old girl who had inner peace, inner joy; that child who loved to play and laugh and act silly? What happened to that child who had no concerns about anything except having fun, making friends, eating, sleeping, and then being excited to get up the next morning and have more fun?