My Dear Siestas,
There is simply no time on the annual calendar more precious and profound to us in Christendom than this. I was reflecting a moment ago how rarely we could land on a day or a weekend that most of us were having the same kinds of thoughts. Even Christmas has our attentions strewn among many things but Good Friday, for all of us who follow hard after Jesus Christ, only one.
I told the Lord a little while ago that I supposed, if we really fathomed the depth of Christ’s sufferings and the heights of our redemption because of it, we surely would not be able to lift our faces from the floor. The reality is, we can’t comprehend it. But we can well sit and reflect. We can well glance back over our pasts just long enough to realize afresh what God did for us on Good Friday so many years ago. We can well plead for Him to break through all of our distractions and self absorptions and make Jesus the dearer to us. We can well ask that we would allow our circumstances to make us the nearer to Him. We can well picture every challenge in our lives, every difficulty, every loss, every sickness, every sin, every defeat, and every heartbreak as the soil beneath Christ’s Cross, left beyond choice but to move that it might be planted in the depths with a victorious thud.
“And even though you were dead in your transgressions and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, He nevertheless made you alive with Him, having forgiven ALL your transgressions. He has destroyed what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness expressed in decrees opposed to us. He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. Disarming the rulers and authorities, He has made a public disgrace of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” Colossians 2:13-15 NET
The power of the Cross has taken our disgrace and publically heaped it on our enemy.
I told Amanda yesterday that I could not think of a sweeter and more powerful way for us to observe Good Friday on this blog than to invite you to share your own story (in short form please) of your salvation. We have learned so much about one another through various journeys here but this will be the first time we’ve actually given our testimonies of salvation. When did you receive Christ as your personal Savior? How old were you and what were the circumstances leading up to your decision?
I cannot convey how much these testimonies will increase my appreciation of the power of the Cross this day. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!
Blessed Good Friday, my dear sisters.
Tags: Easter
For me, I guess the defining moment was He spoke to me about 8 years ago this month. I was reading the company newsletter about the new fitness center they were putting in. He spoke to me right then and there that I needed to join. I believe He wanted me to get physically fit, so I could become spiritually fit and truly begin my faith journey. I truly grasped the meaning of Holy Week and Easter when we did “Jesus the One and Only,” about 3-4 years ago. We were finishing it just as we were celebrating Lent and Easter.
I am constantly amazed by Him. Today at yoga, I dedicated my practice to Him as I do everytime, but today I thanked him for dying on the cross and giving us His GRACE.
May you all have peace on the mind, peace from the lips and peace in your hearts today.
Blessings & Peace,
Mary Ann, Woodbury, MN
At the age of 9 in a city-wide crusade I felt the strong tugging of the Holy Spirit on my heart. I knew I was lost and needed a Savior. With my mom at my side, we walked down to the front of the High School auditorium and into a nearby classrom where I bowed my head and asked Jesus to forgive my sins and to be my Lord and Savior. Since that day I have been forever changed!
Blessings ~ Lisa
What a day today is! This morning in the shower, I was reminded that this(Good Friday) is the day that marked the beginning of my freedom story. Thank you Jesus.
I was blessed to have been introduced to Jesus by my parents on a Sunday afternoon in May. I was six years old and remember sitting with them on their bed, mom on one side dad on the other. We talked and prayed and then ate popcorn while we talked some more. One of the most precious memories of my life.
Blessings!
stephanie
I was 11 years old, August revival in the Baptist church where we attended. We weren’t a Jesus loving family, but bless my Mom’s heart — she made sure her children went to church. It was important to her and I look back and realize that it wasn’t easy for her. I walked that aisle hand in hand with a sweet friend, who’s no longer walking on this earth but is in the presence of the Lord. I can only imagine what she is experiencing at the feet of Jesus.
The Lord grabbed my little girl heart and what an adventure this life has been. There are some chunks of time I would rather forget, but God’s grace knows no boundaries. I am saved, redeemed, and the beloved of my Savior.
I was thirty-one years old. Always a participating member of church, always believed but never met Him. I was happily married, living in a plush apartment in the city, plenty of money in the bank, all seemed well. I kept waking up in the middle of the night thinking something was wrong with my husband. He was pushing for us to have a baby, he seemed ‘off’ and aggressive in ways I’d never known before. Went to church alone on a Sunday morning ( a great inner-city Baptist church) and prayed that God reveal to me where there was darkness, where something was wrong in my home.
By 1am I had my answer. Our computers went down and in the process of getting them back online I needed my husbands password. As I asked him for it, he began to sweat. I felt his heartbeat and immediately knew something was very wrong. He lied and told me it was “just pornography.” We talked about it and by 3am I was on my knees asking him where was God in his life as he tried to minimize the websites he was visiting. He went to bed and I asked God for forgiveness as I proceeded to read my husbands email. What I discovered wasn’t just pornography, it was women we knew emailing nudity back and forth…it was huge cash withdrawals spent on massage parlors, it went on and on. I knew it was wrong to snoop and I stopped. I cried and prayed. Then I went ballistic. (If I had a golf club at the time he would’ve had smashed windows.)
I still believed we’d work it out. I’d never been with another man. I began praying scriptures and begging for my marriage. My husband wanted a divorce and moved into the next building with a woman I’d met before. One night as I laid on the living room floor wailing to God to save my marriage, all of a sudden I started repenting of my own failings and screaming, I’m sorry God. As I live and breathe, in that instant I felt Jesus come to me. I knew He was there with me as real as anyone in the flesh. Peace washed over that moonlit room and I said out loud, Thy will be done. My husband called a couple hours later to further confirm that he wanted out. I just didn’t make him happy and he didn’t think I’d be a good mother if we had children because I could never find my car keys.
I was the first in my family to get divorced. And I was horrified. But I knew that God was with me and was protecting me. Jesus came alive to me on that floor in a way that transcended any previous doubt. He WAS who He said He was. And I would be okay as long as I walked HIS way. Not easy, but nothing compared to the hardness of going my own way or submitting to a man under the influence of pure evil.
I walked away, took not a dime, sold what I had and moved South to grieve in private. God blessed me 4 years later with a new marriage to a wonderful, Godly man that I’d known in high school. We now have two beautiful sons and I still can’t find my car keys… and I chuckle every time, knowing that it has nothing to do with being a great mother. God plucked me from a living hell and did “exceedingly and abundantly more than I could ever ask or imagine.” Thanks be to God
I was in the fifth grade and had gone to a church slumber party with a friend. Her dad was the pastor of the church. I had been confirmed and baptized in my Methodist church the year before but this was when I began a personal relationship with Jesus.
It was 1977 and I was 26 years old, married with 3 young children. I had been searching for what was TRUTH to teach my children. God put Christian couples in our lives that I could see had something we did not. It was through their friendship and witness that I eventually came to know my Lord and Savior in a personal relationship. Praise His Holy name, I can not even imagine what my life would be like today if I had not met Him at that time in my life. A month later my husband became a Christian as well and within about 2 years all of my siblings (5 of us), their spouses and children old enough to understand and our parents made that commitment to Christ and received Him as Lord and Savior. Wow! Praise You Jesus! He is Risen Indeed!!
Hi Lynn! I had to come looking for your testimony when you said we accepted Christ in the same year. 🙂 Looks like the Spirit had us both SEARCHING at the same time! We both used the same words too. God is GOOD! I too can’t imagine my life without Him. He IS my life now….I just can’t even imagine.
When I was 12 years old 3 friends and I made a pact to “join the church” during a revival week at our small country church. We were later dunked in a millpond and thought we were on the way to heaven. Then when I turned 51 my Heavenly Father began to pull me to Himself, through a Tuesday night Bible study led by a wonderful younger woman I now call my Spiritual Mother. I did truly surrender my life to Jesus and was baptized as a believer on May 1, 1994, just before I turned 54. What a patient Savior I have. Since then I have been on a fast track to learn more and more about Jesus and true fellowship with him. I am also comforted by God’s Word in the book of Joel that “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten”. Thank You, Jesus, for the cross.
i was 11 when i was baptized in the church where my dad had been the associate pastor since i was 5. however, my real journey with Jesus began at the age of 22, after attending Passion ’07 in Atlanta, GA. i had believed IN God my whole life, but for the first time i BELIEVED Him and what He said about me. i will never forget my heart seeing His face for the first time, and the IMMEDIATE freedom i felt in His presence.
i was a “good girl” who always got good grades, never got into trouble, but was so plagued by perfectionism growing up as a PK that i felt like i COULDN’T mess up for fear of someone figuring out that i had insecurities of my own. i find myself still dealing with the same “thorn” i’ve had for 13 years, but grateful at the root of it every time it rears it’s sharp face at me because i know me and Jesus are about to do some business; and i will get to experience another part of His character and heart in a new and deeper way.
(and i am forever indebted to the angels He sends to carry and lower me through the roof, when my fears and inconsistencies leave me too paralyzed to know how to move towards Him.)
beautiful story, Abby!! ((hugs))
What a beautiful story thank you for sharing!
Beautiful Abby – really encouraging to me!
A woman my husband and I knew from our gym invited us to the church she had just started going to. Now, she was what we called a really messed up lady – HUGE issues in her life. My husband and I thought that if anyone needed to go to church, she did so we thought we would go with her to encourage her . . . little did we know!! My husband had been going to church weekly and punching his timecard, I didn’t go at all because it was so rote and boring. Well, we went into the Baptist church and heard praise that we never heard before, and the preaching was incredible and before I knew it I was in tears at church – had no clue why. So we went week after week and I cried half the time and was completely intrigued by this unfamiliar stuff. Several weeks went by and then during an invitation I started crying so bad, before I knew it I was downfront and had accepted Christ!! I was 34 years old and that was 13 years ago. I am so thankful how God used that “messed up lady” to invite me to hear the Word. I am so thankful for her!!! And I’m thankful for LPM!! Love you guys – Have a blessed Easter.
I was 4 years old, my cousin Linda,also 4 and a Christian, would come to visit. Her dad was the first Christian in ours family, she would never leave our house without making sure I had recieved Jesus in my heart. We would go into our bathroom and shut the door and I would pray to receive Jesus in my heart, I don’t remember how many time we did that :)! God is sooo good! Since then this weird life of mine has had lots of screw ups lots of tough times, but God is good.He gives me themes in times of change and this year is no different, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard not mind has conceived what God has prepared for those that love Him.” NIV ICorinth. 2:9 Thanx for letting me share with y’all~~ 🙂 God bless all and I love reading others who have shared. See you if not on the earth it will be in Heaven~smile!~
I accepted Christ as my personal savior at the age of ten. I was blessed to have grown up in a home with Christian parents. God has blessed me with a lifetime of eternal security, for which I will always be grateful beyond words.
I stand amazed at God’s faithfulness in meeting my needs even before I am aware of the need in my life. I continue to learn more of God’s grace and goodness with each passing day.
It is my deepest desire to live my life in God’s will.
It was March 20, 2008 it was the day my hair fell out (I was going through chemotherapy for breast cancer) my boss’ son who was 16/17 @ the time asked him if he could come and pray for me. A lot of people had been praying for me and I thought “How sweet sure let him come and pray.” Well Nathan and 4 of his buddies came to see me on their way to a skate park. The only thing I remember him telling me was that God sacrificed his son so for me and He just wants me to take advantage of what He did and not ignore it (not exactly in those words but that was the gist) Looking back on it it wasn’t “what” he said but “how” he said it. When he was done praying for me he just looked me in the eye and said “I KNOW your going to be okay.” I was crying by this time and I just vowed to never ignore what He did for me. I was not raised in a church or in a christian home, my mom would have said she was agnostic if anything. I was talking to my boss several months after his son had prayed for me and I told him how much it meant to me when he told me I was going to be okay, and he said “He didn’t always think I was going to be okay, that was why he wanted to pray for me.” I got a chill all over then realized that I he was right I wasn’t okay because I didn’t have a relationship with God. I am now more than OKAY! I cannot get enough of Him and I will NEVER take my eyes off of Him even for a second!
To attempt to tell that in a couple of paragraphs or less…. seems too overwhelming for me to do today. But, in God’s precious way of doing things, I spent my morning overburdened by the evilness done in this world and the horror of sins captivity and what it does to others! And then…. in my “sad”ness (as I blogged about earlier), God reminded me of myself and the long-suffering of compassion that He’s had on me. So, though I know I was saved years ago…. today I am thankful that God is in a continual saving grace in my life! Saving me from myself. Saving me from embitterment. Saving me constantly from pits that are easy to find myself in… whether falling in, or being pushed in, or jumping in stupidly! So, if it’s okay with you, for the moment, I just want to praise my Savior that saves and all the wonder ways that He has of doing it!!!!! “Let the redeemed say….” I’m one that’s been redeemed, and thus, doing a LOT of saying! How awed I am with the One that loves me and the extents He still goes to in order to save!
i grew up in a Christian home my whole life, and i’ve been a Christian since i was a little girl, but in the start of my freshman year of high school i went to youth group with some friends and i can remember so vividly our youth pastor (who was the same pastor who 8 years later would be the one to perform me and my husbands marriage ceremony at that same church, and my hubby and i were high school sweethearts who met at youth group) was talking about how serious our walks with God are. that it is the most important thing you could do with your life – to walk with the Lord. and i remember sitting there realizing that i wanted my life to be full of walking with God. my heart was so impacted by how important it is to live life for Jesus that i don’t think i have ever been the same. i am so thankful that he would send his son to die for me….it’s amazing. how great is our God, he is truly amazing. blessings*
I was 4 and it was real. Every day however, He draws my heart more to His, he convicts me more and more as we walk closer. As I finished SLI, I realized I now have to read it over. There’s just so. much. more He wants for me, from me. All of me. For our family, Passover began the week and as we come into FirstFruits, I am overwhelmed with His long.term. Goodness to me. He sustains me moment by moment in the trials of life. Emmanuel. Praise Adonai.
I attended a Billy Graham film cursade “The Restless Ones” at the age of 12. God had been speaking to my heart for quite sometime before that eventfull evening… preparing me for the truth of His Word. I walked into that school auditorium in Pana, Illinois with a hardened heart and left the building knowing a personal relationship with Christ as my Savior. It wasn’t until a few years later, while a student at the Moody Bible Institute that I came to the place of loving and trusing Him completly as my Lord.
Joyfully in His Grip! Sandi
I came to know Jesus as my Savior at the age of three. I was watching a Billy Graham show on t.v. while my parents were out for the night. I asked my older brother and sister about Jesus and I remember praying with them to accept Jesus as my Savior.
I grew up knowing that God was always with me, that He loved me and how important it was to pray. My relationship with Jesus was little more than that, however, was I found my way into adulthood.
As our first child, Nathan, was born in 2000, I knew I needed to understand my faith better so we could raise our children in hopes of them becoming Christians. I began to seek out Bible studies and became more involved in our church. I enjoyed sharing what I learned with our son who always seemed interested even at a very young age. This encouraged me to keep learning about God. I carried on for several more years with this desire in learning more for the benefit of our children but there was something missing. I didn’t have a deep relationship with God. I knew of Him but I did not know Him. I also had years of unrepented sin that was keeping me from God. I was walking the fence between enjoying the temptations of the world and becoming the Christian I had always thought I would be.
One night, as I was checking on my 3 yr old daughter, Allison, all snug in her bed, I began thinking how I had once been sweet and innocent. I didn’t like who I had become. What happened to being a strong Christian wife and mother? I felt like I had veered off the path too far and for too long and there was no longer hope for me. As these miserable thoughts flooded my mind, I heard God say to me, “I still see you as a sweet and innocent girl. I have already forgiven you and I still have plans for you. You need to make some changes and give your life to me completely. Stop sinning. It is time to choose.”
That was it. I knew I needed God and that I could trust Him. I knew I had believed the lies of the enemy too long and I wanted out. Through the grace of God I was changed forever. That was the night I gave God Lordship over my life.
As I claimed out of my pit of sin, you, Beth, were there. God had you right in front of me. I wanted to know more about God and Jesus and had a hunger I never imagined possible. Your studies showed me Jesus and through the Holy Spirit have changed me. I am indeed a new creation. Thank you Jesus!
I was 14 years old when I got saved in the “beauty parlor”! (Am I aging myself here by calling it that?) The sweet woman who cut my hair and my mother’s hair would witness to us every time we walked in that door. One day I just finally really listened to her and accepted Him as my Lord and Savior. My mom didn’t accept Him until much later, but I had the privilege of leading both her and my dad to Christ! They are both now in heaven, and I can only handle their deaths because I know that now they truly live!!! Praise God!!!
I had tried to type my testimony several times on here but I kept having to start over because I felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit pulling at my heart every time I tried to type something. To be real honest, I’ve been drifting away from the Lord for about a month now. My husband and I were saved over a year and a half ago but I’ve lost that fire, that passion I once had for the Lord. So today on Good Friday I returned to the foot of the cross to say to God that I’m sorry for letting life and my own selfishness get in the way of my relationship with Him. I just spent some time in prayer pouring out my heart to Christ…something I haven’t done in a long time. Just as Beth said in her post, there is no way to truly grasp the depth of Christ’s suffering but I prayed that Christ would let me grasp it enough that it would move me and change me. Wake me up Lord!
I love your heart! Blessings, and Much Love in Christ <3
Celebrating your “resurrection” with you! <3
After having my son in 1995, I knew I wanted him brought up “in the church” as my husband was. So my desire to go to church came from a desire for something more for my son than what I had growing up. What God taught me that first day, in that amazing Baptist church in southwest Florida, is that I cannot share what I do not have myself. I remember the invitation being given and I sat frozen in the pew, crying my eyes out as I gave my heart to the Lord. God has done an amazing work in my heart and life over the years. He used my desires for my son to reach my heart and I still stand in amazement of His love for me.
Wishing you a most blessed Easter.
Oh Beth…just reading your words brought tears to my eyes.. what amazing, unbelievable love our God has for us…Praise His Holy Name!! My salvation experience is probably a whole lot like a lot of our siesta’s. I come from a wonderful heritage of believers and my salvation was prayed for before I was even born. The first Sunday I was alive, as soon as my mama was able, I was “in church”.. praise God I have been there ever since. I do vividly remember however, attending revival services for a whole TWO weeks when I was 11 years old and realizing that even though I “knew” all about Jesus, I didn’t “KNOW” him. I almost ran down that aisle and prayed with my pastor to ask Him into my heart. Many times since then I have renewed that childlike Faith when situations and circumstances have arisen…actually facing one now as my husband is going under the knife Monday morning for a biopsy..prayers would be appreciated! So, on this Good Friday, I along with you am reflecting on Jesus’ great love and sacrafice and praising Him over and over again. Happy Easter to you Beth and your precious family!! You are very loved!!
I was raised in a Christian family, saved during some Sunday school morning, but not really sure at times. Countless bedtime prayers would consist of my dad and I kneeling by the bed and “making sure” I was saved. My dad helped calm my fears each time.
Age 18, I was in a horrific car accident. My truck rolled on top of me near the summit of a mountain in WA state (almost to Leavenworth). If the truck would have gone left, we would have plumetted thousands of feet straight down. But, by the grace of God, it veered right,ran into an embankment where I was thrown from my truck, and my head rested in the sunroof window’s form in a pile of SAND. Rocks everywhere that had fallen from the embankments, somehow, I landed in the perfect spot.
I wondered what I didn’t die that day. Two hours down the mountain, one of the two ambulances I was transferred to said I was clinically dead twice. 2 hours down that mountain, God had other plans. People told me to call them when I finally figured out why God wanted me here. I’m still not sure why he didn’t take me home almost 20 years later, but I have to tell you I KNOW my God is real! He is my Savior and I’m never letting go!
God Bless you and your ministry! Much love to you,
Kara
I’m tempted to be jealous when asked this question. I don’t have an interesting story or a specific date of when I became a Christian. I was raised in the church, went to Christian schools,Sunday school,Catechism classes…I never did anything that would get me into trouble because I hated for anyone to be mad at me. I made profession of faith my Junior year of high school, along with a group of others around the same age. I don’t give in to the temptation to be jealous because I realize how blessed I have been! My story is not an exciting read, but it is my story. I love Jesus more every year! A LOT of that has to do with you, Siesta Mama Beth! Thank you and everyone else at Living Proof, and Siestaville! I love following hard after Jesus with y’all! Have a Blessed Easter, everyone! Joan
I am blessed to sit with a 90 year old woman, the wife of my pastor. She is the embodiment of a life lived well in Christ. She was a PK, married a pastor and was the mother of two pastors. All her life was spent in Church. I have learned so much from her and am jealous, for she has something I never will have, that lifelong peace and security of Knowing Him. I did not get saved until I was 50 and missed much of that. She has taught me so much. I now pray that the following generations in my family have that security, and your life is a powerful testimony, never doubt for a moment that you love for Jesus isn’t noticed by others who would dearly love to have a life-long relationship with Him. I am glad to know your love for Him grows and grows.
Sorry, I meant to say the MOTHER of my pastor
When I was 4 years old, I watched a Billy Graham Crusade on tv by myself. Obviously God was totally leading and in control of this. When it came time for the altar call, I called my mom and asked her what the people were doing. She explained, and I accepted and prayed with her. I am just in awe today of what Jesus went through on that Friday so many years ago to allow all of us to have these testimonies. Praise Him!!!
i used to think my testimony was…boring. i grew up in church – i didn’t like it very much. then when i was in 7th grade, one of my older brothers and my sister changed to a different church. something was different. this youth group was loving and accepting and they taught about Jesus, not something trying to be culturally relevant and losing the message altogether. it was wonderful. anyway, i went to camp that year and of all things, a mime was there. i don’t like mimes and at the time was terrified of clowns. well, leave it to God to use that mime’s message to capture my heart that night. that and a sweet message by louie giglio, caused me to fall in love with the Lord. now the part that i used to think was boring is the fact that i never strayed. i never had those rebellious teenage or early 20’s years of sowing my wild oats and having a prodigal moment. PRAISE HIM!!! that is not boring at all, in fact it is a testimony to the fact that my redeemer lives and i allow Him to woo me daily. i work with students and i absolutely love this testimony now. you don’t have to fall hard and have lived a terrible life, to still need His grace and to reach people around you. i may not be able to empathize with some people’s stories, but i can tell them that i have faithfully loved Him for over 16 years now, and it doesn’t get old. His love is so deep, i can’t get enough and every day it can be different as He reveals Himself over and over.
Praise God for “boring” testimonies! Straying is not God’s will for HIs children. Beinf raised by godly parents and finding Jesus early in life is what God intends. I’m so glad you have this story to share and encourage other young children and parent’s with.
thanks sister!
I was fourteen years old when I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Growing up I was fortunate enough to have been raised by God fearing parents who made sure my sisters and I were in church every Sunday. I was shy as a young girl and had felt the Spirit tugging at me for a while, but on that Sunday morning of 1986 I went forward to accept Jesus into my life and I’ve never looked back. Thank You Lord for dying for my sins. I humbly give you the praise today.
Salina – KY
I came to know the Lord as my personal Savior when I was nine years old. That was 29 years ago! It happened during a series of revival services at my church. I began asking many questions of my parents and my dad sat me down with his Bible that I saw him reading and studying many times and he led me through the Romans Road. He had me read the scripture and he would explain them to me.
I can’t tell you how wild and sweet the past 29 years have been! Today I praise His Name and am so thankful that He made a way for me at Calvary and that it was His plan for me before the beginning of time!
I was saved on my actual birthdate: June 8th. I was at a church camp the summer after finishing third grade. I was 9 years old. I remember knowing / feeling I had to ask Jesus into my heart. For so many years of my life I believed I didn’t have an actual testimony because I didn’t go through a rebellious season of my life. But in my early 20’s, I heard a precious pastor’s wife give her testimony of how Christ saved her at a young age. She was grateful for all He had saved her from. I’m so glad I found my LORD and Savior at a young age.
I was 19-years-old and just about to start my 2nd year of college. My life had been in an upheaval due to my own poor choices, as well as life circumstances beyond my control. I had gone to church off and on as a child, but the teachings were not lived out in my home; therefore, I wanted nothing to do with God or religion once I was out on my own. Well, that summer, God pursued me (too many ways to recount here on this blog, but His hand was pulling me toward him). Then, as I was unpacking my belongings that first night in my dorm room, I came across my old Bible from when I was a child. I flipped through it and saw some old verses I had highlighted and then, WHAM! the revelation of the REAL presence of Christ flooded me like nothing I’ve felt before. I knew instantly that He was/is the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE and I fell on my face in a puddle of tears and gave my whole life to him that instant. It was a glorious moment and I haven’t been the same since. Thank you, God, for the cross and for your Resurrection Power!
I was here on this very balcony. I do not remember the date but I can picture it like I’m there again. I was sitting in a white wicker rocking chair, it was evening, I live in So Cal and it was summer, I was in a green shorts outfit reading the Power for Living it came to a point to accept Christ as my Savior, I have known God and Christ and the Holy Spirit most of my life, that night though, God tapped me on the heart and said “I know you KNOW, yet I need you to commit”, and I did. I prayed. I cried tears of joy and relief and true to His word, I was made new. Oh what a glorious desert evening, I will cherish the memory always, I will cherish Him always.
I was 7 years old, living in the Philippines as a missionary kid. One night after my parents had tucked my three younger sisters and me into bed, I was just overcome with tears and just really felt the Holy Spirit come over me. It was really more than I would comprehend at that age. Through tears, I called my parents into my room and just told them that I knew I had to ask Jesus into my heart. They talked to me about it to make sure that I understood what it all meant and I did. I knew I had to do it right then. My dad lead me in a prayer and I can just remember feeling this peace come over me immediately. It was so amazing. I was baptized just a couple of weeks after that in the ocean since we didn’t have a baptistry in our church there. It was so amazing.
I grew up in the church as a pastor’s daughter. I received baptism at 12 years of age. And I know I received Christ as my personal Savior way before then. But my true “conversion” experience of walking intimately with Him everyday happened just a couple of years ago. He is my all-consuming passion. I cannot go a day without Him. What He did on the cross for love of me…I can’t talk about it without tears. I can’t fathom His love. But I’m so profoundly grateful to have it. I love Him.
On a school bus riding to school in 5th grade! On a school bus!! Proof that He can meet you anywhere! The night before I had been at a revival service at my church and felt that holy nudge to go forward and ask Jesus into my heart. I didn’t…was too embarrassed, because even though I was raised in a Christian home, He was never an open topic of conversation. I seriously thought I’d get in trouble!! How sad! I remember having a hard time sleeping that night because Jesus was all I could think about. So on my way to school the next morning with my head leaning up against the school bus window, looking out, I received His salvation. To this day, I can tell you the exact spot on the road, going around a curve, where I prayed that life changing prayer!
Love these stories!
Good Friday blessings to all,
Kelli
I remember being aware of God, His presence and His Son as a very young girl. I remember my confirmation with awe, thinking that was it, I had arrived in the Kingdom and promptly quit serviing Him for the next few years, praying when frightened, thinking worship on Sunday would cut it. I rededicated my life to the Lord in my 20’s and knowing deep within my heart and spirit, a transformation had taken place. I pray I walk closer and closer with Him until it’s time for me to go home.
I have been so consumed with my Grandmother going to the ER and being in critical condition that I forgot about it being Good Friday. I have been feeling numb a lot here lately and I have asked God to remove all the distractions and self-absorption, and make Jesus Christ all I see and want (dear to my heart above all things).
I first accepted Christ at 14 years old, after going to church with my best friend at the time. I wasn’t raised in a Christian home, but as a child my Grandmother would drop me off at the church down her road on the weekends. I remember loving it and wanting to be saved as a 7 year old, but my mom said I was too little to understand what that fully meant. At 14 I still don’t think I fully understood all that accepting Christ meant, but praise God He knew fully what all He meant. A few years later my church split and I quit attending church. I cycled in and out of sin throughout my high school and early college years. God was always so faithful to pull me out each time I would cry out to Him for help, but I was extremely broken. Jesus Christ has saved me over and over from a life of emptiness and a hopeless pursuit of fulfillment in things of this world. It wasn’t until 2 years ago when I went through Breaking Free that God began to show me through you Beth all that He meant for me to have and be as His child. I was so self-destructive that if it wasn’t for Him taking over my life and being Lord over me I would be dead or worse yet, living a dead life looking for meaning and fulfillment that I would never find. Jesus IS Life!
Hi Katie! Could you please tell us your grandmother’s name so we can pray for her. You are in my prayers.
It was when I was 12. My mom suffered from some mental health issues and it was a very trying childhood. I was at a youth retreat at the Church and knew that I needed the Lord. I remember kneeling at the altar and asking him to come into my life. Although I walked far from God for the next 28 years, I always knew that he was beside me. I did things that I am certainly ashamed of but I knew that he would never leave me. When my husband and I were having difficulty in our marriage and separated I returned to the Lord. I didn’t go to other men or alcohol or some of the other things the women around me were heading to, I went to Church. I remember the first time I knelt at the altar 10 years ago and cried out to the Lord to help me. He did!! My marriage was restored, my husband accepted Christ and I have done my very best to serve him over the past 10 years. We still have trials and tribulations, we have 3 adult children!!! But we always place God first and seek him out during these times. Thank you Jesus for dying on the cross for me and for being forever faithful!!!
I have always been a “church” girl. Grew up in church, but a false teaching/doctrine church. Never fully aware that I didn’t know the True Jesus, when I lost my little girl 7 weeks before her due date…that began my journey. So when I was 28, I gave myself to Jesus!!! He rocked my world, told me to get out of this denomination and I came to know Him, the Only Way!!! I’m thankful every day that HE has changed me and that my 3 boys know Truth!!
I grew up a PK in church and accepted Christ and baptized at the tender age of 7. From then until now, my walk with Christ has been full of ups and downs. Each step along the way has brought me more knowledge and understanding of who Jesus is. I look back over my life and see God’s faithfulness to me as His child. Although I made many wrong choices and decisions along the way, He has always been there protecting me and loving me no matter what.
By the age of 30 I had lost both of my parents. My siblings all lived in another state. My husband worked many long hours, I was all alone. On Nov.1 2001, while driving my son to school, I heard women on a radio station discussing how the night prior was their big night, Halloween. The professed to love nature, the earth and people. No, they were not Devil Worshippers, just holistic women and they had a group. They practiced Wicca.
Growing up in Boulder, CO. I had heard of that so I was not surprised. I was intrigued. I was going to find out all I could about this group, with whom I may belong. Everytime my computer would dial-up with the search words, I was litterally kicked off. After a day or so of that happening, I went to the library at looked up books on the subject of Wicca, they were all checked out. I walked to my car very sad asking, “why can’t I just find what I’m looking for?” Keep in mind my husband and 11 year old son witnessed all of this.
That night I awoke suddenly. I saw the light of my computer in the loft. I thought that with it being in the middle of the night, the internet would cooperate, I had dial up back then. So, quietly, I went on and searched “Wiccan Beliefs”. The computer started to turn, I thought for sure this time, I’d get the info. I very much needed to know. What came up on the screen? This is all. BELIEVE IN ME. That’s it, that’s all. At that point, I knew to just turn off the computer, I gave up.
I called my brother who has his Ph.D. in Theology what he thought, knowing that he knew I was a full blown despiser of Christians. He told me to go, get a Bible and read the book of John. I did. I bought one and I read that book and I’ve never been the same since. I got down on my knees and wept! I wept for all of the unbelief I had over the years. I saw who I was, who Jesus was and I BEGGED Him to change me!!!! I went to church that Wednesday, I couldn’t wait until Sunday! I had never stepped foot in a church prior. I was Baptized on Dec.31st that very same year.
I am wearing the beautiful cross my husband gave me as a gift on the day of my Baptism. It’s a reminder to me. Oh, how I love Jesus, He was MIGHTY to save me from the destruction of my soul. I love Him.
I love your story. Many years ago the book of John opened my eyes as well. Amen, Siesta!
I don’t know a specific day or place when my salvation became secure. Childhood victimization left me with scars such as anxiety and inability to trust anyone. So, getting to know and trust God has been a slow, arduous process. But I can tell you when he first got my attention, eight years ago…
My grandmother, the only person I was close to, had died during my senior year of college. I felt completely abandoned and fell into deep depression for over a dozen years. Suicide was a recurrent, sometimes constant thought. I remember seasons of waking up in the morning and not wanting to open my eyes because it meant another day stuck here. I eventually turned to heavy alcohol and drug use to numb the pain.
Then, a series of events led me to check out a local church. I went in, terrified and trembling, not knowing anyone. I sat in the back and was unmoved by the service. Afterwards, I stood in the lobby, people going to and fro, still no connection with anyone.
I said out loud, “Ok God, if you are real and you want me here, you’d better make it clear. Otherwise, I’m walking out that door and never coming back!” I was already planning the next suicide attempt in my head.
I scanned the lobby one last time, nothing. Fine. I’m outta’ here. As I turned to walk out the door, there in front of me was one of my sorority sisters from college. She enthusiastically greeted me, “Micki!!” and threw her arms around me. In the next five minutes she had invited me to study group at her house, the road rally, and a couple other things.
In my shocked and terrified state, I took that as a “yes” from God.
Thus began the journey…
I was saved around 8 or 9 years old in my grandmother’s kitchen. My grandparents had a small farm…cows & chickens, cotton & hay. If you know anything about chickens, sometimes the mother hens will reject a chick for who knows why. Well, a mother hen had hatched some chicks and sure enough she rejected one. My grandmother let me care for that little chick and try to nurse it back to health where the mother hen had pecked it’s little head into a sore. As the Lord would have it, I started asking my grandmother questions about dying and heaven and how to know if I was going to heaven. He was knocking on my hearts door. At her kitchen counter, with tears streaming down my face, she led me to the Lord. I accepted Him as my Lord and Savior.
October 9, 2005. It was right after a bad break-up. A co-worker had asked me several times to visit his church, come see the choir, etc. I refused more times than I care to count. But after the break-up, his invitation was exactly what I needed. I went that Sunday. I cried from the moment I walked in the door until I left. Pastor gave his sermon out of Joshua 3 – the Israelites crossing the Jordan. The message was about the crossroads in our life. I knew I was at one. There was an altar call. As I stood in my pew, I hesitated, but also knew I HAD to go forward. I felt hands on my shoulders move me into the aisle and give me a gentle push forward. I asked my friend after service and he said it wasn’t him. It was the Lord that helped me take that first step! I was baptized on November 6, 2005. I’ve back-slid many times and struggle currently, but He is ever-present and patient, caring for me, loving me and remaining faithful to me.
What I find so amazing is that there are bits and pieces of my story in the stories of so many others that commented before me. I’m sure many of you could say the same thing. The glorious part is that there is no brokenness that cannot be healed by our Savior’s touch! There is none like Him and for that, He is to be praised!
I was raised Catholic and had been “religious” but never had a true relationship with Christ. I always felt that there was more and tried to get closer to God on my own but it was difficult. When I was 35 a new neighbor moved in next door and was very subtle but started asking questions about my relationship with God etc. She was a Christian but I was of the belief that I was also. The difference was that she really lived out her faith and it affected every area of her life (she truly walked the walk). She introduced me to shows like Joyce Meyer and Joel Osteen and I started to read some of their books. I started to grow in my faith and saw that there was more to my relationship with Christ than “religion” and went to a service at her church. I then joined a Kay Arthur Bible study in her church on the book of John and it was like a whole new world opened up to me. I had never studied the bible before and it was amazing! I got saved on my couch right after a Joel Osteen sermon on TV (I was by myself). It has been 4 years and my life has taken on a whole new meaning! I’m crazy about all of Beth Moore’s studies and take them whenever they are offered (The Patriarchs, Breaking Free, Stepping Up, Daniel, etc.). My husband thought I had lost my mind when I became born again as he is not saved and doesn’t understand how crazy I am about Jesus- but I pray for his salvation every day. It has been a long rough road but I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world! I feel like the Holy Spirit has put it on my heart to be baptized so I think thats the next step I’m going to take. To God be the glory!!!
Marriage a mess,
Pregnant again,
Invited to Bible Study,
Read the Word,
No where else to turn.
Christ enters in,
and our lives are changed.
Praising God for His graciousness in our lives.
Blessings,
Connie
Menasha, WI
Love the way you shared your story. Sometimes it doesn’t take many words to express God’s goodness and His grace.
Woe, Connie…. it sounds like God was “knitting” more than just a precious priceless child in your womb while you were pregnant. Wow… He was also wooing and knitting and weaving His very Own Self into your His-story during that obviously horribly hard time!
I don’t think I said that right. Bottom line is, I’m amazed at His wonder and at how He draws us to Himself and the healing He brings us through His Word.
When I was growing up as a young child, we did not go to church. I knew about God and Jesus and believed in them, but that was it. Later we began to go to my grandmother’s church. I don’t remember going to Sunday school, although I do remember a lock-in or two and singing in a children’s chior. Church was what we did on Sundays, it really didn’t affect the rest of our week. Without a strong foundation of faith, I went far far off the path in college. But, at the height of my rebellion, God reach down and plucked me up from a pit. My life has never been the same since.
After college I recognized a call to the ministry and entered seminary. I was ordained into ministry in 1997. Then, between the years of 1998- 2002 God began peeling away more layers and took what was a deep love, and turned it into a crazy passion for Him. Now, I find that every so often God will pull something back I didn’t even know was there and a fresh new faith will bloom once again. Praise God that when you think your faith is in full bloom He makes the flower even bigger and fragrance even sweeter!
One night in November 1976, 25 and pregnant with twins I realized I was imprisoned in the same type of marriage my mother had been – except my husband was not an alcoholic but addicted to codeine. Our marriage was precariously poised on the slippery slope of separation. A friend had given us a Gaither tape and, as I sat alone in the dark late one night listening to a Gaither song “Something Beautiful”
If there ever were dreams
That were lofty and noble
They were my dreams at the start
And hope for life’s best were the hopes
That I harbor down deep in my heart
But my dreams turned to ashes
And my castles all crumbled, my fortune turned to loss
So I wrapped it all in the rags of life
And laid it at the cross. .
All my confusion He understood
All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife
But he made something beautiful of my life
I cried out to a God who could make any type of sense of my life. He took those rags of my life and dressed me in the finest white linen – lavishing me with His love. My husband was saved within a couple of months and we were baptized together (I was six months pregnant with the twins and looked like a whale – the pastor had SUCH a difficult time immersing me!). My Jesus did, in fact, make something beautiful of my life. Despite losing one of the twins, my husband dying five years late, followed by seven years as a widow and single mother of two, then a remarriage that ended in divorce seven years later – Jesus has NEVER failed to be real to me. I have two beautiful saved children; one of whom is in full-time Christian ministry. Praise Him and may He be lifted high!
I received Christ as Savior on March 12, 1996. I was 12 years old and had grown up in a Christian home. I was laying in bed late that night thinking about heaven and hell and where I’d go if I were to die that night. I knew that it was not to heaven b/c I knew I hadn’t accepted what Christ had done for me in dying on the cross and rising again to new life. I got up out of bed and went to talk to my dad, who was up reading his Bible in the kitchen. I talked with him for nearly an hour and he led me to the Lord that night. I don’t know where I’d be without Him today. I am so grateful for what God has done for me!
well there is redemption and then there is redemption.
I was raised in the church, and saved from an early age. My parents didn’t make an occasion of the date, so I really don’t know if I was 8 or 12 or somewhere in between.
But like so many, I strayed. I was involved in my late teens and throughout my 20s in sexual sins (serial monogamy as some have put it) I left the church, I was married twice, had an affair and eventually settled down to live with the guy I had the affair with.
Now are you ready for this?
God stepped in. Nothing about my courtship with Martin had any stamp of God on it, but simultaneously, on a cold winter Sunday morning, we both started looking for a church. It has been a work of years Beth, but God has brought us both back from a pit of sin and into a forgiven, miraculous relationship with HIM.
I want to weep when I contemplate the pain I added to the cross. I had to dismantle my life I guess so that every blessing is clearly from God and of God. None of the wonders that fill my life was my doing.
God is so good Beth. So good.
Deirdre
Oh sweet Deidre….I have come to know that their is no sin that leaves greater marks of guilt or shame than that of sexual sin. And how the devil wants us to continue on in that guilt and shame, but we both know the freedom of Christ and what that cross really means to us! God is good! “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
In Him,
Andrea
Andrea,
my prayer every day now (and I’m quoting directly from Beth to God – hope she doesn’t mind) is
“may the motivating fire of my life be the joy of the Lord Jesus Christ”
my past is gone. If I hang on to the guilt, I would in a sense be denying the Salvation that was so dearly bought for me.
My favorite hymn of all time is And Can It Be. The final verse – No Condemnation now I dread, Jesus and ALL in Him is Mine. alive in Him, my living head, and clothed in righteousness divine. BOLD I Approach the eternal throne and claim the crown through Christ my own.
God bless you Andrea. and you Beth, for sending us down this road of thinking about our testimonies and what miracles God has done in our lives.
Deirdre
amen and amen =)
I grew up in a non-christian home, my parents believed in God but came from different church backgrounds and fought about it all the time so we did not go to church. My dad’s parents were christians and lived 8 hours from us but when we went to visit them, they took us kids to church with them…more fighting with my parents. As I became a teenager and into my college age years, I was very insecure, and had low self-esteem and always wanted to please everyone, I had unhealthy relationships and made wrong decisions for myself. I ended up in a desperate situation and was strongly influenced about a choice to make….I made it and it broke me….and it was the turning point in my life…I moved to be with my grandpa after grandma died. Little did I know that God brought me there in that peaceful quiet environment with grandpa who prayed and read his bible every morning…It was in that time that I met my husband (Brett) after a few times of dating he invited me to go to Sunday school and church with him, it was all wonderful but the sins of my past were hidden in my heart and I did not feel worthy to be falling in love with this man let alone going to church, I went on feeling that way for the next year. One night the church was hosting a Focus On The Family film “Turn Your Heart Toward Home” and we went, all the lights were out, and it was about the middle of the movie when my heart was stabbed with the guilt I carried, I could not watch any more and I had to go outside because I was overcome with “weeping and “wailing”….Brett followed me out as did the minister and his wife, (Gary and Mary Jo) they had us come to their home, and Mary Jo said to me, “Tammy, I see pain in your eyes” and I opened up…I knew I was taking the chance of rejection but I could not bear this burden I carried any longer, and when I was done talking, what I least expected happened…Brett held me in his arms and said he loved me… Oh that man, how I wanted to be clean for him….Gary got out his bible talked about Jesus’ love and that He is God’s son and our savior and wanted Him so much in my heart, my life, and I just wanted a “do over” …I was baptized on May 10, 1987 and washed clean in the precious blood of the Lamb who took that burden from me and healed my brokeness…Praise Jesus, my redeemer!