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
I was 10 when I was baptized, but I had accepted Christ much earlier than that during VBS. Because I was extremely shy, I never told anyone. I waited until my older sister made her decision so I could follow her down the aisle. It was so hard to wait because I was longing to be baptized and make things official(even back then I was a rule keeper), but my fear of standing in front of the church all by myself was too much for me. On the day I was baptized, I came up for breath after being immersed and felt something glorious spread through me. To my little 10-year-old mind, I was clean at last and free from my sins. Living with perfectionist parents and an overly dominating sister, I had never felt that I was pleasing before, but I knew then that I was doing something pleasing to God. I still remember how wonderful it felt–46 years later.
I was 6 years old and I had done something I knew was wrong. I told my Dad that I didn’t like the way I felt and I was sorry. He talked to me about what it meant to ask Jesus into my heart, and since I had been going to church I understood the conotation. So right there, beside my daybed my Dad knealt with me and I said the sinners prayer.
Yes, I was young, but I fully understood what it meant. And I love that my Daddy led me to my heavenly father. I remember that moment and this May I will be celebrating 26 years of knowing my God!! I never once have turned my back on Him and I am so greatful for this testimony. I think sometimes those of us without tragic stories can lose sight of the fact that it STILL was a huge moment in heaven and we STILL have something awesome to share with others! Happy Good Friday!
This Easter Sunday, it will be 25 years ago that the lights went on for me in a beautiful church in Madras, India. I can remeber the sermon like it was yesterday–Christ on the Emmaus road. 25 amazing years. Cheers, Lord Jesus.
I can’t remember much about the first time I “asked Jesus into my heart”. My mom says I was 4 years old. I know I recommitted my life to Christ when I was 12 at summer camp. But growing up in a strong Christian family it was just the thing you did. I figured I had prayed the prayer and was going to church so I was fine.
The summer between grade 9 and grade 10, my world came crashing down. I was diagnosed with a chronic illness that explained my constant exhaustion but also took away my ability to play competitive sports. I had always been an athlete and that was what made up my identity. When I lost that ability to play competitive sports, I felt like my world had fallen apart. I didn’t really have a relationship with Christ. I just went to church and youth group because people expected me to.
During grade 10 as I struggled through school days to go home and fall into bed before dinner, I slowly came to realize that my identity and value came from who I was in Christ, not from playing at least one, sometimes multiplie, sports each season. I’d say this is probably when I really found salvation and began to desire and choose to live my life as a follower of Christ.
It was 2007 and I was 46. It was during Beth’s Daniel Bible Study. A few months earlier I had no idea who Beth Moore was. I found out about her through a young woman that I worked with. She was only 23 but there was something about her. She had a positive energy that I wanted too. I was talking to her on the phone one Sunday evening and she said she needed to go do her bible study. I asked what that was and she told me about Beth Moore and how she brought the bible to life. She had just started the Daniel Bible Study. I did some Googling and found out more about this Beth Moore. I went to my local christian bookstore and bought her Daniel Bible Study. I also bought Get Out of That Pit. You know why? Because the subtitle said “from a former pit dweller”. That made all the difference in the world to me. Someone who had been exactly where I was at that moment. She had “street cred”. And you know what? I did get out of that pit! Psalm 40 just speaks to me still. A few weeks before I bought that book I was telling my psychiatrist that I felt like I was floundering and I had no rock to stand on. Guess what? I found my rock and I’m not getting off. (And another plus: I don’t need my psychiatrist so much anymore.)
I am from a completely non-christian family. When I was 11 years old my Dad was hired to repair the roof at the local baptist church. When the pastor invited Dad along to a Sunday service he explained that it wasn’t ‘his thing’ but that he’d send us kids to Sunday school. Over the following weeks, due to faithful Sunday School teachers and Youth Workers I heard the gospel and knew that I needed a saviour. I rang my parents to check it was OK before I asked Jesus to be Lord of my life 2 months after the leaky roof was fixed. I have let the Lord down many times since then but through his grace and mercy and indulgent love, I am gradually becoming more like him, and love him more than I could possibly put into words.
Oh and the roof still leaks from time to time and I praise God every time I see a bucket catching drips !!
It was in 1978. I had an 18-month-old daughter and a 6-week-old son. My husband was working the midnight shift. Although I started going to church with my family as a baby and was brought up in church I had never really been saved. I’d done a lot of “stuff”. Church stuff. Works. Never been in lots of trouble. Not such a good girl but more a “scared-y cat”. My husband was a deacon, I was the church pianist. Had been under heavy conviction for a year or more. Got up at 2:00 a.m. that morning and got down beside my bed….which was located between two baby cribs! ha…..and told the Lord that “I GIVE UP!” That was basically it! I had tried works and knew that didn’t work. So when I finally gave up and trusted what He had already done for me on the cross to be ENOUGH….then it was done! I had a peace like I’d never had before. Still have it. Am in awe of Him more and more as the days and years go by. What a Saviour we have! Thanks for letting us share our testimonies today Beth!
Marilyn…in Mississippi
I understand, Marilyn! Been there and done that! HE is so AWESOME to keep after us good/bad girls until we finally give in! Holy hugs, Kathie
I had been brought up going to church and then we stopped going when I was in the 7th grade when my parents seperated. I still believed in God but really didn’t know anything about Him. And to be honest, I had no idea just how big God was…no idea. I hoped He was huge larger than life and all imagination, but I had no idea.
In 1986, when I was 18, my sister and I went down to Florida to visit my aunt who had become a Christian. On that trip, my aunt so beautifully expalined the gospel to me and I can remember vividly admitting I was a sinner and accepting Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I still get chills. My sister accepted Christ too.
Also during this trip I received my first bible….oh what a gift that was.
I could go on and on but I’ll stop. God is so faithful and now I really know just how big God is…He is more than I could have ever imagined or hoped He would be. He is everything!
Love and blessings to all,
Michelle in VT
I grew up loving the Lord. My precious Mom and Dad were faithful to their church and faithful to make it part of our lives. We attended service, special events, had dinner time devotions and prayers at bedtime. I loved Jesus, loved the Bible stories and accepted that God was God, so far beyond me, so far above me, so unreachable. I felt the separation but believed it was the way God wanted it to be. After all, He was God and I was just me. I grew up feeling that I should be content but the desire to be closer to God started to take hold. At nineteen I met the sweetest young man. Our relationship grew and he took me home to meet his mom and dad. I was, of course, very nervous, wanting to make a good impression. They were incredibly kind, I loved them immediately. I noticed right away the number of Bibles in their home, books about the Bible, sermon tapes everywhere. When they prayed for meals the prayers were different than I was accustomed to. They talked to God in a fresh way, an intimate way. I was so drawn to them. When it came time to leave, my boyfriend’s mom gave me a Four Spiritual Laws tract and told me this is what we believe in our home. I tucked it away in my purse and we went home, the tract forgotten. Many months later I was cleaning out my purse and pulled out the tract. I can’t say for certain that I heard the voice of God but I was most definitely led to sit down and read it. That was my moment, there was the separation I had felt with God laid out in print. I had a role in our relationship. I confessed my sins and accepted God’s gift of salvation through His Son. I literally felt the gap close. What a Savior! That sweet woman who shared with me became my mother-in-law two years later. I thank the Lord every time I think of her, for her sweet son, my husband, and for her wanting him to marry a Christian girl! I gained a wonderful earthly family AND became a child of the King. Praise Him, praise Him!!
Can I just add that my very best friend, Kathie, was with me when we accepted Christ at age 12. She passed away this January, at the age of 51, from breast cancer, to be specific it was January 21st. I was in Texas at the Siesta Scripture Memorization event. I had visited her in the hospital the day before she died. I live in Rhode Island and she lived in New Hampshire. I was scheduled to visit her the following week when I got back from Texas. The Holy Spirit spoke to my heart that I should go see her before I left. At 5:00 a.m. on January 20th I told my husband I was going to take the two hour ride up to see her. I had not packed for Texas and was leaving early the next morning. I drove up and was relieved to see she looked better than expected and we made plans for when I would get back. She went into a coma that evening and died the next day. No one told me until I returned home. They knew I was having a glorious time in Texas. My visit to Kathie was such a gift from God, I would never have forgiven myself had I not seen her before she died. I can tell you it is one of the hardest things to loose a friend of 40 years. The only thing that helps me keep it together is that I KNOW I will see her again in heaven, we were at the same altar receiving our Lord and Savior. PRAISE BE TO YOU LORD CHRIST!
I have tears stinging my eyes. I’m so sorry for your loss. What a precious friendship – and one that will be continued in the Lord’s presence!
Thanks for your heartfealt comments Amanda. It truly was a precious friendship!
Oh Lori…I’m so sorry. What a wonderful thing for you to be able see her before she passed. God knew how important it was for you both.
Thanks Melania, I forget how to spell your real name Moosemama! You are so right. The Lord knew how important it was for us to be together. We relived the old days when we were young and foolish. It was a sweet time that we had together. Thanks for your kind words. And thanks for posing for pictures with my friends and I at the Siesta get together in January. I appreciate your blogger friendship! God Bless You
I was saved in Bible School when I was 9 years old. (Hope that motivates some of you to volunteer for VBS this year!!) I drifted away in my early teen years, came back to the Lord for good when I was 16. His Spirit is so amazing! He would not let me go and when He said it was time…..it was time! He made the difference! Praise His Name! Good thing too — I married my preacher husband 2 years later. (26+ yrs ago).
I remember, vividly, asking Jesus to live in my heart when I was 6 years old. It was in my school lunch cafeteria, and I was alone at the table. I looked up at the rafters (the cafeteria was also the gym) and just talked with Jesus in my head. I rededicated my life at age 11. It was at youth camp and I heard the crucifixion story made so real that I knew I had a deeper understanding and needed to be recommitted. I used to be discouraged because my story seemed so simple and not as dramatic as others, but now I am so thankful that God did not give me more than I could handle and that He shepherded me from such an early age.
Rindie, I am so glad you are passed that discouragement – nothing compares to a life of obedience from a young age. So many of us cannot say it and we would rather that we could! Bless you, Girl! Holy Hugs, Kathie
I was not raised in a Christian home. my wild years started when i was a freshman in H.S. my senior year a friend of mine had gotten saved and invited me over and over to the small Baptist church in my small little town. i told her i’d go, but i never could drag myself out of bed early enough on sunday mornings after partying late saturday night. but God miraculously got a hold of me and i was saved 1 week before my eighteenth birthday. if i wasn’t already, i was well on my way to being an alcoholic (like my dad). i gave up my boozin’ wild friends and destructive lifestyle immediately…and only by the power of God. later that summer, my dad, whom i lived with, was gloriously saved at age 42. he told me many years later that he came to the Lord because of the changes he’d seen in me when i got saved. praise God, alone. praise God.
This week I wrote a post on my blog on Remembering Our Stories and shared my own story. Easter is a perfect time to reflect the new creations we are in Christ! What an encouragement to read so many powerful testimonies above!
http://long-to-love.blogspot.com/2010/03/remembering-our-story.html
I was raised in a cult (not the occult), so I knew many Old Testament and some New Testament stories. When I was nineteen, I had this Christian friend in college. We had many debates about “what the Bible actually said.” I was jaded by religion as my family had been kicked out of our church several years previously. One night, as we had nothing else to do, we decided to go to a free concert. It happened to be a First Priority concert, but I had no idea what this meant at the time. They played a video that went with Michael W. Smith’s “Secret Ambition.” And I remember thinking, “This is true.” Then I heard God telling me to go to the stage. I looked at my friend and said “We have to go.” (She was already saved.) So, even though she didn’t come with me, I went to the stage. I prayed the sinner’s prayer. Afterwards, a counselor asked me what decision I had made. I had no idea, as I had never even heard of “being saved” or “born again.” But the next day and weeks after that, I remember walking around wondering if the people around me knew what I then knew. . .wondering if they felt God’s love so tangibly as I did. My life has never been the same, and I now have no doubt that it is God that calls us to Him.
I was about 8 and really never understood what I was doing. After years of saying I was saved but never living that way. I lost my Mother in 1993, after seeing her live in her faith to the very end I started my search. I went look for a good Bible teaching church and met a wonderful teacher who knew his Bible and lived it. My husband and I sat under his teaching for years and learn how to live for Christ. I accepted Christ as my Lord in May 25, 1998, at the age of 40. My husband on September 5, 2004 and we were both baptisted together on September 19, 2004. We have never looked back. I am sorry and happy to say our teacher Bill (at 49) died but I know he lives in heaven.
I come from a Catholic family…we went to mass regularly when I was growing up but in my teens we became Christmas and Easter Catholics. I had a boyfriend in high school who I “thought” was a Christian but was deceived and then in college I felt God pursuing me! I became a Christian at 19 and was led by a wonderful college/young adult pastor who had nothing but our groups best interests at heart! He helped me open myself up to the Holy Spirit’s guiding!
In the last few years…my husband has had a spiritual crisis which has affected our whole family. I am coming out of the fog and feel hopeful this Easter and am so thankful for His sacrifice for me!
Thank You Jesus! Only You know what it’s like to be human…you came and walked this earth and then you died for my sins! I am so humbled and not worthy! But I love you more and more for your sacrifice every day!
Amen!
I was raised in a Christian home. Scripture was used in all aspects of life, and coming to Jesus was such a natural course for me. AFter leaving the safety of my home and going to college, I really experienced how Jesus Christ was going to be central to my life. I really depended on Him in college. I made some horrible decisions, rebelled in some ways, but I always came back. I jumped in and out of a sinful pit at one point, made bad decisions about my future and the Lord always drew me back. I know my parents were praying down the heavens during that time. My mom even told me she prayed a certain guy out of my life. I believe that.
I am a mom myself now and I understand what praying down the heavens will do. In the years since I’ve married, I’ve experienced incredible bouts of insecurity (I’m reading your book), I’ve had 4 children in 3 1/2 years and watched my marriage buckle under the stress of that. However, the Lord never left us and He has been faithful to strengthen my marriage. I’ve seen all four of my children come to a saving knowledge of our Savior, and I know they will have their struggles, but the Lord will never leave them and will bring them back to Him.
I’ve learned to pray scripture out loud thanks to Believing God and I have personally witnessed how that works in front of my very eyes. I continue to struggle with insecurity at moments, I am riddled with guilt about some of the words that come out of my mouth to my kids sometimes. However, I know that forgiveness is as close as 18 inches and He I am begging Him to tame my tongue. He will not leave me. I read a statement at my church the other day. It said, Please forgive me, Lord, for making others’ crosses heavier because of the weight I added by my actions.” Wow! That stung.
Thank you for the cross, dear Jesus, where your blood poured. Bring us to our knees. .. I think Chris Tomlin wrote that. Thank you for Friday and praise You for Sunday!
I was raised in a Christian home. I do not remember exactly how old I was, but my Mother prayed with me in my bedroom beside my bed when I was about 5 or 6. When I was about 13 I remember looking at the sky late at night and being so scared that if the Rapture happened, I would be left behind. One night it got so bad I finally went to my parent’s room and told them what was going on. I do not remember what my Father and Mother said to me, what Scriptures they read, or what I did, but I do remember having assurance of my salvation from that moment on. I was never again afraid of being left behind. I never again doubted whether or not I would go to heaven. I am now 43 years old with 5 gorgeous daughters, three of whom I have prayed with to receive Jesus as their Savior just like my Mom did with me. One was saved in Sunday School a few Easters ago and the other is only 20 months old. I’ll have to wait a few more years for her. How I praise God for my godly heritage and for the faith of my parents that led me to Jesus! Other than my salvation, it has been God’s greatest gift to me.
I grew up going to church since I was 2 weeks old. I prayed to receive Christ at the age of 7 after asking my Mom a lot of questions. I don’t suppose it affected me a whole lot until Junior High (public school) when I had to make conscious choices to follow Christ or the world.
My Jesus is everything to me. He not only rescued me eternally upon my salvation at that young age, but rescued me dramatically 20 years later on October 1, 2000 when I had a handful of pills in my hand. He turned my life of wandering and sin around that day and ever since then I’ve been more and more aware of how many times He rescues me from my own self and sinful nature. He is able!
I used to think my testimony was boring; now I rejoice in what the Lord shielded me from and praise Him for all He’s done for me! 🙂 To God be the glory!
He is Risen! Hallelujah! 🙂
Hi Siestas!
I was eighteen years old…it was a Sunday night service at the church I was raised in–still there today–everyone thought I was a follower of Christ, but I was still as lost as I was before I prayed a sinner’s prayer at youth camp when I was 12. Christ was working in my heart and life when I was younger, but at the age of eighteen I realized there was aboslutely nothing I could do. He is the Savior, not my prayer. I hesitantly prayed another pray because “all you can do is ask,” as my Grandpa/Pastor so wisely advised me. HE forgave me. HE redeemed me. HE took up residence within me. Not based on my prayer, but because of JESUS’ death on the cross. I am changed forevermore–Christ alone.
He alone is WORTHY!
Sisters, I’m so glad we can boast in Him together!
i asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior when i was around thirteen years old. even after inviting Him into my heart, i lived in a pit. i prayed, was a “good girl,” but thought that there was no other way of life for me except one of sadness and the loneliness that hurt so bad i couldn’t sleep at night.
oh, but praise our sweet, amazing, loving, powerful Lord for never giving up on me, and for showing me there was another way. after a very, very dark period of my life where all of my focus was on ME, He plainly told me it was time to surrender to Him, to His healing love and focus my eyes on HIM. i finally “got” was it was for Him to be my Lord, to be my redeemer, my healer, the love and passion of my heart, soul, and mind. in other words, my everything.
happy easter, darling siestas.
“by his wounds we are healed.”
When I was 9 years old I went to a GA camp at Mary Hardin Baylor with my mother being along which was a rare thing for her to do as she worked almost all the time. Any way, one night we were in the living room of the dormatory and people were giving their testimonies and I had been thinking about be saved for quite a while. So that night I accepted the Lord as my Savior and I rember it being a rather turbulent decision for me as I grasped somehow at my age what it meant to go from one kingdom to the Kingdom of God. I was so glad that I made the decision and that my mother was there with me. Have always been in love with God but have been through some very tough times that He has been there with me through. Thank You Jesus for saving me and fringing me to you and loving me and delivering me so many times. I love you my mighty warrior and Savior.
I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior at the age of 7. I was in Vacation Bible School and it was during the assembly time. We watched a movie about the “Life of Jesus” then had an invitation with music. All were asked if Jesus was speaking to our heart and if we would like to ask HIM into our hearts to live forever. I felt Jesus tugging at my heart that morning and remember walking down front and praying a special prayer for him to be my personal savior! Even at the young age of 7, I knew in my heart that Jesus was with me and heard my prayer, PRAISE GOD! I have rededicated my life to him numerous times b/c of sin or filth or shame/guilt or for being human. I thank HIM everyday for giving me GRACE, MERCY, PEACE, LOVE, a place to RUN, a place to SIT at his feet and a place to bask in his great and glorious LOVE that is un-returnable, that is un-redeemable, that is priceless!! Today I am HUMBLED for what he has done for ME & for all you my dear sisters. EASTER BLESSINGS TO YOU ALL!!!
I’ve never before been inspired to actually contribute to the blog, but this is so important. I was saved as a child in church. I don’t remember going forward for a public declaration until I finally gathered the courage when I was 8 and went forward to ask for baptism.
I imagine that is why my heart goes out to teach kids at church. What an impressionable time in one’s life. I can’t wait to read everyone else’s testimony.
Today and this weekend indeed are my most favorite of the entire year. I read Walter Wangerin’s Reliving The Passion each Lent to remind me of the significance of this time in my own life. I did not grow up in a Christian home, but had an Aunt who knew the Lord and took me to bible school and also a Child Evangelism Fellowship backyard club where I heard the gospel and accepted the Lord. My aunt would take me to her church until I was old enough to go on my own. Later in life, both of my parents have now come to Christ as well, so this is a sweet, family celebration. As much as I love the sweet sunshine, I always feel as if it should be cloudy and gloomy on Good Friday to reflect what this day must have been like in the suffering of our Lord.
Thanks for posting and can’t wait to read all the comments.
I remember a Sunday school teacher telling us about heaven and hell and that we should ask Jesus into our heart so we could go to heaven. Being a smart child of 3, I knew what I wanted. When I got home, I asked Him into my heart. That began a lifelong walk. I hope Jesus will re-introduce her to me when we all get There. 🙂
Wow. Well,I gave my heart to Jesus March 1998, I was 17. I think there were a number of reasons
That I got to that point, I think God just took ahold of my heart so
Much that I could no longer deny the love He was showing me from my church
Around me. I do remember a Third Day song at Night Of Joy called
“Love Song” and it hit me harder than any song ever…I don’t want to
Be long about my story, I would hope my story is known through my own
Blog. Just being honest that its little steps at a time that we get
To be where we need to be with Him. Love all of u so much! -ang
I am told I asked Jesus into my heart when I was little. However, a relationship of walking with Jesus started much later.
I was at a super low point the summer after my Freshman year of high school due to boyfriend issues. I was invited to a Baptist youth group (grew up Catholic) by my parents’ boss’s son September of my sophmore year of HS. During the music video “Alcatraz” by Al Denson, I realized I couldn’t get out of the “jail” I was in. But Christ took my place, took on the consequence of my sins to release me from the prison I was in, and then *still* wanted to be my friend and let me walk with him. Ever since then, though I’ve had rough seasons, I KNOW him to be my redeemer, my best friend, my everything.
By the way, I ended up marrying that boss’s son. 🙂 What a sweet history we have together!
Love to each of you this Easter weekend!
He is Alive!!
rachel
I heart that story! GOD is good (and fun!) 🙂
When I was ten years old, I used to watch a children’s program called “The Treehouse Club”. They offered a free bible to anyone who would write in and ask for one. So I did and they sent me one. Soon after receiving the Bible, I asked Jesus into my heart. My family didn’t go to church and Jesus was “known” but not lived. I continued to watch the program and continued to read my new Bible. With no one to teach me and with the victimization that was ongoing, I wasn’t what you’d call a “follower”. It wasn’t until I was in my 30’s, did I finally come to “know” Jesus as my own. Oh I went to church after our daughter was born, but I still didn’t “know” Him. I was just trying to be good – unsuccessfully I might add. But God never let go; I kept going to church. We changed churches and I began to grow, bit by bit. Then one day I heard about a bible study called “Breaking Free” by Beth Moore. I knew my past and if ever anyone wanted to be free, it was me! What a study. My life was changed. After watching a few of those VHS tapes (remember those?), I began praying, “God, I want what SHE has! I don’t care how you get me there, Lord, just give me that!” I knew there was more to this Christian life; I just hadn’t seen it in anyone like Beth. So passionate, so fun and yet so godly. I was hooked on Bible study from that point on. Now, in my 40’s I am in awe of all God has done with this once shattered life.
There was a precious lady at our Youth Camp (that happened to also be my pastors wife), she had such a gift for explaining the love of God and our need for salvation to young children. She was instrumental in leading me to accept Jesus as my Savior when I was 11.
It was such a wonderful time. Although I absolutely understood Jesus love and why he came to earth, died and rose again, It wasn’t until I had gone through much life and made many poor decisions on my own that I truely understood the grace of God.
I continue to be amazed at the AWESOME love and grace that is shown to us time after time.
Blessings,
Marita
It was November 18, 1975 at approximately 9:00 PM and I was 23; had been in church all my life, Momma was a Sunday School teacher and Daddy was a Deacon but I was still lost. I had two extremes between which I would run: One, that I was not good enough to go to Heaven but not bad enough to go to hell or two, that I was so bad that God couldn’t save me – I had gone too far in unbelief. I was terrified that I could not embrace saving faith. I shall never forget that Tuesday night when a dear Pastor ‘mid-wifed’ me into the Kingdom of God. It was ‘labor’ indeed! We began talking about 7:00 PM; he gave me Scripture after Scripture and then the Light Bulb just came on. I acknowledged that I was bad enough to go to hell but that Jesus did not want me to and that His Blood was enough to save even me. I termed it that I finally agreed with The LORD, said Thank You and took my first breath as a new born babe and the weight of my sin instantly lifted. I could actually breathe for the first time it seemed. And then He gave me a giggle. I so needed it! My Pastor jokingly said, “Oh, LORD, pleeeassse don’t put my mansion next to hers, I cannot take that giggling for all eternity.” I have sinned many sins since 1975 but JESUS has been faithful and today I love HIM more than ever and more and more I am looking forward to seeing His Holy Face, Face to face.
Okay. I’ll hush now. Holy Hugs, ya’ll. Kathie
When I was 9 years old, my Daddy had to go to Vietnam for a year. During that time, my mom and I lived with my Papaw and started going to the church Mom grew up in. During VBS they shared the plan of salvation with our class and I wanted to go to the front so badly, but I didn’t. Later during snack/play time outside, I told my friend, Tina, that I had wanted to go and ask Jesus to be my Savior. She said she did, too. So we went to find our teacher and we both accepted Jesus at that time. I truly believe God sent me to that church just so I could find Christ – isn’t He good? That was almost 40 years ago and He holds my heart still!
It was on a Wednesday, somebody touched me, it must have been the hand of the Lord. I was 8-years-old, in second grade. The preacher at our southern church was preaching a revival week of sermons–His subject was hell. I know it was the spring and I can still remember how HOT it was in that church the whole week, stifling. By Wednesday night I was so burdened to know about Jesus and how not to go to hell. I still remember the peace that surrounded me when I made a profession of faith. Like no other. My memory of that week is so vivid. I could not sleep until my daddy knelt with me in our living room and helped me ask Jesus into my heart.
Growing in a high church situation I always felt drawn to pray and revered God, but somehow never felt good enough. Thankfully, one visit to another denomination with a simple invitation to receive Christ as Lord and Savior was all it took. My hunger for the Word was ravenous and I felt free and at peace. That’s the long and short of it….God was so faithful and I have walked with Him for 31 years since.
oops, forgot to say I was 21 and so glad to finally feel like God thought the world of me no matter what. It was a lot for a little child to carry to not ever feel good enough. Christ set me free from that and I celebrate Him today as the One who gives us all worth!!!!
Sorry if this gets posted twice…having computer problems.
I love sharing this!
I was a young girl (around 10 years old) the day I asked Jesus Christ to be my Lord and Savior and to take up permanent residence in my heart. I was standing next to my mom in church that Sunday morning when the invitation was given. I felt the strongest urge to go forward, but I was too scared to walk down the aisle. At that moment, my mom leaned over and whispered in my ear “Do you want to go foward? Do you want me to go with you”? I nodded my head in excitement and she took my hand and walked with me down that long aisle. Even this many years later (I’m 40 now), I marvel that she knew just what to ask me at that critical moment. I know it was an act of God and the Holy Spirit prompting her. There is no other way she could have known the desire of my heart that day. Easter is a special time for me. I not only remember the victory that Jesus Christ had over the grave, but I also remember the victory in my life because of one obedient woman of God….my best friend…my mom.
I was 17 at a Young Life camp. If I had to use one word that permeates my relationship with Christ, it’s (his) faithfulness. I took a huge leap of faith–didn’t fully know what I was getting myself into, but I responded to Him out of a depths of my own emptiness. I sat on a dock overlooking an inlet and said, “Ok, God, do whatever it is you do. My life is yours.” I am now 31 and sitting here with tears streaming down my face when I reflect on His infinite faithfulness and the blessing His presence has been in my life. Oh thank you Jesus!
Rachel,
I was also 17 when I accepted Christ and it was at a Young Life camp called Woodleaf!
My daughter Amy was about 6 months old and I was changing her diaper. I told the Lord – whom I thought was in my heart becasue I had “walked an ailse” and “joined the church” several years beforehand- To take us all home so we could be together forever. He said to me in my bedroom – if you die now you will not be with me – you are not my child. Satan had deceived me for so long. But truely could not remember ever praying “the sinners” prayer. So, with Amy laying on my bed and me on my knees before GOd I asked Him to come into my heart and be my Lord and my Savior. I confessed sins and turned my life towards the cross. He “saved” me that day in that room on that follr. I told my pastor the next Sunday and was baptisted for the first time. I had taken a swim at 13 but this was a true baptistism. I am thankful for my Jesus and I love Him so.
I was saved on Sept. 19, 1993 at the age of 35. The circumstance leading to my salvation was the death of my beloved Christian grandmother. The day following her burial, I surrendered my heart to Jesus while doing dishes. I haven’t been the same since! PRAISE GOD for the resurrection of His Son!
I grew up in a christian home with my father being an evangelist. I am the youngest of 4 and was the last one to get saved. I was listening to my preacher one morning talking about hell. I had been convicted many times before but was too scared to do anything about it. But that day, I thought my heart was going to pop out of my chest! I climbed over my family, not caring what anyone thought and accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior that day! I’ve struggled on and off over the years (am now 30) but KNOW that no one and nothing can pluck me out of His hand! Praise Him!
This is really complex for me. I grew up in a Christian home surrounded by Christian folks and friends. So, a point of conversion – not so much. A point of seeing his Grace, Redemption, Love and Mercy- over and over. He is infinite.
I grew up going to church with my mom and sister (my dad was saved when I was 11 or 12) I remember loving God, but did not know about a personal relationship. I was baptized at age 9 in a Christian Church. In 1975 at age 23 while going through some difficult times with my husband, I went to my paster to talk to him about what stirred me in a message he preached on a personal relationship. I rededicated my life to Him and asked Him to be Lord of my life. My husband became a Christian in 1981. It’s been quite a journey. Everyday I long to love Him and know Him more. I am nothing without Him, praise God. I am so incredibly grateful to Him for what He did for me on that Good Friday.
Happy Easter to all.
I gave my heart to Christ when I was a child…and although I never said otherwise, I never lived in any kind of freedom or any knowledge of what the cross meant. It was just something I believed, Jesus died and rose again, and I did believe it, but never let it sink into my soul. I became born again, again about two years ago around Good Friday. I was at the moment of a huge earthquake in my life. I had fallen into a trap of insecurity so deep, my heart was broken and for the first time, hope was gone and my heart was sick. I figured since I was going to Heaven, why not now? Why was I here?
I watched the Passion (scared – didn’t like it) but GOD let it stay with me and long story short showed me for the first time that Jesus was a real man on earth who died for me (don’t laugh – I guess I thought of Him as a Perfect alien, you know someone who heals, but floats). I realized GOD had always been there thru my life and even though I had acknowledged HIM, for the first time we were talking.
Well, it has been two years and I am feeling everyday the real relationship with GOD. I am a Bible Study group leader and just like you Beth, I found myself saying, I didn’t come to study for healing, but that’s what happened. I have always loved the history. Sometimes I wonder what was happening before in my life, but then I just figure GOD got me on the path, so I trust. Providence is a gnarly thing – but real!
I am so thankful to my LORD for HIS love and Sacrifice…He is gearing me up for Breaking Free, because now that HIS love has sunk into the marrow of my bones, there are things I need to break free from! Its awesome how something so scary and brutal as the cross will show us love and salvation first and sanctification and conviction after. GOD knows!
I heart all you at LPM – you are like a family and your daily randomness has been somewhat of a beacon for me as in I know now that there are women who live like this that are fun and beautiful and they have men that love them. It is no longer a dream that would never happen – thank you!
Siesta OC
There is nothing sweeter than hearing someone tell of how they came to know Christ as their personal Savior. I have the privilege of teaching the older ladies Sunday School Class at my church. (By older I mean, my youngest is probably 68 and my oldest is 92.) One of the things I love to ask them is to tell me when they came to know Christ. We really should be sharing our salvation story more often than we do, but this will definitely be interesting to read. (I know, Beth said to be brief.)
So here’s mine, I was saved when I was 7 years old in my living room while I sat in my earthly father’s lap I prayed to my Heavenly Father and asked Him to save my soul. I had been raised in church all my life and there are many people who had a part in my coming to know Christ. My parents were involved with the Youth Group at my church and they had been at our house for a fellowship after church on a Sunday night. When they left, I told my mom I wanted to be saved. I don’t have a date, but I know I was baptized on September 30, 1979.
I don’t usually post comments, but this request must have been for me because when I read it I knew I had to respond. Have a wonderful Easter!
I specifically remember praying with my dear Mom at the age of 5, and then when Dad came home from work, as I was sitting on the kitchen counter watching her, she asked me to tell Dad what I had done that day. I remember my heart being very tender and crying as I told him.
In grd 4 and 5 I belonged to a Bible Club where I chose to enter a memory course , so at that young age I memorized 400 to 600 verses of Scripture a year , some blocks of chapters. I am so thankful for the power of the Word as those verses , without me realizing as I grew up but looking back, stayed in the depth of my heart , my soul, my being and formed my perspective , actions, goals of life. Then about the time Mom and Dad had cancer and then went to be with the Lord, my sister and I discovered Beth Moore.
She brought to us the excitement , passion, and provision of the Scriptures as we were seeking a new time of refreshment and revitalization in Him. The Lord has indeed used you Beth to develop in us such a hunger for Him again that we often set aside “Me Days” to delve into His Word and Prayer without so many interruptions. I go to the Beach Alone and sister Beth goes to her pool-side. We are in our 50’s , thanking the Lord more each year for our awesome Christian Heritage and Legacy .
This Easter week I have so enjoyed reading the gospel accounts of days leading up to and the days of Good Friday and Easter Sunday. What POWER we have available to us becuz
of the Power of the Cross !! AMEN !
The day I got saved I was 15 years old and had spent Saturday night with a friend. I had been going to church for a couple of months and knew that the Lord was dealing with me. So, that Sunday morning, I had my Mom pick me up to take me to church (my family didn’t go to church but were Bible believing and encouraging). While getting ready that morning my friend’s Dad asked me where I was going all dressed up. I told him that I was going to church. He said, “Lord, the roof’s gonna fall in, you going to church! Ha, ha!” (we live in south GA) Well, when I got to church, Mama dropped me off and as I was walking up to the church someone called me over to the fellowship hall and said that we were having services in there today. They said that in the sanctuary the ceiling had caved in!!! That same morning I felt a tug at my heart and went down to a make-shift altar and accepted him as my Lord and Savior! So, no matter how bad you are, God can save you, even if the roof falls in at the church! P.S. I don’t really believe that the roof fell in because of me going to church, but it does make for a funny story to share now that I’m 32 years old and a preacher’s wife!
My parents did not take us to church, but I had praying Grand-parents. When I was eight I walked the aisle, prayed, and was baptized. I knew I wanted to be a child of God. Jesus was my friend. Wow, so many memories flooding my mind. Teenage years came and I went to church every time the doors were open, sang in choir, taught Sunday School, BUT…lived like the devil. When I was twenty an evangelist came to town. We had just finished VBS. He asked us if we knew we were saved. That night I decided to join the church. (I had just moved) The next night, He said, “This is not about joining the church! Go home get our your bibles and know that you are saved!” OK. I felt the LORD say to me somewhere deep inside…”Michelle, you have been living for yourself. You cannot serve yourself and ME. You need to pick one.” I did. Praise You Father In Heaven. I choose you today.
I came to know Jesus as my Personal Savior as I came to know Him in Bible study in 1978. I was a young Mom and wife of 20. I grew up in a church whose teaching became more and more incorrect as I grew up. The Truth of the Bible was not taught. At the time I didn’t know what I was missing. I can remember watching Billy Graham on tv in 1975 and asking my parents if sin and Satan were real. Although I would have said, I was a Christian at the time! But you know God was just waiting for me to ask those questions and from that time on He really went to work to answer my questions. Changing churches, meeting my believing husband and Bible study were God’s plan that lead me to His Son. Happy Easter, sin is real, Satan is real, but Jesus is alive and has won the victory! Stay in His Word and teach it to your children!
I was 13 and at church camp. During worship I felt a compelling to give my life to Christ. It would be in my late teens and early twenties when I would find myself in a pit of despair and sin that I recongnized the amazing gift I had been given. Since, I feel like God has been peeling back my life like an onion, one layer at a time, revealing His plan for me and the unimaginable depth of His love. Blessed be His name!
I officially accepted Christ when I was 9 years old on a hot summer day in my back yard (I grew up in a Christian home with my grandfather being our church’s Pastor). I guess prompted by the Spirit on that nondescript day, I asked how do I become a Christian because I wanted to….. However, part of me wonders if it was actually at the age of 2 when I cried in my mother’s arms wailing, “I want to go live with Jesus.” She still retells how she sat rocking me, praying to God that He didn’t just take me then. Praise Him that my little heart could know Him so early on and grow with Him throughout my life.. To say I’ve been in love with Christ for as long as I can remember is the absolute truth. He has, however, given me glimpses (sometimes long gazes) into my disobedient, natural temperment that makes me shudder to think of what my life would be without Him…. Oh I love Him so much.
Allyson