My Testimony…

I don’t know exactly where I should begin? I guess I should start with how over 20 + years ago I fell away from Christianity and ended up a very lost girlin a very lost world. I had not only stopped going to church and reading my Bible, but being such a spiritual person I found myself going to places and doing things that I now know God warns us not to do in scripture. I did all the wrong things like, going to mediums, palm readers, psychic fairs, reading my horoscopes,, getting my numerology chart done, having my aura read, buying self help and new age books, ect.... These are what I call "the wrong way to do spirituality!" God tells us in the Bible that in later times many would fall away from the faith and follow doctrine of demons, and well you can see that's where I had really taken a wrong turn.

One compromise had led to others and it wasn't long before I was having marital problems. When I had first separated from my spouse, I soon found myself going out with my single and divorced girlfriends who liked to drink, dance, and go out and listen to live music. I did not see it coming but I had gotten very out of control and dependant drinking. Going out with my friends became a great escape for someone like me who did not want to deal with reality and how tough marriage can be. I had tried to go back with my husband twice during my mid-life crisis but I wasn’t able to do it until God turned me around to the truth that he truly does hate divorce and it was his will for me to be reconciled to my spouse. Why and how my husband was able to forgive me is still hard for me to comprehend. All I know is I have a lot to be thankful for. I wish I could tell you this going back was easy, but it isn't. All I know is everyday I have Gods help in restoring what had been lost and broken for so many years.

Prior to going back with my husband I had some very difficult things to deal with. It is still hard for me to share my testimony with others, but I will try tell you what I can in hopes it may help others out there that may be struggling with someof these things. You see my dependency on alcohol increased to other things mixed with it. Not only did the doctor have me on 5 different types of medications to help me manage some of my health problems, but I started messing around with crank to help me lose weight. This is a highly addictive drug and a big problem in our society and people just need to wake up and see there are many others out there like me who don;tsee it coming before they need some serious help before this addiction kills them . Meth addicts are everywhere, and once this drug takes a person over it often kills them. It took God intervening in my life in a supernaturally way, and he gave me the strength to get off meth and liquor in just a few short days. It took total surrender to him and I just kept praying for him to win this battle for me. I just pray that others struggling out there like I was will cry out to Jesus for the help they need and they too can be set free and forgiven. In recovery they call it getting in touch with your higher power, All I know is Jesus is the only higher power! He set me free from my demons, and I know he can set you free from yours. Once we have Christ, we have His strength, and this truly does make us more than overcomers. In Christ we have the victory! Now to finish off my testimony I want to say that when I look around this world it's not difficult for me to see how boozing and using is the fast track to not only ruin a persons life,but I believe people are being deceived all the way down the wrong path in life all the way to hell! I know if God had not kept His hand on me I would have been dead several times over. Perhaps my d.u.i. would have been a fatal car reck on the freeway? I could have killed myself falling off that banister three stories up? That ex-boyfriend of mine may have broken my neck during that fight we got into? These things were all things that happened to me the summer of 2004. Now I know that what Satan meant for bad in my life, God used for good. Somehow by the grace of God I lived through that summer and Nov 2nd 2004 God showed up at my house. When Jesus found me it was at a time in my life when I needed Him most! Perhaps I would had overdosed if he hadn't showed up I'm not sure? All I know is he saved me and even though he had to let me live through some pretty traumatic experiences to get me to cry out to him, he was there when I needed him most. I will give him praise all the rest of my days! I think this miracle of salvation has happened for me because I have always been a believer in Christ. I can look back now and see my biggest mistake was I just never really got to know him. Now because of his mercy and truth I am on holy ground, all because Jesus is very much alive and active in this world today. 

The first thing I did was ask for His forgiveness and help. I did not understand why my life had gotten so out of control except that I had been on the wrong side of right and I needed to get right with God. I started reading my Bible again right away and started seeing how it is true and that I had broken most of Gods laws (the Ten Commandments). I also hated seeing how the deeds of the flesh had caught up with me. Gal.5:19-20 says the deeds of the flesh are evident...immorality,impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, disputes and so on. These things started to destroy my life. These are the things I repented of. There is such a thing as a healthy fear of God and I have experienced it. This conviction was the beginning of my getting turned back around so I could start getting right with the one that created me. I know I'll never be an angel, and it still hurts to share my testimony with others, but I want to let others know it's because of Christ that we all can receive the greatest gift of all, Salvation!

The second thing I did was realize we truly are in a spiritual battle and I needed (as all of us do) to put on the full armor of God. In Ephesians 6:10-17 we are taught.....
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might, put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

I can't help but wonder how many others out there are like I was? Whether or not we are a prodigal that just needs to repent and come home or someone who never has come to know Jesus?, we are all sinners in need of  the Savior.

How do we know we are saved? The Bible says that all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved . If we come to that perfect place in our heart where we know we have sinned against the one who made us, we just  need to ask Jesus into our life and ask for Him to forgive us of all our trespasses against Him.  He is faithful and just to forgive us when we truly repent and give our lives to Him.

What do we do next?
1 Peter 2:9 says… “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” This verse speaks very clearly of how we are to choose to follow Christ. He came and taught us how He wants us to live, but how many are really trying to be discipled out there?

When I look around in this world there seems to be many believers in Christ who are taking Gods grace for granted. The real difference is whether you are a true believer? Do you have a saving faith in the only Son of God? If you do then do you love God enough to want to obey Him? It’s not an easy journey to learn to walk in the Lords ways but it is a very needed step for each and everyone of us as believers in Christ!

I understand now why God’s word tells us that His people perish for lack of wisdom.  Lord help us all look to Him for the truth that sets us free. We can and do know God through believing and following the truths found in scripture. So many of us are in the spiritual warfare without even knowing it. My prayer for each and everyone of you is that you will do what I did and ask the Lord to open your eyes and ears to hear His voice. Jesus died so that we might live life to the fullest! The power of the cross is the one simple truth that saves us and sets us free from the deceptions in this world.

Do you know Jesus yet?, then give your life to him and watch the holy spirit work in your life. All I can say is that when we come to believe in Christ we all need to want to build a personal relationship with Him. How do we do this? Well for me it meant getting to know Him through His word and then following the narrow path that leads us home to heaven. There are also tons of believers who don't even read their Bible. I myself had to take a good long look at myself and see that I was not where I could have been a long time ago. Compromises with the world and my own flesh were leading me down the wide road to destruction!Gods Word teaches us that those who sow to the Spirit will reap the reward of eternal life, but those who sow the the flesh will reap destruction. "Wide is the path that leads to destruction, narrow is the path that leads us home!"