Sharing Your Testimony

 Romans 14: 10-12  "For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written: “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me;  every tongue will acknowledge God.’”  So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God."

      God works in a lot of ways through us to others.  We can be good or bad examples by how we live and respond to our daily encounters with joy and hardships. You may be the only 'bible' someone sees and reads.  I challenge you to write out and share your testimony, how God came in and changed your life for His eternal purposes.  I'm not saying it's easy, because this has been my toughest blog to write thus far.  It is rewarding though because you are reminded of His faithfulness, even if you don't put it all on paper to share everything.

My testimony…

          From the beginning, I was raised in the church.  As a child,  I faced the weakness of this body that my soul was in.  I found comfort in what I was being taught in children’s church and other youth activities.  I learned who Jesus was..my Creator, my Redeemer,  my Healer, my Sustainer, and my Savior for my sin debt.  At the age of 9, I gave my life to the Lord and was baptized.  I wanted to feel secure in knowing where I’d spend eternity if my life were to end and to have my own relationship with Christ.

         At the age of 9, I had not really faced many temptations of the world, but I knew I was a sinner in need of His grace to save me.   As I grew older, I knew I did have the Spirit of peace within me as I dealt with life’s trials of surgeries, being different than my friends and just life as a young girl in a wicked world.  I found strength through prayer.  My downfall was the belief in myself, as much as the Spirit within me. 

Proverbs 22:6  “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.”

         Even when I was away from church, the desire to seek more of God remained in me.  I know God has been working on my sanctification in many ways and opportunities.  One example, a church student union at college allowed me to park my scooter in their building.  After making friends there, I ended up in a bible study and back in His Word.

          My life wasn’t a ‘total’ surrender to His will until the age of 30. I’m guilty of wanting what the world offered and ignoring the cost of it.  God allowed me to have all that I wanted from the world…a marriage, a home, a career…but I failed to put Him first and above all things.. therefore I reaped the consequences.  I’m thankful for that discipline.

Ephesians 2:1-3  "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath."

        My life was at a crossroad of choice.. will I hang on to my will or trust in His guiding?  My world was stripped away and what I thought was my end..was actually my new beginning.  I thank God for doing whatever it took..and yes it hurt a lot…to get my dependence centered on Him alone.  I thank God that since age 9, I've never felt truly alone.  I thank God that as much as I’ve failed Him and chosen the world, that He hasn’t given up on me and continues His good work in me.  I thank God that I am forgiven because of His sacrifice.  I thank God that I don’t fear death because of His resurrection and promises that He has prepared a place for me with Him.  I thank God for His continuing grace and mercy that provides for my daily needs, my desires according to His will and for my eternal salvation.

Ephesians 2:8-10  "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."