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I
thank God for the blessing of being raised in a Bible-believing, Christian home.
I was saved at the age of 7 at a church activity where they
showed the film "A Thief in the Night" by Russ Doughten
Films, Inc. (I Thessa lonians 5).
I already knew the Bible said
in Romans 3:23, that I was a sinner and in Romans 6:23, that
my sin would send me to Hell forever unless I repented of my sins and accepted
God's gift to me, Jesus, who shed His precious blood on the cross to comer my sins (John 3:16). I knew there was nothing I could do that was good enough to get me to heaven (Isaiah 64:6, Titus 3:5 & Ephesians 2:8-10). However, there had never been a time in my
life when I had personally accepted Jesus to be the Savior
of MY life (John 1:12) .
The film made the rapture very
real to me. The rapture is when Jesus returns to take His children to heaven to be with Him forever. I did not want to be left behind to spend eternity
tormented in hell forever. So, that night I repented of my sins, put my faith and trust in what Jesus did for me on the cross to cover my sins, believing that was the only way I would get to heaven, and I asked Jesus to be the
Lord and Savior of MY life.
Praise the Lord, the Bible tells
me I will never lose my salvation:
"For the wages of sin is death, by the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ or Lord." Romans
6:23
- Eternal
means forever, not sometimes, or just
part of the time, it means FOREVER.
"For
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved." Romans 10:13
- Shall
means SHALL, not maybe or sometimes,
or just when we are good.
The
Bible says in Isaiah 53:6, "All we like sheep have gone
astray...". Just like sheep stray from their Shepherd,
sadly, there were times in my life when I strayed from God.
It reminds me of a poster I had in my room growing up. The
poster said, Does God seem far away? Guess who moved." But, God has ALWAYS been faithful in drawing me back to His
fold. God brought my husband, Chad, into my life to show me
His unconditional love, God allowed me to attend Pensacola
Christian College where I learned to depend on God and through
my father's death, God taught me that He (God) is my Comforter.
"For the Lord
is good: his mercy is everlasting; his truth endureth
to all generations." Psalms 110:5
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After
being scared watching a movie at the age of 7, my sister,
Melody, told me about something much scarier -- HELL. She
described what Hell would be like and showed me from the Bible
how I could avoid going there. That night, I prayed and accepted
Christ as my Savior. I was baptized at the age of 12, after
I understood what baptism meant (outward profession of an
inward decision).
By high school, although I was
saved, I was not doing anything for the Lord. But, in the
summer of my Junior year, God began to work in my life and
speak to my heart about allowing Him to control my life. I
dedicated my life to Christ my Junior year of high school
and began to read God's Word looking for His will for my life.
Today as I look back, I can
see God's hand of protection around me over the years since
that night at age 7. I am so thankful to God for saving me
as a child. He kept me from so much sin and pain that many
people go through before they come to Christ.
My life verse is Philippians
3:13&14:
13.
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this
one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind,
and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling
of God in Christ Jesus."
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