h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I believe in God the Father, maker of Heaven and earth.
and I believe in His Only Son Jesus Christ, who died for our(my) sins.
Hello, Ive been a Christian for 27 years.

sue

Wow! How did you come to the Lord? Were you raised in a believing home? Would you please tell me your testimony?

Raych

I spent most of my life looking for the love I hadnt recieved from home(parents,, they seperated when I was 5)unfortunatly I went the wrong way and became a single parent(2 daughters) anyway, when my girls were 4 and 5 I met a christian lady(at a mother n baby club) who turned out to be the vicars wife, we talked, and I asked about getting my girls baptised,,
This led to me joining a prayer meeting and I didnt know till I was there how hungry I was for the Word,,,,, Eventually I committed myself to God and I will never forget the day I was blessed with the Holy Spirit,,, It was wonderful, at a prayer meeting I was suddenly filled with LOVE and PEACE and an overwhelming feeling of Joy,,in fact I didnt sleep that night,lol I couldnt stop singing and by the morning I was talking in Tongues,,,
Both my daughters are now Christians which pleases me,,,
I always say as a single parent I didnt bring up my kids God did,
Whats your story?

sue

thats the sort version

sue

Well, I was raised in this radical christian home, where we lived on faith sometimes for the next meal, and moved all over depending on God. We even lived in an army tent for a few months while doing hurricane relief in Florida. So I grew up loving God, but didn't have like a deep relationship with Him.

When I was 7 I asked him into my heart, when I was 12 I got baptized, but although I had accepted Christ as my savior, I didn't know him as Lord. I got involved with a really awesome youth group at thirteen but by 15 was walking that dangerous line of hypocrisy... the good kid of the bad crowd, and the bad kid of the good crowd. I was really depressed, and was really dealing with whether I could do the God thing in a Real way, because I didn't want to be fake. One night things came to a head, and my youth pastor told me to "Cut it out and Get Real". It was just what I needed somehow. I started working at camps when I was 16 and got seriously involved in the youth group... to the point that my old dear friends didn't want anything to do with me. I've never looked back.

It seems like everyday I hear new things, I get fresh hope, and new purpose. I'm planning to eventually go into full time ministry (actually, that's what I've done for the last 2 years, but my passion is foreign missions... Lord willing!)

So that's my abridged story! Isn't God so amazing?

Raych

I love hearing other people's stories...

So what's yours?

y.s.

He sure is amazing.. That was a wonderful story and Im sure that you will make a lovely missionary ...Do you know where God is directing you to yet?

sue xx

Not really. I'm saving up to visit a friend in South Africa... probably going to volunteer at some orphanages whilst there.



Raych

That will be good for you, to see how others live and praise God,, makes me wish I was coming with you,lol
The leader of my last church is from South Africa and there are about 3 families who joined from there as well,, Plus a couple of Americans, one Chinese family.. its becoming a world wide church,,lol
sue

The short story is that I was always the good kid, never really in trouble, had good grades, etc... Which is what mgade it really difficult for me to ever see myself as *needing* a savior. Growing up in churches that only taught Jesus as savior of the world didn't help either - I had no idea it was a personal thing at all, because it sounded so automatic.

It wasn't until God showed me without a doubt that he was not comparing me to the goodness of *other* people but instead to Himself and his own holy, perfect righteousness that I was finally able to grasp the concept that I was falling far short of that qualification, and *needed* Jesus.

There's far more to the story than that, but that's the short one...

That's right!

I spend a good six months trying to find God within, never bothering, or wanting now that I think about it, to look away from myself. Giving myself up to Him was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, but it's changed my life in amazing ways!

You know, it seems sometimes it's harder for the well-churched to find Reality in a relationship with God. There are so many paradigms that have to be broken. The upside seems to be that once they are, the foundation of Christian upbringing speeds the understanding of that new walk and love.

Isnt God wonderful, the way HE brings His ppl back to Himself,,,,
He gives us free will and once we use it to find Him He rejoices with the Angels and His Son,,, Im sure every time someone comes back to Him then Heaven does Rejoice,,,,
I know Im going through a bad patch at the moment and havnt attended church for a while but that doesnt mean Ive stopped loving the LORD,,,
I remember when He showed me just what a rightous person I was,,,,,
It was in a prayer meeting and we had all been praying (as you do,lol) anyway I asked the Lord to show me and I suddenly had this picture of me standing within this beam of wonderful light,, as I looked down on myself my clothes changed to a brillent white, the warmth from this beam enfolded me and I felt that rightousness,,, that was about 6/7 years ago and Ive never forgotten it,, So no matter where I am with God, I will always remember that I am rightous and one of His children,,,,,, Isnt God wonderful.

sue

Of course that was how God sees you through the blood of Jesus - in and of ourselves, we are nothing but vile filthiness.

God handles us all differently when it comes to bringing us to Himself - he works with our backgrounds and personalities to bring us to the time when we will see him.