Testimony Time

I am so very thankful for my relationship with my Heavenly Father and the BENEFITS that come with it. 
One of those benefits is His written Word, the Bible.  It is my guide for daily living.  It gives me encouragement, uplifts me, and gives me inspiration as the Holy Spirit enlightens my understanding of what I am reading.   The answer to every question you have is in the Bible.  You will find a precedent there for everything you seek guidance for.  The stories in the Old Testament are powerful, and if you haven't already, I challenge you to start at the very beginning in Genesis and take a little time each day to read the Bible straight through, from beginning to end.  I read an hour a day, and it took me three months to read the whole Bible.  You could read 15 minutes a day and read it in a year.  I've done it twice, and it increased my faith immeasurably.  These are real people with real problems, just like you and me.  Their examples show us what happens if you trust God and have a relationship with Him, and what happens if you don't.  Whatever answers you need, you will find them here.  I was raised in church and Sunday School, and as an adult attend church regularly, study my Sunday School lesson, read devotional books and other books by Christian authors, have done several discipleship and soul winning trainings as well as a 9 month Bible School, am active in our ladies' auxilary, and counsel a women's group.  But none of these things has had the impact on me that reading the Bible from cover to cover has.  I encourage you to do this if you haven't already.  If you have, I'd love to hear you comments about it, and we could have a discussion about it.  I'd love that!

Another benefit is that the Holy Spirit has come to us to be our helper, our guide, our friend, our counselor, our advocate, and so much more to help us live a Christian life while in this world we live in and not be overcome by the evil that is in it.  He enables us, by His Power, to be a witness of God's Goodness and testify of His Grace in our lives.  He gives us Wisdom to help us make decisions when we don't know what to do.  He warns us with promptings and urgings when there is something we should know or do.  As long as we are staying close to God in daily prayer and Bible reading, we will rightly discern what the Holy Spirit is telling us, but if we let ourselves grow cold, we will only feel His leading as a gentle breeze passing by that we barely notice and do not give heed to.  That's why it is so important to read and meditate, pray, and spend time with God every day.

That leads to the best benefit, to me, and that is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father God.  Jesus gave his life for us, and the Blood He shed paid the price for our sins, so that all who accept this gift and receive Him as their Lord and Savior become children of God and receive eternal life.  Jesus taught the disciples how to pray.  He told them to pray to the Father.  Jesus made the way for us to have a relationship with the Father.  Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father.  Yes, they are the same in spirit, but still very different.  The sacrifice Jesus made for us, and the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives are for one purpose:  to lead us into a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father.   One day we will live with Him forever in Heaven, but He still wants us to experience a relationship with Him while we are on this earth.  A relationship with Jesus Christ is life-changing and wonderful; knowing and following the Holy Spirit is thrilling and peaceful at the same time, but in the relationship with the Father, we find the rest that we so desperately need.  He is the essence.  He is.....He just is.....indescribable but ........there are no words - you just have to EXPERIENCE Him - FEEL Him.......  and then, you can trust Him, completely, and have a hope you cannot explain and joy that will not let go as He speaks to your heart and touches you in the deepest part, and you know that you are His and that He will take care of you and everyone you care about.  It's what we need to make it until He comes again.  I pray God gives us all a greater hunger for his Word and His fellowship, and I hope you will ask Him for that right now.  I am praying that you do.  God Bless You!!

If by chance, you are reading this and you have never received Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, but would like to now, all you need to do is be sincere and confess that you are a sinner and cannot pay the price for your sins.  Acknowledge that you believe that Jesus Christ is God's Son, who came to earth as a man, lived a sinless life, and died and gave His Blood as the ultimate sacrifice to pay for your sins so that you could receive eternal life and have a relationship with God.  Ask Jesus to be Lord of your life.  Ask the Father to fill you with His Holy Spirit and give you a hunger for His Word and to help you understand it and live by it.  If you are sincere, that's all it takes to be saved.  Then you need to find a good Bible-teaching church and attend regularly and be involved, as well as read your Bible daily and meditate on what you've read, pray, and follow the Holy Spirit's leadings in your life.  You will know just what to do if you keep reading the instruction manual (The Bible) every day.  I'd love to hear from you and pray for you.  Big hug to you!!!