Jesus is risen. He is risen indeed!
I got baptized today! Felt like it was something that needed to be done. Here’s the testimony I delivered right before the immersion! 😀
Well,
Ever since I can remember, I was brought up with the Word of God around me. My mother being an active believer herself, I can say that I have always believed in God. According to my mom, when I was a toddler, there were days for whatever reason that she might’ve wanted to stay indoors, but I would always cry, not to just go outdoors, but I’d cry to go to Church. I’m not sure what that means, but it’d seem quite obvious that God had plans even before I could spell my name, let alone tie my shoe laces. Though I’ve got so much more of God’s Word to wizen up on, now that my ears, heart, mind are open to receive it I can’t speak of any other place in life where I’d rather be.
Let’s back track a little, so far you know that I was raised in a Christian environment, but sadly even with that, just about last year and before that, I just was not doing God’s will. If I remember clearly, sometime around the age of 15, I just lost my way. I’d deny Jesus with my words and with my actions. The worst thing is, it didn’t seem to have bothered me too much because, I remember thinking that I wasn’t that bad, that swearing, lusting and gossiping and these things were petty sins compared to murder, prostitution and so on. However, all sin is sin. The Bible says in James 2:10 “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” Back then, whenever someone would ask me if I was a Christian I was always slow to answer. I remember my answer being “Yes, I believe in God.” Well that was true, but if someone had asked me if I was doing God’s will, I’d most definitely be stumped, stumped with deafening silence. Anyhow, just about last year summer, I was on my way to a party, before the party my friends stopped at a nearby store and there I met my country’s scholarship chairman. There he said “Lisa-Ann, you will do a speech.” I was like, “Okay, sure.” Anyhow, off I went to the party, indulged myself in fleshly dancing, worldly chatter. After the party I remember that I had the speech to do, and just felt awful about myself. I had to deliver a moral speech to youths and not too long ago I was involved in ungodly behavior. It was then I knew I wanted to seriously change. However, it wasn’t until I had a particular dream which drove me to realize what I needed, it wasn’t until a Christian fellow left an open Bible on his table that just seemed to call me to read. In the dream, there were two hills, I stood at the top of one and across at the top of the other hill was a Church, in the dream I outstretched my hand towards the hill with the Church and started crying longing to be there. During this time I had recently met a believer, whenever I’d visit him; his Bible was always opened on his desk. Haha. When he was not around I’d just start reading. He also kept his computer glued to k-love.com, a Christian site that included encouraging words and music. It was in these moments steps were taken to move in the direction of God, I let Jesus know that I needed Him. Begged Him to take me back,
He did, He once again showed grace and I began to feel different. Now my mission everyday is just to live a life for Jesus Christ. Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
After last Good Friday service, I was inspired to purchase roses, give a rose to each of my friends whom by their actions denied Christ and tell them exactly what Jesus’ work on the cross meant to me. Upon returning to school I met with my friends, and then I told them that whenever I look at the rose I can further remember Christ’s work on the cross; the red petals of the rose to symbolize His precious saving blood, and the thorns of the rose to signify the pain that He went through for us. My friends appeared well interested in what was being said, however they were on their way to the club and said, “Oh, keep the roses until the next day, we’re on our way out.” So I did, I kept the roses, when I woke up the roses had already begun to wilt, and I was so saddened, because it reminded me that too often many of us think that we can just wait until a later day to accept Jesus.
You know, there are many Walt Disney cartoons, many of which are fun to watch but in my opinion, not that many with good sermons. One of my favorite Disney cartoons is Beauty and the Beast, not at all because the damsel got a good looking husband in the end, but if one looks beyond that, another meaning can be deciphered. That is, without Christ, we can all look at ourselves as a beast and incapable of true love. The rose in the movie can signify the time that we have to accept Jesus Christ until judgment day arrives. The damsel loving the beast in return can be further seen as the Grace of God, and the transformation of the beast to a humane form can be then seen to be our spirit and what believing and accepting Christ does for our lives. Okay, so you’re wondering what does this have to do with anything, well, what I try to do whenever I view anything that is not directly harboured from the Bible, is to contemplate even more intensely on what message the material is delivering. Does it encourage me to do God’s will? I firmly believe that whatever we watch or listen to bends us in a certain manner. For me, and I’m sure we can all agree, once it goes against the Word of God, then “Bye Bye Bye..”. I’m so very pleased to be a part of this fellowship bonded by the love we have for our Lord Jesus. May I further ask that in any event that it appears that I am not doing the will of God; let it be brought to my attention. After all, Jesus wants us to encourage each other in His mighty law.