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Was anyone elses conversion similar to this? - 10/28/2008 10:05:23 AM
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AboundinginHisGrace
Posts: 410
Joined: 4/28/2008
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Ok here goes, I had always been raised in church, went down when I was 8 was baptized, went down again my senior year and was baptized. My parents were both Christians and lived it in front of me. I thought I was saved. I was in and out of church but still went at least a couple of times a month, I had spurts of trying to live a christian life, but it never would last. Anyways I met my wife, I got involved in church more etc etc, we got married things were kinda rocky but not very bad, until about a year ago my wife and I went through some problems we seperated for a couple of months, and it forced me to be alone and really focus on what direction my life was going. So I prayed and prayed and prayed, and from that point I went to church every sunday morning and evening, Wednesdays, read my bible every day, there was this desire to search for God and His will. Well, my wife and I got back together and things were and still are going great. Well the more I read my bible the more I went to church the more miserable I got. I didn't know what was going on. There was a desire for me to search and seek and to understand God and allow Him to live through me, but I just couldn't get peace, I prayed over and over for God to save me if I wasn't saved. I would pray God I know I am a sinner I cannot do it on my own I know Christ died for the sins of the world please save me, but nothing happened. I talked with some people and I thought maybe God was calling me into the ministry but just couldn't get peace with it. I was about to lose my mind, I came on this forum and shared my life and what I was going through. Thank the Lord for the people that responded to my post, as I was reading the responses, some people pointed out that I said I wanted to serve the Lord, but my focus was on myself, and that God wanted my heart not my service. As I was reading it was like God took my soul my very being and turned me to the Cross, I cannot explain it, for the first time I understood Grace, He opened my eyes to grace, He saved me not because of anything I had done, but just because He loved me. I always tried to clean up and come to God, but God wanted me dirty. I can honestly say that it was all God, because I tried it on my own for so long I tried to pray for forgiveness, earn forgiveness, read my bible for forgiveness, live a good life for forgiveness, but God gave me forgivness just because He loves me. Anways my question is, did God give any of you a desire to serve Him and read the scriptures, and live a christian life, before He saved you? I can say I had the desire to serve God for about 9 months before He saved me. I was wondering if anyone else has a similar testimony? I think God just wanted to show me that it is only by His grace I can be saved.
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Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
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RE: Was anyone elses conversion similar to this? - 10/28/2008 10:54:20 AM
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RamiRedeemed
Posts: 2628
Joined: 10/13/2008
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What a lovely story! Mine is nothing similar but yes, I did have a desire to serve God before I was saved. Not long before, about a month and a half.
_____________________________
Some people talk because they have something to say.
Others talk because they have to say something.
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ramireconciled.blogspot.com
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RE: Was anyone elses conversion similar to this? - 10/28/2008 10:57:07 AM
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DeeAnnBailey
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From: SC
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It sounds very similar to some things I went through and is almost identical to what a friend went through. Ofthen when raised in church we think we get salvation by proxy it seems. I'm glad God doesn't give up on us then!
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D. Ann Bailey
My Blog Dee's Delights and Delusions
<<<<<<The love of my life - precious Erin!
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RE: Was anyone elses conversion similar to this? - 10/28/2008 6:57:12 PM
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kmangel
Posts: 443
Joined: 4/12/2005
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I think God brings us to a place in our lives where we truly need Him. Each of us has a different path to that place of needing God, but need is the common denominator.
For me I was raised with Christian (Catholic) beliefs. My mother was (and still is) agnostic. For every teaching I was taught I heard her view, too. I had no one telling me about God's grace--or if they did, I missed it.
Then I had children. Two sons. When the younger son became a teenager, that's when need began--need for God to help me. My son was involved in the proverbial "wrong crowd" and it was during this time that I reached out to God to help me. God saved me. God helped me, too.
We each have a story to tell. Each one is unique and similar to every other salvation account.
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Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in.
--Mark Twain
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RE: Was anyone elses conversion similar to this? - 11/6/2008 11:29:57 AM
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bravjim
Posts: 395
Joined: 10/8/2008
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Actually Abounding, my story has some similarities to yours in that I was seeking before I really surrendered to God for about 2 years. I was saved originally when I was 17, but I never gave the Lord my life, I never surrendered. I believed, but without giving Him my heart, I went on my own path. I guess you could say that I loved sin more than I loved God, and the first time I was challenged, I wilted. When I was 20, I spent 2.5 months in jail. At that point, I got the ol' jailhouse religion, read through the entire bible, claimed I was Christ's. But as soon as I got out of jail, I refused to surrender again; I followed my own path again. Back to drinking, smoking weed, profanity, chasing girls, the whole works. It did break me of my problem with stealing, but everything else I pretty much kept right on going.
I started to grow depressed. There was no progress in my life. I would go to work just so I could get my weed and cigarettes, even after I gave up alcohol because I seen some tendencies of me heading towards alcoholism. But my life had no direction, no wife, no kids, working at ****py jobs when I knew I was able to do better, but I didn't because my vices were more important. By the time I was 30, I knew I had to make changes. I read a book called the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. This book taught me a lot, so I started to try to put some of the principles to work. They appeared to be working, but eventually I fell flat on my face. My depression deepened. In that book, it stated that people that live by faith in God, didn't really matter which religion, seemed to be more effective. Of course, because I had turned my back on God the way that I did, I did not think that was an option.
When my nephew started to go down the wrong path, I finally picked up a bible and started reading it. I was looking for a way to help him break the direction that he was headed in. I refused to go the New Testament for a long time. Again, I figured there was no hope for me. Instead I turned to the wisdom books, specifically Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. What I read just made sense, especially the book of Ecclesiastes. I kind of identified with life as being useless, and after a while, I started to believe that it was all useless without God. I started to pray the way that David would pray, calling myself a worm, pouring my heart out to God, trying to deal with how foolishly I had lived and was living. I started reading the bible, occasionally, for about 2 years, before I actually got the guts up to go into the New Testament and learn that He would take me back. I think the reason I finall got the guts to go there was because of the book The Purpose Driven Life. I still had questions about whether there was any hope for me, but as I read the history of the Israelis, and how God was always taking them back; I read the books of the prophecies, and certain things that Isaiah would say about if we would return to Him, He would take us back. At that time, I opened the new testament for the first time in about 12 or 13 years. Soon thereafter, I surrendered my life to Him. I had opened the bible to help my nephew, only to learn that I was the one who needed the help before I could help him.
Now, when I look back, that was the time when I surrendered. I know that I was saved back when I was 17, and God was with me all of those years. There were times when I was warned by an inner voice to not do what I was doing, to change the way that I was living, though I usually went on and did it any way. I didn't recognize that voice for who it was, the Holy Spirit. I would also have scripture come to mind concerning something that I was facing. After I finally surrendered, God took 2 years pulling all the memories of how I had broken His heart out of my heart, reminding me of how far I had gone, and showing how my depression was because I was breakig His heart, how I had grieved the Holy Spirit. He allowed me to repent, and then He would heal me, and then on to something else. The process took about 2 years, and His presence and His love guided me through the whole thing.
< Message edited by bravjim -- 11/6/2008 11:41:12 AM >
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I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfilll the lust of the flesh.
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RE: Was anyone elses conversion similar to this? - 11/6/2008 5:25:07 PM
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jn1010lf
Posts: 351
Joined: 4/20/2005
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Hello AboundingHisGrace
In reading your post, I think it would be helpful to learn that living in the kingdom of God involves much more than just being saved. The New Birth simply places one into the kingdom of God. Now there is a lifetime of exploring and learning that the Holy Spirit wants to teach you.
There are several experiences that the Lord takes us through; salvation, renewing of our mind and filling us with His Holy Spirit. If one remains on getting saved and nothing else, he stagnates and doubts come in.
It might be helpful for you to examine everything that happened to Jesus. Did you know for example that He did nothing until the Holy Spirit came upon Him after being baptized in water? He was filled with the Spirit when he was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. He succeeded resoundingly.
I'm conviced that every one of us need to accept the Holy Spirit coming upon us. Our first act also needs to be our own personal facing down of the Devil.
When anyone studies the Bible, I always recommend that they open their hearts. Much of the church only teaches getting saved. That's only a beginning. All the other things I mentioned are in the will of God. So, take your Bible and study the gospel. Ask no one about what it means. But do as the Lord, "Teach me truth." His responses will utterly astound you.
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