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Discussion Forum : Miracles that follow the plow : When Jesus came into my life.

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Clutch
Member



Joined: 2003/11/10
Posts: 202
Oak Ridge, Tennessee

 Re:

Mary,
What a blessing you are! I had to work today, and read your testimony soon after getting home. Thanks to you, I didn't miss church. I had it reading your testimony. Great preaching too! I must admonish you though, young lady. You're not supposed to make old people like me cry. :-D
Clutch ;-)


_________________
Howard McNeill

 2003/11/30 17:58Profile
Clutch
Member



Joined: 2003/11/10
Posts: 202
Oak Ridge, Tennessee

 Re:

Mike,
Wonderful testimony brother. There's a lot of us that probably wouldn't have got in without praying Mama's and Grandmama's. E.M. Bounds said in his book,"Purpose In Prayer" : " The man " (and this also applies to women)"who has done the most and best praying is the most immortal, because prayers do not die. Perhaps the lips that uttered them are closed in death, or the heart that felt them may have ceased to beat, but the prayers live before God, and God's heart is set on them. Prayers out live the lives of those who uttered them-- out live a generation, out live an age, out live a world". Think about the implications of that beginning with your ancestory, and continuing through your heir's.
In MY case, it didn't hurt that I had all that going for me. Plus I had the extra benefit of having a fellow I worked with at Ft. Bragg N.C. ( Dan Harness), praying that God would either KILL me or SAVE me one of the two!
Clutch ;-)


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Howard McNeill

 2003/11/30 18:29Profile
crsschk
Member



Joined: 2003/6/11
Posts: 9192
Santa Clara, CA

 Re:

Quote:
Prayers out live the lives of those who uttered them-


Like that, thanks for your kind words Clutch.
Quote:
praying that God would either KILL me or SAVE me one of the two!



He must have emphasised the later, all things considered. :-D


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Mike Balog

 2003/11/30 19:37Profile
Chosen7Stone
Member



Joined: 2003/7/21
Posts: 268
FL, USA

 Re:

Mike (crsschk) said,

Quote:
Thanks you so much for opening your heart to us all. I realize how difficult it can be to bring out these things from our background.

I've been on this site for four months, and it's a lot easier to share with those brothers and sisters that I trust -- it didn't take four months to know most of your hearts, because it's obvious that our spirits are kindred.
Clutch said,
Quote:
I must admonish you though, young lady. You're not supposed to make old people like me cry.

Well, gosh. ...I'm sorry. Make a girl blush. :oops: Greg (wrtbooks) was telling me earlier today, "The words [of my testimony] didn't have the effect in them to touch people. The Spirit uses them to convict, encourage, etc....without the Spirit using them they are lifeless...even the best of words!"


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Mary M.

 2003/11/30 22:07Profile
crsschk
Member



Joined: 2003/6/11
Posts: 9192
Santa Clara, CA

 Re: When Jesus came into my life

Brethren.

Thought I would bring this back up for consideration once again. If you are so inclined, hope that perhaps some of our newer members and even some of the 'old' ones would consider sharing their testimony's of how they came to the Lord.

And here's why.

For one, we never know who may be lurking about this site, 'seekers', the brokenhearted, those who are feed up with all the religious trappings and may even be 'church members' but still don't know the Lord in [i]spirit and truth[/i].

More so that what is truly [i]miraculous[/i] is not in signs and wonders, but in the wonder of a transformed disposition, however unexplainable it really is and even in the difficulty of giving a proper expression... [i]"And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."[/i] 1Co 2:4,5

How hard it is to not to quote all of this grand section of scripture, but for brevity...

This all came about again this morning in a two-fold way. One is in the happenstance of a ministry that is dealing with former drug abusers that I came across, primarily in the area of amphetamines of which a personal pit I came out of. The other was in a dear soul that is going through a rather incredibly difficult time and is handling it with the utmost grace in forgiveness that the [i]only[/i] explanation is the love of Jesus coursing through the veins, expressing Himself in this individual. I believe some day this will be a testimony to be told, but for now it is in mid process, as I write and for good reason must stay unsaid.

But the combination of these two things brought me to a re-realization. In the former mentioned ministry, because of my own parallels thought I would share a bit about 'our' site here as well as my own testimony with them.

Even though I had just mentioned yesterday that I was sick of talking about 'me', after linking back here to my own testimony, started re-reading it again and with the thoughts of the grace and forgiveness that the un-named individual is showing fresh in my mind... I didn't get half way through my own testimony...dear God the eye's breaking now,... that I began to become overwhelmed with tears and hit the floor with such gratitude that the Lord had [b]done this[/b] not only in myself but in my friends life as well.

Folks, it is not a trite thing to say that the truly miraculous is a transformed life. All the signs and wonders pale in comparison. And maybe a revisiting of our own personal testimony's is not an exercise in self-indulgence, but an occasion to give thanks to the Lord and share it with others. You just never know who's life you might touch in telling your story.


_________________
Mike Balog

 2005/1/27 10:10Profile
crsschk
Member



Joined: 2003/6/11
Posts: 9192
Santa Clara, CA

 Re: When Jesus came into my life

Humph... to be ignored ;-)

Seeing that the last time this was brought up was some time ago and now it seems I am only talking to myself here (not unusual at all) where are all the testimonies saints? Was sharing with a brother (hint, hint) offline in this regards and will steal part of that conversation:

[i]"...every testament to the workings of the Lord in a human heart is grand and the greatest miracle of all. To be invaded by the living spirit that lived in Jesus?! To think of it! So beyond our capabilities..."[/i]

So it is of little concern how 'grandiose' or how far down in the gutter we may have been, it generally flows from the inside out anyways...

But to hear of how the Lord in His grace reached down and grabbed us is for one, a testimony to [i][b]Him[/i][/b] and to His glory and an encouragement to one another [b]and[/b] to who knows who is out there, peeping in on these things. Might your testimony be the one that breaks a heart into repentance and acknowledgment that it is God Himself that has been after them?


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Mike Balog

 2005/3/31 10:12Profile
moreofHim
Member



Joined: 2003/10/15
Posts: 1632


 Re: when He increased

How about "When Jesus increased in my life and i decreased (again)?" :-P I have something for that topic! Haven't put it together yet though.

In His love, Chanin


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Chanin

 2005/3/31 10:46Profile
markitats
Member



Joined: 2004/3/12
Posts: 92
Springdale AR

 Re:

I came to the saving knowledge of Jesus by going to a big youth event. I must have been 11 years old. I was going with a small Baptist church across the street from my house. Everyone was going and besides, there would be free pizza and girls. Nothing seemed better than being around pretty girls and eating free pizza. I figured that I could deal with the preaching because I reasoned within myself, “He’ll probably say the same things I have always heard before.” To my great amazement, the man preached about an issue that hit right at home. When I said, “right at home”, it holds to different meanings. One, at my house I found out that my mother had tried to kill herself on more than one occasion and two, it meant exactly what it said. See, I also had tired to kill myself and obviously it didn’t work, thank God. After the message, he asked, “Would anyone like to come up and get saved?” I rushed to the stage area and started to follow Jesus.

Now my walk is different. For many years I never knew why I got saved. The main reason seemed because I didn’t want to go to hell. I never knew I had sinned against a holy and blameless God that would one-day judge the world in righteousness. In 11 years of serving the Lord, I never knew why Jesus truly came. The reason I found out was because, while riding with a friend named Marty, we listened to a message called “Hells best kept secret”.

And now, I am preparing for ministry even more at school. I even got to go to El Salvador last dec for a mission trip. As I become a more solid Christian, I am always reminded, as Isaiah said when he seen the glory of God, “For I am undone!” I realize the closer I get to God the more I have to die to self and that it isn't about me.


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Mark

 2005/3/31 14:24Profile









 Re:

Good solid testimony.
Truly, when we see the Truth, we say, 'I am undone'. 'I am vile and I repent in dust and ashes'.
Dying to self. Our greatest enemy - self.

 2005/4/22 2:30
TaKa
Member



Joined: 2003/4/17
Posts: 124
Louisiana

 Re: When Jesus came into my life.

When I was born, my mother was about sixteen years of age and I think my father was in his early twenties. As I understand the story, they were both into drugs and not nearly ready to have a child.

They eventually decided that I should be given into the care of my father's sister and her husband to give me a better chance. It was the best decision they could have made.

I was given everything I could have ever wanted as a child. I still have pictures of myself on my first Christmas with a house full of toys. Although I had all the material things I wanted, my foster parents had difficulty communicating love to me on an emotional level.

I really appreciate that they did the best they knew how for me, but our lack of personal intimacy created problems for us as I grew and matured as a young child, and especially during my teenage years.

I grew up in a fairly religious family. I loved to study religion and the Bible especially, and I always felt somehow God was near to me, watching over me and protecting me. I would not really understand just how true that was until after I had become a Christian.

The Lord in His sovereign mercy preserved my life by placing me in a good home and rescuing me from disaster on several occasions.

What was misdiagnosed as anything from dyslexia to an acute learning disability in me as a child turned into mischief and rebellion as I made the transition from elementary into Jr. high school.

I was coming of age and felt an increased need for belonging and emotional support. Because I wasn't receiving this at home, I began to search for acceptance at school among my friends.

Unfortunately at this time in my life, I was more of a follower than a leader, and I ended up hanging out with and following some pretty negative influences that led me into trouble.

By the 7th grade, the school system determined that I was a gifted student and put me in special classes. I guess they figured that maybe if they gave me more challenging schoolwork to do I would be less likely to get bored and get into trouble.

My friends and I were smoking and drinking, and by the 8th grade we were stealing from our parents and from kids lockers to buy pills and weed. A teacher caught a group of us one day with pills and the police were called in just to scare us real good, but we were never really punished for having drugs at school.

Although I still attended church and religion classes regularly, I was also into all kinds of spiritual weirdness and continued to abuse drugs. My girlfriend in the 9th grade was heavily into drugs as well as witchcraft, and I was dragged down even further into these things the more I hung around with her.

We ran away together in a car stolen from my foster parents that summer, and spent a short time in juvenile detention as a result.

My custody was taken from my foster parents and awarded to the state until my eighteenth birthday, even though they allowed me to continue living at home. My girlfriend and I were ordered not to communicate with each other as a condition of our probation.

By this time, I began to realize that I really did have a problem with drugs and signed myself into a local rehab facility. Six weeks and $10,000 later, the doctors were not able to make any real progress with me, and I was released against medical advice. Two weeks later I was smoking and drinking again.

My girlfriend and I continued to communicate all the while, and we still tried to see each other. During the next school term I found out she had been sleeping with several of my friends behind my back, and she even began dating one of my very best friends. Not long after this, she brought a gun to school and was expelled.

Her story was that she was trading it with someone for something, but a lot of people thought she was planning to shoot my new girlfriend. She was sent away to a high security juvenile facility and we wrote to each other on several occasions. We continued to communicate until she eventually moved out of state. I'm not sure exactly what happened to her after that.

Meanwhile, I had a close friend who had become a Christian and began to pray for my salvation. She had been in trouble with the law before and had been taken away from her mother and placed in several different girls' homes, but after awhile she was back home and back in school with us.

I began to notice that she was now altogether a different person than she was before. It took three years for me to finally agree to go to church with her. She never gave up on me and never stopped praying for me the whole time.

Just a few months before my eighteenth birthday, I went to check out a youth service at my friend's church. I had never seen anything like it. Young people were singing, clapping and raising their hands in worship.

I thought this was all kind of weird because I had been raised in a very different religious environment and had never been to a charismatic or pentecostal-type church before. At the same time, I had an undeniable impression that night in my spirit that what these young people had was real. I went back to that youth service the very next week to find out more of what it was all about.

The things the Youth Pastor said that night seemed to speak directly to me. When he called for people who felt like they needed prayer to come up to the front, I knew I was one of them.

The Youth Pastor explained to me that if I confessed my past mistakes to God, He would forgive me for my failings and accept me as His own. He said that if I believed in my heart that God had sent His Son Jesus to die for my sins, and that if I confessed with my mouth that God had raised Jesus from the dead to give me a new start in life, that I would be changed into a brand new person and be able to start all over again with a clean slate.

The change that I was never quite able to attain for myself, the help that always seemed just out of my reach, was finally realized that night. What the doctors could not do in six weeks, Jesus was able to accomplish in about twenty minutes. I was set free and delivered from drugs in that instant.

The Bible says that if anyone belongs to Christ, he has become a new person. Old things are passed away and everything is new again. That's exactly what happened to me that night. I would never be the same ever again forever!

I began to attend the youth meetings there regularly, and even got involved in music ministry and sound engineering. Eventually I would begin to grow and desire more, and was led to a larger church a year later just as they were starting up a new discipleship program for their youth group.

God's timing is perfect. He brought me to exactly the place I needed to be at just the right time. I received the exact kind of spiritual teaching I had been looking for and continued to grow as a follower of Jesus Christ.

I soon began to realize that because of my turbulent adolescence, God wanted to use me to reach out to other young people who were going through some of the same things I had passed through. I began talking to some of my younger friends, letting them know that they could save themselves a world of trouble by listening to the advice of someone who had already been where they were.

Some other Christian friends and I started going out to the mall on Friday nights to talk to young people about their spiritual condition. It was an exciting time. Several young men came to Jesus through our outreach there and are themselves involved in ministry to this day.

As the years went by, I began to develop a burden not only to evangelize young people, but also to help disciple them and equip them with the things they need for their entire lifetime as Christians.

I am currently working to develop a teaching curriculum for discipleship and leadership based on the wisdom passed down to me by my spiritual mentors. The Lord has given me a vision to raise up young world-changers who will go out and reap a harvest of souls among the next generation.

I have a responsibility to God to be a mentor and spiritual father to young disciples, helping them to become mature believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. To whom much is given, of him much will be required.


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Troy

 2006/3/5 6:51Profile





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