My journey to receiving Jesus Christ was like so many of you. I was basically molested when I was four, but I hesitate to call it molestation because truthfully I agreed to do it. I agreed to do something that I did not understand. At the end of the act, I remember looking up to heaven and pointing saying “Ooooooooooooo.” It’s what little children do when they know they have done something wrong and they just don’t have the words to express it. They point their finger at the offensive act or offender and say “Ooooooooo.” I remember thinking that I was in a lot of trouble; not with my mother or with my father, but with God. At four years old I knew that I was in trouble with God!!!! I looked up to heaven and pointed up to heaven and said “Ooooooo.” Now you may disagree with my 4-year-old conclusion. You may be saying, surely God does not hold little children responsible or accountable for their actions. But my heart convicted me and I had a knowing beyond my years that I had done something dreadfully wrong and that I may be punished by God.
At that moment I needed someone to tell me about Jesus Christ; to explain to me that Jesus had died on the cross for all of my sins and especially for that sin I just committed! I needed for someone to explain to me that Jesus’ blood paid my sin debt; that Jesus took my punishment for me and that if I would believe that He died for me and that God raised Him from the dead on the third day, I would be saved, forgiven and set free from guilt, condemnation and shame.
Isaiah 53:3-5 Easy-To-Read Version (ERV)
But there was no one to explain to me about Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. There was no one there to explain to me about the salvation He gave His life for us to have or how to get eternal life. There was no one there to say, “repeat this prayer after me….”
Let me be that person for you today….
At the age of six years old, my father whom I loved more than anything, died with cancer of the colon at the age of 29. My mother had two nervous breakdowns . My mentally retarded brother was admitted into a mental hospital. I experienced rejection from family, friends, classmates. I was the one beat up, laughed at, mocked and ridiculed. I hated my life. By the time I was 10 years old I was suicidal. I remember singing a sad song that said something like this: “Nobody loves me, everybody hates me.” I remember shaking my fist up at heaven and asking God, “why did You make me this way. Everybody hates me. Nobody wants me.” I wanted to start my life over. I would take a piece of paper and I would ball it up and throw it in the trash and say this is my old life. I would then get a fresh clean sheet of paper and say, this is my new life. I wanted to have a fresh new life just like that fresh clean sheet of paper. I didn’t realize that what I was asking for was to be born again. To have a born again experience to be born afresh and anew.
So at 10 years old I went up to the altar for prayer during the invitation at the community church I was attending . The adults at the church marveled that a little girl would come up to the altar without an adult. My mother was a backslidden Christian and did not go to church at this time. The only way I made it to church was because my babysitter took me. When I went up to the altar, I wanted a new life. I did not know anything about being “born again” or “saved” or anything about what the Bible said about having a new life in Christ. All I knew was that I did not like my old life and I wanted to trade it in for a new life. But the adults at this church did not understand why I came up. No one told me about Jesus Christ. No one explained to me how He died on the cross for my sins, how He paid my sin debt so that I would be forgiven. No one explained that I did not have to hate myself or live in guilt or shame. No one explained how Jesus paid the price so that I could have a new life in Him. They just thought I wanted to join the church. So they signed me up! But joining the church and being born again are two different things!!!! There are many people who have joined the church but their lives have not changed because they are not born again. Jesus said to Nicodemus and He is saying to me and you today: You must be born again.
By the time I was in high school, I was fornicating with my boyfriend and into pornography. At 16, I was raped at gun point by a stranger on my way home from school. Satan convinced me that I was a whore, a slut, a bad person; that this is why things like this happened to me. I was angry, bitter, hurt, confused. I was a Queen “B,” if you know what I mean. I hated myself and I hated what I had become. I was doing things that I didn’t like but in my heart I was saying, “I don’t want to be this way.”
Maybe that’s you today. Maybe you are caught up in some things that you wish you could get out of. Maybe you don’t see a way out or a way through. Or maybe you have gotten to a point in your life where you have just become empty!
Let me be the one to tell you today that Jesus Christ is THE answer and He is YOUR answer.
Finally, in my freshman year of college, I received Jesus Christ into my heart as my Lord and Savior. I became born again! My sins were forgiven! My life changed! Maybe it was the death of my Aunt Jessie the year before who had been praying for my salvation. Maybe it was that demonic encounter that I had my senior year of high school that scared me half to death. Maybe it was a combination of both things or everything. But as my new friend on campus shared with me the Four Spiritual Laws, I repeated the sinner’s prayer after her and gave my life to Jesus Christ. This time things were different! This time my life changed! My life from that point on was eternally changed.
Let me offer that same opportunity to you today! Let’s receive a new life in Jesus Christ.
REPEAT THIS PRAYER AFTER ME:
Father God, I am a sinner and I need a Savior. I thank you for sending your Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for my sins. I believe that you raised Him from the dead on the third day and I confess Him as Lord. Lord Jesus, come into my heart right now and forgive me, cleanse me and change my life. Fill me with your precious Holy Spirit and make me brand new. I thank you that according to your word, I AM SAVED! In the name of Jesus I pray. AMEN!
Romans 10:9-10 NIV
9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
Contact us today and let us know that you received Jesus Christ in your heart as your Lord and Savior! We want to help you grow in your relationship with Him!