Biblical Womanhood: Only in Christ

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Only in Christ

I posted this in response to Happy Feminist's post and I wanted to share it here as well:

"I encourage you to read the Bible again. It is the Truth, the absolute Truth. There is no other source from which we can derive absolute Truth. Only in Christ. Christians have a peace that no other religion or faith can have because we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that what we believe is the truth. It is not a belief which is not based upon our own reasoning or our own infallibility-- it is based in the infallible, inerrant Word of God.

God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He has no beginning and no end. He is Eternal and Unchanging.

Heaven is not about happiness, heaven is about living in the everlasting presence of the Lord -- forever and forever. It is about glorifying and worshipping our great God who reigns on high. Hell is the exact opposite. It is eternal separation from God. Eternal torment.

No one deserves heaven. We are all worthy of death and hell. God in His rich grace and mercy sent His one and only Son to earth to die the most horrific death anyone has ever died so that those who call on the Name of the Lord and repent of their sin might have life everlasting.

Before I became a Christian, I struggled with great doubts and uncertainty... What is the purpose of life? Why am I here? Why is there death and hell? I struggled with this for five years. I was in mental anguish. I wanted to know the Truth. I wanted to be a good person. I tried so hard. I worked so hard. I prayed so hard. But, for all I did, it was never good enough. I was never satisfied. I was never at peace.

Since my salvation, God has done a remarkable work in my heart. I am a changed person. My fears are gone. My doubts are gone. My old desires and sinful natures are gone. I am no longer in bondage to sin. I have peace in my inner soul because I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am a child of God. I am no longer living in my strength and infallibility. I am completely and wholly relying upon the Lord. I have a desire to follow Him with all of my heart, to walk in holiness, to uprightly, to seek the Lord with my whole heart.

God is so good. I wish you could know His saving power and transformation and the peace and joy which only comes from salvation in Christ."

And now, a question:

For those of you who are Christians, I'd love to hear your salvation testimony (be as wordy as you want!). How has the saving grace of Christ transformed your life?

7 Comments:

Cheryl said...: Wow, I get to be first? If I type fast enough...hee hee.

My "story" if you will is not very exciting but here goes:

My husband and I were stationd at Fairchild AFB, WA. We got orders to move to Washington D.C. in the winter of 1995. So we uprooted the family again and off across the country we went. Our kids were in public school at the time (2nd and 6th grade) and there were lots of issues I had with the schools at that time, but really didn't know anything different.

We ended up living inside the District at Bolling AFB. If any on you know the area, it is prime real estate as we were on the banks of the Potomic River right across from the Pentegon and Reagan National. It was also in one of the worst neighborhoods outside the gates. People really would take pot shots at you coming and going. Ok, back to my story....we were agonizing over where to send our kids to school. It would not be public school (reasons why you can imagine), and so we were left with private school. Mind you, private school in Washington D.C. is EXPENSIVE. Say around $15,000 for Jr. High and upwards in high school. Elementary school was pretty pricy too, especially on a military salary. So, I decided to make a few phone calls and see what kind of work I could get. I ended up at Children's National Medical Center working for the #1 pediatrician in the country. I worked at 1301 Pennsylvannia Avenue - yes - right across from White House for the National Safe Kids Campaign. It was a great job with lots of interaction with "important" people, and lots of exposure to the elite of Washington and other states. (I learned a lot about the press and media relations on this job too). I made great money, had really cool perks and worked REALLY long hours. My kids were in private school and my family was falling apart. The rat race was too much and so one day I just quit. Poof - I was gone. This is when I attended a homeschool meeting on base. I met mostly Christians (as at this time it was a Christian group) and was really encouraged by all the moms and dads that held schooling their own children near and dear. I met another mom a little younger than me and we hit it off. She had a daughter about 3 years younger than mine, but they loved to play together. She invited us to her church one day and I mostly wanted to go because of my daughter. I thought it would be good for her. So guess what? The next Monday night we get this knock on our door - I am changing sheets and my husband is talking kind of loud down stairs....I go down and see 3 women talking a lot and sort of pushing past my husband. He looks at me like "sorry!" and then they proceed to tell me what they are up too. "Monday Night Visitation". Oh wow - what is that? So I sit down on the step and they ask me a question: Do you know where you would go if you died tonight?" Ok, I thought, what a stupid question. Everyone knows where they would go if you are a "good" person. Heaven of course. Right??? Wrong. At this point I am thinking.....but what about all the good things, good intentions, the little turtle I saved last week from getting run over????? They proceeded to explain to me in 10.5 seconds the way to Salvation through Christ. I can't say I understood anything they said, but I did have the overwhelming feeling that "I do NOT want to go to hell" so I said the little prayer on the back of the track they gave me. Mind you, I felt sort of stupid and thought all you have to do is say a prayer?? But, I know without a shadow of a doubt that God entered my heart that night by the little tiny seed they planted. How do I know this????? Because of the fruit that started to become evident. I really meant the words I said and I really wanted to know God personally. I bought a really easy Bible to read that explained things to me (now of course I have a much different one, but it helped me at that point just the same). We stared going to this church and became involved in AWANA and our Sunday school class and worship service. We were there 2X Sunday and Wednesday night. We loved it. And the church loved us too.

God has brought me a long way in 8 years. There are things that I don't do today regarding "church" that we did back then - but that is ok. We are each at our own starting point and God brings us along at His Will. Like gold, constantly refining us until purity.

I understand a lot of the places people come from on this blog, and I must say they drive me crazy with their opinions and thinking. Probably because I have "been there done that". I do have compassion for them, but only to a point - if they don't want to hear anything and consider, study, ask God to help them understand what He will, then I have no tolerance. But, God is good to forgive me in this area and I am trying to work on it. I just have to remember it is Him working on them not me and that His Will WILL be brought to pass no matter what.

So that is my story, my life today. Like I said, it isn't so thrilling to most, but to me, looking back at what I was, it is the most cherished thing I have - my Salvation and my peace knowing where I will be for eternity. :-); 10:37 PM
Cheryl said...: I just noticed my spelling is really lacking tonight!!!!!!! I do own a dictionary, and I do know how to spell....I think I am just typing so fast to keep up with my thoughts. Please excuse the errors. :-); 10:59 PM
Donna said...: I was six years old when I went to church with my grandmother. The teacher talked about inviting Jesus to come live in your heart. That night when I was put in bed I kept thinking that the teacher had made it sound so nice so I asked Jesus to be with me. But my parents didn't go to church until I was 13. For three years I was growing up and growing closer to God. But then our church went through two church splits. This disillusioned me because the splits were caused over things that wouldn't make a difference in eternity. I thought if this was the way adult Christians acted, I didn't want any part of it. I thought, I only need to depend on myself. This started me on the course of selfish living. But God wasn't done with me. I may have tried to kick him out of my life for 12 years but He brought me to a point that I realized I needed Him. Plain and simple. Its all about Him! I rededicated my life to Him and I have never been happier or more peaceful. He has directed my paths and given my life purpose. My life isn't perfect...there have been and will be tough times ahead...but His grace and mercy are available to me each and every moment. I agree with Cheryl...my most precious possession is my salvation through Jesus Christ...to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.; 8:45 AM
Anna said...: My story is close to the Prodigal son parable, except I am a daughter. :)

I had all the trappings of great Christian family (like Crystal wants as a societal force). I was the last of the biological children and only daughter, hence, very spoiled. Went to church all the time, my parents had Bible studies in their home, we did outreaches to international students from the state U, prayed for the fall of the Iron Curtain, Sunday school etc. etc.

I went to public school, then private Christian school, and homeschooled the last two years of Highschool. Between the ages of 18-20, a root of rebellion sprang up. My first adventure away from home was to attend a state U, living on campus. This wasn't far away enough, so I packed up, moved across country to Washington DC to work as a nanny.

I won't go into details, but I lived a raucous life for the next three years, eventually becoming engaged to a military man who did not know God. It was 6 weeks before the wedding date that God woke me up in the pig pen. I broke off the engagement, confessed to God and my parents all the sinful stuff I had done, and moved home.

There isn't a doubt in my heart that I am saved from all the filth and rebellion I had been in. Now, three years later, I am engaged to a wonderful Christ-loving man and about to graduate with my BA degree.; 9:36 AM
Lydia said...: What an inspirational and uplifting post, Crytal! Thanks for encouraging us to share our own testimonies. Mine can be found on my blog. I have enjoyed reading everyone's testimonies. Please keep including more of these sorts of posts on your blog. They are an encouragement to many to "grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ."; 10:42 AM
Martha said...: I grew up in a Christian home and was taught the Bible from very young. When I was about 12, I made a decision that I wanted to follow the Lord also. I had many wonderful people in my life growing up, especially my Sunday school teacher. This decision was the beginning of my conversion, which I think took many years. When I was 16 I was baptized, and at 18 was when I really surrendered everything to God and could truly say, I know the Lord, I am saved! I think the biggest thing was being able to say that I needed to be saved and realizing that Jesus died on the cross for MYsins. He didn't just die for all the wicked sinners in the world (although He did) He died because I am wicked, I sinned and I put Him there. That broke me down when I saw that, and I saw I needed Him in my life to make me a new person, because all my good things I have done and am trying to do are worthless before Him. I will always fail. I think too I liked to think of myself as not being all that bad or the other way I went was having a hard time accepting He could forgive me. But thanks be to God, In Him I have hope of a life hereafter, I have the hope of living eternally in Heaven.
I make alot of mistakes and sin still (I have really been struggling with patience lately), Jesus is my saviour and through repentance and accepting His forgiveness I can be saved.; 2:12 PM
Jessica S. said...: yeah
Well, I don't have much of a Testimony, since I gave my heart to the Lord when I was 3 at an easter Service. my mother was unsaved at the time, and my Father was raised in the Church but had fallen away in his late teens. my mother testimony and mine are very much intertwined :-); 3:04 PM

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Only in Christ

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