From Death to Life

I was born dead on December 21, 1957.

Not physically dead, but dead in my sins, that is. However, in the Spring of 1979, when I was 21 years old, I was born again – made alive in Christ! Hallelujah!

If I had died during that window of time in my life, I would have headed straight to hell. I was a good person and my daddy was a preacher and both my mom and daddy were missionaries, but I still would have gone to hell!

My dad’s call into the ministry began while I was in elementary school. My parents were wonderful, moral, Christian people, and adding the ministry life to our family meant we were in church a lot more than the average family.

For a lost person (that was ME) going to church was more of an obligation than a joy. I went to church because I had to and because it was the right thing to do. We had family Bible study in our home and sat under preaching every Sunday.

My head was hearing the Word, but my heart was not receiving it. To me it was just, “blah, blah, blah.”

“The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.” - 1 Corinthians 1:18

Most of the congregation in the churches we attended at that time were “older people.” My brother and I were usually the only youth in the church, outside of maybe one or two visitors with children from time to time.

When I was about 12 years old we began visiting a church in McDonough, Georgia that was full of young people. Not only that, but there was LIFE in that church! The young people there were full of joy and zeal, excited about their salvation.

Something was different there and I could not put my finger on the difference, but I knew I liked it. It was there that God began to deal with my heart and conviction fell on me for the first time.

I was not a bad girl then. I had never broken the law, I had never drank alcohol, tried drugs, or had sex, but there was still a conviction stirring in my heart.

I could not understand the conviction because I did not see myself as a sinner. All my childhood I heard from the pulpit, “for ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” but I just did not get what that meant.

I could not apply that statement to my own life for some reason, even though the verse said “ALL have sinned.”

“But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard.” -Romans 3:21-23 NIV

Sunday after Sunday I was stirred to make that walk down the aisle and surrender myself to the Lord, but instead I held on to the pew, shed tears, hiding them as quickly as they fell down my cheek, and fought that tug in my heart.

For nine more years I continued to turn my back on God, refusing to let go and let God become the Lord of my life… and the tug left.

Later in my teen years, I slid into poor decisions for my life, doing sinful things that led down a road I struggled getting off of. For nine more years I was alive, but still dead.

Years later, I was crying out to the Lord from my bedroom floor as an adult, in the middle of the week (not a Sunday altar call).

The tug from Holy Spirit returned to my heart.

I was so desperate for God! I had reached the bottom of a pit in my life. I finally surrendered my life to the One, who not only gave me physical life, but on that particular night gave me spiritual life and I was born again!

My life has never been the same since.

“Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.” -Romans 3:24-26 NLT

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This is Vicki's testimony, but can I just pipe in for a second with some Amen's and Hallelujah's!?

I never cease to get excited when I hear a story of someone finding salvation, and guess what? God doesn't either! Scripture says all of heaven rejoices when one of God's children finds their way back to Him!

So I'll leave you with this - let this testimony encourage and uplift your heart today. Let God renew your spirit with the joy of His Salvation and lean on that joy as you go throughout your day.

If you're reading and you don't know Jesus, and you're just not sure about the whole "born dead" thing, I get it. All this Jesus stuff can sound a little crazy, but I promise it's SO worth the hype. So I encourage you to get to know Him. Start with just a genuine prayer and ask Him to show you Who He Is. He will direct your steps from there.