My parents took me to church as a kid. I had to listen to what they taught me. The only encounter I had with the Lord's Holy Spirit was when I was extremely board, sitting next to my parents, when I was about 10. Suddenly I felt a really neat, peaceful feeling, It reminded me of a nice day fishing and skipping stones on the river. Then while having that neat feeling the pastor was talking about the Holy Spirit, and I realized that was the Holy Spirit, and the pastor went right into making an alter call, so I responded and got baptized. Yet that was the only time.
They said lots of things, but that was the only time I saw anything of God. In high school I started getting out of going to church, except maybe holidays and such. Then I had what could be called a very normal life. I got a college degree, worked, had a normal bachelor's life until I got married at 30. I wound up with a nice looking and smart wife, and 2 wonderful kids. I even had a 2 story 4-bedroom house with a pool. Of course, I had to work a lot, but I liked working. Then I had what might also be considered normal. I had a problem with my marriage. Perhaps I worked too much. Perhaps my wife just got tired of me. She spent too much and put too much on credit cards. So, I tried to get that under control, but it is not easy getting someone to stop spending so much. Then a few things and problems at work, like the company making a few poor decisions and thus wanting more still from the employees. So more stress, and such. My wife wanted a divorce. So despite my best efforts, my life was going where I did not want it to go. Then God came into my life for real.
One morning, a voice suddenly spoke to me saying, "READ YOUR BIBLE". That hit me hard and surprised me more that I can say, so to keep it brief, I did read the Bible. I took me nine months and weird things started to happen - like dreams, visions, strange feeling, and premonitions. It really got strange, but knowing it was God, I went back to church. I told some people about that, and they were ok with that, but the Lord didn't stop there.
The really incredible things was that I wound up being able to converse with Him who told me to read my Bible. That just amazed me!! The church never explained that to me. Yet I liked talking to Him, and He was showing me so much. He started doing miracles around me. He asked me to pray for my daughter who had some swelling in her knees, so that my now ex-wife had me take her to the doctors. The doctor didn't help much, but just gave her a knee brace and told me that it would be better in a couple of years. Yet the Lord had my pray and while I prayed the swelling went down under my hands. He had me pray for my son, who had hurt his foot while playing soccer, and there was a twitch and the pain instantly left him. He had me pray for my mom's wrist over the phone, and though she had that problem for several weeks, the next morning it was healed. He had me pray for a lady with carpal tunnel in her wrist, and the Lord healed that too.
He had me take my kids to see my grandparents, and thus their great grandparents, because He told me that we was about to take them home. They were almost 100 then, and had been married 75 years. They lived a few states away, about 400 miles, and I had not seen them for probably ten years. So we went with my mom and my kids. A couple of months later my grandad died and less than a year later my grandma followed. There were Christians, and I told them that the Lord had come into my life.
The Lord would talk to me at work, at play, at the apartment I now lived it (because I gave the house to my ex-wife to raise the kids in), and He talked to me while eating, and all during the day. Oh - I got busy a lot, because I still liked working, and so I would often tend to forget to talk to Him, but Him and I, we became friends!! He told me that He would always call me His friend!!
You know, they never explained any of this to me at church, and I was going to church now. Honestly, it felt like I was living a different life that anyone at church!
He had me switch churches, and that was better! It wasn't that the other church wasn't a Christian church. It was! Even the Lord told me it was one of His churches, like one written to in Revelation. He compared it to the church of Philidelphia, which they themselves like to compare themselves to. Funny, they thought that was the best of the seven churches written to. Yet they had missed some things, like the lack of power and the open door!!!
Rev 3:8 ‘I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name.
They were ok, but they didn't understand that above verse. Jesus Christ is the door, but you have to go through Him! So they really didn't see many miracles, and they didn't really hear Him very well, but they also didn't deny the name of Jesus Christ. Mostly they just leaned on their own understanding. But we all have our problems, and all of them come from not listening to our Lord.
So it was that I didn't expect to really have a friend in Jesus. I had heard and even sung that Christian song that goes, "What a friend we have in Jesus", but I rarely see many Christians who truly walk and talk back and forth with Him. Oh - some do, but you don't find them that often, even walking the halls of a Christian church.
I have now known Him for over 20 years, and He has taught me so much and showed me so much that I can't possibly remember that most of what all I got from being His friend. I have seen Him do hundreds, and probably over a thousand miracles around me. I have been taken out of my body, I have been kissed by a greenish colored spiritual cloud that formed into the face of a lady. I have seen that throne of God that you find in the Bible with the wheels and rainbow three times, though mostly faintly. Beside talking to the Lord everyday, He often sends me angels to talk to me. And yes, I also have to deal with the battle with the dark spiritual forces of this world.
Still - it is not about all those incredible things I have seen Him done - it is just about being His friend and walking and talking with Him. After over 20 years of knowing Him, it is honestly about just personally knowing Him!! Believe me on that, so believe Him so that you can have that. The rest just comes from being His friend and so doing what He asks you when He asks you.
Honestly - The best part about knowing Jesus Christ the Lord our God - is actually knowing Jesus Christ the Lord our God!!!!
That is what I learn from 20 plus years of knowing Him!!
They said lots of things, but that was the only time I saw anything of God. In high school I started getting out of going to church, except maybe holidays and such. Then I had what could be called a very normal life. I got a college degree, worked, had a normal bachelor's life until I got married at 30. I wound up with a nice looking and smart wife, and 2 wonderful kids. I even had a 2 story 4-bedroom house with a pool. Of course, I had to work a lot, but I liked working. Then I had what might also be considered normal. I had a problem with my marriage. Perhaps I worked too much. Perhaps my wife just got tired of me. She spent too much and put too much on credit cards. So, I tried to get that under control, but it is not easy getting someone to stop spending so much. Then a few things and problems at work, like the company making a few poor decisions and thus wanting more still from the employees. So more stress, and such. My wife wanted a divorce. So despite my best efforts, my life was going where I did not want it to go. Then God came into my life for real.
One morning, a voice suddenly spoke to me saying, "READ YOUR BIBLE". That hit me hard and surprised me more that I can say, so to keep it brief, I did read the Bible. I took me nine months and weird things started to happen - like dreams, visions, strange feeling, and premonitions. It really got strange, but knowing it was God, I went back to church. I told some people about that, and they were ok with that, but the Lord didn't stop there.
The really incredible things was that I wound up being able to converse with Him who told me to read my Bible. That just amazed me!! The church never explained that to me. Yet I liked talking to Him, and He was showing me so much. He started doing miracles around me. He asked me to pray for my daughter who had some swelling in her knees, so that my now ex-wife had me take her to the doctors. The doctor didn't help much, but just gave her a knee brace and told me that it would be better in a couple of years. Yet the Lord had my pray and while I prayed the swelling went down under my hands. He had me pray for my son, who had hurt his foot while playing soccer, and there was a twitch and the pain instantly left him. He had me pray for my mom's wrist over the phone, and though she had that problem for several weeks, the next morning it was healed. He had me pray for a lady with carpal tunnel in her wrist, and the Lord healed that too.
He had me take my kids to see my grandparents, and thus their great grandparents, because He told me that we was about to take them home. They were almost 100 then, and had been married 75 years. They lived a few states away, about 400 miles, and I had not seen them for probably ten years. So we went with my mom and my kids. A couple of months later my grandad died and less than a year later my grandma followed. There were Christians, and I told them that the Lord had come into my life.
The Lord would talk to me at work, at play, at the apartment I now lived it (because I gave the house to my ex-wife to raise the kids in), and He talked to me while eating, and all during the day. Oh - I got busy a lot, because I still liked working, and so I would often tend to forget to talk to Him, but Him and I, we became friends!! He told me that He would always call me His friend!!
You know, they never explained any of this to me at church, and I was going to church now. Honestly, it felt like I was living a different life that anyone at church!
He had me switch churches, and that was better! It wasn't that the other church wasn't a Christian church. It was! Even the Lord told me it was one of His churches, like one written to in Revelation. He compared it to the church of Philidelphia, which they themselves like to compare themselves to. Funny, they thought that was the best of the seven churches written to. Yet they had missed some things, like the lack of power and the open door!!!
Rev 3:8 ‘I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name.
They were ok, but they didn't understand that above verse. Jesus Christ is the door, but you have to go through Him! So they really didn't see many miracles, and they didn't really hear Him very well, but they also didn't deny the name of Jesus Christ. Mostly they just leaned on their own understanding. But we all have our problems, and all of them come from not listening to our Lord.
So it was that I didn't expect to really have a friend in Jesus. I had heard and even sung that Christian song that goes, "What a friend we have in Jesus", but I rarely see many Christians who truly walk and talk back and forth with Him. Oh - some do, but you don't find them that often, even walking the halls of a Christian church.
I have now known Him for over 20 years, and He has taught me so much and showed me so much that I can't possibly remember that most of what all I got from being His friend. I have seen Him do hundreds, and probably over a thousand miracles around me. I have been taken out of my body, I have been kissed by a greenish colored spiritual cloud that formed into the face of a lady. I have seen that throne of God that you find in the Bible with the wheels and rainbow three times, though mostly faintly. Beside talking to the Lord everyday, He often sends me angels to talk to me. And yes, I also have to deal with the battle with the dark spiritual forces of this world.
Still - it is not about all those incredible things I have seen Him done - it is just about being His friend and walking and talking with Him. After over 20 years of knowing Him, it is honestly about just personally knowing Him!! Believe me on that, so believe Him so that you can have that. The rest just comes from being His friend and so doing what He asks you when He asks you.
Honestly - The best part about knowing Jesus Christ the Lord our God - is actually knowing Jesus Christ the Lord our God!!!!
That is what I learn from 20 plus years of knowing Him!!