Seeking Him Part 4

If you missed Parts 1, 2, & 3 click on the links to read.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

When we left off in Part 3, I had just given my life to Christ. Immediately after that I asked God to explain baptism to me. It went something like this:

"Ok Lord, about this baptism stuff, is this something You really want me to do? Is it just symbolic? Am I supposed to get dunked in water or is that not necessary after the Holy Spirit came? And if You do want me to do this, what is the right way? Do I do this in a lake? Should I go to a church? If I'm supposed to do this then I need you to take me to the right place or bring the right person to me. One thing though, I do not want to be baptized into a religion, I only want to be baptized into Jesus Christ."

I'm a pretty straight forward person and I've never really seen any reason not to be with God. He knows it all anyway so why waste time. I had issues with religions. I did not ever want to be viewed as a religion, but only as a Christian. Please don't take offense to that, it was because of my past experiences and my desire to be sure it was for God and God alone. I know many people now that are affiliated with a denomination and are true Christians.

That very week, my daughter made a new friend at school. This was in the middle of the school year, an unlikely time to make a new friend. She was not like anyone my daughter had ever chosen as a friend, either before that time or after. Not that there was anything more positive or negative about this girl than Nik's other friends, she just didn't "match" my daughter's personality and it struck me as unusual.

The girls wanted to get together so her mom called me and asked if Nikki and I wanted to do something with her and her daughter. This too was unusual. So we did get together several times over the next couple of weeks. This girl's mom was very nice but again was not a "match" to my personality either but we still kept getting together for the girls.

She never mentioned God or church but I began sensing that this was how God was going to answer my prayer about baptism. I didn't say anything to her but decided to just watch and wait for God to show me. It was kind of exciting to me because it felt like God and I had a secret that no one else knew about.

Sure enough this lady invited me to come to church and I accepted. It was a non-denominational church. The first pamphlets that crossed my hands explained baptism exactly answering every question as I had asked God, and in the way that I asked. This was also a church that baptized as soon as you made a public profession of faith. I didn't know at the time that some churches have classes you must take before being baptized. That would not have gone over with me at all, but God knew that. He brought me to the exact place that I needed to be and I had no doubt that He was telling me to be baptized. So on my third visit there I was baptized.

Shortly after that my daughter and her friend drifted apart and my friendship with this lady also came to a close. It was clear that this was the whole purpose for that friendship.

Lord thank you for going ahead of me and orchestrating my circumstances. Thank you for placing the right questions in my heart. Thank you that I can bring all of my questions to you no matter how silly and ignorant they may sound, and that you delight in answering. Thank you for allowing me to watch you work in my life and I pray that you will give me eyes to see you at work in my life daily. In Jesus Name ~ Amen

"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." Corrie ten Boom

Seeking God Part 3

Before we get started here I want to tell you about a give-away. For any of you that know a sweet little girl that likes to play pretty dress up, Lola Tutu is giving away one of her adorable little tutus. I had to enter to try to win one for my grandaughters to fight over. ;D

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If you're new to my blog and missed Part 1 and Part 2 of this story, just click on the links to go read them and come back here for Part 3. We will wait for you. ............. I'm gonna go grab a cup of coffee, the rest of you holler at me if they get back before I do. ........................... Ok, are we all here now? Let's go.

When we left off God had just told me to do what I knew to be right. This in itself shows what a Loving and Merciful God we have. He knew where I was in life and how skewed my thinking was. I was still quite influenced by peers and culture. God chose not to remove me from the path I was on, but instead He walked with me and ultimately carved a new direction from it.

Fast forward to 1990 and Desert Storm, the Gulf War. When we got involved in this war I began thinking about end times. In my childhood, I had two aunts who became Jehovah's Witnesses and spent two weeks teaching me all about armagedon. So even though I still had not read the Bible since my failed attempt, I did know that the world was going to come to an end. I still had that same King James Verion Bible that I couldn't understand the last time I attempted to read it but I got it out and once again began reading.

"The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass..."

That's right. This time I began in Revelation. That is, after all, where the Bible talks about the end times. So I read through Revelation, and read it again, and read it again, and ... well, you get the idea. Then I began to notice there were references to Daniel and Isaiah, and I thought "Hey, those are in the Bible! I'll go see if I can find where it says that." I bought an atlas to compare to the map in the back of my Bible and without even realizing it, I was searching the Scriptures for answers. I also found that this time, I could understand the Bible.

After reading Revelation so many times that I just about had it memorized (no lie), I decided to read the New Testament. By this time I had learned that the Old Testament was prior to Jesus' life and the New Testament was from His birth and later. So I read through the New Testament again, and again, and again. I read every second I had. I couldn't wait to get home from work so that I could read my Bible. I didn't know it at the time, but the Holy Spirit was working in my heart. Then one day after reading, I sat down on the floor in my living room and told God that all I wanted to do was live my life to please Him.

We have an absolutely Amazing God. There is nothing He cannot accomplish. No one He doesn't know. No one He can't reach. And He seeks us with His undivided attention even when we don't realize it. I'm not sure why He prompted me to write about this, but I hope He speaks to someone though this. He has spoken to me again as I've brought all these things up to the forefront of my mind.

Ok there is one more part that I was going to try to squeeze in here but it's turning out to be too long so it will wait til next time if you are still interested.

Lord thank you for drawing me, for teaching me, and for giving me understanding. You stayed with me throughout my rebellious years and guided me straight into your Loving Arms. You have been faithful even when I have been unfaithful. I recommit myself to you my God. I want nothing more than to live my life to please you. Even this, I know I can only do by your Power. Help me to Live for You and You Alone. In Christ ~ Amen

"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." Corrie ten Boom

Seeking God Part 2

On Friday in my Random Question I told you about a time when I sought God with all my heart and found Him. That, of course, wasn't the end of the story. Our stories never really have an ending do they. :D If you haven't read that post you can read it Here. Go ahead, we'll wait for you. .......... tick tock...tick tock...tick tock...... All caught up now? Great!

Now remember I mentioned that when God told me that He was real, He did not say anything else. No instructions, no commandments, no condemnations, and also no commendations. Just the answer to my question with a sense of ... acceptance of who I am. So I went on my way with a little bit more knowledge and satisfaction of knowing the Truth. I wasn't living an exceptionally sinful life or an exceptionally moral life. I was mostly ignorant, trying to be "good" but as a captive of worldly ways.

About a year later I found myself wondering if I was living my life the way that God wanted, and if not, what I needed to do. I was brought up in a secular environment, moral but secular. There was no teaching about God from my dad or my Grandma M. (dad's mom) who raised me. On my mom's side, my Grandma D. was Catholic so I did learn that Jesus was God's son and He died for my sins. No explanation beyond that. My Grandma D. did set a good foundation for my faith but that's another story for later. So at this point I knew that the answers to how God wants me to live could be found in the Bible. So it made sense that I should read the Bible and I would no what to do.

I had an old King James Version that I don't know where I had gotten but I got it out and began reading... "In the beginning ....." It was a book after all and you're supposed to read a book from beginning to end. As you can see I had zero understanding of the Bible except that the answers were in there. All was going pretty well until I got to Leviticus. If you've never read Leviticus go back and read it. It's all about the laws that were given to the Israelites after God brought them out of Egypt. Now I was already having a difficult time sorting out the King James language as I was reading, and now the law is brought into the mix. Needless to say I became very confused and concerned that I didn't stand a chance. I closed my Bible and told God my concerns. It went something like this...

"God, how am I supposed to do this!? I'm sure it's illegal to kill animals! And no one is going to let me put blood all over the door post! I don't have a clue where to get a bull, and even if I did, I couldn't kill it if I wanted to! I don't understand any of this. I want to do what you say but there is just no way that I can (am able) to do these things!"

Go ahead and laugh. I do. Imagine a 17 year old girl trying to live out the Levitical Laws in this day and age and in this culture all by herself. I was in a bit of a panic! :) But God ...

Within about a week I was sitting outside with a friend (different than the one in my previous story) having a conversation. We may have been talking about life but I don't really remember. I had been feeling discouraged over my failed Bible study and not knowing what to do. God spoke to me again. Just like before it was not audible but in my heart and I was amazed at how much He could say in the blink of an eye. It was more like He imparted information into my heart that I understood as a sentence. Yes I am analytical, can you tell? ;)

He said "Do what you know is right and don't worry about what you have not yet learned. I won't hold you accountable for what you haven't learned."


And like the last time, I looked at my friend and said "God just talked to me!" I told him what God said and that's all I remember of our conversation. I do know that I was amazed that God spoke to me and even though He said not to worry about what I had not yet learned, that didn't let me off the hook for trying to learn.

There is still more to this story that I will write about later if you are still interested.

Oh Lord, Thank you so much that you didn't leave me in my ignorance but that you loved me enough to teach me. Thank you for your patience with me throughout my life. Thank you that you revealed yourself to me in ways that I would understand. You are Amazing and truely Worthy of All Praise. From the depths of my heart I love you and want to live my life first and formost to please you. In Christ - Amen

Random Question - When Did You Seek Him?

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You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13)

When did you seek Him with all your heart and what did finding Him look like?
If you never have, today might be a good day to do so. He promises to be found. :)

This scripture tells us that we need to seek Him with ALL of our heart. Some translations say "with your WHOLE heart. Not just a part of it. Not half-heartedly, but with everything you've got. There are times where I have to admit that I've taken a half-hearted approach to seeking Him, but today we're focusing on a time when I have sought Him with my whole heart. There have been lots of times but I'm going to go back to one of the first times.

In my high school years I was an agnostic. I did not know if there was a God. Growing up I had believed that there was, but due to wrong doctrine being crammed down my throat, followed by bad influence from my "friends", I ended up questioning the truth of it. By providence there was enough of a seed of Truth planted in my heart that God had more than enough to work with.

I wondered if God was real and figured that if He was then He was certainly more than capable of telling me Himself. I was tired of people and their opinions. I didn't believe anyone knew for sure, at least not the people I knew, and all they wanted to do was make me believe their opinions. So I prayed. I asked God if He was real to prove it to me. Not prove in a disrespectful way. I told Him that I wouldn't believe people because I've already heard them, but for Him to tell me Himself in whatever way He wanted to. I prayed this a lot. I wanted the Truth of the matter. Not so that I could satisfy my curiosity, but so that I could work on getting right with Him. It only made sense that if He was real that I should want to be on His side. I mean really the alternative wasn't too appealing. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this one out.

One day I was sitting on the steps outside of our apartment with a friend, just talking about whatever, and God said "I am real." Not audibly but inside my heart. I had never heard that phrase before but I knew that it was spoken inside my heart. That was the only way to describe it. Who knew your heart had ears!? I looked at my friend and said "God just spoke to me! He told me He was real!" I don't remember what my friend said, and it didn't matter because I knew the Truth of the matter. God was REAL. He didn't tell me to do anything, He simply answered my question. I SO LOVE that He does that. He is so personal with us that all we need to do is ask a question and know that He is big enough to answer it. He is after all, GOD.

There's more to this story and I will post about it later if you're interested. For now it's your turn. Write a post on your blog about a time when you sought Him with your whole heart and what it looked like to find Him. Use Mr Linky below to link to your post so we can read about it.