Rescued by the Cross

[Rescued by the Cross]

Over the last number of years, God in his mercy and grace has opened my eyes and radically begun to transform my entire life. In a bible study being done by Chuck Missler, I will never forget some commentary on the promise made by God to Abraham regarding the Holy land and Abraham’s decendants. Specifically, it was pointed out that Satan was very aware of the promise being made and used the 400 intervening years to populate the promised land with the Nephilim (Giants), false religions, sensual practices, and every other hurdle possible to challenge God’s people. The wonder of the bible viewed through opened eyes is the depth of scripture and the meanings which can be revealed to have application and wisdom on many levels. The issue of the Abrahamic covenant and the work to interfere with God’s plan struck home in terms of my personal story of salvation. I firmly believe that there is a parallel between the enemy’s effort in the Promised Land and the lives of people prior to salvation. The enemy remains busy today populating the minds of people with attitudes, wrong beliefs, and all manner of other wickedness as strongholds and landmines ahead of God calling our names with the offer of salvation in Jesus.

I will never forget when I knew that Jesus Christ was indeed the answer to my salvation on a business trip to Richmond. Initially shaken by thoughts of my need for salvation, I hit the restroom to splash water on my face and in my mind “re-group”. Little could I have known walking in to that restroom that it would actually be where I met Jesus. Almost immediately I knew I needed to come forward at a church my wife and I had started visiting. I exchanged messages with the Pastor, and the next day I received a return telephone call and talked with the Pastor about my experience and salvation. He asked when we could meet and I shared that we would be attending Church that very night (on a Wednesday night service). Prior to this experience, I held strong opinions that faith was “personal” (probably because I had very little) and also would not have dreamed of sharing something personal to a larger group. I could get up and talk in front of a couple hundred people on a business topic, but not on a something like this. It was probably my first sense of how radically my life was being changed. I met briefly with the Pastor before hand and that night happened to be a business meeting instead of the normal bible study. The Pastor asked if I wanted to come forward then, and I found myself responding that I did indeed want to come forward. The Pastor spoke briefly with me at his side, and I found myself sharing my testimony and shedding tears as I related how Jesus had saved me in front of a couple of hundred of my new family in Christ.

In my early life at 6 years old, I had experienced the death of a mother with a father who was a good man but painfully shy and unable to really relate to us particularly with the loss he felt. He worked inordinate numbers of hours to address medical bills. Both my care and my brothers fell to a relative who harbored a great deal of pain and anger about their life. The condition of her heart led her to be a hurtful presence when my father was not around. Beyond issues of personal treatment , my brother and my life were regularly filled by hearing rantings against God. I am not certain that I recall hearing anything positive about God in these early years. My father remarried a few years later to a wonderful women who I fully view as my mother (She adopted both my brother and I). Shortly after their marriage, my mother and father both learned of the nature of the relative providing care and asked her to leave our home. My mother left her career to become a full time mom to us. As a family we eventually attended church together, although it was not a church that focused on the central importance of a personal relationship with Jesus. We were simply religious, but even at that time I felt a tugging at my heart that I now understand. In my teenage years, I became the typical late 80s early 90s teenage boy in many respects with plenty of polluting influences of the world. Additionally, I loved to read and happened into several books which only brought increased confusion (Dianetics and The Comedy of Job being two of the worst). These served as additional confusing elements functioning in the same vein as the awful things I had heard said about God in my early years. With no foundation, at best I think I would have been considered agnostic in my later teenage years and college.

I can look back though and also point to the seeds that God faithfully sowed into my life as well as the hedges He set forth. Some of the people God used included my paternal grandparents and adopted grandparents being some of the first and continuing on to a Baptist lay preacher I worked with in college and a second lay preacher I ended up working with after graduating college. I will also always remember the faithfulness of my beautiful wife who God used to initially lead us to Him when I was useless in leading our household. There also were many others, and may God bless them for their faithfulness.

For sake of brevity, I haven’t gone very deep into the details, but let me emphasize that the majority of items put into my life influenced attitudes which served as major internal walls inside of me to the truth of who God is. I had a great deal of pride also as I thought of myself as successfully overcoming the mess of my early life. I was in no position to even have an idea to turn to God. Thankfully, He did not set up a plan of salvation that relies on us though. Immediately after my salvation, I painfully began to realize that there were strongholds and messes inside me that God would reveal and then initiate processes to remove. These ranged from fears of being unworthy / guilt to a frightening realization that efforts for me to read God’s word led to intense emotions /attacks which I certainly did not understand at the time. The strongholds created by the enemy were becoming apparent. In spite of my condition and challenges, God faithfully and steadily worked to remove the large strongholds and slay what appeared to be Giants from my perspective. Many of these early steps were items where I had to lean fully on Jesus with no ability to claim any portion of the victories. Looking back, I realize that the wrongful pride of my heart was also being lovingly dealt with to break down the wall between myself and God that it actually represented. I equate it to the parable of the soils told by Jesus. I was the rocky soil with the individual rocks and boulders being the issues introduced in my thinking both through personal choices and circumstances. Jesus was faithfully showing me the location of each rock/boulder and then initiating a process through the Holy Spirit to remove them from my field. In the new soil of my life the word of God could take hold and bring forth fruit. For my time left here on this earth, I will continue to be a work in progress as God faithfully teaches me to abide in Christ through the new heart He has given me.

As further testimony of God’s grace, both my Mother and Father as well as my youngest brother were all also saved after we had moved from home. I am prayerful about a middle step brother and know that in God’s timing we will all be able to rejoice about God’s faithfulness.

Only the grace and mercy of Almighty God can explain the wonder of the process in my life. My Father has given me this testimony, which is all I truly have as nothing can ever compare to His goodness and love when He saved a wretch like me. I hope that I am faithful with this testimony until the day comes where I can lay it at His feet with thanksgiving.

[mikhen7]

That is a wonderful testimony. Thank you for sharing. God is so wonderful and He indeed architects the circumstance that will lead us full circle into His arms, especially for the one who is crying out inside to know who He really is. Truly your life will shine with His glory.

I also have written in like terms as you describe in the bible study by Chuck Missler. Understanding how Satan was working during those early years is key to understanding how he works today. He cannot act against God until he has heard a proclamation, directive, or plan meant for mankind. He is not omniscient and He certainly does not know all of God's thoughts. But when God issues a promise He then acts to counter it. We can be sure that when the Lord speaks to us today Satans minions are aware of it and they will go to work to fight against it. But thanks be to God, Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world! 1 John. 4:4

God bless you.

Barnes & Noble.com - Book Search: those who are wise will shine!

[myinnuendo999]

I will never forget when I knew that Jesus Christ was indeed the answer to my salvation on a business trip to Richmond. Initially shaken by thoughts of my need for salvation, I hit the restroom to splash water on my face and in my mind “re-group”. Little could I have known walking in to that restroom that it would actually be where I met Jesus.

wow, that's so amazing
and I can relate to this -

I could get up and talk in front of a couple hundred people on a business topic, but not on a something like this. It was probably my first sense of how radically my life was being changed.

I realized how radically my life was changed when Jesus saved me because when I was baptized and stood in front of all the people at church and gave them a small portion of my testimony ---I would have NEVER done that in a million years before I was saved.

Amazing Grace in your life by God Rescued and I'm so touched by your Testomony

[Elijah's Mantle]

God faithfully and steadily worked to remove the large strongholds and slay what appeared to be Giants from my perspective. Many of these early steps were items where I had to lean fully on Jesus with no ability to claim any portion of the victories.

very powerful testimony of the amazing way Jesus works
there is always victory for the soul
in the cross of Christ

[Rescued by the Cross]

God is Incredible!! I don't think that I could adequately convey the miracle of my salvation in a brief summary, but as I said earlier each of our stories of salvation is really about the Glory of God overcoming our blindness. Every time I hear the song "We Will Remember" by Tommy Walker, when the following verse comes up :

I still remember the day You saved me
The day I heard You call out my name
You said You loved me and would never leave me
And I’ve never been the same

I can't help shedding some tears with the emotions the memory brings back.

For any new Christians, I would share just a few things that have been invaluable on my journey. First, stay in God's word. Don't overlook the fact that Jesus is the Word, so it is the way to knowing Him fully. Read with prayer, God will reveal a depth of His word that you would never imagine initially. There were some exceptional books which helped add some wonderful depth to my studies early on, including:

The Normal Christian Life- Watchman Nee
This is an incredible study of Romans and really lends to studying Romans at the same time.

Humility and Absolute Surrender- Andrew Murray

For those who have been saved and face some initial challenges from poor backgrounds or abuse, if you get a chance to hear the ministry of Ken Freeman don't miss it. His book "Rescued by the Cross" is an absolutely incredible testimony. It helped me recognize that much of what I was going through early on wasn't so strange or unique.

Also, at some point take the time to read Pilgrims Progress. Get the version with scriptural references and use the Bible side by side also.

My God bless each of you, and keep you perfectly abiding in Christ.

[Elijah's Mantle]

God Bless you REAL BIG for that info
I am most interested in it

[Elijah's Mantle]

each of our stories of salvation is really about the Glory of God overcoming our blindness.

profoundly TRUE

In what Ive read just so far
totally interesting
I love how he describes
the blood deals with what we have done
and the cross deals with what we are

[Rescued by the Cross]

Brother, I have learned that so much of my growth and understanding as a Christian has been to fully understand everything that took place on the Cross. As the broader Church has lost sight of the importance of knowing scripture, we see many areas struggling to even fully understand the power in the Blood of Christ for the remission of sins. I was incredibly blessed by the revelation that through Christ's complete work on the Cross that God also dealt with our sin nature (our old men and women are basically sin factories).

I think we have many Christians who face the experience of failing in our walk and falling into the trap of old sins. The tendency after salvation can be to move right back into a mode of trying to live a holy life through our own power. We often go through the period of "trying harder" and getting frustrated with our inability to obey God. I have been there, done that, "and got the t-shirt". It can lead to misery and without the truth of scripture it can lead to a defeated Christian. With the radical change that Christ brought to the life of Paul, it really struck me in Romans when Paul recorded;

So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! Romans 7:21-25

I realized that Paul was talking about His walk after He had been saved. Paul faced the very same challenges to following Christ. The Holy Spirit then reveals that the work of Christ was not limited to dealing with the sins which already existed in our lives, our old man has been crucified with Christ. Notice also that Paul emphasizes that Jesus is the source of deliverance and it is on a moment by moment basis.

In salvation, I had nothing more than my faith in what God has done through Christ- in my Christian walk following salvation I also must rely on faith that God has given me a new heart in Christ. Our old nature (as well as the world and the enemy) will try to force us away from this faith and the old nature can try to cause us to stumble, but abiding in Christ is our source of strength. I still stumble and fall, but these are instances where I fail to abide in Christ. The strength I need in my walk is faith in the fact that God has promised we are new creations in Christ and that while my understanding needs to be increased, God through the power of the Holy Spirit will bring sanctification. Jesus saved me from my slavery to sin, Jesus saves me from the power of sin to capture me daily, and Jesus will save me and keep me through eternity. He is our all sufficient Savior.

This has been a powerful truth in my walk which led to a second part and that is spending time in God's word. In God's word is the power of renewal as study and time spent in the word develops knowledge which cleanses us from wrong thinking and errors.

I wish that every Church offered a specific class for new believers focusing on Romans. It is an incredible encouragement to new believers.

I pray that you will be touched and blessed by these truths of God as I have been!!

[mattfivefour]

Rescued, a belated welcome to RF. I have been out of town on business and just now have logged in for the first time in days. I love your user name because it is the story of each one of us who claims Jesus as Lord and Savior. Your book list is excellent! Watchman Nee's The Normal Christian Life and Andrew Murray's Absolute Surrender are life-changing studies in God's Word. I might also add Watchman Nee's outstanding study of Ephesians: Sit, Walk, Stand.

Again,welcome to RF. I look forward to fellowshipping with you around here.

In Christ,

Matt

[Rescued by the Cross]

Matt, Thanks for the kind welcome. I have actually been a reader of the forum for some time and recently felt pulled to join. In this day and age, solid Christian fellowship is harder and harder to come by and I am really looking forward to fellowship here. It is great to see a forum so Christ centered and a reflection of the lives changed by Christ and brought into a common family.

I haven't had a chance to read any of Watchman's other work, I will have to make a point to follow up on your recommendation.

[Elijah's Mantle]

Jesus saved me from my slavery to sin, Jesus saves me from the power of sin to capture me daily, and Jesus will save me and keep me through eternity. He is our all sufficient Savior.

This has been a powerful truth in my walk which led to a second part and that is spending time in God's word. In God's word is the power of renewal as study and time spent in the word develops knowledge which cleanses us from wrong thinking and errors.

I wish that every Church offered a specific class for new believers focusing on Romans. It is an incredible encouragement to new believers.

I pray that you will be touched and blessed by these truths of God as I have been!!

I so wish that same notion Its so needed and I say that for me because wow what a book Romans is Just what Ive read 10 times over recent because it is got TRUTH pasted all over it
I can know I found something and amazingly the Holy spirit confirms it
this notion is a needed notion rescued by the cross
yes very much blessed
yet want more like I read so please be free to share more if in you will hope is a going on in my notion I reckon Ive come down with it , and believe it is a anchor that holds somehow

[king'sbloomingrose]

to RF, Rescued by the Cross! We're glad to have you here. I love your username because if it weren't for Jesus none of us would ever be here where we are today.