"that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord,
believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead,
you shall be saved." Romans 10:9
I ran across this time we had with her last week as I was looking back over my prayer journal for May 2011. The entries included: (pray for) Spencer's salvation, Spencer would see her need for YOU, Spencer's heart would be receptive, parise the Lord! She chose YOU! As I was reading these entries, I was taken back to my own salvation experience.
"He brought me up out of the pit of destruction,
out of the miry clay;
And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm." Psalm 40:2
When I was 16 years old, my parents got divorced. Not an easy time at all in my life. We (us 4 kids) moved with my mom to Arkansas. It was the middle of my tenth grade year. It was just a couple of months later that I started to meet some good friends. One in particular that took me under her "wing" was Jennifer. Jennifer drove me around, hung out with me, and helped me adjust to small town living. I also started to get involved in activities at school. One of those activities was track. It was early March 1993, track season had just begun. One afternoon as we were walking to the track, Jennifer asked me if I was a Christian. I said yes, because I knew from the little church words that I did know( from a few VBS's I had been to), a Christian was a good thing to be. She said okay and we went on.
"I am a C. I am a C-H. I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N. and I have C-H-R-I-S-T in my H....."
A couple of weeks passed and we had just finished putting our track gear on in the locker room. We were walking across the cement floor of the upstairs locker room at Mansfield High School when she once again posed that question to me. "Are you sure you are a Christian, Melissa?"
"Behold, Thou dost desire truth in the innermost being,..." Psalm 51:6a
That day, God made it very clear to me. My eyes were open. Truth was shown me. I was not a Christian (Christ follower). I wanted to think of myself as good. Moral. All together. But I wasn't.
I realized that day on the red bench in the girl's locker room:
- I had sin and was separated from God.
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23
- God had sent His Son, Jesus, to die for my sins so I could have a relationship with Him.
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have eternal life."John 3:16
- If I confessed my sin to Him and asked Him to be the Lord and Savior of my life, He would!
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."I John 1:3
Very few days pass that I don't thank God for Jennifer and her willingness and obedience to share Christ with me. Even at school, in a girls locker room, on the way to track practice, and totally out of the norm. She didn't wait to bring me to church for me to hear. She didn't wait for someone else to tell me. She did it. Bold. Courageous. And I am SO thankful.
"I do not cease giving thanks for you,..." Ephesians 1:16a
Ever since those track days, I still have a love to run. It causes me to remember. To pray. To sing. To be thankful. To share.
"And He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear,
And will trust in the Lord." Psalm 40:3
and to remember to never, never, never stop asking others, "Are you thinking about Jesus?"
"Do you not know that those who run in a race all run,
but only one receives the prize?
Run in such a way that you may win." I Corinthians 9:24
Happy 1st birthday in the Lord, Spencer! (May 3)
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