There’s another more important side to the story of giving your life to God, and that’s the one of God Himself. It is He who calls us, He who forgives us and He who saves us.
It is God’s spirit that fills us with the ability to love Him and profess Jesus Christ as our savior.
This three-part post attempts to look at some of the stages we may experience when we give our life to Christ, such as: 1) hearing the call and 2) adjusting to our new life in Christ.
Just as the spirit fills us with the ability to turn the tide and choose God, we must also pray for strength to follow His call and stay the course.
God Gives Us Eyes to See and Ears to Hear
Newly married with a newborn, my husband and I have experienced challenges with our communication. Three months ago we had a particularly trying time, and we gratefullyaccepted an invitation to spend the weekend with his parents. We needed the space, we needed our family’s support, and most of all, we needed spiritual intervention.
(And yes, I definitely did write a post about how to move past an argument not too long ago. Just goes to show!)
So that Sunday we went to church and during the opening worship, while praying to Jesus and asking Him to remove what needed to go in my life, I felt a strong call to kneel down.
My mother-in-law and her friend were sitting to my right, and their friends were sitting all around. Would I look ridiculous?
I heard it again and looked at my husband feeling almost like I was going to break out in a sweat. Then against all the awkward, nervous, discomfort at that moment, I kneeled. The adrenaline raced, but I prayed that He would pull whatever needed to go out of my life. I sat again when I felt the call subside.
The message that day filled my spirit, almost quenching it. At the end, the pastor asked if any of us would like to come forward and give our life to Christ.
I sat for a second. I had given my life to Christ in my heart, but now it was time to stand up. He asked again, I put my Bible down and walked (then kinda jogged… yes, I know, awkward) down the aisle. My heart POUNDED and my stomach turned. I sat down in the open first row.
Heart, stomach, heart, stomach.
I just sat there and prayed to God whatever was happening, I knew He was in control. Another woman came, and that day we both gave our lives to Christ in front of everyone.
God’s Spirit Helps Us Stay the Course
So what does it feel like?
It’s only the very beginning of an ongoing journey. It feel wholesome and right. It’s good to stay steeped in Christ. To walk with Him, get to know Him and most of all, trust Him.
And how do we know that we’re doing it right?
Because there is nothing we can do by our works alone to be saved. We are invited by God and convicted by the Spirit. We accept and love Jesus Christ as our savior because He chose us.
Could we be doing more?
It’s not by the works we do but by grace that we’re saved. When He directs our path, we are filled with the fruit of the Spirit, which helps us love others genuinely. There’s no work we can do to get in better with God. We do what’s good because of God.
Reading the Bible regularly, praying, participating in Bible studies and small groups–these are all great ways to stay in good soil because temptation looms (and it’s usually stronger than ever as we draw closer to God). Even though we want to live as saints, our human side is still drawn to sin like a moth to a flame. We need to die to ourselves over and over again every day and keep God as our focus.
I pray that God blesses this post and that it falls into the right hands. Many, many blessings.
How do you stay the course?
It is encouraging to read your posts, you describe exactly what it’s like for a lot of people including myself. Our heart knows what we want, what’s right, but our flesh has a mind of its own. It is tougher more days than it is easy, and it is encouraging to know that I’m not alone in this, most importantly that God is with me, his spirit is within me guiding me, pushing me to stay on course.
Sapier, I could not have said it better. Your words and sentiments are so true.
Jennifer I am so grateful for your testimony and related posts which have been an inspiration and source of encouragement to me. I have been a surface Christian for many years (just doing my own thing and saying I believe in God, praying shallow prayers operating in the flesh) however I recently embarked on my new relationship journey with Christ which came about through adversity that i am presently facing. As you said, some days are great other days are a struggle but through it all I know God is there and He is doing a new thing in my life. I am emerging like a butterfly. the transformation process is painful but I know the end beauty will be worth the pain and tears.
God is so amazing! I realize these posts are old but please be encouraged and I hope you continue your postings as your journey is truly inspirational 🙂
Thank you Renee! Yes this post is six years old, but I’ve just read your comment and it ENCOURAGES me so very much this day. Thank you my sister in Christ! The journey continues… for us both 🙂
True that dear
Thank you Sapier– it’s encouraging to know I’m not alone too! Paul translates it so clearly:
“And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.” (Romans 7:18-20).
We need God every step of the way.
Glory to God. Thank God for leading your spirit to post this. Thank you and may the Lord continue to keep and Bless you. This helped me a lot.
Thank you for reaching out! The Lord saved me from so much; it’s a pleasure to share. God bless you and keep you too 🙂
God bless you more
Thanks for posting your testimony. It blessed me today, and is consistent with what I have experienced. Recently, I have asked the Lord to always let me know immediately if anything arises in my heart that offends Him, so that I can confess and repent right away, and be reconciled to anyone I might have offended. He is so gracious when He shows me my sin, that our peaceful relationship doesn’t have to be interrupted. In this way I can have peace with God almost all the time. I still have to pray through temporary unsettling attacks of anxiety, fear, or temptation. I trust God that on His timetable, He will help me grow more Christlike until the end of my life, and that if He isn’t showing me an area that is displeasing to Him at the moment, we must be at peace. Thanks, and God bless you.
That’s such a great way to keep in communication with Him. He’s always there, we’re the ones that fall short… but thankfully He is merciful and already knows that about us!
This testimony was written 6 years ago, and I’m still learning and growing. Thanks for reaching out Diane. God bless you! I’ll keep your in prayer for peace and strength during times of anxiety ad fear… I understand that struggle as well.
I’m not sure how your information arrived in my Inbox. I’ve looked at the unopened email for days now thinking I should delete it…but for some reason I didn’t. I knew it was some sort of Christian blog with the “GoingByFaith” tag by your name. But, I’m busy right now: I’m a church-going wife to my sometimes “not-church-going” husband, parent to a 21 year old child who has moved back home and wants nothing to do with church, companion and caretaker to my 81 year old mother who lives in a nearby retirement community, full-time educator, and graduate student.
Many important things are demanding my attention from early in the morning until late at night and I didn’t feel like I had time to read an email that wasn’t crucial to my schedule. However, something happened to my husband at work yesterday and he was distressed upon awakening this morning. I started getting ready, which means bracing for the battle of keeping my husband centered and reminding him to see the glass half-full. My mode of operation is that I help him and others keep calm while my own anxiety starts skyrocketing.
So when I sat down to my Inbox this morning and once again saw your email, I didn’t see your name…I didn’t see your tag line…but I did see just what God wanted me to see which were the words “Keep Calm, Christian. And Carry On.” Oh my, these words were balm to my troubled soul. And as I read your words, I felt a peace come over me and a reminder that I am not alone. When God is at my center, I can have serenity in the midst of various circumstances. And as I continued to click on various links, I felt spiritually fed and uplifted.
I have now spent about 45 minutes reading and absorbing your thoughts (and reading the included related scriptures) on issues I am facing. How did you know?!?!
Jenn, I’m so glad your blog/website information found its way to me and that I didn’t hit delete. Thanks be to God for the ways he puts people together and for your refreshing blog and ministry! God bless you.
Karen, what a blessing to read your comment! When this blog started, my only hope was that it would reach who it needed with the words that could help. Five years later your comment just reminded me again how God uses us to help and encourage one another in faith. We’re a family in Him. And that really blessed me, so thank you!!
If you ever see this, know you and your family are in my prayers. As a busy wife and mother myself, I can understand the first part of your comment. As a person who knows anxiety, I can understand. And if you never see this, that’s OK too. Someone’s praying for you.
PS… Emails only go to people who sign up personally, so I’m guessing someone may have forwarded it to you? Either way, it sounds like it ended up in your hands for a great reason.
Hi Jenn, Thank you for your blog! I’m going through this season of figuring out how to live a christ-centered life in a world that doesn’t get it. Your blog is so encouraging and what lead me to post a comment is that you are still checking and replying. It’s an alive and active blog and not a dead and forgotten one!:) So hard to find blogs like this. So thank you! On a different note, off late I’ve been feeling like blogging too about stuff that God’s teaching me for the exact same reason as you started this. But when I see blogs like yours i wonder how mine can make any difference. Also I’m a bit afraid. So any advice and encouragement? I’m a stay at home mom of a lovely and active toddler:)
Hi Natasha! What a lovely comment and how fantastic to hear you’d like to blog too. You should totally do it!!
Everything you’re saying now is the same way I felt when I started, but then I thought, there’s nothing wrong with sharing the Good News and the more the merrier! Someone might resonate with one writer different than another, but ultimately we’re all just sharing our testimony in different forms and God’s truth. I thought of that one person out there looking online in the middle of the night for some help and encouragement (because that’s what I used to do). I didn’t care how many people found the blog for the blog’s sake, but I cared so much about that one person who wanted to know what I was sharing. It’s letting someone else know he/she’s not alone. When people started actually reading and commenting I couldn’t believe it, and it happened and grew over time. If it helps to add this, I see this as a ministry. It allows me to share and write and also pray for others.
Once I was staying home with the kiddos, it got harder for me to keep up. Even now I write when there’s time and check comments in bulk when I can, but ultimately this is what I love to do. If you’re home and you feel the desire to write and share, I say DO IT! Please do it! I have an active toddler at home too, so I totally understand how it is, but if you have a window of peace and quiet, use it to do what you love. If you start something please come back and post a link… I’d love to check it out!!
Thank you Jenn!!
Hope to see more posts from you!