First Verses When I got Saved

So on Saturday after the "God Is.....Don't Let Go" Conference I picked up my Bible for the First time as my mentor had encouraged me. I honestly hadn't thought about doing that because of all the writing I was doing. I guess I was just so focused on getting everything OUT. But when I picked up the Word, one of the first verses a few days earlier had been this,

Romans 12:1-2 "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercy of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good, and acceptable and perfect."

WOW THAT is good stuff. IT IS EXACTLY WHAT GOD HAS BEEN DOING THROUGH THIS PROCESS THAT I AM GOING THROUGH-describes it perfectly!!!!!!! I know that a few of you out there may be scared about this process that I have and am going through. But I just want to say in a loving and non-judging way towards you tenderly and with all due respect that I don't have defend what happened. IT HAS ALL BEEN GOD'S WORK!!!! I have not made up, fabricated, or exaggerated anything that has occurred. He alone knew what would be needed so that I would come to Him. God loves me (and all of us) so much that WHY WOULD HE NOT WANT TO HEAL THE DEPTHS OF THE PLACES OF OUR GREATEST PAIN? Does God's love have limits as to what it can to in our hearts and lives? The answer is of course, NO!!!!!!! We truly serve a God that LOVES US SO MUCH that HE CARES EVEN ABOUT THOSE THINGS!! :) He promised ABUNDANT life to us!!!!!! In the end it's all ABOUT GOD---NOT ABOUT ME!!!!!

So the verses that I read on Saturday were this

Psalm 118:19-21 "Open to mr the gates of righteousness; I shall enter through them. I shall give thanks to the LORD. This is the gate of the LORD: the righteous will enter through it. I shall give thanks to You, for You have answered me, And You have become my salvation." (Bolded emphasis is mine!)

On the side on a little bit if white space I wrote, "THIS is SO COOL!!!!!" This is WHAT GOD DID for me!!!!!!!!!! HE opened the gate for me so that I could enter it. He ANSWERED ME in HIS perfect timing after all of these years, clearing up every doubt and fear, using this all and brought me to HIMSELF! HE HAS BECOME MY SALVATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The second Psalm that I read at some point during all the digging was Psalm 107. The Psalm is quite long so I am only going to quote parts of it, but on the top where there was white space, I wrote, "THIS is MY TESTIMONY!!!!!" It is what GOD did for me by His grace and mercy!!!!!!

Psalm 1071-30 (Some things will be again bolded-the emphasis is mine)

¹Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
²Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,
Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary
³And gathered from the lands,
From the east and from the west,
From the north and from the south.
⁴They wandered in the wilderness in a desert region;
They did not find a way to an inhabited city.
⁵They were hungry and thirsty;
Their soul fainted within them.
⁶Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble;
He delivered them out of their distresses.
⁷He led them also by a straight way,
To go to an inhabited city.
⁸Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonders to the sons of men!
⁹For He has satisfied the thirsty soul,
And the hungry soul He has filled with what is good.
¹⁰There were those who dwelt in darkness and in the shadow of death,
Prisoners in misery and chains,
¹¹Because they had rebelled against the words of God
And spurned the counsel of the Most High.
¹²Therefore He humbled their heart with labor;
They stumbled and there was none to help.
¹³Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble;
He saved them out of their distresses.
¹⁴He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death
And broke their bands apart.
¹⁵Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonders to the sons of men!
¹⁶For He has shattered gates of bronze
And cut bars of iron asunder.
¹⁷Fools, because of their rebellious way,
And because of their iniquities, were afflicted.
¹⁸Their soul abhorred all kinds of food,
And they drew near to the gates of death.
¹⁹Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble;
He saved them out of their distresses.
²⁰He sent His word and healed them,
And delivered them from their destructions.
²¹Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonders to the sons of men!
²²Let them also offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,
And tell of His works with joyful singing.
²³Those who go down to the sea in ships,
Who do business on great waters;
²⁴They have seen the works of the LORD,
And His wonders in the deep.
²⁵For He spoke and raised up a stormy wind,
Which lifted up the waves of the sea.
²⁶They rose up to the heavens, they went to the depths;
Their soul melted away in their misery.
²⁷They reeled and staggered like a drunken man,
And were at their wits' end.
²⁸Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
And He brought them out of their distresses.
²⁹He caused the storm to be still,
So that the waves of the sea were hushed.
³⁰Then they were glad because they were quiet,
So He guided them to their desired haven.


OK all I know to say is this! This is WHAT GOD DID FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was at my wit's end! I had nothing left-no strength to go on-no desire to keep going on with life. It was either that He would bring me to himself or I had NOTHING LEFT and I mean NOTHING!!!!!!---No hope, no strength, no desire--absolutely nothing!!!!! BUT HE BROUGHT ME out of my distress!!!!!!! I couldn't "make a decision to come to Him"--I had "prayed the prayer" a gazillion trillion times--NO EXAGGERATION!!!!! ) It never made a difference in my life-there was never a real heart change of attitude towards my sin. ONLY HE COULD REACH INTO MY HEART AND GIVE ME THE GIFT OF WHAT I HAD NEVER EXPERIENCED-----REPENTANCE. He SAVED me! HE SATISFIED MY THIRSTY SOUL WITH WHAT IS GOOD, which is ultimately HIM----HIMSELF!!!! HE ALONE IS GOOD!!!!!! My soul was melting away in misery, but He sent forth his Word and has healed me by bringing me into a relationship with Himself and is continuing to heal me. HE SAVED ME FROM MY DESTRUCTIONS!!!!!!! He KNEW WHERE I WAS AT!! I COULD NOT HIDE IT FROM HIM!!!!! He caused the storm of my heart to be still and has indeed guided me to my DESIRED HAVEN!!!!!!----a relationship with Himself. His love is better than life! IT IS ALL I EVER WANTED!!!!!!! I can't wait to tell even more of the World!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To GOD be the glory!!!! Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men!