SHOWING YOUR SIGN FOR CHRIST
by Linda Duncan
Recently I had the privilege of attending a church service with my mom and sister. During the service, a few members did something that touched my heart and brought tears to my eyes. A line of people approached the front of the congregation, each carrying a homemade sign that told what God had brought them out of, and the flip side, how he had saved them. As these members came up one by one parading their sign for all to see, there were other members on stage singing "Oh How He Loves Me So". Pretty dramatic huh? Tears poured from the eyes of some and I could truly feel The Lords presence in this place. I prayed, not aloud as most were doing, but looked toward heaven and thanked Jesus for the miraculous things he had done for me and for wiping my slate clean and giving me a new beginning. I wanted to be in that line with them, showing and telling them what God had done for me, and how he has changed my life.
I want to be a witness for Christ, and by telling my story and living my sign, I want to do everything in my power to lead others to him.
Every Christian has a story to tell of what our Savior has done for them. I feel it is my duty as a Christian to not just parade my sign in front of other Believers and worship him only in church, but to witness to those outside the Church and tell of Gods Goodness.
So here is my sign and I hope it will bless you, and perhaps give you the desire to want to Glorify God by giving your testimony to others about what Jesus Christ has done for you.
I want to start first by saying that the most important reason for me doing this is to glorify God, for that is now my main purpose in life. For you see, for the last 20 years of my life, I have had no purpose. I have had No goals. I had lived a life of sin, breaking nearly every commandment God had given. I was never truly happy. Instead of turning to God for happiness, I would turn to the things of this world, wanting to experience it all and searching in all the wrong places. Yes, I would find something to get involved in that brought joy to my life, only to have it taken away and be left with an empty feeling again. I had taken every type of antidepressant there was on the market with the hope of being healed of this sadness inside me and the emptiness that haunted me. I never turned to drugs but often partied and drank socially with friends. There were times when I abandoned my family and ran from place to place searching for something but not knowing what it was I was searching for.
In 2007 I had a chance to travel Europe with a friend. I spent seven weeks in Europe, five of those weeks in England and two driving through seven countries in 14 days.
I enjoyed seeing all the different sites but did a lot of soul searching while I was there. I was so tired of running, and although I was thousands of miles away from my problems, I felt so much emptiness and was still not happy.
Before returning home, I made the decision that I was not going to run any longer. Twenty years of running was enough for me. I was tired and had been beaten down so many times and knew that if I did not make an effort to change my life in a drastic way, I would no longer have a life to worry about. There were so many times I wanted to die, but never wanted to end my own life. I just simply could not bear the thought of having to live another day in misery. I never lost hope of finding a cure from this sadness that was deep inside me. I knew there had to be an answer to my problem, but didn't know where to turn.
After returning home, I locked myself in my room one night and started praying to God. Now this wasn't my first time to pray, for God had answered many prayers in my past, but I never fully appreciated what he had done. I prayed and poured my heart out to God for three days. My prayer was for God to forgive me for my past sins and take away the desires of my past life. I was so sick of myself and my past life and I wanted so desperately to be happy again. I had tried many times to change on my own, but always ended up back on the roller coaster ride I had been on for almost 17 years. I had always thought that by calling on God to rescue me would mean that I would have to serve him by going back to a religion that I was raised in. So even though I called upon my Savior for help, I could not promise to give him the life that I thought he would want from me.
But you know what? God answered my prayers anyway. He took away the desires as I asked. I no longer wanted to go out to drink, dance, and party with friends, I no longer cared to travel and leave my family, and I no longer wanted to do anything that gave me a false sense of happiness.
But I still had one major problem. I was not happy!!! I was so empty inside. The life that I had lived for 17 years was gone and I didn’t know who I was.
I had to force myself to leave the house and go do the everyday chores that we all have to do. I had no desires at all, no goals, no dreams, and no future. And to make matters worse, I decided to stop taking all medications that were also giving me a false sense of happiness. I decided to put it all in Gods hands. Well, one thing I learned quickly. You do not go cold turkey on any type of mind altering drugs. Being on medication off and on for five years left me with side effects that just added to my misery. Not only was my mind sick from withdrawing, my body ached and I spent almost two years suffering mentally and physically from abusing my system.
It had been two years since I had prayed for the change in my life. I did have a change but I knew I was not right with God because of the emptiness I continued to feel. I knew I was closer to God and could and did pray often and always had my prayers answered, one being the job that I still have and love.
It was not until the sickness and passing of my sister, Lois that I truly believed and gave my heart totally to God.
I knew she was dying and the thought of losing her was so painful. I wanted to spend every moment I could by her side to be there for her but mostly for me. I would stay all day and only go home late at night to get a few hours sleep. The Friday before she passed I went a little earlier to help out. My other sister had a doctor’s appointment out of town so it was only my mother and I to see after her. I knew the end was very close. I went into her room that Friday and noticed how anxious she was and how she was trying to raise up out of bed. She was speaking to people I could not see or hear and I felt there were miraculous things going on around her that only she and God knew about.
I had a sense of fear to come over me, and even though my mother was there, singing her gospel hymns while doing her chores, I felt so alone and afraid of not being able to cope and be in charge like my sister had asked me to do days before coming home from the hospital.
Her mind and body were acting strange and I had never experienced this before and didn't know what to expect.
I stepped outside and called a dear friend of mine whose father is a pastor. I had been calling around trying to find someone to come pray for my sister, but couldn't find anyone. My friend and I prayed on the phone together and asked God to give me the strength to do what had to be done.
Even though I felt better, I saw no change in her. I pulled out my cell phone again and before I could dial another number in search of prayer for her, God spoke to me. He asked me "WHY do you feel you need to go through someone else to talk to me or ask anything of me. Have I not listened to you before and heard your every prayer. Have I not answered your prayers when your heart was sincere”?
His voice was like a whisper that came from my deepest inner being, but strong and powerful enough to not be mistaken for just a thought or feeling. I was reminded at that very moment of every prayer that he had answered. God was telling me "ASK AND YOU SHALL RECIEVE". I had no doubt before praying that God was there with me, because for the first time in my life, I was able to hear my Shepherds voice. And oh what a sweet and loving voice it was!
I didn't hesitate; I leaned over her and poured my heart out to God. I prayed for God to give me the spiritual strength I needed to take care of my sister the last days of her life and also to bring calm over her body, because I knew he had already given her peace of mind. She was not afraid of dying and had a peace about her that I had never seen. She had been looking forward to this day for many years. She was getting ready to meet her Savior face to face.
I prayed and cried and cried and prayed and before I knew it, the crying and pleading turned to crying, worshipping, praising, and thanking God for what he was doing in that room with my sister and I. Her body was calm, she was no longer struggling.
But something more miraculous happened in that room the Friday before she passed. I FELL IN LOVE WITH JESUS! I experienced Faith like I had never known. I found peace, joy, and the happiness that my heart had longed for, for so many years.
I don't know how it happened!!! I can't explain why!! I have so many questions still. But one thing I do know. I am not haunted by my past any longer nor do I feel the emptiness that I had felt for almost 20 years. I feel like a new person. I see people in a whole different way. I have a love inside me for others whom I have never met. I have a desire in me to search and understand his word. I look forward to my bible studies each night and have a hard time putting his word down so I can sleep. I am filled with a desire that I have never had. Lights are being turned on in my head every night when I read his word and I feel him saying, as a friend recently told me she felt, "FOLLOW ME, I HAVE MORE TO SHOW YOU". I have boldness in me that makes me want to shout to the world how good I feel.
I AM A NEW PERSON!!
So here is my sign as simply as I can put it:
FRONT SIDE
Recently I had the privilege of attending a church service with my mom and sister. During the service, a few members did something that touched my heart and brought tears to my eyes. A line of people approached the front of the congregation, each carrying a homemade sign that told what God had brought them out of, and the flip side, how he had saved them. As these members came up one by one parading their sign for all to see, there were other members on stage singing "Oh How He Loves Me So". Pretty dramatic huh? Tears poured from the eyes of some and I could truly feel The Lords presence in this place. I prayed, not aloud as most were doing, but looked toward heaven and thanked Jesus for the miraculous things he had done for me and for wiping my slate clean and giving me a new beginning. I wanted to be in that line with them, showing and telling them what God had done for me, and how he has changed my life.
I want to be a witness for Christ, and by telling my story and living my sign, I want to do everything in my power to lead others to him.
Every Christian has a story to tell of what our Savior has done for them. I feel it is my duty as a Christian to not just parade my sign in front of other Believers and worship him only in church, but to witness to those outside the Church and tell of Gods Goodness.
So here is my sign and I hope it will bless you, and perhaps give you the desire to want to Glorify God by giving your testimony to others about what Jesus Christ has done for you.
I want to start first by saying that the most important reason for me doing this is to glorify God, for that is now my main purpose in life. For you see, for the last 20 years of my life, I have had no purpose. I have had No goals. I had lived a life of sin, breaking nearly every commandment God had given. I was never truly happy. Instead of turning to God for happiness, I would turn to the things of this world, wanting to experience it all and searching in all the wrong places. Yes, I would find something to get involved in that brought joy to my life, only to have it taken away and be left with an empty feeling again. I had taken every type of antidepressant there was on the market with the hope of being healed of this sadness inside me and the emptiness that haunted me. I never turned to drugs but often partied and drank socially with friends. There were times when I abandoned my family and ran from place to place searching for something but not knowing what it was I was searching for.
In 2007 I had a chance to travel Europe with a friend. I spent seven weeks in Europe, five of those weeks in England and two driving through seven countries in 14 days.
I enjoyed seeing all the different sites but did a lot of soul searching while I was there. I was so tired of running, and although I was thousands of miles away from my problems, I felt so much emptiness and was still not happy.
Before returning home, I made the decision that I was not going to run any longer. Twenty years of running was enough for me. I was tired and had been beaten down so many times and knew that if I did not make an effort to change my life in a drastic way, I would no longer have a life to worry about. There were so many times I wanted to die, but never wanted to end my own life. I just simply could not bear the thought of having to live another day in misery. I never lost hope of finding a cure from this sadness that was deep inside me. I knew there had to be an answer to my problem, but didn't know where to turn.
After returning home, I locked myself in my room one night and started praying to God. Now this wasn't my first time to pray, for God had answered many prayers in my past, but I never fully appreciated what he had done. I prayed and poured my heart out to God for three days. My prayer was for God to forgive me for my past sins and take away the desires of my past life. I was so sick of myself and my past life and I wanted so desperately to be happy again. I had tried many times to change on my own, but always ended up back on the roller coaster ride I had been on for almost 17 years. I had always thought that by calling on God to rescue me would mean that I would have to serve him by going back to a religion that I was raised in. So even though I called upon my Savior for help, I could not promise to give him the life that I thought he would want from me.
But you know what? God answered my prayers anyway. He took away the desires as I asked. I no longer wanted to go out to drink, dance, and party with friends, I no longer cared to travel and leave my family, and I no longer wanted to do anything that gave me a false sense of happiness.
But I still had one major problem. I was not happy!!! I was so empty inside. The life that I had lived for 17 years was gone and I didn’t know who I was.
I had to force myself to leave the house and go do the everyday chores that we all have to do. I had no desires at all, no goals, no dreams, and no future. And to make matters worse, I decided to stop taking all medications that were also giving me a false sense of happiness. I decided to put it all in Gods hands. Well, one thing I learned quickly. You do not go cold turkey on any type of mind altering drugs. Being on medication off and on for five years left me with side effects that just added to my misery. Not only was my mind sick from withdrawing, my body ached and I spent almost two years suffering mentally and physically from abusing my system.
It had been two years since I had prayed for the change in my life. I did have a change but I knew I was not right with God because of the emptiness I continued to feel. I knew I was closer to God and could and did pray often and always had my prayers answered, one being the job that I still have and love.
It was not until the sickness and passing of my sister, Lois that I truly believed and gave my heart totally to God.
I knew she was dying and the thought of losing her was so painful. I wanted to spend every moment I could by her side to be there for her but mostly for me. I would stay all day and only go home late at night to get a few hours sleep. The Friday before she passed I went a little earlier to help out. My other sister had a doctor’s appointment out of town so it was only my mother and I to see after her. I knew the end was very close. I went into her room that Friday and noticed how anxious she was and how she was trying to raise up out of bed. She was speaking to people I could not see or hear and I felt there were miraculous things going on around her that only she and God knew about.
I had a sense of fear to come over me, and even though my mother was there, singing her gospel hymns while doing her chores, I felt so alone and afraid of not being able to cope and be in charge like my sister had asked me to do days before coming home from the hospital.
Her mind and body were acting strange and I had never experienced this before and didn't know what to expect.
I stepped outside and called a dear friend of mine whose father is a pastor. I had been calling around trying to find someone to come pray for my sister, but couldn't find anyone. My friend and I prayed on the phone together and asked God to give me the strength to do what had to be done.
Even though I felt better, I saw no change in her. I pulled out my cell phone again and before I could dial another number in search of prayer for her, God spoke to me. He asked me "WHY do you feel you need to go through someone else to talk to me or ask anything of me. Have I not listened to you before and heard your every prayer. Have I not answered your prayers when your heart was sincere”?
His voice was like a whisper that came from my deepest inner being, but strong and powerful enough to not be mistaken for just a thought or feeling. I was reminded at that very moment of every prayer that he had answered. God was telling me "ASK AND YOU SHALL RECIEVE". I had no doubt before praying that God was there with me, because for the first time in my life, I was able to hear my Shepherds voice. And oh what a sweet and loving voice it was!
I didn't hesitate; I leaned over her and poured my heart out to God. I prayed for God to give me the spiritual strength I needed to take care of my sister the last days of her life and also to bring calm over her body, because I knew he had already given her peace of mind. She was not afraid of dying and had a peace about her that I had never seen. She had been looking forward to this day for many years. She was getting ready to meet her Savior face to face.
I prayed and cried and cried and prayed and before I knew it, the crying and pleading turned to crying, worshipping, praising, and thanking God for what he was doing in that room with my sister and I. Her body was calm, she was no longer struggling.
But something more miraculous happened in that room the Friday before she passed. I FELL IN LOVE WITH JESUS! I experienced Faith like I had never known. I found peace, joy, and the happiness that my heart had longed for, for so many years.
I don't know how it happened!!! I can't explain why!! I have so many questions still. But one thing I do know. I am not haunted by my past any longer nor do I feel the emptiness that I had felt for almost 20 years. I feel like a new person. I see people in a whole different way. I have a love inside me for others whom I have never met. I have a desire in me to search and understand his word. I look forward to my bible studies each night and have a hard time putting his word down so I can sleep. I am filled with a desire that I have never had. Lights are being turned on in my head every night when I read his word and I feel him saying, as a friend recently told me she felt, "FOLLOW ME, I HAVE MORE TO SHOW YOU". I have boldness in me that makes me want to shout to the world how good I feel.
I AM A NEW PERSON!!
So here is my sign as simply as I can put it:
FRONT SIDE
LIVED A LIFE OF SIN DESTINED TO DIE IN SIN
FLIP SIDE
ON FRIDAY THE 26TH OF JUNE, 2009
SAVED BY THE GRACE OF GOD, JUSTIFIED(MADE RIGHT)
BY FAITH(BELIEVING)NOW WALKING WITH
THE HOLY SPIRIT AS MY GUIDE
THE HOLY SPIRIT AS MY GUIDE
I was so blessed by watching these Christians show what Jesus had done for them. Even as a Christian, it builds our faith to know what He is doing for others. So. having said that, I ask that if you have a testimony and a desire to Glorify God, follow this entry with a sign of your own.
