Baptism on my Born Again Birthday
4/17/2011
” When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit”- Acts 8: 14-19
All things happen in God’s perfect timing. Although I was saved at age 13, I never took the next step of baptism after repentance and accepting Jesus into my heart. Yes I was baptized as baby by my family as an infant. It was a blessing to be raised in a family where baptism was chosen for me. However, there is a voice I must listen to which is the voice of my Father who is in heaven. I fell away from God throughout my teenage years and fell into a life of looking for acceptance from people around me. From boys. From friends. Sin took over little by little. A year ago I started attending Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC. At Elevation God revealed himself to me through his Holy Spirit. A special thanks to my Church which I am blessed to be a part of. To Pastor Steven Furtick, and Larry Brey for being strong leaders for Christ!
I grew up feeling convicted for sins and never truly felt forgiveness of my sins. I was raised in being told that my sins needed to be confessed to a priest in order to accept forgiveness. This was rooted deeply. However, I knew and had experienced different at a Christian Camp at age 13. I knelt before the altar and prayed out to God. He heard me. His spirit came upon me with someone praying over me and with the laying of hands. The overwhelming presence of Jesus was so heavy around me that I could not deny it! I cried out to God for all the ways I had sinned and fell short of his glory. I felt this HUGE weight lifted off of me. Coming home and explaining this to my family was never easy. They did not understand and I am not sure if they do now either. However, I have come to realize that although my family may not understand, God does.
On this Sunday, April 17th, 2011 I made the personal decision to get baptized after much prayer and guidance from God. I knew that baptism was not a requirement of my salvation, but that it was time for me to show others what Jesus has done in my life through this outward symbol and proclamation of my faith in him. There were many people who Jesus used to lead me back to him.
Special thanks to Erika for being a big sister in Christ & for leading me back to Jesus.
It was a year ago that I celebrated my Birthday in a different way. I went out with a friend and drank a lot. So much that she drove us home and almost fell asleep behind the wheel. I had to keep her awake by signing so that she wouldn’t drive off of the road. It was then that I had realized I couldn’t live like this anymore. It was only a matter of time before my poor decisions would cause destruction. The friend I went out with was a friend I got saved with at camp. God reminded me of a song on our way home that we sang at Christian Camp. It was a song I sang to her to keep her awake on the way home. I know this was ONLY the Holy Spirit helping me to stay alive that night. I sang to my friend Sarah, “Praise God, glory, glory, glory hallelujah. Thank you Jesus, Thank you, Thank you Jesus”. I remember laughing as I was singing with her. Memories flooded of camp that night and of us being so happy knowing how much Jesus loved us.
The next day I was ashamed to be living the way that I was living. On my drive back from Raleigh back to Charlotte I prayed a prayer to God for him to send me a Christian man to guide me back to my faith. I wasn’t even sure what I was praying. I know that God knew what I needed & he knew the road He needed to take to get his child back. It was on my Birthday that I got a message online in my inbox on Myspace from Josh. I didn’t know he was the answer to my prayer that day. Josh shared his testimony with me about overcoming drinking & he had a powerful story to share. It was then that I realized this was the Christian Man that I had prayed for. He was a big part of leading me back to Jesus. Josh and I had a friendship that couldn’t be explained to anyone. We had hours of long conversations & prayers over the phone before we even met. God put Josh in my life to lead me back to Jesus. God used a secular thing (my desire for a relationship) and turned it into a “God thing”, because he knew how to get his child to come back to him.
Oh and then there is Andy who I met in a coffee shop. He has recently become my spiritual mentor. He is a man who loves Jesus more than anyone I have ever known so personally. He has insights and can spit scripture out like it’s his job. I know God has great things planned for Andy. He was raised Catholic too & has beliefs similar to mine. He understands the importance of having a personal relationship with Jesus. He happened to be “in the area” at a Starbucks right when I needed some encouragement. I had known that God had more in store for quite some time now, but I wasn’t sure what it was. It wasn’t an accident that Andy lived over 50 minutes away but was lead by the Sprit to come into Starbucks in Matthews that day. So thankful for a spritual mentor like Andy.
There are many, many powerful stories that God will use to bring you back to his love. He will remind us that his love is bigger than any sin, shame, guilt that may have overtook us in the past. His forgiveness spans from the East to the West. Think of a big ocean & his arms opening up on top of the ocean. WOW. His arms are open big and wide and he extends them to welcome us back. By nothing we have done or deserve but because we are his children and he loves us. He knows exactly how to get to our hearts! He knows our needs better than anyone.
Before my baptism we were praising him to a song entitled ” One Thing Remains”. I will never forget the awesome feeling of bare feet & walking on Holy Ground as I approached the baptism tank. I felt God’s Holy Spirit overtake me and my body was trembling with his LOVE. Then going into the tank, Pastor Furtick praying over me and dunking me back in that tank. I was so immersed in God’s love, and strong presence! Overjoyed, and experienced a peace which surpasses all understanding. I felt like a child breaking through to the many thing God has in store for me. His love never fails. Never gives up. Never runs out on me. THANK YOU JESUS for never GIVING UP ON ME! I love you…. You alone satisfy my soul. I never have to be afraid because of you!
