On April 8th, 2015 for the first time in my life I truly believed Jesus loved me and wanted to have a relationship with me. Prior to this I thought I was too far gone from God, I had already made so many mistakes and thought I was damaged goods. However when I heard how Jesus loved the Woman in Samaria (in John 4) and waited for her and revealed Himself to her as the Messiah even though she was outcasted, lonely and previously had five husbands and the man she was currently with was not her husband, I believed Jesus loved me too. I too was alone, I too had so many previous relationships and was being with someone who was not my husband and when I realised Jesus loved me, had been waiting for me and wanted a relationship with me despite all my sins, I wanted a relationship with Him too.

So I cried out to the Lord and asked Jesus to come into me and immediately I was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues for the first time. I was amazed and in awe. It was the best experience of my life. I was instantly transformed. Jesus took out my heart of stone and gave me a heart of flesh. I was born of the Holy Spirit and I was truly changed. All unforgiveness I was carrying fell away, I truly loved people and saw them differently.

Later I was baptised in water by full immersion. I am born again, born of water and Spirit. Jesus made me a new creation and my life has been transformed for the better ever since. Jesus truly delivered and saved me from all my sins, addictions and temptations. Walking with the Lord for over 10 years has been the best time of my life. The Lord has miraculously healed my heart, body and mind, restored relationships, provided for me and blessed me with the best marriage beyond what I could possibly imagine. I’m so grateful to be a child of God and truly look forward to Jesus’ return to be with Him forever.

God showed His faithfulness in my life by never giving up on me and patiently showing me His way and love. I grew up in a loving family that provided me with all the opportunity and provision that I needed. We also attended our local Catholic church every week and were very involved there and in other religious activities growing up. I always knew there was a God who was the Creator but was never able to understand why there was so many contradicting theologies and religions.

As I left home after high school overseas, I slowly and deeply got lost in a world of immorality, addictions, spiritual idolatry, divination, false gods and success in the typical ways we see around us and strangely I still considered myself a good and successful person from my perspective. Deep down I always wanted to ‘fix’ myself but felt I was beyond the love of God. Following a business opportunity in 2016 where I was witnessed to about Jesus, I slowly began feeling the love of God by being introduced to a church fellowship which included Spirit filled Christians. It still took me so long to still be able to let go of ways of the past, and I always prayed to be able to let go of still having a sinful lifestyle whilst still attending church.

Years later, during the earlier stages of the COVID 19 pandemic lockdowns, I learnt through the quietness how fragile life can be and that all achieved in this world didn’t really matter. I did my best to seek Jesus during this period the best I could. During this period, I received and was baptised in the Holy Spirit and recalled speaking in tongues, whilst praying on my knees alone in my home. There was a lightness, peace and comfort through this period that I had never felt before and a growing boldness to share that God has protected, guided and saved me through Jesus. I felt the equipping through the Holy Spirit, to now know I have the greatest tool to navigate through life. I was also baptised by full immersion in water as Jesus did.

Life in the Lord doesn’t come without its challenges, but the blessings that come through it always outweigh the challenges, especially knowing that the Spirit of Jesus lives inside of me and nothing can separate me from the love of Jesus. I praise Jesus for transforming me from the inside through His Spirit and want others to know that this free gift of salvation is for anyone at any given day or time, as the Bible says ‘today’ is the day of salvation.

“Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”” John‬ ‭3‬:‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬ “Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”” John‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬-‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” Hebrews‬ ‭9‬:‭27‬-‭28‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” Ephesians‬ ‭1‬:‭11‬-‭14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Ephesians‬ ‭4‬:‭30‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonians‬ ‭4‬:‭13‬-‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

““Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” Matthew‬ ‭7‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name and driven out demons in Your name and done many mighty works in Your name? And then I will say to them openly (publicly), I never knew you; depart from Me, you who act wickedly [disregarding My commands]. [Ps. 6:8.]” Matthew‬ ‭7‬:‭21‬-‭23‬ ‭AMPC‬‬

““Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” Revelation‬ ‭22‬:‭12‬-‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬