My Faith: Christianity

“Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?” (Matthew 21:42 KJV)

Christianity is my faith which I am proud of, a key part of my values, and my identity. Christians are people who believe in God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, as per the Bible Gospels of Jesus. Christianity is offered as a gift. No one can make you believe, it is your decision alone. You are free to believe. If you change your mind because you feel you have difficulty believing, then that is your choice to make too. God will be available if you decide to turn back to Him again. I feel you need to come to your own understanding of what it means to believe in God. God has been my saviour and my rock in my times of trial. I have come to depend on Him, and He gives me inner strength and hope.

I believe God the Father sent Jesus, His Son, to live amongst us as a person, so we would see the glory of God. Jesus sacrificed His life so He could exchange our sin for salvation when we believe in Him—Jesus effectively buys our souls back from purgatory (Gehenna) and this is an everlasting covenant when we obey His commands. A Christian walk is a continual walk of change and obedience, and it is a difficult path to walk. The Father will freely forgive you each time you ask for forgiveness from your heart, and you should then repent and do your best not to repeat past wrongs.

Jesus is the cornerstone of the church, even though He was rejected by people when He was on earth, and had to carry His own cross on the way to His murder by crucifixion. Jesus will forevermore be victorious over death and Satan, as God raised Him up from the dead 3 days after Jesus was crucified.

Spiritual Awakening

I first became a Christian when I was a child, perhaps 8 or 9 years old. My best friend at primary school, Ruth, asked me to go along to a Baptist Church with her, and I am so glad she did. But I lost my faith when the hurts of the world got to me, in some of the events that happened when I was growing up. I searched and wondered and never quite truly believed; in fact, there was a point when I just stopped believing, and was happy with my decision. Throughout this time of trial, I do believe God was constantly trying to reach out to me. I went to a church with a friend once when I was in my twenties, and was horrified when someone called out, “My child! Come back to me.” and said there was someone at church who needed to find God again. I trembled all over, and my heart was beating madly, but I just kept quiet and did not go forward to the altar.

I then started experiencing a remarkable journey in personal and spiritual growth, which I can only think of as a spiritual awakening. It was an extremely slow process, a period of years. I encountered unexpected pivotal change moments in acceptance by other people, for example, marrying my husband; and meeting people who believed in me, who seemed to truly listen to me and guide me in finding the answers to the purpose I had been searching for, who seemed to accept me just for being me (there were not many of them). And I gained wisdom through different avenues, for example, through the various people God placed around me, and in attending personal leadership development training. Each successive training course I attended seemed to come at the right time to enable me to heal on some level, and each bit of knowledge learnt seemed to build on the knowledge learnt before, and added new insight. I experienced growth towards healing in the most unexpected way. God was placing opportunities around me, building a bridge over my troubled waters.

Then I found myself in a situation where I called out desperately to God in prayer for protection, for help. It is often when times are darkest that people will find God and reach out to Him. And I believe He heard me, and I was anointed with His Holy Spirit during that intense spiritual experience. My entire head was tingling afterwards when I opened my eyes. I slowly started fully believing in God again. I sensed a change in my inner being. I noticed that some of the things that previously would have bothered me, now seemed to have less of a hold on me. My worrying thoughts became less, and I started trusting that God has things under control, if I would just believe.

When I was drawn back to going to church, I discovered that I felt His presence during worship. God is intensely real to me now. I feel His presence often, and I know others in church do too. When I pray for others, which I will do by praying to the Father in Jesus’ name, it sometimes feels as if there is a powerful presence resounding inside of myself, and I know God hears prayer. He might not always give the answer I might want, but He does hear, and He does answer. For example, I prayed for healing for someone with cancer once, someone who lived far away, and I felt a resounding sobbing within me, almost feeling the person’s despair, and I prayed through this for inner peace for the person, and I felt an unbelievable calm and rest come over me. The next day the person wrote an upbeat message on Facebook again, after an absence. He died a few weeks later, slipping into a coma for a couple of weeks, but I do believe God answered by helping the person’s last weeks on earth be free of pain, and giving him a peaceful passing. I do know that God’s timing is not always the timing I might hope for, so I may pray for something and only get an answer a few years down the line. If I still have lessons to learn, God wants me to learn my lessons first, before He trusts me with greater things. As an example, you cannot pray to pass your driver’s license test and expect this prayer to be answered if you have not practiced enough, and if you would still be a danger on the roads. I have seen too many prayers answered, for this to be put down to coincidence. For example, I once prayed to keep a mother and her unborn baby safe when the mother’s liver was under attack due to her pregnancy. She was admitted to hospital soon thereafter for observation, and then her baby was prematurely delivered by emergency Caesarean section, weighing 1.7kgs, but perfectly formed and healthy. Or I might pray for healing for someone, and she then finds just the right doctor who is able to explain and treat her illness. Miracles are not magic. Miracles may happen quietly and unnoticed. God will answer when the time is right, according to His will.

If you have not experienced God’s presence, or ever felt the calm He gives, or seen prayer answered for yourself, it may be difficult for you to believe in God. I can only give you my truth about how far God has been walking with me, and hope you come to your own understanding, and your own decision, as to the existence, or not, of God.

My faith is an inner sense of believing in spite of counter evidence other people may give me. My faith is not proven by giving Bible verses when I am questioned; my faith is standing firm with God and with my own testimony and just believing. I now feel I sit in the eye of the storm, safe in God’s mighty presence, whilst the storms of life may crash all around me. Winds still sometimes buffet me, but I will find my way to sanctuary again.

Link to related blog articles: Religion: Christianity Page