I got saved when I was 9 years old. I didn’t know what I was doing but I know one thing for sure, I wanted to get to heaven and see Jesus. I was told all it required was to confess with my mouth and believe in my heart. No one ever told me how to live for Jesus and what happens after salvation-there was no discipleship. I was just doing life so to speak.
I got baptized in my 20s and thought I was living for the Lord. I was trying to do all the right things but in my own strength. At that point in my life, the Lord look like a God that was way out there and only pointing His finger at me and that I could never live up to His expectations. I was looking for love and acceptance and all saw was rejection.
I remember sitting in church one day and looking around and asking myself, why are there so many, miserable, depressed, and sick Christians? I was told that Christians were poor and that we had to suffer. If this was the life of a Christian, I didn’t want any part of it. The world looked better in my eyes.
As the years went by I was falling further away from Christianity. I didn’t see a change in my life. I felt hopeless and rejected. I was trying to do all the right things in my own strength. I looked just like the world and I was frustrated. I backslid but kept coming back to Jesus but I still viewed Him as a God that only pointed His finger at me. Something in me knew there was more to Him than what I was told.
Aug 2007, I lived in North Carolina I wrote in my journal and asked the Lord to show me who He was and plant me in a church that does His will. I also wanted to know what it meant to trust Him. His word says, Matt 7:7-8 Ask and it will be given you, seek and you shall find, Knock and the door shall be open to you
Let me tell you, the flood gets opened. The same year I asked about what it meant to trust Him is the same year my life was turned upside down, it seemed there was one problem after the next. This lasted for a couple of years. I remember calling a friend out of desperation because things were falling apart. and she said, “Shirley, you have to trust the Lord.” That was not the response I was looking for but I had no other option so I decided to take God at His word. I had no idea what it looked like. The Lord restored all that was lost. He showed me in His word what it meant to trust Him. Joshua 1:5 I will never leave you or forsake you. I saw a Father who loves me. He is faithful.
My hunger to know the Lord grew. The Lord has taken me on this amazing journey. I have crossed paths with some amazing sisters and brothers in Christ. These were all divine appointments and these appointments led me to JGLM ministries. Through this ministry, I learned who I am in Christ and the love of the Father.
My desire has been to know and draw closer to Christ. I have a passion for people and a desire to lead others to Jesus. We are commanded to go out into all the world and preach the gospel, proclaim liberty to the captives, and set them free! It is such an honor to walk in Jesus’ stead, that He would choose us to continue His mission.