Hello, everyone. It's about time to continue my series of testimonies. The one below was graciously provided by my friend Katie of Northern Virginia. (I have to specify NORTHERN because it is very important to her.)
I have watched this girl's testimony unfold in person, and it is pretty amazing. I've only been a part of the journey for about a year and a half, but it has been going on much longer than that. And it's better than must-see TV. (SOOO much better....)
Have fun reading!
Katie, age 26
I was raised as an atheist, by an atheist, before I knew Jesus. To be honest, Jesus was never something I ever thought about or even talked about. It was so far removed from anything I knew that His name didn't ever come up. In fact, I can clearly remember being instructed not to discuss religion or anything close when I was younger. (I think this was an effort to protect us when we were younger and growing up - kids can be cruel when you're different.) Other than my grandmother taking us to church a few times (Easter twice and maybe Christmas?), I don't think I ever even set foot in a church. I managed to make it through high school without even knowing "the basics," to the point where when someone asked me who the Messiah was, I hesitantly guessed, "Moses?" When I finally did get to Bible study (not a Christian, just observing), I didn't even understand how the chapter and verse numbering system worked.
I wouldn't say I was first interested in the gospel, but in the people who claimed to be following it. It sounds cliche, but it's the truth - there was just something different about them. They weren't just the standard Christian hypocrites I'd come to expect. They were really walking out their faith and believing it whole-heartedly. It blew my mind. I didn't understand how such rational people - some of the smartest people I knew, in fact - could believe what I considered at the time to be a bunch of old fashioned brainwashing.
I attended Bible study for about two years (during which time I started attending church as well), but very much from a distance. It was not something I was personally interested in, just intellectually curious about. It wasn't until I went to Thailand that all of it became real to me, at least the God part. To be honest, that was hard part for me - believing in God. Once I couldn't deny He existed, the rest of it fell into place (although I remember laying in bed, talking to Him many nights, saying, "Please God, I'll do anything but become a Christian.") I was really proud of the fact that I wasn't one of those "Jesus freaks." Luckily, God is great at teaching us how to be humble, and several weeks later, I became a Christian.
My first reaction was panic and dread. How would I tell my parents? How would I tell my family? A lot of people have these really emotional encounters. For me, I felt sick to my stomach and like I'd done something terrible. But I stuck with it. It wasn't a decision I made lightly and it wasn't one I would have made without being ready to fully commit, emotions and feelings aside. Six years later, I can clearly say it has been the best decision I ever made. But it was an uphill battle for awhile there.
For a long time, there was a lot of "box checking" - I read my Bible, I went to church, I went to Bible study, I prayed at night. Check, check, check. It wasn't until I found a church two and a half years later that really introduced me to how Jesus and the Holy Spirit could truly transform your life that I began to understand what had first caught my eye in those friends from college. That "something different" turned out to be the Holy Spirit and His amazing ability to free us from ourselves. It was the first time I think I can actually remember being told that I didn't have to struggle through things, that I wouldn't always get knocked down by the devil. I had power and authority from Jesus, and it was for freedom that He set me free. I was a new creation, and one seated up in Heavenly places - not stuck here with all the craziness and soul-sucking of day-to-day life.
I went to a conference in June of 2014 called Power and Love up in New Jersey. I'd seen a few of the speakers on YouTube/online before, but I'd never witnessed someone getting healed in person. While there, a girl was cured of blindness in one of her eyes. She came up to the front, crying. It's moments like that that complete wreck your normal life. I'd always believed in my head that the Bible was true, but suddenly my heart was on fire for it. I couldn't NOT be part of what God wants to do here on earth. It put a lot of things in perspective.
Can I get a witness? Oh yeah...I just did. This is a small picture of the larger story of Katie's journey to freedom. She could probably write a book about all the amazing ways the Holy Spirit has brought her out of darkness and transferred her to the kingdom of light. (Couldn't we all?) And now I'm proud to report that Katie is definitely a Jesus Freak. #jointheranks #everybody'sdoingit #nohighliketheMostHigh (The hash tags are for you, Katie.)
Just one more story that shows the heart of Jesus. Thank you, Katie, for sharing.
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1).
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