Today I
celebrate 49 years as a Christian. I celebrate God’s love, goodness, mercy and
grace. He alone is worthy to be praised now and forever.
Of the many things that could be said of
the journey of 49 years, I would like to highlight the deep pleasure I have
found in God’s word - the Bible. From a
child I was taught to respect it. At seven years, I could recite Psalm 23 and
early I was given my own KJV Bible.
The
assurance of forgiveness from God and peace with God, came through a Bible
verse – Romans 10.9 “That if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart that God hath
raised Him from the dead , Thou shalt be saved.”
For many years I listened to the Bible read at home,
expounded and preached in Christian gatherings. I am so thankful for the appetite
to read and search, given to me by the Holy Spirit.. At age 16 I left home to
get employment in Sydney and my closest companion was my Bible – and the Lord
revealed to me in the Holy Scriptures. In my spare time, I would spend hours
with a Strong’s concordance pouring over the sacred pages. This was not just an
introvert preoccupation – at 17 , with my brother , we purchased a printing
press and began distributing Bible messages to the unbelievers around us.
As life moved on, I constantly consulted God’s word for guidance
– where to be, who to marry, how to live, what to preach etc. Perhaps more than
anything I was endeared to the book by its constant unveiling of the Lord Jesus
Christ in the Old Testament along with the New
Testament. “to know HIM” was an
ambition implanted in me by the Apostle
Paul as well as other preachers. This has been the most stabilizing and
satisfying thing in those 49 years.
I want to testify that
God has been faithful in good times and bad times. A little plaque hanging on
our bedroom wall has often given strength and hope:
“Trust in the Lord,
He faileth not
and
forsaketh not His saints”
Of all the disappointments of life, God is not a disappointment
and His word is a sure rock for faith and living.
May God bless all my
readers with the same joy of “Knowing HIM”
Philippians 3.10
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