Luke 15:4-7 - The Lost Sheep
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“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance" (Luke 15:4-7).
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The Parable of the Lost Sheep is one which is close to my heart for reasons you may wish to read below.
I often chuckle when I read the Biblical accounts of God's children being likened metaphorically to 'sheep' (e.g. the Parable above; Psalm 23, etc) because like sheep, we too can be stubborn, prone to wandering... plus we are often hungry! I know this most definitely describes me! ;D
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I hope you enjoy reading my testimony of coming to faith in God.
Personal testimony
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I often chuckle when I read the Biblical accounts of God's children being likened metaphorically to 'sheep' (e.g. the Parable above; Psalm 23, etc) because like sheep, we too can be stubborn, prone to wandering... plus we are often hungry! I know this most definitely describes me! ;D
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I hope you enjoy reading my testimony of coming to faith in God.
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One evening 20+ years ago, I called out to God to show me if He really existed - and if He did - "Did He actually care about us?" As far as I was concerned, God seemed distant and uninterested in mankind; however, if He was real, I wanted Him to show me; plus I also wanted to know why He seemed so distant from us. My father died suddenly of a heart attack a few years prior to this, and I believe it was his sudden and unexpected death which brought me face-to-face with the brevity of life plus a search for answers.
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Up until this point in time, I knew 'about' God from what I had been taught in primary and Sunday School many years prior; however, by His grace, I would learn that it is possible to go beyond 'knowing about God' to 'knowing Him personally as 'friend'... and 'Saviour'.
A handsome lad caught my eye but someone else captured my heart!
About a week after I called out to God, a couple of Faith Mission students came to our village and set up Gospel meetings. Strangely enough, I found myself wanting to go along to find out what these meetings were about (and because one of the students was a really handsome guy I admit)!!! However, during the meeting, I forgot all about the good looking guy and found myself drawn to what his co-worker was speaking about instead!
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As the student began to expound from the Bible - what he said made sense and explained why I was feeling as I did. For the first time in my life, I realised that God seemed distant because sin separates Him from us (see Isaiah 59:2). Sin includes anything from telling lies (even 'little white lies') to something as despicable as murder, and therefore no one is sinless and perfect in the sight of a Holy God (except Jesus that is). What's more, the Bible teaches that: "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23a), i.e. our sin brings death - both spiritually and physically. Now all this seems to spell out 'hopelessness' with a capital 'H'!
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So where do we go from here?
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Well, for starters, God doesn't want us to work our way into His favour via 'good works' which many good and sincere people believe. Whilst salvation should spur us on to do good works out of love for God, good works are by no means the prerequisite re: obtaining salvation from sin (see Ephesians Chapter 2). Neither does God want us to try to become 'perfect' as gods in an attempt to earn salvation which likewise many good and sincere people believe. All such false teachings reject God's only way of salvation, i.e. Jesus, choosing instead to attempt that which is impossible to obtain, let alone maintain and putting immense pressures upon people which God never intended us to have. Instead, the Bible teaches that we only need accept that we are sinners, repent of our sin [to God], and believe that Jesus died as our sin atonement. Yes, Jesus' yoke is easy and His burden is light unlike the burdensome teachings of the 'religious Pharisees' and 'false prophets' - the likes of which are still around today.
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As the student began to expound from the Bible - what he said made sense and explained why I was feeling as I did. For the first time in my life, I realised that God seemed distant because sin separates Him from us (see Isaiah 59:2). Sin includes anything from telling lies (even 'little white lies') to something as despicable as murder, and therefore no one is sinless and perfect in the sight of a Holy God (except Jesus that is). What's more, the Bible teaches that: "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23a), i.e. our sin brings death - both spiritually and physically. Now all this seems to spell out 'hopelessness' with a capital 'H'!
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So where do we go from here?
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Well, for starters, God doesn't want us to work our way into His favour via 'good works' which many good and sincere people believe. Whilst salvation should spur us on to do good works out of love for God, good works are by no means the prerequisite re: obtaining salvation from sin (see Ephesians Chapter 2). Neither does God want us to try to become 'perfect' as gods in an attempt to earn salvation which likewise many good and sincere people believe. All such false teachings reject God's only way of salvation, i.e. Jesus, choosing instead to attempt that which is impossible to obtain, let alone maintain and putting immense pressures upon people which God never intended us to have. Instead, the Bible teaches that we only need accept that we are sinners, repent of our sin [to God], and believe that Jesus died as our sin atonement. Yes, Jesus' yoke is easy and His burden is light unlike the burdensome teachings of the 'religious Pharisees' and 'false prophets' - the likes of which are still around today.
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Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but by me." (John 14:6).
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This is how much the Father loves us:
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This is how much the Father loves us:
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For God so loved the world that He sent His only son so that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
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Friday 13th!
That night, Friday, 13th November 1986, I gave my life to God, repented of my sin, and accepted that I could not earn salvation; I thanked God that Jesus atoned for my sin when He died on the cross. As as a result, I was 'born again' i.e. I had a 'spiritual' birth/ awakening to the things of God. God satisfied my questioning spirit, and gave me a deep inner peace which removed all doubt I had previously that perhaps He didn't exist or care. The Bible speaks of this peace in John 14:27: "Peace I give unto you, not as the world gives unto you however; let not your heart be troubled, neither be afraid." I had drunk from many of the worlds 'broken cisterns' prior to this night, but nothing I have ever experienced comes anything like close to matching the deep contentment which God's peace gives the soul. It's amazing.
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"What on earth are they talking about?"
That night, Friday, 13th November 1986, I gave my life to God, repented of my sin, and accepted that I could not earn salvation; I thanked God that Jesus atoned for my sin when He died on the cross. As as a result, I was 'born again' i.e. I had a 'spiritual' birth/ awakening to the things of God. God satisfied my questioning spirit, and gave me a deep inner peace which removed all doubt I had previously that perhaps He didn't exist or care. The Bible speaks of this peace in John 14:27: "Peace I give unto you, not as the world gives unto you however; let not your heart be troubled, neither be afraid." I had drunk from many of the worlds 'broken cisterns' prior to this night, but nothing I have ever experienced comes anything like close to matching the deep contentment which God's peace gives the soul. It's amazing.
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"What on earth are they talking about?"
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A few days later, the students gave me a Bible and told me to mark any verses that I thought God was speaking to me through. I wondered: "What on earth are they talking about?" but took the Bible home and read it in bed that night. I read the parable of the Lost Sheep (Luke Chapter 15: 2-7) and was drawn to read and re-read these verses a number of times before I finally fell asleep.
God-incidence!
The next night, I went along to another Gospel meeting and guess what they were preaching about? That's right - The Parable of the Lost Sheep! I told the students what I was reading the previous night and they looked at each other and no wonder! They explained that they were booked to have their mission meetings in another town elsewhere in the shire (i.e. Inverness-shire) but somehow the building where they were due to hold their Gospel meetings in was double-booked forcing them to look elsewhere... Just as Jesus went looking for the Lost Sheep in the parable, He came looking for another lost sheep - so to speak - i.e. me! God's Word teaches that "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord" (Psalm 37:23) and I believe that He certainly ordered the steps of these 2 students... i.e. He led them from one town (Ft William) all the way back to a small village (Ballachulish) to find a lost sheep.
A few days later, the students gave me a Bible and told me to mark any verses that I thought God was speaking to me through. I wondered: "What on earth are they talking about?" but took the Bible home and read it in bed that night. I read the parable of the Lost Sheep (Luke Chapter 15: 2-7) and was drawn to read and re-read these verses a number of times before I finally fell asleep.
God-incidence!
The next night, I went along to another Gospel meeting and guess what they were preaching about? That's right - The Parable of the Lost Sheep! I told the students what I was reading the previous night and they looked at each other and no wonder! They explained that they were booked to have their mission meetings in another town elsewhere in the shire (i.e. Inverness-shire) but somehow the building where they were due to hold their Gospel meetings in was double-booked forcing them to look elsewhere... Just as Jesus went looking for the Lost Sheep in the parable, He came looking for another lost sheep - so to speak - i.e. me! God's Word teaches that "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord" (Psalm 37:23) and I believe that He certainly ordered the steps of these 2 students... i.e. He led them from one town (Ft William) all the way back to a small village (Ballachulish) to find a lost sheep.
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The early days
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The early days
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During the first few days of becoming a Christian, God most definitely showed me that His Word is alive and active (as described in 2 Timothy 3:15) and also that He answers those who call upon Him in truth (i.e. those who are genuinely sincere and want to know Him - see Romans 10:13). God confirmed all such through each of the following:
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1 The passage I read in my Bible about the Lost Sheep (Luke 15:1-7) which for some reason, I kept being drawn back to read and re-read numerous times.
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2 The way that God confirmed that He was highlighting this particular Bible passage to me when the following night, one of the Bible students gave a message from this same passage of the Bible (i.e. Luke 15:1-7). And before you say "Coincidence" - have you seen how many chapters there are in the Bible? Not to mention that there are often 2 or 3 different subjects sometimes within just one chapter!
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3 The double-booked hall which forced the students to re-direct their steps elsewhere to hold their Gospel campaign... and how in the end, the only location they could secure in the whole shire at this particular time was the village hall (which happened to be just up the road from my home). Such is the grace and mercy of God when He can direct the paths of His children to cross that of a lost sheep who has called upon Him seeking truth.
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Superstition!
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One other thing I would like to add to my testimony is that prior to becoming a Christian, I was very superstitious. I asked Jesus into my life on Friday, 13th November 1986 and have never been bothered by superstition in any shape or form since. I find it interesting that God chose a day which personified superstition with regards to everyday, familiar-to-most 'rituals', e.g. 'touching wood'; doing things in a certain order to prevent something negative / bad from happening, etc, in order to free me from such demonic 'lies' and strongholds in my mind. Furthermore, I praise my Saviour that just as He broke many satanic bonds in the lives of people hundreds of years ago - He still does today!
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Superstition!
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One other thing I would like to add to my testimony is that prior to becoming a Christian, I was very superstitious. I asked Jesus into my life on Friday, 13th November 1986 and have never been bothered by superstition in any shape or form since. I find it interesting that God chose a day which personified superstition with regards to everyday, familiar-to-most 'rituals', e.g. 'touching wood'; doing things in a certain order to prevent something negative / bad from happening, etc, in order to free me from such demonic 'lies' and strongholds in my mind. Furthermore, I praise my Saviour that just as He broke many satanic bonds in the lives of people hundreds of years ago - He still does today!
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And so, if anyone reading this testimony finds themselves unsure what to believe - I challenge you to ask God to show you if He is real! If you are willing to seek God with all your heart, then I am convinced He will show you His Truth. God's Word promises that He will be found by those who "diligently seek Him" (see Proverbs 8:17). I am personally confident of this because I sincerely called out to God one night and within a week, He led me to into a relationship with Himself and a completely new life. What's more, He will do the same for you... His Word tells us:
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"Call unto me and I will answer you and tell you great
and unsearchable things you do not know."
(Jeremiah 33:3)
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"Whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
(Romans 10:13)
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4 comments:
Wonderful testimony! So glad you've shared. Praise the Lord for His divine intervention!
Wendy, this is a beautiful testimony! I don't believe in coincidence either. God works all things together in ways only He can work.
Thanks for visiting my blog today. I'm so glad you've decided to follow through the study with us! I pray it will be a blessing to you! (If you'd like to be added to the email list for the study, just send me an email.)
In Christ,
Laura
Your testimony is amazing. The scripture from Jeremiah ...call to me etc etc was the verse given to me at my baptism in 1984............
By the way I live in the next county to you.....Moray!
Many blessings
Perhaps you would like to visit my other blog:
www.anniesgracefulwords.blogspot.com
Love and hugsannie xx
Loved reading your testimony. Thanks so much for sharing. A lot of my conversations with God went so much the same way. Show me if you're real and you care. And He has.
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