ur Experience With The Lord

My Husband

• Salvation: September 3, 1972
• Holy Spirit Baptism: January 14, 1973

Myself

• Salvation: March 24, 1973
• Holy Spirit Baptism: May 6, 1973

My husband was saved (born again) September 3, 1972. While taking some friends on a camping trip, one evening at dinner they began telling us of their commitment to God and how He had blessed them. After dinner my husband walked down to the stream that was near our campsite and began to think about his own situation. He had been raised going to church but never gave his heart to the Lord.

As he thought about their story he knew that they loved the Lord and were saved, but as he compared their story with the things he knew from being raised in a Christian home, one where both parents believed in receiving the fullness of the Holy Spirit as Jesus instructed in the Book of Acts. He realized that he knew so much more about what God expected of us than our friends knew. Yet they were doing the best they knew how and he wasn't even doing what he knew to do. It was that moment that he gave his heart to the Lord and latter that he went to an alter to profess his dedication to God publicly.

After this time he began to read his Bible and God made some big changes in his life. Old habits disappeared and good ones began. As he studied and attended church he began to seek the Lord for the infilling of the Holy Spirit, which he received on January 14, 1973

Since my husband had been raised by Christian parents, that were extremely loving and kind, I felt very fortunate to marry into such a family. I just didn't know the extent of my good fortune and the blessings that would follow in the years to come.

Even though he was really a sweet guy as a sinner the changes after he was saved were remarkable. I told a friend, "I didn't like him going to church all the time but I really didn't want him to go back to the way he was. I didn't know that a really good person could change to be so much better just by going to church. I thought that what had happened to him was such a wonderful thing."

You can tell from the way I talked to her that I knew nothing about salvation even though I went to church all my life. I'm so glad that the Holy Spirit was able to break through that thick wall of sin, wrong teaching and my own conception about how life should be. It was my husband's love for Christ that produced added sweetness to his life that changed my thinking. What he said and how he acted allowed the Holy Spirit to draw me into a place that I wanted what he had. So I started to go to church with him on Sunday mornings.

After church we would always go to dinner at his parents house. This went on for several months although I wasn't saved yet. After dinner we would sit around the dinner table and my husband and father-in-law would talk about religious things. My mother-in-law never said much and I would just listen. The words they used and the type of conversation was strange to me. The church I had gone to never talked this way. The relationship they were having with God seemed so personal from the way I was taught. At my church we didn't have an alter, our pastor did the praying, songs always came from a book and not from the heart, we would repeat written material at different times during many services and water baptism was a few drops placed on the head of the person wanting baptized. It was a little intimidating at first to hear my husband talk because I was so ignorant. However, after a while I started to go to the evening services with him also.

During this time of the Holy Spirit drawing on my heart, most Sunday's after leaving dinner at his parents home we would drive about 45 minutes to my parents home to visit. I really wanted them to hear what my husband had to say in the hope that they would start going to church. They never went themselves but always made sure that all of us kids went.

Finally about six and a half months after my husband's salvation, God moved in a great way for me.

March 24,1973 I had planned that evening to set my mother's hair while my husband went to church. As we were eating dinner at my in-laws, the conversation between my husband and his dad was as usual. But then my mother-in-law, who never said much but was a person who continually praised God daily, spoke. It hit me like a bolt of lightening.

She said, "I heard a man on the radio say the Rapture will be soon" and she gave a future time period.

Well "Rapture" is one of those strange words I learned about. But even though I wasn't ready, not even saved yet, I wasn't afraid. Instead all I could think about was "I only have these few years to work for the Lord". That's an unusual thought response for a sinner to have, but it kept ringing in my head over and over again, which blocked out anything anyone else was saying. I felt like I needed to hold on to the table to keep myself grounded. I began to look for a place in my husband's conversation with his dad that I could break in. I had decided to tell him we had to go so I could get my mom's hair done early because I wanted to go to church with him.

Well the afternoon progressed and the whole day I seemed to be so excited inside that I felt at times I was trembling. I had no idea what was going on with me but I felt great. That evening we went to a small church about an hour's drive away. The service went as usual and when the time came for the alter call I was not aware of anyone around me, not even my husband. I just rushed to the alter.

There was such an overwhelming desire for God in my heart like I had never experienced before. I didn't even know to repent but I cried out my love for the Lord. My heart made such a turn-around that latter while we were eating at the Root-beer Stand I felt like I couldn't get full. So as we ate another hotdog my husband explained that the empty feeling was actually that the weight of sin had been removed and I had receive God's forgiveness. He said that I was now saved (born again). That night changed my life forever. Not everyone feels the freedom of knowing Jesus in this way but never-the-less when they repent they are free. The blood of Jesus washes their sins away, never to be remembered by God again.

As I learned what was in the Bible I found what God's standards are. How he wants me to think, speak and act, which brings blessings and rewards. I no longer blindly accepted the standards of the world that many times bring shame and remorse. I so much wanted the experience of receiving the Holy Spirit also. Each Sunday I was the first one in the alter praising and worshiping Jesus for all he was doing for me, but night after night I went home without receiving. So I pressed in closer to my Lord, Jesus. All I could think about was how much I loved him and how I wanted everything he had for me. It didn't matter at the time where I was or how it would happen, I just wanted to be completely filled with His Spirit. I wanted to totally belong to him, to be guided by him and to please God according to what was in his Word.

Finally the night of receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit had come, although I didn't know it yet. I was so focused on Jesus that when we went to church and one lady said, "Welcome", all I could blurt out was, "I came to get the Holy Spirit". We had gotten there early enough to participate in the prayer before service so everyone went to a room in the basement. As I knelt at a chair to pray my mind seemed empty. Others prayed but it was like Jesus had left me. I looked up a few times as I tried to pray. I saw others deep in the spirit but there seemed like there was nothing there for me to pray about. I couldn't understand when I had been so close to the Lord for months.

As we went up to the sanctuary we sat close to the front. The service proceeded and I was struggling to feel the Lord's presence from beginning to end. When it ended a person asked if she could be prayed for. As the pastor prayed for her and believers laid hands on her. I saw the spirit of the Lord touch her. Then another person asked for prayer and another. Each one was receiving the touch of the Lord and I began to look for something I could go and be prayed for. Finally I thought of some tiny little thing and I turned to my husband and asked if I could go and he encouraged me.

As the pastor and alter workers laid hands on me I felt the presence of the Lord. It overwhelmed me and as I praised Jesus I started to speak in a language that I had never heard from my lips before. It was soft and unsteady and a lady's voice behind me said, "Tell the Lord your not going home without a full infilling". After asking the Lord for more I began to speak fluently and then began to sing in the heavenly language called "tongues". I had never heard anyone sing in tongues before. It was like someone inside me was singing using my voice. I didn't seem to know the words or what they meant, nor did I put forth any effort to make this happen. I became more conscience of what was going on around me but just wanted to press in closer to the Lord. It was such an overwhelming experience. Even on our way home if I opened my mouth this singing came out. It wasn't like my own voice but higher pitched. On May 6, 1973 Jesus had really filled me with his precious Holy Spirit and I was thrilled. The wonderful Holy Spirit has led me and guided my footsteps for years now. He (the Holy Spirit) is our teacher and when we need help He gives us insight and understanding beyond our human abilities. Receiving the Holy Spirit is a necessary part of God's plan for our lives. Having the Holy Spirit living on the inside of us allows Jesus to truly be Lord over our lives in a mighty way.

It's so good to have God's help with insight about situations in our life and what's the right way to handle them. It's good to have someone that you placed in charge of you that knows everything about everything. He knows the blessings for your future and just how to help you move into place to receive them. The more you give yourself to God the more he gives himself to you.

It's because of Jesus that I've had miracles and healing that doctors could not even begin to fix. And as far as the future the Bible explains what's going to happen and how to react to it, which takes away all fear. Asking Jesus into my heart to be my Lord and Savior was the smartest thing I've ever done. I hope if you have not repented of your sins you will go to our Salvation Prayer Page and make Jesus lord of your life. Although God loves everyone, he'll show you his great love in ways like you have never known it before.