My Testimony

I thought I would rudely interrupt this section with sharing my testimony!
I've just got back from a youth leaders conference with the other guys and girls who lead our youth group at Beacon.  It was an AMAZING weekend!  We had a really great time and God really moved.

So it seems appropriate that this week's blog should be a testament to the God who changed my life forever.

I’m a Christian, I committed my life to Jesus at a really young age.  I have no doubts that I knew what I was doing; I had grown up in a Christian family, both sets of my grandparents were Christians and I had attended church since I was born.

I knew that although I had this lifestyle, it didn’t make me a Christian.  I knew that God’s salvation was for those who believed in Him in their own hearts, not from what others might believe.

I knew who Jesus was and that I wanted to follow Him.  I can honestly tell you that it was the best thing I have ever done in my whole life.  I can tell you now that there is no one in the whole world who I love and will ever love more. 

Since I made that commitment, I have grown up knowing God’s hand on my life all the time.  That might sound strange to some of you, as obviously you can’t feel a physical hand on your shoulder all the time, telling you where to go and what to do!  But in His own way, He has been my guide through all the important parts of my life, like moving schools, career choices, where I went to university, and deaths of people I love, lost friendships, tough times, and a huge number of happy times!  He has really guided me and I am learning to listen to Him and hear His voice more.  God is my rock.  I am nothing without Him.  

I’m not someone who’s had a really tough life, but I have faced challenges and difficulties.  But throughout all the change that I have faced, I’ve always had a Rock that has NEVER changed and never will change. 

I believe that Jesus is the Son of God; that He came to earth as a baby, miraculously given to Mary and Joseph to bring up and look after.  I believe that He died, on a cross, as a sacrifice for the sin of the world.  He was PERFECT, one who knew no sin, but died the kind of death I should.  But He didn’t just die; He rose again and now reigns over everything.  Through His death, He made a way for me to come to the Father in confidence, knowing that I can be forgiven for EVERY SINGLE wrong thing I do in my life and when I die, I will live forever in Heaven with Him.  

I am FOREVER forgiven – not just for today, or for what I did last week, but FOREVER.  This is a complete gift of grace.  I can’t earn it; I don’t deserve it and will never, ever be able to repay it.  But I have accepted it and I live knowing the presence of the Holy Spirit, God’s gift to Christians, given to us when He ascended to Heaven. 

Because of His sacrifice, I want to live my life to glorify Him, that others might know who He is through how I live my life.  It’s not always been easy; I have struggled at times but it is not in God’s nature to be unfaithful and He has always been faithful to me.

“Oh that the world might taste and see, the riches of His grace!  The arms of love that compass me would all mankind embrace.”

Charles Wesley