Born Again

I always knew God loved me. I think most people do on some level. I didn’t think there was a way to find out about more about Him though. How could a person know which religion was right? Then I rented a house from a woman named Olive and she had answers to all my questions.

Our conversations started because I found myself feeling guilty whenever I was around her and I didn’t know why. I’d replay our conversations in my head, but there was nothing she said that would make me feel guilty.

So I was curious. I knew she was a Christian and approachable. I knew all the arguments against Christianity, so I started asking her questions based on what I believed. She answered all of my questions using the Bible. I was amazed that the Bible had these answers. Olive told me that the Bible said I was a sinner. I figured I wasn’t any worse than anyone else I knew, so I had a hard time believing that. I prayed with her, and in my prayer I asked God to show me whether or not the things the Bible said were true. I wanted to know.

A year went by and it was an amazing year. The Lord intervened over and over again in my life. I’ll write more on that later.

On New Years Eve, 1977, as I was reading a pamphlet on prophecy by Tim LaHaye, I found myself disagreeing with him and the way he was using the Scriptures. I was searching my Bible to verify what he wrote and suddenly, like a door opened, I recognized God’s voice in there.

Have you ever had a letter from someone you love? Then you know what I mean. You don’t have to see the signature on the letter, because you recognize the voice of the person through what they write. The God I knew since I was a child wrote the Bible, I recognized that. I recognized the Master’s voice in His Word.

It was New Years Eve, 1977, then it was New Years 1978. I didn’t notice when midnight came. But that night my whole world had become new.

And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. – Rev 21:5