ON CHRIST
THE SOLID ROCK I STAND

      My prayer for anyone that reads this testimony is that you will realize that Jesus is real.  I believe you are reading these testimonies because the Holy Spirit Himself is guiding you and is letting you know that God has a plan for your life.  It is up to you to feel after Him, the Bible says. No one can argue with the fact that all of mankind has a problem.  We are imperfect.  The Bible has the only answer that makes any sense of our existence.  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and called them good.  Because our first parents sinned, all humanity was plunged into sin, and all of creation became subject to death.  The Bible is true; the soul that sinneth will surely die.  Adam and Eve died and now we all die.  So here is the dilemma; how can unholy man with his sin nature come into the presence of an
all-powerful, holy, sinless God?  The answer is that we cannot, apart from the blood of God's son, Jesus.
     I can remember having a longing to be perfect.  I didn't know it at the time but I was in what Jesus said was a lost condition.  Had I died in that condition, without Christ, I would have most certainly lifted my eyes up in Hell.  I was just 14 years old when my older sister was saved.  She was a changed person and that really rubbed me wrong.  I made fun of her but while I made fun of her I also felt in my heart that she had something that I didn't.  I had been raised in the Presbyterian denomination.  I had joined the church and was sprinkled.  I can remember thinking to myself that nothing had “changed” about me.  The Holy Spirit was speaking to my heart.  Being lost is feeling incomplete and longing for God.  We were created to have fellowship with our Creator, the Bible says, so this makes sense.   I can remember saying to God, just show me the Truth.  He answered that prayer.  At that time I hadn't even heard the word saved, but the moment my sister told me I needed to be saved condemnation pricked my heart.  I knew she had told the truth. The truth was there was something wrong with me that I couldn't do anything about.  The truth is there is something wrong with everybody on this earth. We were born in a sinful condition.  God had to do something to buy us back.  He had a plan before the earth was ever made, the Bible says.  That plan was to send Jesus to be the bridge to bring us back to Him.  Without Christ none of us would ever have an opportunity to come into His presence.  How much God loves us!
    I can remember the night that I was saved.  I went to a revival service at an Assembly of God church in O’Fallon where my sister had attended.  I had no preconceived notions. I couldn't tell you what the preacher preached that night but no doubt he said the same thing I had heard before and believed in my heart - that we are sinners by nature and need to be forgiven by God.  I cant tell you much else except that there was an altar call and I knew I had to go.  My heart started pounding in my chest.  I felt ashamed and guilty before God.  The Bible talks about God drawing us.  What He is doing is telling us that we are guilty before Him and that He wants to rescue us.  I know this is real because I felt this loving draw myself.  I felt afraid and nervous but within myself I didn't have the courage to go to the altar.  A lady from the church must have seen my sad  face and came
over to where I was to share a verse with me.  “Today is the day of salvation.”  She encouraged me to go pray,  which was what I needed, and I went to the altar to pray.  I can remember there were people praying around me.  I was kneeling and asking Jesus to forgive me.  I remember I was earnest.  I really believed Jesus had the power to deliver me and I prayed to Jesus.   Some people came by and patted me on the back.  I could feel their compassion for me.  Then it seemed like there was a little place where things went fuzzy and after that I didn't feel a burden anymore.  Frankly, I didn't know what had happened. I had never seen anyone saved before. I had no idea what to expect which is evidence to me that this experience was indeed real and not something I had made up. The preacher there asked me if I had been saved and I said I thought I was, and then said I knew I was.  At that moment I felt a sense of well-being that I cannot describe.  Salvation
is a joy that, like the Bible says, is unspeakable and full of glory.  It is a supernatural feeling.  I was free.  I was that new creature the Bible talks about.  I had a smile on my face that would not go away.  The saints were rejoicing.  For you that are saved and reading this, you know what I am talking about.  God alone performs this miracle.  Man has nothing to do with it.  No man can give you a prayer to say.  You have to say your own prayer to our wonderful High Priest Himself, Jesus the Christ.  Go straight to Jesus.
    That is why I love God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  I know that I do not love Him like I should or even can in this fleshly body.  I do know that God loves me and gave Himself for me, as the apostle Paul said.  There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God, the Bible says.  God is love - real, true and perfect.  He makes us perfect on the inside for all of eternity.  If only all of mankind would come to Him and be saved. Salvation is more than shaking the preacher's hand and joining the church.  It is more than just believing in the head.  The Bible declares very clearly that unless we repent we will all perish.  Jesus cannot tell a lie and He said that the scripture cannot be broken.  Any contradictions that appear in the Bible are “apparent”.  The problem is not the Bible but our incomplete knowledge about the Bible.  It has been around for centuries.  No one has disproved it's accuracy and no one will.  It is our own misunderstanding that is in error.
    Believe the Holy Spirit as He speaks in your heart.  You must be born again.  If you do not know how you stand in His eyes, ask God to show you and He will.  Then you will have an experience you, too, can tell someone about.  You will have your own time and place as we Missionary Baptists say.
    May our Lord and Savior receive glory and honor forever more.   

Linda Kearbey