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Praise Reports

 
"Walking By Faith"
Written By Evangelist / Diana Gray
(Your Sister in Christ)
Copyright© 1999,2000 All rights reserved

  Isaiah 1:19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land

    Jeremiah 7:23  But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.

     At one time about 20 years ago, we lived in California near San Francisco, and "God" told me to ask my husband to move to the mid-west.This wasn’t my idea. I didn’t desire to leave the state. My home, friends and family were there, but I heard the voice of God.  The Lord taked to me in a small quite voice after a "vision."  I did not doubt even a little bit that I heard His voice. My husband wasn’t a Christian yet but he knew God, so he said  that we should "think and pray about it."

     Well you know, God said it,  so I started packing up boxes and painting.  I didn’t argue, nag,  or be demanding with my husband. After all, he is the spiritual leader of the home, not me. I just started preparing the house for the move.  With two little tots and a baby, this was a real challenge.  I knew the Lord said that we should go.  It was that strong in me, that powerful.  I knew, that I knew, that I just knew the Lord said move.  I can't explain it any better then that.  The same way the Lord called me to be His Evangelist I heard His voice then.  I was that sure!

     Understand this, my husband is a very "strong willed" gentle heart, but I just trusted the Lord and knew we were going to move. I just knew that I heard from the Lord God, that’s all, I just knew by faith.  You see I have a close relationship with my Jesus.  He’s my friend, my Lord, and if he told me to do something, then I trusted that  he would find the way for us to do it.  I just walked on with a "child like" trusting faith.

     Well, my husband exclaimed when he say the packing going on, "you were not kidding, you really did hear from the Lord.  He saw me quitely painting walls and going through all of the actions to prepare the house for the move. "All right"He said, "if you heard from God then we are moving. I believe God talks to you,---- well  that’s it I’m quitting my job we will make the move." He told me latter that he knew it was the right thing to do.  That he really believed me, when I told him that I heard from the Lord.  You have to understand, my husband is a very smart and wise man.  He is not given to impulsive actions.  He felt that I really did hear from the Lord and knew that we were to do what the Lord said about moving.

     So we left all of our family,--friends,-- home, --neighborhood.  We left everything and everyone behind us.  (I’m crying as I write this letter.)  We had to start a whole new life away from everything and everyone we loved.  Life became strange, and "scary."  We left everything because of what I said to my husband, "God said that we have to move out of California to the mid-west."  You want to talk about faithfully trusting and following the Lord as Abraham did,WOW! To give up our whole way of life.  I didn't want to move anymore, at least not away from my family, but God called.

   This I knew,-- I "did hear the voice of the Lord."  You see, about 1 ½ years later after the house had been sold the rains started to come down in California.  Hard rains and flooding.  Our California house was under "several feet of flood water." We would have "died with our children."  Think about it, we would or could have lost everything, including our very lives.  Furniture, car, kids, us everything that mattered to us could have been lost forever.

     The best part is still to come, after "eleven years" of marriage my husband (at the same time as the flood,) accepted Jesus as his own Lord and Savior.  Our whole family had become a born again Christian family!  Praise God!,   Praise God……The Joy I feel! The deepest desire of my heart was fulfilled that happy day. I so desired a our family to be a solid Christian family going to church to worship the Lord together.  Can you just see the hand of the Lord in all of this?

     "Dear Lord Jesus, you saved my whole family.  How can I ever thank you.  I love you Lord so much."  The Lord does talk to us, if we would only take the time to listen to him.  He saved our lives. Think about it, we are all going to heaven because of hearing and obeying the voice of the Lord.  Praise God!  Praise the Lord! Thank you Jesus!"

     We obeyed the voice of God and started a new life for our family.  Salvation came to all of us through that faithful obedience. When we read and absorb the Lord’s Word deep within us, spiritual growth happens.  When we talk and pray to Him, we begin to get a very close relationship with God.  Jesus becomes more and more real to each day as we grow in our faith and trust of Him.  The reality is, that He is reaching out to us in real love but people have to make the decision, to follow him each and everyday.  Jesus is a gentleman, he won’t push and pull you.  He  just reaches out to you offering you His hand in love.  It’s up to you to accept that loving hand and walk in faith with him.

     When we first accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior we were still dealing with a lot of sins of the world still.  Some people still smoked, drank or did drugs.  Others were still watching sinful movies and talking with a mouth that would shame our grandmothers.  They were not yet free from these things until the Lord could deal with their  sins, one at a time.

     Figure it this way, we were saved but we were still covered with a "black cloth" of sin over us.  As the Lord showed us and convicted us of each and everyone of these sins, white spots began to appear that were clean spots without sin.  We were beginning to clean us our
act, one sin at a time.  After awhile there appeared over us a "white cloth" with black spots representing sins.  We keep cleaning up the sins, one awful sin at a time as the Lord convicts us of them.  This (unfortunately,) we will still be doing until the day we die.  Our lives just keep getting better and cleaner, the closer we get to the Lord. Our faith in accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior saved us, but we have to walk one day at a time cleaning up our act.  By obeying the Lord when he shows and convicts us of our sins, we come closer and closer to the glory of God.

      In other words the closer our relationship gets with the Lord, the more we come in tune to hearing his voice.  By being humble and confessing our sins before the Lord, our lives become rightness with God and we are then able to see ourselves for what we are, his children. We can never be pure and sin free but we can feel his light and wonderful love.  Sin separates us from God, and the more sin we allow the Lord to convict us of (when we have a humble attitude,) the closer we come into his presence.  We must be prepared to sacrifice and obey the Lord God in every area of our lives.

     Faith brings about salvation.  Salvation brings about a hunger to deepen that faith.  As the faith and knowledge in the Lord grows inside us, we begin to hear the voice of God and obedience to his Word draws us closer into the presence of the Lord.  Walking by faith leads us into is presence and closer to the wonderful feeling of his love.

     In the Garden of Eden, Adam tried to hide his sin from God, but once we acknowledge and confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. The feeling of being forgiven of our sins makes us desire to be in his presence.   Have you admitted and confessed our sins? Have you asked Jesus into your heart to be your Lord and Savior You can you know. My finale question is this, what is stopping you if you haven’t asked the Lord into your life?

     Lord Jesus, I’ve been a sinner for as long as I can remember.  I never knew the joy that I could have by accepting you into my life. I know that you hear my prayers.  I need you to be my Savior.

     You have always been there loving me, throughout everything in my life.  Forgive me for all of my sins.  I am so sorry for the way I have acted, and the way that I have behaved towards you and others.  You died on the cross for me.  You loved me that much, how can I ever thank you enough for loving me like that.

     Forgive me for all the things that I have done.  Please come into my life to wash away all of my sins.  I desire eternal life with you. Be my Savior and Lord of all of my life.  I want to be in heaven with you for eternity and feel your love.  I worship you and thank you Jesus, with ever bit of gratitude and love that I can feel towards you. I love you Lord Jesus, with "all of my heart."

 P. S.  I  pray that when you leave this page you have felt an anointing touch of sincere love from Jesus, and that you feel welcomed to come back often.  May the Good Lord Bless you, Amen. In Jesus Christ,  Evangelist / Diana Gray (Your Sister in Christ,)
 
 

    I have many more wonderful stories to share with you. You might want to go back to our web site "Diana Gray Ministries" and check out all of the wonderful teaching about the Lord's Word the Bible.  Here's sites that might be of interest to you.

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