cont`d...Jesus, Get Me Out of Here!
Then I stood up in the middle of my living room, looked up crying and lifted my hands to heaven and screamed as loud as I could,
"JESUS, GET ME OUT OF HERE. I DON'T WANT TO BE HERE ANYMORE. I'M SORRY FOR WHATEVER IT IS THAT I HAVE DONE TO MAKE YOU SEND ME TO HELL. I AM SO SORRY, PLEASE FORGIVE ME. JESUS, THEY SAID THAT IF I CALL ON YOU, YOU WOULD SAVE ME. THEY SAID THAT IF I CONFESS YOU AS LORD AND SAVIOR THAT YOU WOULD COME INTO MY LIFE. JESUS, GET ME OUT OF HERE, I BELIEVE YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE THAT CAN SAVE ME. I BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE THE SON OF GOD. I BELIEVE YOU DIED FOR ME AND WAS RAISED UP. I CONFESS WITH MY MOUTH THAT YOU ARE THE LORD AND I BELIEVE WITH MY WHOLE HEART. PLEASE, FORGIVE ME. PLEASE SAVE ME."
Needless to say, by this time I was on the floor. I stopped crying, got up and sat down in the chair. I noticed something was different. I wasn't laughing or filled with joy at that moment but what I noticed was that for the first time in my life the noise in my head stopped. All of the confusion was gone. It was just quiet. I don't know how else to explain it.
Suddenly I heard a different voice than the one I had been listening to. He said, "He's a liar." I sat up and said, "What?" and He said again, "He's a liar, everything he has told you is a lie." I thought about it for a moment and said, "Wait a minute, if he's a lie, then I'm not in hell. If he's a lie, then I'm not already dead. If he's a lie, then my life isn't over, it's just beginning."
I stood up, angrier than I've ever been, I yelled, "Satan!!! You are a liar, everything you have taught me is a lie. I gave you my life as a child and it wasn't my life to give you. I'm taking it back and it belongs to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. You get out of my house, get out of my life, get out of my daughter's life, get out of my job, my friends, my finances. You get out now, in the name of Jesus, you are no longer honored here or welcomed. OUT!!!
I sat back down dazed, or totally amazed is more like it. I have never experienced anything like this in my life. I immediately took vacation because I really needed time off. I had no idea what had happened to me. It wasn't until about a month later that I realized I was saved.
I heard people talking about it but experiencing it was a whole other ball game. All I knew was I was not the same. I spent the whole morning standing in the kitchen, looking out the window to the sky and I kept singing the "Alleluia" song. It was all I knew. I just keep singing and crying. Finally my daughter came home. She asked if I needed anything and I called her to me. I just looked at her, started crying again, and said, "He's alive!!! He's alive!!!"
She asked, "Who's alive?"
I said, "Jesus. Jesus is alive -- He's not dead, He's not just a story or someone in history. He is really alive!!!"
She looked at me with a very puzzled look and said, "Sure mom, whatever!!!"
I told her, "Listen to me. If you never listen to anything else I say, listen and believe this, EVERYTHING I have taught you is a lie, EVERYTHING. I was so wrong and have lied to you all your life. What I said about Christians was wrong. What I taught you about crystals, psychics, spirits, ghosts, and master-teacher guides was a lie. The only truth is Jesus."
She thought I really went over the deep end and asked to go back to her friend's house. I spent every moment I could reading the bible. It was so exciting and every word seemed to come to life. The Lord ministered to me in such a marvelous way.
Shortly there after my daughter gave her life to Jesus and is such a blessing to me. She examined me carefully at first and saw that it wasn't just a temporary thing or a fad. She saw a new mom.
Within a couple of months after being saved I had the chance to talk to Murph. I told him what happened and he truly rejoiced with his whole heart. He just kept saying, Praise the Lord, thank you Jesus. A few months later he went home to the Lord.
One more thing, about my Buddhist altar...
One day I was cleaning out all my "junk" which included digging up the crystals I had buried around my house. We went through and threw out everything, crystals, tarot cards, wands, books, stones, chimes, bells, candles, and everything else. I got to my altar in the closet and the Lord told me to leave it there. I questioned Him, thinking it wasn't Him, but there was no doubt... it was Him. So I left it alone.
About three months later for days I kept hearing, "Not by power, not by might, but by My spirit." I didn't understand what He meant.
Then one day I was in my kitchen and the Lord said to me, "Recall the altar."
I said, somewhat startled, "What?"
He said, "Recall the altar. Give it back."
I told Him I would throw it away but He said to give it back. I told Him I would send it to my mom's and again He said give it back. I told Him I didn't know where to take it. He just said, "Take it back to where you received it!"
To make a long story short, I found the church in Dallas where it had come from. I called to find out when I could come and entered into a conversation with a man. After much debate I told him to tell me where to bring it or I'll just throw it in the dumpster. He asked my name, I told him, and he told me his name. He just happened to be the man that was the head of the church in San Francisco, where I grew up, that taught me there was no Jesus Christ. He had been transferred to the Dallas headquarters. Well, bless God, I about fell out my chair. I knew it was the Lord.
I took the altar to him. As I started to park next to the only car in the parking lot, the Lord said, "No, not here."
So I went all the way around and ended up parking nose to nose with this car. I got out of the car and as I approached the building I recognized the man immediately. He was talking to three other people who were evidently going to lunch. As they walked off, I introduced myself to him and he then tried to stop the other three people. I headed to my car and was at my trunk while the three people were getting in to their car in front of me.
He yelled to them, "Wait, don't go. This is the lady I told you about." They smiled and waved at me and proceeded to get in their car.
He yelled, "No. Wait. She is the one that wants to return her gohonzon. This is the lady I wanted you to see."
They stood at their doors smiling, waving and congratulating me. They said they are so happy for me and hoped to get a chance to talk to me sometime.
He stomped his feet, waved his arms and said, "Don't you hear me? Don't you understand me? She's bringing it BACK."
They smiled, waved again, got in their car and drove away. We both just stood there. He as completely baffled and I was awe struck.
We went inside and asked many questions. He asked me if people came to my house and left literature.
I said no.
He asked if I had friends that were talking to me about Christianity.
I said, "You don't understand, when I became a Christian, I lost every single one of my friends."
He asked if I had a husband or boyfriend that converted me. I said no.
I finally told him, "You don't understand, Jesus Christ Himself came into my living room in Grand Prairie, Texas and touched me."
I was right, he didn't understand. Then he asked me what religion I was. I told him I didn't understand the question because I didn't know what the religions were or what they meant. He asked if I was Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, etc. I kept answering no to all my choices.
He asked, "OK, then tell me what kind of church you attend."
I said, "The kind that loves Jesus."
I apologized for being so difficult but explained that I just didn't understand. He said I must belong to something. I said, "Well, all I know is He's alive and He came in to my living room and saved my life. I have read my bible and the only religion I found was the body of Christ and if I must belong to something I guess you could say I am a member of the body of Christ."
Right at that moment the Lord said to me, "Not by power, not by might, but by My Spirit you were saved. Let this be your testimony."
My life has never been the same!!! Praise the Lord!!! I thank the Lord Jesus for never forgetting me. I really was a horrible sinner yet He didn't forget me or leave me behind. In spite of everything I have done, He has forgiven me. I'm still amazed and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't give thanks that He remembered me and saved me.
There is rarely a day that goes by that I don't share my testimony with someone. Jesus truly is the most precious thing I have. Without him I know that I am dead. It's only because of Him that I have life and truly do have it more abundantly.
You can write to Linda Laine at
Linda@dosis-ministries.org.