Denise's Story
CHALLENGES OF THE PAST AND PRESENT
“Plant and it will grow” “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Rhema words from the Lord himself)
I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ into my life and got baptised in 1997. Since then, the Holy Spirit has enhanced my awareness of God’s narrow journey to fulfilling his purpose in my life. The Lord has spoken to me through dreams and personally on many occasions. On one particular occasion when the church decided to fast, I decided not to and just wanted to do my own thing. In fact, I actually told someone in the church that I was not going to FAST! The next thing I knew was that I could not even keep anything in my body for three days! I was constantly being sick and vomited each time I tried to eat or drink.
I could not go to work because of I was constantly being sick, instead I stayed in bed and watched TV. On the television there was this particular cartoon about a little boy and his parents. His family were always very negative and never had any confidence in themselves. The boy wanted to plant a seed to produce a pumpkin for a school project. His family constantly told him nothing would happen as nothing ever grew out of their ground.
The boy started to become doubtful if his project would work. He then had a dream and in the dream a `voice from the sky told him to go and get on with his project for school` He leapt out of the bed and planted the seed under the watchful eye of his family who were still being negative.
The boy checked the seed every day to see if anything would grow from the seed he had planted. Day 1 – nothing, day 2, a bud sprang forth, day 3 a leaf, in the next few days, the pumpkin continued to grow and grow and grow until it filled the garden and beyond that there was no room left to manoeuvre its growth.
Then suddenly I heard God’s voice getting louder and louder from the TV set itself saying ‘PLANT AND IT WILL GROW, PLANT AND IT WILL GROW’ PLANT AND IT WILL GROW!’ Totally awestruck I stumbled out of bed and began praising God for his deliverance. I went to church that week on the Sunday and my Pastor said the Holy Spirit is all over you! I knew it was time to get serious about the things of God and stop making excuses.
The spiritual journey in developing a closer relationship with the Almighty has not been easy. I’ve fallen along the way and had to pick myself up again repeatedly. In all this, God has seen and carried me through the stumbling blocks to allow me to have a closer and meaningful relationship with me. In 2001, I strayed from God’s loving arms. Feeling hopeless, one day I sat on my bed and out of nowhere God spoke to me and said ‘“I will never leave you nor forsake you”
I then felt empowered to stay with God no matter what. He has pardoned my transgressions and healed my sicknesses. After 17 years of my spiritual walk with the Lord, I am still finding the pathway challenging at times, but will continue to press forward to the high calling that is in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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