From: jwinfo@www.westside.k12.ca.us (Joe Walker Middle School)
To:
Subject: my experience with God

I'd grown up in the AME church. I knew the Bible quite well because we were required by our parents to memorize scriptures, but, even so, at the age of 32, I realized something was still missing from my life.

While stationed in Greece, one night after Bible Study, a young couple gave me a tape of Praise and Worship songs. I was told to listen to the songs each night before I went to bed. I tried to listen to them for three nights, but, I couldn't stand them!

One night, while sitting in my dining room, I opened my Bible to the 18th chapter of Jeremiah, and began reading at the first verse. When I completed the sixth verse, I felt something on my arm. When I looked, I saw there was a black, slimy substance all over my arms and hands! Immediately, I KNEW the substance was SIN! I tried to scrape it off, but each time I tried, it simply oozed back into place.

I screamed, "Lord, I'm so full of sin, I know you can never love me!"

I got up and ran over to the window. I lived above a small restaurant. Looking out the window, I realized that if I jumped out (even on my head), I'd only hurt myself--not kill myself.

At that precise moment, I felt two arms embrace me and pull me back into the chair where I'd been sitting. I felt so ashamed, I didn't even want to look at the Bible again, but I felt compelled to do so.

When I did, I saw that the pages had been turned to Psalm 104.

As I read that passage of scripture, I had to stop at the end of verse twelve where I read, "as far as the east is from the west, so far have I removed thy transgressions from thee."

At that moment, I wept sorely, and asked God to forgive me of my sins. I asked Him to come into my heart and be Lord and Master of my life. After I'd spent more than an hour confessing my sins before the Lord, I came to myself. I was lying on the floor (prostrate), and I knew without a shadow of doubt, that my name had been written in the Lamb's Book of Life!

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