The Testimony of my Christian Experience

For the first twenty-three years of my life I lived just for myself. I was very tempermental and selfish and naturally, quite unhappy. I tried many of the things that life had to offer, but none made me happy for long. What they left me with was a guilty conscience and none ever brought the peace and contentment I sought.

I was raised in church, but it didn't effect me much and as soon as I went away to college, church was one of the very first things to go. After a few years of living just to please myself, a good friend invited me to church. I went to a few services and then I finally met the Lord and my life was radically changed!

After I first met the Lord and was saved my life was so different and in many ways it was changed completely but I still stubbornly resisted giving God complete control of my life. I was afraid that He would call me to be a preacher and that was something that I decided I didn't want to be. For several years I struggled and my whole religious experience was up and down like riding a small boat in a big storm.

I gradually drifted farther and farther from the Lord until I was completely away from Him. Several times I tried to get back with the Lord, but to no avail, I realize now that I was trying on my own ability to make peace with Him. I had come to a point of doubting that I would ever have a right relationship with Him. Then, on January 11, 2009, I was in a church service in Lawrence County, Tennessee, and before the preaching had ever begun, the Lord spoke to me, He said, "The Door is Open, Come in!" It wasn't an audible voice, but I heard it as loudly as if it had been. I said, "Yes, Lord," and my life has been totally changed ever since, truly the old things have passed away, and all things have become new! Praise the Lord!

                                                                  ..Dave

Do you have peace in your heart?
Do you know that your sins are forgiven?
If you were to die today, do you have the assurance of spending eternity in heaven?
Only thru a relationship with God can you truly answer yes to all these questions.
If you cannot truly answer yes, please read on.

Dear Friends, we are all sinners before a Holy God.

We were born sinners because our ancestor, Adam, sinned, that was not our fault, but his sin placed the curse of sin on each of his descendants.
(Romans 5:12 NKJV) Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned;

But each of us has willingly sinned in our lives, also.
(Romans 3:10 NKJV) As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one;
(Romans 3:23 NKJV) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

God is a Holy God, sin cannot come into His presence. People who are carrying the guilt of sin cannot enter into His presence, which means we could never enter heaven, where God is. Because of sin we carry the curse of death with us and because sin can never enter the presence of God, we are doomed to the place of eternal death which is hell.
(Romans 6:23 NKJV) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

There is no way which we can cleanse ourselves of sin. There are no good-deeds or righteous acts we can do which
will provide a remedy for our sin or remove our sin.
(Isaiah 64:6 NIV) All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

Knowing our situation, yet wanting for us to have a relationship with Himself, God provided a way for us to be made righteous. He sent His Only Son, Jesus, to live on this earth, just like one of us, but without sin. He came willingly to live and then die, to lay down His life so that sinners, like us, could have a way to be seen as righteous, to become righteous, before God. Since we had no way to earn righteousness before God, He provided a way, through Jesus.
(Isaiah 53:6 NKJV) All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him (Jesus) the iniquity (sin) of us all.
(Romans 5:8 NKJV) But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
(John 3:16 NKJV) "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
(2 Peter 3:9b NKJV) (The Lord is)... not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
(John 14:6 NKJV) Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
(Acts 4:12 NKJV) "Nor is there salvation in any other (than Jesus), for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
(Romans 10:9-10 NKJV) ... if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
(Romans 10:13 NKJV) For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved."
(Acts 2:21 NKJV) And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved.'
(John 5:24 NKJV) "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
(John 20:31 NKJV) but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.
(Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV) For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
(1 John 5:10-13 NKJV) He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

God does not want any of us to spend eternity in hell, He wants for each of us to spend eternity in heaven with Him. He has provided the way that we can be right with Him, but He will not force it upon us. The price has been paid by Jesus, salvation is a free gift, we can not earn it, but we must accept it. We accept it by putting our faith and trust in Jesus and the sacrifice He made by His death and resurrection, not believing that we can be "good enough" any other way. When we accept Jesus' Sacrifice by placing our faith and trust in Him, then God sees us as being without sin and able to be in His presence.

If you have never invited Jesus to come into your heart and to save you from your sins and make you righteous before God, I invite you to pray this prayer now.

O God, I know that I am a sinner. I am sorry for my sins. I know that I cannot save myself, nor earn my salvation. I believe that Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood to save me from my sins. I know that Jesus can save me, and that He is the only one who can save me. In the best way I know how, I ask Jesus to come into my heart and save me now.
Amen

Friend, if you have prayed this prayer and placed your faith and trust in Jesus, by the authority of the Scriptures,
you are now a child of God!
(Romans 8:1-2 NKJV) There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

Some things you should do:
I would like to hear from you, to share your new-found faith and put you on my list of those I pray for. If you have questions I will be glad to try to help you find the answers.
(Send e-mail to David E. Austill:dave@austillfamilygenealogy.com) 

 NKJV = New King James Version of the Bible                          NIV = New International Version of the Bible

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