Luke 4:4:
How are you so sure you are not in the wrong church.
Well, at first I could tell that I was in the right place because I simply could not enter into the Real Presence without tears. Copious tears. Sorrow, shame, penitence, love for He who saved me - a terrible sinner. Only when I had confessed my life and recieved absolution did the uncontrollable tears subside. I am still sometimes touched with them, but when I’m not, I still know that the Holy Spirit has found a willing heart in which to dwell. I guess that I don’t need tears to tell me I am home, any more.
Because every time I’ve gone to kneel before the Blessed Sacrament in adoration and devotion to our Lord and Savior, I am showered in graces and His generosity. I’ve had huge shifts in perception and little shifts of perception and a couple of occurences that convicted me. Christ fills me and makes me want to do His will. I leave with joy and praise for God, who is so good!
Because I have spent a lifetime searching and never found this fullness. It answers every question and need. I’ve never known salvation. I certainly never did anything in my life to earn it. But, here it was, handed to me freely. All I had to do was be willing. (And really, it was more like a half-angry, “Oh all RIGHT, already, I’ll look into it!” I am ashamed of how grudgingly I first listened.)
Because I have read and read and read and read… and Lord knows, I have prayed as I have never prayed before in my life. And my prayers have been answered. Thanks be to God!
One of the worst things about my past is that I did not bring my children up as Christians. I began praying every day for the conversion of my children and my husband and my siblings and loved ones to Christianity. One by one, all five of my children are coming to Christ. I am more grateful for their salvation than my own. I continue to pray for all who are not Christians, including those outside my family. But I understand that it not** my** job to bring them along - that is the work of the Holy Spirit. My job so far is only to pray and to be a willing witness to the blessings of Christ, using words if necessary.
Because I have been made to know that God is glad to have me listening and trying to obey. He sees my heart, which was black and heavy with sin and shame, but which He has cleaned and restored and lifted and lightened by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thank you, God!
Because I am at peace for the first time in my life. I am not struggling with religion. There are millions of man-hours spent in authoritatively interpreting Scripture in light of everything that Jesus Christ passed along to his apostles. I don’t have to be my own theologian or historian or linguist. Thank you, God!
I am not my own authority.
What a relief! :bounce:
Because God is just unknowably good and generous! He sent His help to someone like me - the lowliest of sinners. He didn’t want me to be lost. He welcomed me into his flock. Thank you, God!
Because in every trial and trouble, I beg Jesus’ merciful heart for help and help is there. Precious Lord, you know I don’t deserve it, but in your kindness, you have given it to me, anyway.
Because I can barely formulate a question before it is answered.
Because every doubt is gone as soon as I pray. “Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief!”
I can go on, but I’m sure you get the idea. I am exactly where God wants me to be.
Elizabeth