I Have Been Blessed...

Why Hello Blogger World,

I've really neglected my blog once again but a lot has been going on and I just haven't had much time for blogging.  But I'm very excited to be able to come back from my long absence with some very happy news!  God has been so very good to me.  My life has been changed and I will be forever grateful.  As most of you know I have been raised going to a Baptist church for 23 years.  I grew up knowing all the stories of the Bible, I knew who God was, but I didn't know Him as my Heavenly Father.  I had the privilege of going to a Christian school where I was taught how much God loved me, and the value of living a good life in God's will.  I knew that the principles I was taught all my life to be the absolute Truth, and there is no way I could deny them.  I loved the Truth, I loved the idea of being a Christian and wanted it for my own personal life.  I always strove to do what I knew to be right but was always looking for the true meaning of life.  I would constantly be filling up my time, trying to keep busy, trying to keep myself happy, but it would never last very long.  I knew something was missing.  I knew I was not fulfilling the reason I was created.  I knew there was more to life then the way I was occupying my time.  The past few months of my life have been some very trying months and God began to reveal the seriousness of dealing with the reason for my unhappiness, my sin, my lost condition.  I could not put this off any longer.  I could no longer live my life on my own, I needed the Lord's guidance and direction in my life.  I was wasting time, I was wasting all that God had blessed me with, I was wasting my life.  I needed to once and for all apply what I had been taught for so many years to my life.  About a month ago the Lord in His goodness began speaking to my heart like never before.  I could not put off the Holy Spirit pressing my heart that this was the time in my life to make a decision, I was at a crossroads!  I really took seriously what a privilege this was and I was determined to put it off no longer.  The Lord used the verse Is 45:22- "Look unto Me and be ye saved."  to get a hold of my heart and show me my need to just simply trust Christ with my life, my future.  I had gotten to the place where I knew what I was before God, I was lost, nothing good about me in myself.  I knew the best I could do before God would never be enough to get me to Heaven.  Christ was my only hope, my only way to be right with God.  The Lord had done everything that was needed for my salvation and all I needed to do was turn from my sin and trust Him with everything.  He had promised He would save me and I had no reason to doubt Him.  All God has ever done for me has only been good and I owed Him everything.  So, on June 5th I surrendered my life, my will, my heart to the Lord.  And in giving up my life, God has given me more than I could have ever dreamed of.  I have peace in my heart, a reason for living, a joy like never before.  I am determined to live every day for MY Lord, and serve Him all my days.  If only the whole world could know My Heavenly Father; that is my greatest, deepest prayer.  If I could say one thing in closing is that true Christianity is real,  it cannot be made up and it cannot be denied.  The Holy Spirits work in a true believer is unmistakable and it is truly supernatural.  The assurance of knowing you are saved and that you will spend eternity in Heaven with God gives such peace and security there is nothing at all to fear.  With the Lord as my Guide I can live a fulfilling life doing all that God has for me.  I'm very excited for the road ahead.  I will never turn back I can only press forward to bigger and better things.  I have truly found the meaning of life, the reason I was created, to live my life for the Lord.  God is so good, I have been blessed!  Thank you for reading!  Melissa Ann~