There is a story I wish to share with you, one that is not too exciting and one that does not involve sensational events.  A simple story, one that could cause another to pick up his phone to scroll.  There is a story I wish to share with others today and hopefully tomorrow too.  This story is one that occurred when I was a mere teen, fifteen to be exact, one that just happens to be My Story that’s ingrained in my brain, forevermore.

There’s a story I wish to share with you, one that is filled with vivid details burned into my mind and one filled with people, precious people:  Lanny, Emma Lou, Bro. Jim, and another man, whose name regrettably I cannot remember.  There’s a story, a scene actually, that fills my mind, touches my deepest place, and often brings tears to my eyes.

You see, on that day, in this story, someone died.  Yes, that is right—a death, and, well, death has a way of bringing pain.  Dying is painful, especially when it’s your own death.  I know.  Now you are thinking, ‘What in the world is she saying?’  Dying.  How can she be dead and be writing these words today?

• There’s the beautiful hope!
• There’s the miracle!
• There’s the belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ!
• There’s the truth!
• There’s the promise from God!
• There’s the new birth!
• There’s God’s Salvation!

A death to the old me  &  the birth to the new me!

Yesterday, I made a deal with a precious eight-year-old redhead.  ‘Let’s do this,’ I suggested.  ‘Let’s promise to memorize a verse each day for a whole year.  That’s like 365 verses memorized,’ I excitedly exclaimed.  Then, I backed down from that challenge because I got scared inside my head.  Could I really memorize a whole Bible verse EVERY SINGLE DAY for a WHOLE YEAR?!!!

‘Let’s do this instead;’ (I sensibly said, altering my first challenge) ‘let’s commit to memorize one verse each week, and when we get together to visit each week, we can say our verses.’  Yes, that’s a more sensible decision, I proudly thought.  ‘And let’s reward ourselves once in a while when we meet our challenge,’ I also retorted.  ‘You know, give us a reward for our hard work.’

THERE IS A STORY I WISH TO SHARE TODAY.

THERE IS A STORY I WISH TO SHARE TODAY, ONE FILLED WITH TWO KEY PEOPLE.

THERE IS A STORY I WISH TO SHARE TODAY, ONE THAT CONTAINS JESUS & ME.

THERE IS A STORY I WISH TO SHARE TODAY, ONE THAT DEFINES ME, MY LIFE, & MY ETERNITY.

THERE’S A STORY I WISH TO SHARE, TODAY, WITH ANYONE WHO WANTS TO LISTEN.

THERE’S A STORY, ONE FILLED WITH GOD’S GOODNESS & LOVE & MERCY & GOD’S AMAZING GRACE!

THERE’S A STORY, YES, TRULY IT IS THE STORY OF THE DAY GOD SAVED MY SOUL!

There is a story, a true story I need to tell over and over and over and over and over . . . because someone needs to hear my story—how God saved my soul!!!

THERE’S A STORY EACH CHILD OF GOD NEEDS TO TELL!

It was a Thursday (I think) during a Fall Revival when I was a child of fifteen.  You see, I was raised in church—the Wesleyan Church as a baby, the Nazarene Church as a young girl, and the Baptist Church as a teenager and even now as an adult.  Each denomination taught me something valuable in my faith journey because the world is filled with believers of many denominations.   Nevertheless, one truth remains:  Every church I ever attended led me to the epitome of my existence—God’s Salvation of my soul.  That’s right—the Epitome of my existence.  Nothing else matters!

Since God saved my soul, I now belong to the family of God, a family I joined that night during the fall revival, and that moment changed me forever.  My past sins were forever forgiven, my future eternity was secure, and my present days were now a journey—a daily walk with the Holy Spirit of God, and I now have a “forever-friend—JESUS!”

God created the universe & set it into motion.

God created mankind & then walked with them in paradise.

God loved them, even though they committed sin.

God offered them His Salvation for their sin.

God wanted then & wants still today—to be intimately involved with us.

God wants to walk with us, talk with us, and hold us securely as we go through this life He has given us to live.

God is intimate with us, BUT we must first ACCEPT this truth.

God is intimate with us, BUT we must first BELIEVE that He resurrected Jesus from the dead after Jesus was crucified upon the cross.

God is intimate with us, BUT we must first CONFESS our sins to Him, and He is faithful to receive us into His family—the family of God.

God desires intimacy with every living soul—you, me, our next-door neighbor, our co-worker, the stranger on the street, the person living far away from us, and the person residing in the jungles, the foreign soil, and at the end of the earth.

God desires intimacy with every living soul—An Intimacy We Experience Once We ACCEPT, BELIEVE, & CONFESS HIM as LORD.

GOD DID ALL THIS BECAUSE OF HIS LOVE FOR US!

Our story matters!

• It matters to those individuals God brings into our days.
• It matters to those little eight-year-old redheads we adore.
• It matters to those strangers we meet on the streets.
• It matters, yes, our story matters, for without a “STORY,” we have NO HOPE!

So, now, you may be wondering about that verse I plan to memorize this week, the challenge I made with a little girl (a beautifully intelligent and gorgeous redhead).  I have chosen to memorize (what I think is) the saddest verse in the Bible.

SEE WITH ME GOD’S WORD & (IF YOU WANT) MEMORIZE WITH ME THIS ONE VERSE WRITTEN WITHIN GOD’S WORD.

• Let us never allow “our story of how God saved us” DIE WITH US!
• Let us never allow another generation to come after us who does not know the TRUTH of the SALVATION of the LORD!
• Let us never allow a new generation to be born who grow up and do not know what HE had done!