psalm2004.com

My life was okay except for this nagging dreadful feeling that crept up on me almost every night when I went to bed.  “Where would I go when I die?”  Scared of hell, I prayed the rosary daily, prayed novenas to the saints, went to church often, confessed my sins to the priest (despite doubts about its efficacy), and even sang Latin songs, not one word of which I knew.  See, I was good and religious.  But deep inside, constantly, I was truly empty and fearful of hell. 

A year after coming to Canada, letters from my sister Nida took a different turn:  our brother Todd became a Christian – and so had she.  “Get a Bible and read it,” she wrote.   So I did.  But… na!  It’s too good to be true… so I shelved it.  BUT… God is smarter:  He sent Todd to Canada.  And what I shelved he unpacked - the Bible!  And this Bible followed me everywhere at home - several times a day!  Todd would say, “God loves you.  Jesus is the only Way to heaven, the only Savior.”  My usual rebuttal was, “No, you’re just saying that.”  And his usual gentle response was, “I’m not just saying that.  It’s God who said it.  Here it is… in the Bible.”   

But I remained a skeptic… until one day, on the way home from church, Todd confronted me.  “You’ve gone to church and heard about God’s love numerous times. But you’ve not done anything about it.  At one point in your life, you must make a choice.  And there are only two choices: good or evil, heaven or hell, Jesus or Satan.”  It hit me… I felt God’s strong prodding.  And right there and then - on the bus - I acknowledged my need for forgiveness and asked Jesus to be my Savior and Lord.  In those few minutes I talked to God on the bus, I felt something very different - I felt that God was there sitting right next to me… his arms wrapped around me.  There was love… there was peace.   

When I went to bed that night… for the first time… I didn’t ask myself the usual question, “If I die in my sleep tonight, where will I go?  I certainly don’t want to go to hell.”  That night that dreadful feeling of emptiness and fear of hell left - NEVER to return.  God’s love and peace became real.  It became sure.   

Since that day there was no more trying IN VAIN forever to save myself.  I can never save myself.  I can never be a savior.  Someone already holds that title - as similarly concluded by many priests in the book “FAR FROM ROME, NEAR TO GOD”. 

Dear Friend:  When there’s SIN, there’s PUNISHMENT.  When there’s punishment, there’s a WAY.  Jesus said “I AM the WAY“.  You must make a choice because NO CHOICE = NO SAVIOR.  You must choose JESUS!  Only He can fill that emptiness.  Only He can save you from hell.  Are you asking yourself the same question?  Where will you go when you die? 

God’s answer to you: 

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 

Revelation 20:15 If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. 

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 

(NOTE from Ellen: I used to see Imelda on the bus on my way to work every morning. I was hesitant to talk to her at first as I thought she was from another Asian country. We finally managed to strike up a conversation during one of our bus rides and we were pleasantly surpised to know that we were both born again Christians. Imelda attends a Bible Baptist Church in the Southwest. I am very grateful to her that she has so willingly obliged to share her testimony in this website. She is indeed a woman of faith with a heart for the lost!)