Heather: New life in Him

We are starting off a week of testimonies with one of my dearest friends, Heather. Seriously I cant think of the words to describe my relationship with this girl, but if I could I would use "honest and pure."
The tale of our friendship and how it grew is a post all its own. She has helped me in my walk and brings me daily to the cross. In some of my darkest, hardest days, she has been there for me whether in person or by phone. She daily encourages me, sends me verses, prays for me, and builds me up when I tear myself down. She truly is a sister to me, and a huge blessing in my life! I pray her story of God's great saving work in her life touches you and speaks to you as it has to so many!

Hey there! My name is Heather James. What an honor it is to be asked by a beloved
sister to share how the Lord Jesus rescued me from the domain of darkness and
transferred me into His Kingdom. I will attempt to share how Jesus brought me to life.
Let me start from the beginning.
I was born a sinner. I look back even on childhood and see so much selfishness, greed,
and pride seeping from my little self. Oh praise Him for saving a wretch like me! I am the
oldest child of three girls. Our family was deeply rooted in the Catholic church. All my
extended family was Catholic, I was baptized into the Catholic church, participated in
many sacraments, and went to Catholic school up until college. I am thankful that my
parents did their part in trying to raise me with good morals and taught me that it was
right to obey. But being a child and having knowledge of the law, it was overwhelming to
even think of obeying all of the commandments. That sort of obedience was completely
out of reach. I had seasons of trying hard, and in my deception I thought of myself as a
‘good person’, but I always fell short of His righteousness.

{I was not offered an accurate gospel. And if I was, I did not really believe it. I assumed I had always
been a Christian, but we are all born sinners, none of us are just ‘born’ into the faith - just like Jesus said, we have to be born again to enter into His kingdom. I did not understand that NOTHING I could do could make me right with God - no amount of obedience to His law and no amount of good works could would please Him. I had no clue that I was an enemy of God and that only turning from my sin and accepting the free gift of faith in what Jesus did on the cross could make me right in His sight.}

So, what happened when I realized I couldn’t measure up to God’s standard? Rebellion.
College began and I wasn’t under my parents rule anymore. So what did I do?
Whatever I wanted. I made tons of friends and had a lot of worldly fun. I look back in
awe at how the Lord protected me while I was involved in such foolishness. Seriously,
there are many times where I should have died. I was a somewhat responsible person
in things like school and work, but when it came to all other things, I indulged in
pleasure. All the while an emptiness within me was very evident. Even while partying I
was ‘that girl’ that, while belligerent, would talk to random strangers about deep things
like God and that there had to be ‘more’ to this life. Surely they were thinking, “who
invited this girl?” Even in sin I knew I had a longing that hadn’t been filled, and I had a
definite feeling that the only One who could fill it was the Lord. But I was afraid to follow
the Lord. I had believed the lies that I wouldn’t have any more friends, I wouldn’t have
any more fun, and life would be boring. Regardless of me believing these lies, He was
drawing me.

Years passed, I graduated college and began working. I was attempting to fill that void
with traveling, money, food, friends, boys - still knowing that God was near and
beckoning me. The New Year’s before I turned 25, I made a vow to myself to start
settling down and get more serious in life. I started going to church more, started
serving, and got involved in the young adult activities. I started praying and really desiring to find the ‘purpose’ of this life. That February I also decided to get into shape
physically, so I joined a gym. The first evening of joining I had my free hour with the
personal trainer. He went over things like nutrition and exercise routines, but the
conversation quickly turned. He asked where I went to church. I told him and he started
asking why I believe certain things the church teaches. Because I was so rooted in
Catholicism I knew what I believed, but I had no idea why I believed it and where to find
proof. I was befuddled. The next question the trainer asked (and because the Lord had
so ripened me, HE knew it was what I needed to hear) was “If you were to die tonight,
where would you go?” “Well”, I said, “because I’m not necessarily good enough to go
straight to heaven, but I think I’m a pretty good person, I would probably go to purgatory.
The Lord is good and would never send me to hell.” He told me the Bible says there is
no such things as a ‘good’ person and that I should search the Scriptures for anything
on purgatory. There is no proof. Jesus talks of two places we will go when we die -
heaven or hell. Your choice.
I left the gym broken and in tears. Could this be true? Were many of the things I’d been
taught my whole life really lies? I was facing the facts that salvation is not based on
works at all, there is no ‘good’ person, we all fall short of His glory, and that all of us - if
we do not repent and believe in Jesus - will go to hell. We met a few more times to
“train” at the gym. Really, he was just using training as a tool for evangelizing, and I was
so thirsty that I was OK with it and wanted to learn more. Jesus spoke Truth to me
through the trainer. I learned that my sin was not too great for Him to redeem and in
April of 2011, I repented of my sin and handed my life over to Christ. He was full of
mercy and lavished grace on this vessel. Praise Jesus for receiving my just punishment
for my sin against Him, our holy and worthy God. He took all of my punishment upon
Himself on the Cross. At the time, I had no clue what really happened to me. All I knew
was that I loved Jesus and wanted to do anything to get more of Him. I had more joy
than ever before. (Now I realize, He had made me alive!)

I continued serving and going to Catholic church. Over a period of months I was getting
lonely. No one I met had a love for Jesus or a fervent desire to know Him more. I was
getting desperate for fellowship. One day I was on the phone with one of my sisters
crying to her about my desire. She told me that her old friend/coworker, Eric, seemed
like his life had changed because “his Facebook status’ were filled with Scripture.” So, I
awkwardly reached out and told him I needed fellowship. Eric (who by the Lord’s
sovereign power is now my beloved husband!!!) was just learning that he shouldn’t be
hanging out one on one with girls and didn’t want to give me the wrong impression. So
he asked his friend for advice on what to do. His friend’s answer, “well, why don’t you
just invite her to church?” Duh, Eric thought! So that’s just what he did! I was excited
and also very uncomfortable. I hadn’t seen this guy in a few years and even then, I
barely knew him. But like I said, I was desperate! So that next Sunday I went to his
church. This church was unlike any I had ever been to. They brought their Bibles and
actually studied from them during church. They prayed together. And they really
worshiped the Lord. It was awesome, out of my comfort zone, and stirred up a part of
me I had never felt before! That night after church I joined a girl’s bible study. Jesus is
SO GRACIOUS. He answered my prayer that night for more fellowship! The Lord used
that bible study and those girls to teach me how to pray, to give me desire for His word,
to disciple me, and to give me bonds with sisters in Christ I had never experienced
before.

I stopped going to Catholic church after learning in God’s Word about how much of the
Catholic faith contradicts the Truth. And after getting to know Eric more, we began
dating before the Lord’s timing, and after deep conviction from the Holy Spirit, we broke
up a few months into it. The Lord taught me so much during those next few months of
singleness. He used that brokenness/obedience to really grow me and bear fruit. My prayer during those single months was to be a woman securely devoted to Christ (1 Cor 7:35). Jesus gave me a very dear sister during that time (Tania - a sister who I had recently met in the Atlanta airport on the way to Peru for a mission trip) who discipled me and showed me that this devoted lifestyle was possible. I learned to be content in my singleness by being satisfied in Jesus alone.

Well, the Lord brought Eric and I back together. This time it was in His timing and His
way - and oh how His way is PERFECT! We experienced the peace that surpasses
understanding, and we knew that we were to be married. We had a quick engagement,
and two months after our wedding day we found out we were pregnant. Over the next
several months we went through some dark and difficult times as our selfishness came
out and we realized how much pride remained in us. I wish I could share more details
about that trying time, but suffice it to say the Lord had mercy on us and really used the
birth of our son Joshua to revive our hearts. We are so thankful for our little guy and the
way the Lord has woven him into our walk with Him. The Lord has used our marriage to
sanctify me like never before, and I can see how He was pleased to give Eric and I to
each other! I am challenged and discipled by my husband often and we are learning
daily how to die to self and kill our sin by the Spirit of God. We still have much to learn,
but our desire is to really live unto Christ, and our prayer is to have an all-consuming
faith in Him - to really be surrendered and let His resurrected life reign in our bodies.
Even as a wife and mother, I still pray that I would be one who is securely devoted to
the Lord Jesus Christ. Like Beth Moore says in her study of the book of James, “there
ain’t no high like the Most High!” Amen.

I am forever grateful that the Lord made me His child. I now know that I have a secure
salvation in the Lord Jesus for eternity, and that it is only by faith in the Lord Jesus that I
am forgiven of my sin and able to experience abundant life now and life everlasting in
the age to come. And of course when you have this light you no longer want to partake
in works of darkness, nor do the things He hates. You want to be pleasing to Him and
obey His commands. The narrow road is truly more difficult than the easy road to hell
and death, but it is far worth it. I still struggle a lot daily, but praise Him, He has not left
me nor forsaken me. By His divine power He gives believers all that we need pertaining
to life and godliness. He is always good and abounding in loving kindness and mercy,
no matter what trials, blessings, struggles, and seasons we experience in this life. He is
so worthy of our lives. He deserves all the praise and glory and honor. Forever and
ever.