Hello brothers and sisters.
My name is Jan, i live in Norway but my Homeland is in Heaven, and im desperate to get Home soon.
The last 2-3 years has been quite a ride.
Im so thankful! im soo thankful! im sooooo thankful to the Lord Jesus Christ.
But ive come to a point where i see almoast everyone around me are different then what i have become.
I remember now, as a little child i prayed a prayed in bed.
I cried and i prayed that i really wanted to know Jesus Christ, i was so desperate.
Mother was praying with me.
Im getting tears in my eyes writing this couse i know now that He has heard my prayed.
So ive called myself a Christian most of my life, i wasnt the guy that went to church every sunday but i used to go there at the youth meeting every friday and saturday night (different churches) It was not about Christ those years, it was about entertainment, friends, girls and having fun.
I was heavy into gaming, porn, sports betting. I was nothing different then the whole world who is in bondage to Satan doing his will being controlled by the flesh.
One day at a youth meeting, after the meeting was over i was sitting outside after the meeting with some friends.
Then a guy came out asking us to join in a prayed meeting i said no the 2-3 first times he came out but eventually i gave in and joined. When i was sitting there i remember that all my troubles and every burden was put away.
This happened when i was about 17 years old, i remember i wanted to get baptized but i was to afraid and didnt want to make a fuzz about it. So i went on living the life i had used to live.
I didnt read the bible i didnt know what it said, i just listened to the prechers that attendet those friday and saturday nights. (mostly a young guy or girl at my age)
After some time i was very far down.
I was as a toddler, i know i was beeing disobedient even thou i didnt know what to do and what the Word Of God said.
And it came to the point i was about to give up my faith in God, so i remember i went out to the car to go for a ride and "clear my toughts".
It was at summertime and i had a white t shirt on, so when i came out to the road i started driving towards the town.
And i looked at my hands that was on the steering wheel that i had gosebumps.
By this time all that was in my head was that i was about to give up on Christ. When i think of it now its so terrible to talk about that i was at a place like that.
But i remember it was really big gosebumps and then when i looked ahead as i was driving i saw something big and dark standing at the side of the road.
I remember it clearly it has this smoke around it and it was very tall, about 2 meters i would say.
Its not that much more to say about this but i was sure it was a demon.
So when i was passing this and my tought was all about me leaving Christ, what become so clear to me was "If you leave me, this is what your going to see"
And i knew that if i left Christ i would end up in hell together with all the demons.
As you would probably know this was a turning point.
It was the most scary thing ive ever seen but God used it to do good.
So after that i was very clear about that i wanted to follow Christ but still i didnt know what to do, some tome after this i went to a big meeting with people and myself falling into the ground when the "pastor" laid his hands on us.
I remember the guy next to me shaking like crazy when we fell to the ground.
I would describe it more as a warm feeling inside me.
After this i was still as confused is i had been still sinning and doing everything i had been doing knowing it was wrong becouse of my consience.
Still i didnt read the bible, i didnt deny myself, pick up my cross and follow Him.
I then went to bible school, i went to a class called Veritas, it was about defending our faith, i noticed soon that it was about arguing with people, having discussions and also people didnt have faith.
It was about doing what Paul tells us not to, He tells us he didnt want their faith to be buildt on wisdom of men but on the power of God. 1 Corinthians 2:5
If i remember right my teacher told us that he didnt really knew if the flood at the days of Noah was as big as they have told us, but maybe it was only in the middle east or something like that.
I (Jan) can tell you this now, if anyone tries to fill you with doubt about what The Word Of God said, you know who is behind it.
Jesus Christ is the Word Of God, He is who Moses and the Prophets talks about, He is The One who the Bible talks about. He is the beginning and the end.
Do you believe in Him?
So back to where i was, since what had happened earlier i had many times tought about beging baptized.
I had put that tought away many times since i was baptized as a newborn baby as tradition is.
I tought alot about these things. I talked with people at the bible school about it, i remember a guy telling me "dont do it". Couse i was baptized as a child i could not do that.
But it was not my choice to be baptized as a child, i was looking at so many other people that also had been baptized as children and they didnt live for Christ.
Eventually i came to the conclusion, since it always keeps coming back to me i have to do it.
And then i did it as an act of good conciense towards God, i was to give everything to Him and follow Him no matter what.
And boy have thing happened after i took that decition.
After this, a friend of mine who God had called to stop gaming and follow Him reached out to me.
He told me about what the Word Of God tells us, to not be slave under sin but to deny ourselves and life for Christ.
Doing His will and not our own will.
He preached The Truth to me, and God gave me power to deny myself and be set free from gaming, from porn, from sports betting, from sports, from entertainment, from everything i had previously been doing couse i was a slave under sin.
I started to read The Bible and what Jesus Christ calls us to do and what He tells us, i became a totally new creation.
Everything became new, It was not about experiences as it had been before, with everything i have experienced.
Now its a faith that is bouilt on the Rock.
But when all this has happened, i have started seeing how narrow this path is.
And when i read about the sour doug and all the other scriptures about who to be with and who to not be with im suddenly very insecure about who to spent time with and who to not spend time with. Becouse here in Norway or in the west, so many look at themselves as Christians becouse of what is beeing preached now these days.
Its not about what The Word Of God tells us, beeing obedient and fearing Him.
Now its this other gospel that is accursed, its about feeling and entertainment and i find very few that acually want to be holy as He is Holy. That want Him as not only their Saviour but also their King.
Living in obedience, doing His will. Not living after their flesh and lusts anymore.
And its so difficult to see sometimes who is the tares and who are the wheat.
But im starting to see that my conciense is helping me here as the law is writting in my hearth.
And when i see something i just cant understand, i get a check in The Spirit, we are to walk with The Spirit so that we dont fulfull the lusts of the flesh.
And we know that so many use this grace of God to do evil, living as they want and not as God tells us to. They are disobedient.
Titus 2
11For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. 15These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.
I have to look at myself here, humble myself and take out the beam from my eyes before i try to pick out the mote from my brothers eye.
I meet with a very small gathering of brothers and sisters now and im very grateful for it, i see that when people truly want to live for Christ i want to risk my life to be with them. Now in Norway we dont have persecution to death in the law of the land but there might come a time very soon. But we suffer persecution in many other ways.
2 Timothy 3:12
King James Version
12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.