Psa 86:13
13 For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.

Isa 43:25
25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.

I don’t know about you, but in the everyday busy-ness of life, I forget exactly where I came from, and what Jesus did for me, as well as what He saved me from. Reading this scripture took me back to my salvation, at age 19, where I came to a cross in the road in my search for God. I had searched in Taoism, Buddhism, my ancestors’ religion – Judaism, and atheism. I searched everywhere except Christianity, because as a Jew, that was the worst thing I could do. Better a Buddhist than a Christian according to my family; becoming a Christian is basically the worst betrayal a Jew can do.

But although I gained an understanding of God’s omnipresence through Taoism, it wasn’t until I read the New Testament that I discovered a personal God that seemed to understand me. The writings of Paul were logical and expressed the truth regarding one of my pet peeves – a Jew is not one with a circumcision of the body, but a circumcision of the heart. I knew “Jews” who didn’t even believe in God, much less the Bible, and yet culturally and religiously I was encouraged to be Jewish because there were so few of us. Their argument never even included a reference to a relationship with God – it was like He didn’t even matter.

Before I came to Christ, I was lost, a sinner who would have to pay for her sins and spend eternity in hell. I was struggling with personal issues that Paul described in detail in Romans 7 – the bad things I didn’t want to do, those were the things I did, and the good things I wanted to do, I couldn’t. How could a man who lived 2000 years before read my thoughts and know me better than myself? Years of counselling couldn’t do for me what Paul did when he cried “Who shall deliver me from this wretched body of death? Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ!” He described my struggle, echoed my cry for help, and then gave me the answer. That convinced me that Christianity was the answer to my problems, struggles and quest for knowledge about God.

Today, I think about the 102 degree weather, and how hot I am sitting in this parked motorhome, but I rarely remember that my eternal destiny was going to be much worse than this before I gave my life to Jesus. I forget who I was and how I was, and from what misery I was rescued. And the loneliness – the horrible feeling that I was completely alone in this world – is gone forever. Even when I don’t see or feel Him, I know He is there.

And I have the hope of eternal life in heaven with Him now. No matter what else happens, my future is secure, and my past, present and future sins are paid for – all because Jesus paid for my sins by his voluntary death on the cross, and because I have responded to this gift of love by entrusting every area of my life to Him.

Thank You, Lord for reminding me of your great salvation so rich and free, and of the hell from which you rescued me. I love You, Lord.

Penny Haynes
http://ChristianWomenWithDepression.com