A new heartwas given to me and have been following Jesus ever since. That does not mean I am always happy, but day to day I know a joy that no suffering or circumstance can take away.
I happened to walk into a church one sunny September morning and heard a man called Steve Wookey preaching. That one service changed my life as I heard the Gospel explained clearly. I understood for the first time the reality of Jesus Christ.
What I had learnt at Sunday School as a child suddenly made sense. This God of adventures in Bible stories, this Jesus of the Gospel accounts were real enough for me to know right now in my life.
Steve gave me a prayer to say, which I prayed that night and I woke feeling new, feeling somehow that I was loved by God in a way I had never understood before.
I felt all the bad things go out of me, especially a sense of rejection I had known since being sent to boarding school as a 10-year-old.
A new heartwas given to me and have been following Jesus ever since. That does not mean I am always happy, but day to day I know a joy that no suffering or circumstance can take away. I grew in my confidence at work, while at church I was given the job of teaching in Sunday school.
One of my greatest encouragements today is tutoring students on an
course. Its so good to see people growing in their understanding of God.
At Pentecost last year, here in the church I serve, the message I heard again lifted my heart. Steve Hutchinson, a Scripture Union Evangelist, came and preached and sung at a family service and that re-ignited inme a passion to share the Good News of Christ.
I was reminded of truths I first learned as a young adult Christian: that God not only loves us but wants to fill us with power to serve him.
Revd Tudor Roberts is the vicar at Lydiard Millicent near Swindon
Contemplate now
What power does God give us to be more confident in Him?
What helps you understand more of God?
In what ways can stories reveal the truth?
Meditate today
Look for signs of joy (in people and the world) which is beyond being happy or sad.