I’ve been spending the past two years digging into the evidences for the Christian faith, learning Church doctrine and history. It’s all been great, but cannot compare to experiencing the love of God—nothing can compare to that. All the head knowledge in the world will never compare to the love of God! And you would know this if you had a love encounter with the living God because it changes you—you can never be the same again.All the head knowledge in the world will never compare to the love of God! Share on X
I was 25 years old when I accepted the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. As a young child, my mother took me to church but as the years wore on, and without the support of my father, my mom grew weary and stopped taking my brother and I. God was not a part of most of my growing up. He was occasionally thought of at Christmas and Easter, but even those times became less as we grew older. By the time I hit those testing teen years, I was farthest away from any kind of faith at all. I bought into the mindset that I am the ‘master of my own destiny,’ and to get ahead in this world, it was up to my own strength and hard work. Those are not bad traits, but they left me empty. I did work hard and found myself wondering for what? What’s the point if I work hard all my life and then just die? Why bother working hard to have everything end in nothingness? Share on X
So, I turned to romance to try to make me feel alive, for some sense of meaning or purpose to my existence. That left me brokenhearted. Then I turned to drugs and alcohol to numb that pain. I wrote poetry and in those poems, I cried out to an unknown God to make sense of my existence, to help me find the love my heart longed for. I thought it was going to be some guy I’d meet. It was, but it was no “ordinary guy.” His name was Jesus Christ, and His love was what I had looked for all of my life.
But how, exactly, did I experience God’s love that radically changed my life? It was, at first, through a guy friend I met at college. He was the first man who actually respected me, and instead of turning my head towards him, he turned it towards God. He gave me a Bible with an easy translation (all that I ever owned was the old King James version), and in the front cover, he wrote this inscription: “No one will ever love you like your Heavenly Father loves you.” Was it really that simple?
He said don’t start in Genesis (which I always did before), but read John’s gospel first. This was a kind gesture, and he seemed genuine, so I thought, “What could it hurt?” This was the first dude who really never wanted to use me, which is what I was used to from every man I knew before—it was always about sex. I wondered why this guy was different? Why wasn’t he like all the others? What made him so counter-cultural?
I went home that evening, and opened up the Book of John in the Living Bible translation… “Before anything else existed, there was Christ, with God. He has always been alive and is himself God. He created everything there is—nothing exists that he didn’t make. Eternal life is in him, and this life gives light to all mankind. His life is the light that shines through the darkness—and the darkness can never extinguish it.” (John 1:1-5.)
Something stirred inside me. A sense of truth overwhelmed my mind. This was real! I just knew these words were speaking life to my deadened soul. I began to weep. I went outside, climbed up the hill behind my house, and sat down and wept. I cried for hours up there, bawling my eyes out to God, asking Him to forgive all the stupid stuff I’d ever done. My eyes were swollen by the time I was done, and yet, I felt so much better! There was a sense of peace that overtook my soul and something inside me changed. This was not a lightening moment; I didn’t any visions of angels or anything miraculous like that. But it was enough of a miracle for me to feel a sense of peace inside that I never knew before. I felt loved by this unseen God who told me so in this new Bible I owned. What was this kind of love? Who is this God?
Since that moment 27 years ago, this has been my quest—to know God and to experience this love He has for me—a love that I’ve experienced in many miraculous moments since then. Those stories will have to be told in another blog, or maybe a book; who knows? All I can tell you is that the head knowledge I now have of God will never surpass the love encounters I’ve experienced with my Heavenly Father. His love has changed me, and I’ll never look back.
I love the entire last paragraph “Since that moment 27 years ago, this has been my quest—to know God and to experience this love He has for me—a love that I’ve experienced in many miraculous moments since then. Those stories will have to be told in another blog, or maybe a book; who knows? All I can tell you is that the head knowledge I now have of God will never surpass the love encounters I’ve experienced with my Heavenly Father. His love has changed me, and I’ll never look back.”. I felt the love come through your words. The love of Christ has that effect on all of us when we truly let it sink deep into our souls and then let it shine back out into the world.
Thanks, Yvonne!
Hey Lisa
Thank you for sharing your testimony in this way. You are so right when you say head knowledge is not as strong as heart knowledge – being able to read and remember a menu or recipe never adds up to being able to taste the food. Reading about love and experiencing love = never the same.
Faith came to you by reading and your blog reminded me of the day that the Bible finally made sense to me. Which was the morning after I’d expected Christ into my life
Thank you for all you do and say – I find it so encouraging
Hi Bob,
For me, head knowledge was not as strong. But I’ve known others who came to faith through their intellect, after studying the claims of Christianity. So, it can be one way or the other for each individual. What I’ve learned is that it should not be just head knowledge or heart knowledge – it should be both.
Bless you,
Lisa Q
What an inspiring post, Lisa! I always love to hear people’s stories of how Jesus changed their lives. It is amazing how God cut through all of your past hurts with His simple message of love through a true Christian friend and the truth of the Bible. The words in the Bible ring to the depths of my soul and I hear that in the telling of your story, as well. I appreciate your quest to know and experience the fullness of God’s love. Your life, faith and work inspire me to keep growing and loving Him more. Thank you!
Thanks, Melissa!
Dear Lisa!
I was encouraged by your initial lines in this blog posts because all the knowledge we have will not really lead us to where we’d like to be seen from a faith-perspective.
I have always rested assured that God has prepared a stool for me. I cannot as so many others say a year, or date, where I received Christ. My best bid would be when I was baptised.
The story about the guy you met who showed you how simple it really is was inspiring.
PS: Don’t give us so many numbers, now we can calculate your age!
With love!
Edna Davidsen
Hey Edna,
I don’t think anyone needs a particular date, so to speak, of when they received Christ. I have one, just because the date was significant in my memory. But yeah, there is no hard and fast rule on that.
I don’t care if you know my age. With age, comes wisdom. So consider me your “wise friend.”
Bless you,
Lisa Q
What a great reminder that we must not give up sharing God’s truth with people. We never know who God will soften when we’re obedient to Him. Thanks for sharing your story with us. 🙂
Thank you, Emily.
Thank you for sharing your testimony. I love getting to know the person behind the writing. And what an amazing testimony from that guy, whoever he was and wherever he is now. I also appreciate how you came to a saving experience through John. You know how divided people can be, some say start here, some say don’t tell people to start there. I’ve heard specifically to tell people to start in John and not to start in John. Long story short, you just silenced some of my underlying questions about witnessing;).
Thanks, Stephanie!
I love the book of John, and I think the Holy Spirit uses that Gospel a lot. So, I’d say go for it and recommend that one!
Thanks for your comments – bless you. Lisa Q