Laura
Once lost and now found
How does a former stripper get into heaven? Back in 1989 I was lost in sin, but the sad thing was I did not even know I was lost. I was working in an elite strip club. I had it all, money, clothes, jewelry, sports car, and any man I wanted, I had a life most women dreamed of, or so I thought .
I had affairs with married men, never considering the family I was destroying. I had a few bisexual experiences. I consulted psychics instead of God. I even had an abortion. I was so self centered, that I did not even consider that I was ending a life, I was just getting rid of a problem.
I was only 19, and I didn't want to end up just like my mom. She always regretted having me at 18, and told me that I was an accident. I was a child of abuse and neglect who was desperately seeking love. Now I was getting all the attention that I missed out on, but I still had a broken heart.
Men never could get past my looks, none of them really cared about me . Until I met a nice medical student on a slow day at work. He didn't have any money to pay for a dance, but he was cute, so I sat to talk with him. We dated a month, then he asked me to marry him. He got a residency in another state, so I moved in with him, ( a year before we married). At this point in my life I was unaware that this was sinful. I did not even know premarital sex was a sin. At least I got out of dancing.
We started to attend church, because we were required to take a premarital class if we wanted to get married in the Catholic church. As a child I had attended Catholic church, but only for Christmas, and not every year. I believed in Jesus at 6 years old when I saw a movie about Him on TV . But even demons believe in Him, that doesn't save you.
I didn't know I had to acknowledge that I was sinner, or that I was in need of a savior to redeem me from hell. I definitely had not surrendered my life to Him, even though I knew Jesus was the Son of God. I never read the Bible, so I did not know very much about being a Christian. If only I had read it, my life would have been spared a lot of heart ache.
Well, what finally did lead me to read a Bible you ask? One day when I was 24, I was watching TV. There was a show on about the end times . They said it was near. I was really scared. I was not ready for the end times. I prayed that night and really seeked God with all my heart, and asked for the truth.
The very next day at work a woman gave me a NIV bible. After reading the Bible I became very aware of my past sins and of my need to ask God to forgive me. I felt like the lost son Jesus taught about in his parable. The one who returned home after going out and spending all his inheritance on partying. In Luke 15:21-24 "The son said to him,` Father I have sinned against heaven and you, I am no longer worthy to be called your son'. But the father said to his servants, `Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him, put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again: he was lost and is found'.
God's amazing grace forgave me, Jesus washed my heart clean. He died on the cross and paid for my sins. Through my faith, not my good works, I was saved. I had a clean slate, a fresh start! "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! "2Cor5:17.
I got a job in a Christian day care center. I began to learn about Jesus with the children. My boss lead me to a new church, a bible teaching, evangelical church (Calvary Chapel) The sermons there changed my husband and my lives, we were enlightened, and uplifted! My husband and I were water baptized.
We began to remove unholy things from our lives. We no longer looked at pornography, or watched movies that were glorifying sin. Even the radio stations we listened to reflected the change in our hearts. We became so hungry for Gods word, we spent any spare time studying the Bible.
My atheist brother liked to debate with me about my new found faith, and he did shake me once. He made me consider why I believe in what I believe in. I began research. I was given a book called "More than a carpenter" by Josh Mcdowell, it's packed full of evidence supporting Jesus as the messiah, but fulfilled prophecy is the main reason I have no doubts anymore. Now I am now witnessing the gospel of Jesus to my Jewish neighbors, Unbelievable! Only God can do that !!! I pray you will draw near to Him, for if you do He will draw near to you!
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