I was saved at the age of fourteen but struggled with rejection, ridicule, confusion, loneliness, and failures for many years. I sat under legalistic teachings that caused me to be self-occupied and to believe that my salvation depended on how well I could keep God’s law. This only perpetuated sin in my life.
I was constantly confessing my sins and asking for God’s forgiveness. Yet, at the same time, I was confused because the Bible says that God remembers my sins no more. I knew there had to be an answer because God is perfect and He is not a God of confusion. Moreover, I’d experienced a love so real from the Lord when I was first saved—it was it was a love that sustained me whenever I felt lost and alone.
However, because of my sins, I began to feel very condemned and doubted my salvation. Hurt and beaten, I left my church and began visiting many other churches over the years but never staying long. In one of those churches, I was even told that salvation does not come by simply believing and confessing that Jesus is Lord. I was crushed and felt so lost and alone.
The isolation and wrong believing made me an easy target for the enemy. I was weak and gave in to temptation to the point that I wanted sin more than I wanted God. I was ashamed of that but had no strength to stop. Not long after this time, I started experiencing health problems that called for an angiogram (an X-ray of the heart and blood vessels).
The night before the procedure, I called my cousin, crying and afraid. I was not close to my cousin but she had spoken to me before of the Lord with conviction. She forwarded me thirty-six of Pastor Joseph Prince’s Daily Grace Inspirations. At that time, I had not heard Pastor Prince’s sermons. I read the Daily Grace Inspirations she sent me with caution for fear of receiving false teachings.
After my cousin had prayed for me, I felt less fearful but I was still confused about my standing before God. I knew He loved me but I thought I still needed to do something to earn right standing before Him. This wrong believing made me feel uncertain about the outcome of my medical examination the following day.
After the examination and during the period I was waiting for my medical report, I became curious and decided to find out more about Pastor Prince’s teachings. I looked up his website and subscribed to his podcasts. Wow! I was jumping for joy to hear the gospel of grace! Thank God for the podcasts, which I could play over and over again, as many times as I wanted to. I felt like I was being saved all over again, but in a much better way. I learned that I did not have to do something right just to be right with God, for it is Christ who puts me in right standing with God.
When I finally received my angiogram result, the doctor told me that my heart and my blood vessels were in excellent condition and that I could stop all medication immediately. I was free of symptoms for a month and a half after that. At the end of that time, I had already listened to and watched a few of Pastor Prince’s sermons. So whenever the symptoms appeared again, I was armed with God’s Word and spoke the symptoms away.
Thank you, Pastor Prince, for teaching me about right believing! The Lord bless you and your loved ones.
Patricia Ontiveros / California, United States
His love is just so amazing