"Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”
Revelation 14:12
It was 1998; I had just turned 40 and suddenly noticed the wrinkles on my face. It occurred to me that I was getting older, and a thought hit me: I am not going to live forever. Someday I was going to die! This realization led to a deeper thought, “I needed to ‘get right’ with God.” How does a person do that? I decided to try reading the Bible, which I previously thought was a fable. I chose to start in Proverbs, a wise book, to see if it could help me feel more confident about my eternal future. I read a chapter each day for about a year and eventually realized the Bible truly is accurate, and the life wisdom Proverbs gives is applicable today.
As I began to grow in my trust and understanding of God, I began to notice I was changing into a healthier and happier person. I realized that God had performed a miracle in my diet. I went from avoiding fruit because it made me nauseous to craving and eating around five fruits daily.
Then, one morning, I came downstairs to make a pot of coffee and turn on the TV. The first thing that came on the TV was a commercial saying that you could call for a free book about the Bible and people's life-changing experiences. I thought that might be a really good book to read, but then the commercial cut off, and I didn't get the phone number. I was very disappointed.
The next day, the same thing happened, which took me by surprise. I was just about to write down the phone number when the commercial went off. Oh, no, this is so tragic! I had another chance to get that free book, and then it was gone. I was even more disappointed and upset at myself for not reacting quicker!
The next morning, I came down and turned the TV on, and the commercial came on again for the third day in a row. Shocked and in disbelief that it had happened again, I ran to get a pencil and paper and got the phone number just in time.
I had never seen that commercial before this miracle happened, and I never saw it again after that. I called and got the book. The book contained beautiful testimonies of how happy the people were to be walking with Jesus. One person spoke about how she had read the whole Bible and how much she enjoyed it. There was also a daily Bible reading plan in the book, specifying which chapters or sections to read to grow closer to God. So I started the schedule, and on the day I got to John 3:16, it said, "…should not perish, but have everlasting life," and I thought, "I want everlasting life."
I looked at the qualifications again, and the Bible verse said, "Whosoever believeth in Him," and I thought, “Yes, I believe that Jesus is the Son of God.” At that moment, I KNEW all my sins were washed away. I exclaimed, "I'm your daughter!?" feeling overwhelmingly happy! This realization opened my heart in such an incredible way, and I couldn’t stop crying. I felt awe and gratitude toward God for freeing me from the heavy burden of sin I had borne for years. I felt light and free, marking the best day of my life. My craving for alcohol was entirely gone, replaced by the Holy Spirit, which fulfilled my needs without the need for other spirits. I was born again!
Helping My Mind
Soon after, on another morning, I came downstairs to make a pot of coffee, and a voice in my mind said I probably didn't need the coffee. I paused and thought for a few seconds. It was true, I probably didn't need this coffee. Since the day I was born again, I had been experiencing much more life energy. I decided to go all day without the coffee. Surprisingly, I was very energetic the entire day, and I have never needed coffee since. Now I know and understand that God sent an angel to encourage me to stop this coffee addiction. I now realize why He did these health changes: fruit, alcohol, coffee, etc. These changes cleared my mind so I could understand and value spiritual matters much more deeply.
God then impressed me with the idea of reading the Bible from cover to cover, just like the lady did in the book I had ordered. I had previously thought that if I could ever get the whole Bible read in my lifetime, it would be a miracle! But I decided to begin anyway. I loved it! I was so absorbed in it that every break at work or chance I had, I was reading God’s Word. It was all becoming crystal clear to me now, and if there was a passage I didn’t fully understand, I would read and re-read it over and over until I understood what it was saying. And what a miracle indeed! I had the entire Bible read in 9 months. The stories were so real to me. I laughed when Elijah was mocking the priests on Mt. Carmel. I cried when the ladies kept bringing in their idols. It was like I was there. When I finished Revelation and closed the Bible, I said, "That's the best movie I've ever seen."
Then I was impressed to go deeper in my understanding and knowledge of the New Testament. I read the New Testament over and over, maybe 10 or so times that year. During this same time, I experienced another miracle.
When my husband and I got married, we discussed which church we would attend, Catholic (where I had attended) or Methodist. He decided to go with me to the Catholic Church.
Extremely Unusual Crying from My Child
One Sunday morning, while getting ready to go to church, my youngest daughter, the happiest child you could meet, woke up crying and crying, unable to stop. Surprised at this extremely abnormal behavior, I began to ask her questions, attempting to understand what had prompted this emotional outburst. I asked if she liked her Sunday School teacher. She said she did. So that wasn't it. We could not figure out why she was crying. Somehow, we got her ready and went to church. The next Sunday, the same thing happened. We could not stop her crying, nor could she. I looked at my husband and told him that something was wrong and that I did not think God wanted us to go to the Catholic Church anymore.
So I decided we should go looking for the church that matched the Bible. After a disappointing year of attending different churches and women's conferences, none of which matched the Bible, someone sent me the Doug Batchelor Net ‘99 videos. As I watched them, I kept saying, "That's just what the Bible says." I watched all 24 videos in a week, and when Doug Batchelor finally said which church he had chosen, I had to go quickly and call the nearest Seventh-day Adventist Church. I knew if I didn’t do it right then, I likely would never do it.
I went to the church the next Saturday (Sabbath) and also asked if they had any books by Ellen White that I could read. They mentioned they had many books, which surprised me, so I asked to read some. They replied that if I returned next week, they could lend me some. I felt very disappointed because I was eager to learn what God had to say for our time, and now I had to wait an entire week.
The next week, I came back, and they were all surprised to see me. They said they never expected to see me back. I asked why. They said it was because they had this huge church building, and only about 20 people attended. I told them that was why I knew this was the right church. The Bible says, "Few there be that find it" (Matthew 7:14, KJV). They were quite surprised to hear that. I had already been to other big churches and women's conferences with lots of people, but they did not match the Bible. The church people then gave me a bag of books written by Ellen G. White.
I began reading the books, and then telling my daughters all that I had read when they came home from school. We started implementing everything I read.
My two daughters and I joined the Seventh-day Adventist church in the year 2000. One of my daughters loved the Doug Batchelor videos so much that we watched them almost every day. But my husband did not like these changes or Bible beliefs, and after about three years, he wanted a divorce.
Hiding God's Word in My Heart
In court, he accused me of claiming that this is an "evil world." After repeatedly reading the New Testament, I recognized this phrase from the Bible, but I didn't know its exact location. However, God prompted me to open my Bible, and I did so. I looked down and shared the following: "Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world" (Galatians 1:4)
The judge and lawyers quickly retreated to the judge’s chambers, then returned. The judge informed me I must put my Bible aside, as it couldn't be used in court. They didn't realize that God had recently performed a miracle for me and that I didn't have any specific scriptures memorized. Therefore, I wouldn't be able to use my Bible unless God kept providing me with verses.
As the hearing went on, God never told me any book, chapter, or verse numbers, even though I knew all the doctrines and they were fresh in my mind from reading the Bible and watching the Doug Batchelor Net ‘99 series over and over. I remembered a quote I had read that the teachings of Christ must have been stored in the mind beforehand for the Spirit of God to bring them to our remembrance in a time of difficulty. This is exactly what happened. I had stored the Scripture text and could quote it, but not the book, chapter, or verse number it was in. Therefore, I could no longer use Bible quotes to explain my life decisions.
Looking back, I believe God allowed this to happen so that I could understand the importance of memorizing Scripture. There may come a time when we will not be able to use our Bibles in court to defend our faith. But if we have it in our minds and hearts, we will not be dependent on having to search through the Scriptures to find verses. We are warned, “That none but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict.”1
This experience led me to take studying the Scriptures more seriously. As a result, the Lord led me to start a ministry called BibleRICH.com to help myself and others more easily memorize His Word, including the Scripture references. We have a video format and an animation program to make Scripture more quickly memorable.
Call to Action
My challenge for you is to begin memorizing God’s Word so that you will be ready to give a reason to any person, judge, court, or wherever God takes you, for why you believe what you believe.
The Bible says in Joshua 1:8, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”
Unless otherwise
noted, all scripture taken
from the New King James
Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All
rights reserved.
- Ellen G. White. The Great Controversy. Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1911. P. 593.2.
