Thank God I Am Saved

“But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believed on His name” – John 1:12.

WATCHMEN, praise the Lord! My name is Chiemema Ihuaku and I worship at the Gwagwa Parish of the Watchman Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement, Abuja.

 I want to thank God for rescuing my life from the pit of hell by granting me salvation. Without meaning to exaggerate, I can confidently say that I am the happiest person here today.

It happened that I visited a friend who showed me a book titled: Four Hours Interview From The Gate Of Hell. At first, I thought it was one of those fictional books they carry about, so I decided to drop it, but on a second thought, I picked it up again, flipped through the pages and had the persuasion to read it.

In one of the pages, I read about a certain young man who was lamenting over his fate in hell saying that if he had a second chance, he would keep a long distance between him and sin. The book spoke about people actually gnashing their teeth and weeping and asking the interviewer when the Lord would come to deliver them from the torment of hell.

They were told, of course, that they had lost every chance of ever being saved, having rebuffed the grace of God and the plan of God for their salvation; hence they most unfortunately, found themselves on the painful side of eternity.

I became afraid and worried after reading these accounts. It was like fire was burning right inside me. I then told myself that now that I was still alive and could go down on my knees to repent of whatever sins I had committed, that it was time to take a step.

I concluded that I wouldn’t want to be one of those who would cry had I known when it became too late. I began to cry uncontrollably because of what was going on in my mind.

When I got home, my mother noticed that tears were rolling down my face and asked me what the problem was. I told her that I have had a conviction that has changed me and that I have given my life to Christ.

She was surprised and asked me what exactly happened. I couldn’t explain further at that point. I just went straight to the room and knelt down and prayed.

My younger brother came in and began to ask me what had come over me. I gave him the book to read but after glancing through it, he said he didn’t see anything to cry about. I tried to explain certain things to him but he wasn’t convinced.

I continued my prayer that God should touch the lives of the members of my family just as He had touched mine, that I wouldn’t want any of us to go to hell.

After the prayer, I went to my younger brother to remind him about some of my past behaviours, style of dressing, and, especially, how my mother had often been persuading me to dress and appear decently. But I thank the Lord that after I had discussed extensively with my younger brother and t

old him the consequences of sin, he saw reason with me and got convinced.

When I was in the secondary school, I tried to dress like some of the sisters who would not put on earrings nor apply any make-ups thinking that that was all about being born again.

 I was attending fellowship and even participated in evangelism. My pastor was happy with me and my mother thought I was indeed born again, but deep down in me, I admired the other girls who wore jeans trousers, permed their hair and all that.

I used to tell them that were it not for my mother and the church that I attended, that I cherished those things, and would have been appearing in them.

 I concluded at that time that after my secondary school education, I would travel and then be at liberty to do whatever I wanted. That decision was to later influence my life because I turned deaf ears to good counsel especially in the area of dressing.

Indeed, parents should not relent in their efforts at correcting us whenever we exhibit some rebellious traits. My mother never ceased to rebuke me.

What I used to tell her was that one day God would answer her prayers and change me; and thank God that today, I am saved and have changed for the better.

Praise the Lord!"