A Word of Testimony
Heyhey!
For those of you who don’t know me; I’m Joel.
I was very fortunate to be brought up in a Christian family. Both my mum and dad
were brought up in the Church of God and so was I until the age of about 11 and
then I moved to Ballee Baptist Church. So church has been a weekly thing for me
since I was born. I got saved at about 8. I say about because I don’t actually
know exactly when. So when I got slightly older, I wondered if I had got saved
because there wasn’t any major change in my life. Nothing miraculous happened.
No flashing lights; no neon sign saying “He’s a Christian”. (Well you know
what I mean). So I was worried and kept praying the same prayer again and again.
But then as I got an understanding of salvation I realised I had been saved from
the very first time I’d prayed that prayer for Jesus to come into my heart.
God doesn’t want us to be anxious about our salvation. God tells us in
Ephesians 1:13 and I Peter 1:23 that our salvation is incorruptible; it is
sealed with the holy promise of Christ. If you’ve admitted you are a sinner,
believed that Jesus Christ died for you and have called on to Him to save you,
then you are saved! You will always be saved, no matter what happens!
I’ve really grown since then. The changing of churches has been great! Ballee
Baptist has opened doors to many opportunities which I have taken. I’ve had
lots of work in the youth fellowship, I was baptised in November 2001 and I
joined the fellowship as a member in June 2003. So God has been really great!
After I finished my primary education, I went to Ballymena Academy, where I have
been greatly encouraged. God put me in a year group with many Christians who I
attend Christian Union meetings with, pray with weekly at our C.U. prayer
meetings, go to youth meeting with and much more. I’ve great Christian friends
who I can ask for advice, talk to, hang with, pray with, study the Bible with
and it is really great. I find it such an encouragement. The prayer meetings
have been brilliant. Something that my camp leader has said about prayer is
“Prayer is not a means to change our circumstances, it is a means by which to
change us so that we may glorify God in our circumstances”. That is something
I have found in the past year and I can’t praise God enough! We should not be
asking God to make this happen and not to let that happen, but we should pray
that God can change us so we can see the good and get something that would
benefit us out of all circumstances.
Everyday I hope to serve God more and I can do that with His help. One verse that helps me as I endeavour to serve God is Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” And I’m definitely not too young to make a difference in this world as I Timothy 4:12 says, “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” Amen!
Joel Hutchinson