Blog Post

“Rest and acceptance once felt out of reach…” – Larry’s Testimony

Vikki Waters • Nov 04, 2017

I grew up in a fairly normal American Christian family being the youngest of five children. A couple of times a week as a family we went to a mainstream evangelical church. At the age of nine I was baptized because some of my friends were but I didn’t really understand what it meant. I believed that I was a Christian for many years to come but knew something was not right. During my college years I went in the opposite direction of God and religion for several years to the point of not believing in God any longer. At one point I realized my need for Jesus and began a personal relationship with Him who turned my life right side up and brought life, peace and joy.

For about the next 30 years I saw Jesus as good and Father God as good if I did good and not so good if I didn’t do good. Holy Spirit was the power and mystic side of God but I did not really understanding Him. I was involved in lots of types of ministry for God through those years but somehow felt that I always had to toe the line and work hard at being good to receive His favor and blessing.

Needless to say, my life turned into a life of rules and boundaries leaving the aspect of rest and complete acceptance out of reach and I certainly did not have an abundant life as Jesus talked about. My relationship with Him which started out so life changing and intimate had turned to a performance base relationship, unknowingly reaching for His favor which I never felt I attained or kept.

I am so grateful for my Christian heritage and all those who invested in my spiritual journey through the years. Yet I always seemed to know deep down that there was something more, that there had to be more than I was experiencing about God. While serving in India as missionaries with my wife and four children, we connected with and were ministered to by someone from Growing in Grace Ministry (GGM) in Chattanooga, TN.

Upon returning and staying stateside in 2009,  my personal journey began with GGM which was a path of enrichment and much needed inner healing. Since that time I have enjoyed a deeper, more intimate walk with the Lord while learning about the more of God as it relates to my identity in Him, spiritual gifts, receiving His love, blessing, healing, grace and the list goes on.

I see Father God as good all the time, Jesus as Lord and friend, and the Holy Spirit as He who empowers, comforts and guides. My life has truly shifted from a performance based relationship to a love relationship growing free of guilt, shame and condemnation. I am now growing in love, joy, gifting, intimacy and the more and more of God.

I attribute the spiritual enrichment of my life and my family’s to the life giving message and presence of God through GGM.

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