I am not sure that I can adequately describe what the Holy Spirit has done in my heart while I was at The Oaks Rehabilitation Center in Athens, GA for nine days. I have been told by my home health care nurse and physical therapist that the majority of patients who have a total hip replacement stay at least 20 days. I was there 11 days. The team who evaluates you met with Melvine and me, and they recommended that I be released. Melvine asked "Why?" The answer was this: Because I had progressed so rapidly above all expectations that I would continue to heal much better at home.
Something has happened inside of my heart. It is an experience I have never had in my life. I was saved (born again) when I was 6 years old in a daily vacation Bible school when my family: Hugh Henry Morgan (my father), Julia Payne Morgan (my mother), Mary Evelyn my older sister, and I lived in East Lake a bedroom community of Birmingham, Alabama.
It was on the last day of the Bible school that my teacher asked me if I would like to be a Christian. My response was immediate without any hesitation. I said, "Yes, I want to be a Christian." Well, she led me to Jesus Christ by helping me to pray a sinner's prayer. Even at the age of six I knew I was a sinner and that only Jesus could save me.
The change in my heart was dramatic and immediate. I felt new inside my heart. You see I made a commitment in which I believed that it would be forever. I knew that God had saved me by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, my sins were gone, my name was now written in heaven in the Lamb's Book of Life, and that I was going to heaven when I died or should our blessed Lord return to rapture His Bride, the church, that in that
number of saints I would be there with them going up to heaven.
No one instructed me, but I became an instant evangelist, and have been an evangelist since then. Did you know I have been save 79 years. My heart has always been tender toward God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.
While I was growing up in the Pentecostal Holiness Church I thought (wrongly) that I had to be saved again should I sin, and sin I did. I would go to the altar when the invitation was given. As I grew in maturity in the grace of God I came to realize that was a wrong assumption or belief. I really can't say it was taught that you have to get saved over and over again. I can tell you the Bible doesn't teach that. What I have learned that I must keep "short accounts" with God by recognizing that I had sinned, repenting, confession of the sin, and asking God to forgive me for Jesus' sake. I have always been forgiven by God's abundant love and mercy. I am grateful that I learned that truth.
When I came home after the Bible school with my sister, Mary Evelyn, I went to every home in my block on Division Avenue in East Lake. I told them what had happen in my life, and they too could be a Christian if they were not a Christian.
The most remarkable thing happened when I gave my personal testimony . . . I did not stutter. You see I was a stutterer. However, thanks be to God I did not stutter. That was a miracle God gave me that day.
Years later I trusted God for my sanctification that is a definite experience following the new birth as the Holy Spirit applied the blood of Jesus. This is call the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Agent and the blood of Jesus is the element in this baptism of the Holy Spirit. Many years later I was baptized with or in the Holy Spirit. Only Jesus, the Second Person in the Holy Trinity can baptize you and me with or in the Holy Spirit. The Bible clearly tells us this great truth.
John the Baptist said in Mark 1:8, "I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit" (NKJV).
Jesus, Himself, never baptized anyone in water. He has delegated that ministry to His disciples.
God has supernaturally done something in my heart which I have never experienced before. It is real, it is regal, it is powerful. I have been fervently praying for a pure heart.
Melvine, Greg and I watch Fox News. I have come to trust the news there for as they say, "It is fair, balanced, and unafraid." However, I have a problem with the way the news media women dress with short skirts that are attractive, but allows one to see almost all of their thighs. Although I am 85, and can no longer function sexually as I have in my younger years, I am stimulated by the sight. I have had to turn my head and eyes away to prevent that from happening. Jesus said, "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.' 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (NKJV). A man has been created with the ability to be keenly affected by his sight. So, I have cried out to Jesus to help me by giving me a pure heart.
How can I fully describe what has happened to me?
The Psalmist wrote the following chapter in Psalm 24 for my benefit. I want to go to heaven when I die, or when our blessed Lord comes for His Bride the the Church.
Psalm 24:3-10
3 Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Or who may stand in His holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
Nor sworn deceitfully.
5 He shall receive blessing from the Lord,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him,
Who seek Your face.
Selah
7 Lift up your heads, O you gates!
And be lifted up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
8 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
The Lord mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O you gates!
Lift up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
10 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
He is the King of glory.
NKJV
I love to sing the Gospel song, "We're Marching to Zion."
Come, we that love the Lord,
And let our joys be known;
Join in a song with sweet accord,
And thus surround the throne.
Refrain:
We’re marching to Zion,
Beautiful, beautiful Zion;
We’re marching upward to Zion,
The beautiful city of God.
The sorrows of the mind
Be banished from the place;
Religion never was designed
To make our pleasures less.
Let those refuse to sing,
Who never knew our God;
But children of the heav’nly King
May speak their joys abroad.
The men of grace have found
Glory begun below;
Celestial fruits on earthly ground
From faith and hope may grow.
The hill of Zion yields
A thousand sacred sweets
Before we reach the heav’nly fields,
Or walk the golden streets.
Then let our songs abound,
And every tear be dry;
We’re marching through Immanuel’s ground
To fairer worlds on high.
This new experience is all glorious and it a gift from God.
I believe that you, too, can have this precious gift of God's amazing grace, and we together can experience abundant living in Jesus Christ in 2018.
Something has happened inside of my heart. It is an experience I have never had in my life. I was saved (born again) when I was 6 years old in a daily vacation Bible school when my family: Hugh Henry Morgan (my father), Julia Payne Morgan (my mother), Mary Evelyn my older sister, and I lived in East Lake a bedroom community of Birmingham, Alabama.
It was on the last day of the Bible school that my teacher asked me if I would like to be a Christian. My response was immediate without any hesitation. I said, "Yes, I want to be a Christian." Well, she led me to Jesus Christ by helping me to pray a sinner's prayer. Even at the age of six I knew I was a sinner and that only Jesus could save me.
The change in my heart was dramatic and immediate. I felt new inside my heart. You see I made a commitment in which I believed that it would be forever. I knew that God had saved me by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, my sins were gone, my name was now written in heaven in the Lamb's Book of Life, and that I was going to heaven when I died or should our blessed Lord return to rapture His Bride, the church, that in that
number of saints I would be there with them going up to heaven.
No one instructed me, but I became an instant evangelist, and have been an evangelist since then. Did you know I have been save 79 years. My heart has always been tender toward God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.
While I was growing up in the Pentecostal Holiness Church I thought (wrongly) that I had to be saved again should I sin, and sin I did. I would go to the altar when the invitation was given. As I grew in maturity in the grace of God I came to realize that was a wrong assumption or belief. I really can't say it was taught that you have to get saved over and over again. I can tell you the Bible doesn't teach that. What I have learned that I must keep "short accounts" with God by recognizing that I had sinned, repenting, confession of the sin, and asking God to forgive me for Jesus' sake. I have always been forgiven by God's abundant love and mercy. I am grateful that I learned that truth.
When I came home after the Bible school with my sister, Mary Evelyn, I went to every home in my block on Division Avenue in East Lake. I told them what had happen in my life, and they too could be a Christian if they were not a Christian.
The most remarkable thing happened when I gave my personal testimony . . . I did not stutter. You see I was a stutterer. However, thanks be to God I did not stutter. That was a miracle God gave me that day.
Years later I trusted God for my sanctification that is a definite experience following the new birth as the Holy Spirit applied the blood of Jesus. This is call the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Agent and the blood of Jesus is the element in this baptism of the Holy Spirit. Many years later I was baptized with or in the Holy Spirit. Only Jesus, the Second Person in the Holy Trinity can baptize you and me with or in the Holy Spirit. The Bible clearly tells us this great truth.
John the Baptist said in Mark 1:8, "I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit" (NKJV).
Jesus, Himself, never baptized anyone in water. He has delegated that ministry to His disciples.
God has supernaturally done something in my heart which I have never experienced before. It is real, it is regal, it is powerful. I have been fervently praying for a pure heart.
Melvine, Greg and I watch Fox News. I have come to trust the news there for as they say, "It is fair, balanced, and unafraid." However, I have a problem with the way the news media women dress with short skirts that are attractive, but allows one to see almost all of their thighs. Although I am 85, and can no longer function sexually as I have in my younger years, I am stimulated by the sight. I have had to turn my head and eyes away to prevent that from happening. Jesus said, "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.' 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (NKJV). A man has been created with the ability to be keenly affected by his sight. So, I have cried out to Jesus to help me by giving me a pure heart.
How can I fully describe what has happened to me?
The Psalmist wrote the following chapter in Psalm 24 for my benefit. I want to go to heaven when I die, or when our blessed Lord comes for His Bride the the Church.
Psalm 24:3-10
3 Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Or who may stand in His holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
Nor sworn deceitfully.
5 He shall receive blessing from the Lord,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him,
Who seek Your face.
Selah
7 Lift up your heads, O you gates!
And be lifted up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
8 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
The Lord mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O you gates!
Lift up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
10 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
He is the King of glory.
NKJV
I love to sing the Gospel song, "We're Marching to Zion."
Come, we that love the Lord,
And let our joys be known;
Join in a song with sweet accord,
And thus surround the throne.
Refrain:
We’re marching to Zion,
Beautiful, beautiful Zion;
We’re marching upward to Zion,
The beautiful city of God.
The sorrows of the mind
Be banished from the place;
Religion never was designed
To make our pleasures less.
Let those refuse to sing,
Who never knew our God;
But children of the heav’nly King
May speak their joys abroad.
The men of grace have found
Glory begun below;
Celestial fruits on earthly ground
From faith and hope may grow.
The hill of Zion yields
A thousand sacred sweets
Before we reach the heav’nly fields,
Or walk the golden streets.
Then let our songs abound,
And every tear be dry;
We’re marching through Immanuel’s ground
To fairer worlds on high.
This new experience is all glorious and it a gift from God.
I believe that you, too, can have this precious gift of God's amazing grace, and we together can experience abundant living in Jesus Christ in 2018.