I fooled myself into thinking I
was okay - please don't do the
same thing!

[pat.jpg]

Hi!   I'm Pat.
Please read my story!

   I was raised in a family with a
strong heritage, going back quite a
few generations, of believing the
Bible and taking what it says at
face value to be God's Holy Word.
I am so thankful for that!
   Over the years my belief in the
truth of the Bible has only been
more strengthened as I see the in-
tricacies of fulfilled prophecies and
scientific facts.   However, it is not
enough to just know those things.
With my rich heritage I knew ex-
actly what was needed in order to
be right with God and have assur-
ance of eternal life with Him - or
so I thought!

1

   As a child I remembered pray-
ing to God at least twice to "save
me".   But it wasn't until I was 33
years old and had been a mission-
ary wife in Mexico for 9 years that
God in His mercy helped me real-
ize from what I needed to be saved!
   You see, all those years I had
been relying on a prayer for my
eternal security - yet I had never
truly come face to face with my sin.
The Bible speaks volumes about
belief (faith in Christ's payment for
our sin) as opposed to doing some
good work to "earn" salvation.   I
had no problem with that!   But the
Bible is also very clear that belief

2

must come with repentance, a
"changing of mind", as it says so
clearly in Mark 1:15, Repent and
believe the Gospel.
   I never remember being truly
broken-hearted over my sin and see-
ing it the way God does until that
moment as a young adult.   I do re-
member thinking until then, "I'm not
so bad," and vowing to put things
behind me and go on.   But deep in-
side, my thoughts were not right.
God said that if one hates in his
heart, or thinks lustful thoughts, he
is a murderer and adulterer (1 John
3:15; Matthew 5:27).   I needed to
face that and realize that I was only

3

a helpless sinner deserving noth-
ing but God's just eternal punish-
ment.
   On April 8, 1988, I thank God
for truly breaking my heart over my
sin and helping me realize how lost
I was.   It was not until my sinful
pride was broken that God could
give me new spiritual life.
   Oh, not a lot changed on the out-
side, for sure.   I was already try-
ing to live by the Bible.   But my
thoughts and attitudes were changed
by God!   I now study the Bible out
of a desire to be drawn close to
God, not as a daily duty.   God has
helped me to be more patient, and

4

think more about others.   No, I'm
not perfect, but I thank God that I
am now forgiven!
   Please don't deceive yourself as
I did for so long.   God wants to
save you from your sin and its pen-
alty, eternal spiritual death in Hell.
For the wages of sin is death; but
the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
Romans 6:23.   And death and hell
were cast into the lake of fire.   This
is the second death, Revelation
20:14.   God is not willing that any
should perish, but that all should
come to repentance, 2 Peter 3:9.

5

MAGNIFICENT
OPPORTUNITY!
STUDY THE BEST BOOK
IN THE WORLD!
We will send you a course to study in the
Holy Scriptures if you will send us your
name and complete address to:
OUTREACH INSTITUTE
PO BOX 850062
MESQUITE, TX 75185-0062

ABSOLUTELY FREE

Name                                                           Age
Address
City, State ZIP

Pat's Testimony

[...]

[ Christian Helps Ministry (USA) ]