My chains fell off. | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: My chains fell off. | Previous Challenge Entry
By Gloria Pierre Dean
12/11/14
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ï»¿The inaudible voice in my ears kindly asked me, "What are you doing here?"

It stunned me and I hurriedly left the nightclub knowing full well that it was the voice of the Holy Spirit. I did not need to look around; I knew that there was no one there. I had never had this experience of hearing the Lord so clearly. I knew it was of the Lord.

I was a young Christian woman and I frequented a London night club with friends on Saturday nights. I had left home two years ago and was in a London training school for nurses. I was invited by non-Christian nursing students so I went. I had been brought up very strictly and had never been to a dance of any sort.

At first I would go to the night club on Saturday night and wake up to attend the local Sunday service. I was lonely and had not made friends at the church. Inevitably I stopped going to church.

The internal struggle of making the right choice was difficult but I chose not to listen to my conscience. I enjoyed dancing and that was the draw for me.

After I heard those words I did not return to that club. I told no one what I had heard. About two years later I moved to another British city. In the intervening two years my beloved God-fearing father had died suddenly. This shocked my family very deeply. After his death I made a decision to return to the Lord but had not found a church home.

One day a new friend invited me to a club and I agreed to go.
I arrived at the club alone. From the outside I could hear the loud disco music.
I placed my foot on the threshold of the club and I heard an inaudible voice say "You do not belong here. What are you doing here?" It was a very authoritative voice and it sounded like a scream inside of me. I leapt back as if stabbed. I ran to my room.

The next day I went to the Assemblies of God church.
As they were praising God in song I heard and read words in the hymnbook that broke me. They sent me into tears that I could not explain or control. I felt as though my heart was breaking.

The song was "And Can It Be" by Charles Wesley*. It was written in 1938.

All of my life I had heard that Jesus died for the whole world. That day I fully realized that He had died for me personally. We were brought up to think less of ourselves so the power of this truth struck home forcibly for the very first time. It rocked my world.

Here are some words from that hymn*:-

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Saviorâ€™s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His painâ€”
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

He left His Fatherâ€™s throne above
So free, so infinite His graceâ€”
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adamâ€™s helpless race:
â€™Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!
â€™Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and natureâ€™s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening rayâ€”
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach thâ€™eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach thâ€™eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

When the Pastor asked if anyone wanted to rededicate their life to the Lord my hand shot up into the air. Thank God that He still speaks to me today and I thank Him that he never leaves me nor forsakes me and for the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Hebrew 13:5b ..."for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."

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