She Speaks Conference Testimony

....The following was written by Loren's wife, Nan, in preparation for the speaker's track at the 2008 She Speaks Conference in Concord, North Carolina and this is how she began her 3-minute speech.

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....When we were given the assignment to share a 3 minute testimony and a 5 minute teaching, I sat down to write my speeches. It was then I came to realize that I was in the wrong group and I should have been in the writer’s group!

"Oh, Lord please help me and give me your grace."

.... That’s my testimony. You see my grandmother, who raised me, was a sweet Catholic lady. We were very sincere and devout in our religion yet for all my sincerety, I came up empty and wanting more of God. It seemed there was always a set of rules to abide by in order to please God and I could never measure up. I was ever groping for God, hoping to please Him and not make Him angry.

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....Through a series of events, 29 years ago, I eventually gave my heart to Jesus during the pinnacle of the Charismatic movement (namely, the Word of Faith). For the first time, I heard that God is good and He has wonderful promises for us -- both of which are true, but in order to get His favor for those blessings, I needed to do something. It was like trading my rosary beads for the 7 steps to healing, or the 12 steps to prosperity. The sad part is that I completely stepped over the cross by relying upon my performance to earn His blessings instead of who Jesus is and what He has done for me; I traded one religion for another. Please understand, I’m not coming against any religion, its just that what was terribly missing in my life was a deep abiding relationship with Jesus. My thinking was, if I just prayed more, just read my Bible more, maybe love my neighbor more, while all the while I was becoming more frustrated, religious, tired and judgemental.

....Then, after burning out on religion, the Lord introduced me to His loving grace. Ephesians 2:8 says, For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; grace that’s based on His finished work through Jesus, His unmerited favor and free gift of righteousness. If by grace we have been saved through our faith, our trust and reliance upon Jesus, then shouldn’t this walk with Him be the same?

....My 'story' is that I’m still walking out this mindset, still learning to yield to His grace and I’ve been asking Jesus to reveal His love to me and I encourage you to do the same. He loves you dearly, has more than enough grace to give to you and He desires you to know the depth of His love.