Stories

Tina Gonzalez


  

Hi, my name is Tina, Pastor Angel’s wife. As a child growing up I attended church regularly and from a young age I believed that Jesus Christ died on the cross and shed His blood for my sins. However, after many attempts to ask Jesus into my heart, which is what I was taught to do, my life had no significant change. Sin still had a hold and control of me. I had no idea what it meant to live a life free from the bondage of sin. I asked for forgiveness of my sins repeatedly hoping for freedom from its grip but I just didn’t feel cleansed. Though I knew that Christ died for my sins I did not understand how His death, burial and resurrection meant more than just forgiveness of sins.  I didn’t have that personal relationship with Jesus where He was living inside of me making me a new creation, getting rid of the old once and for all. 

Then God is His great grace and wonderful mercy opened my eyes to see how I could have a personal relationship with Him, through repentance and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. I learned that repentance is not just asking for forgiveness, it’s actually turning away from your sin and changing your relationship with sin forever.  I had already been christened, sprinkled at age 13, and baptized, but without the understanding of true repentance. Now being truly repentant, I was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and when I came up out of the water, I felt a peace and purity that I had not known before.

As the scriptures declares:

 "Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit". Acts 2:38

Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." John 3:5  

I received the Holy Spirit that day, and came to a deeper understanding of the free gift that Jesus gave me when He died for my sins on the cross. All I had to do was repent, believe it, accept it, receive the Holy Spirit and trust and follow the guidance that he has given me in His word.

I hope that some of you who are reading this can relate to my testimony and that it may help you to gain a deeper understanding of God’s mercy. May you be filled with His Holy Spirit and receive the beauty of his grace and forgiveness that I have now.

 

 





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