Acts 26:18 – “..to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.”
The following is the testimony of Jessie of London, England of how Almighty God worked in her life by His grace to bring her ‘from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that [she]..receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith’ in Lord Yeshua the Messiah, Son of the living God.
Jessie, roughly how long have you been saved?
I have been saved 23 years.
In your own words, what does “saved” mean and where in the Scripture do you derive your understanding?
To be saved is to have turned to Jesus the Christ in repentance of sin and fully trusting in His amazing work at Calvary where He took upon Himself the sins of the world and rose again, showing His power over death. By believing in Jesus He gives us the gift of eternal life. One of the main places in Scripture from which my understanding is derived is Ephesians 2:8-9, which says: ‘For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.’
Jessie’s Background
Can you share with us about your family background?
I grew up in Birmingham, England in the UK initially with my mum and dad who were not believers at the time. They divorced when I was 4 years old and I then lived with my mum and older brother and later on with a younger brother when my mother had another child. It was around this time my mum was saved through faith in Lord Jesus and went onto to remarry a man who claimed to also be a believer. I was around the age of seven years old at this time and my mum would go on to have another six children.
I would say my upbringing was religious in nature. I was exposed to Christianity from a young age through attending a Church of England school and later attending church with my family. My mum had met my stepdad in the Jesus Army church, but we attended a variety of churches as I grew up, ranging from Brethren to ultra-Charismatic churches. Growing up with my stepdad was challenging as although he claimed to be a believer he was a very angry person and, there was a lot of phycological abuse from him towards us all, including my mum which was very hard. The local authorities later became involved in the family when physical violence also became a factor. Currently, along with my mum my older brother and I are believers, but the rest of my siblings are not.
Jessie’s Journey to Faith
Can you remember when you first heard the Gospel?
I don’t remember when it was that I first heard the Gospel but I do remember always believing there was a God. I remember that around the age of 10 thinking that I had never actually made a commitment and had just gone along with everything I heard. I knew I definitely believed the gospel and what Christ had done for me at that time. It was at this time I also became conscious of the Gospel of Lord Jesus, that Christ died for my sins personally, that I was a sinner in need of a Saviour.
When did the assurance of salvation come? When did you know you were saved? Can you describe how that felt?
The assurance of salvation came much later for me, and I believe this goes back to the religious aspects of my upbringing. Although conscious of the Gospel and knowing I was saved, in the day to day living out of this within my family context, I never felt like I had assurance of salvation. I would have to say it was only about 10 or so years after my salvation, when I came out of living with my family and going to church consistently did I actually know that my salvation was in Christ. I will never forget what a Preacher said to me around that time, “Your position in Christ never changes but your condition in Him can.”
I remember feeling like a weight lifted off of me when I had assurance of my salvation, that it was not by my own works. I praise God that it is not by works because I could never measure up. I remember it being so impactful when I realised this truth.
In your own words what is repentance and its connection with salvation?
Repentance is a complete U-turn from sin and without that one cannot fully come to the Lord as sin separates us from God. God is a holy God but because Jesus became the Sin-Offering for us [Ed. see e.g. Isaiah 53; 2 Corinthians 5:21] we who have repented and believed on Him are clothed in His righteousness and can enter into God’s presence.
From Then To Now
Since then, can you share a little bit about how the Lord Yeshua has worked in your life?
I went on to marry a born-again Christian man and worked as a nurse for a few years after this. I now have three children and my husband and I have chosen to home-educate them and seek to raise them in a godly home. I also serve in the Sunday School ministry at church.
Can you tell me about the ministry you serve in, what it is and how you came to know the Lord was calling you into this ministry?
I honestly do feel that motherhood is my ministry and that the Lord Jesus Christ strengthens and enables me every day to bring light into the family home and educate my children in this broken and dark world. I hope to turn them towards the goodness of God whenever possible in our daily life so that this becomes really real to them. I have also been able to share my faith in Jesus with other home educating mothers as there is a growing community of non-believers who are choosing to home school.
What is your heart’s desire for this ministry?
I would love to – obviously – see my children be saved and see Lord Jesus work in their lives. I also would love to encourage more mothers in their home schooling journey and also to reach out to more women in our community who choose to school their children at home like me.
Within the will of God, do you have any particular hopes for the future that you can share with us?
If the Lord wills, I hope to help draw together a community of believers who home school their children in my local area as there isn’t one at present.
Last words
Can you share one Scripture passage through which the Holy Spirit has really encouraged, strengthened or instructed you in your walk of faith in Lord Yeshua?
I would like to share, 2 Timothy 1:7 which says, ‘For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.’
I’ve chosen this scripture because I’m naturally a very anxious person and I have seen the Lord work in me to make me not so anxious. My upbringing was very anxiety-inducing and lots of “winds of doctrine” along with, at times, irrational thinking influenced me and so the combination of ‘power, love and a sound mind’ just really is so amazing to me. I just love this Scripture.
To God be the glory great things HE has done!
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