Thirsty, L.M.

Thirsty, L.M.

I was born and raised in a large city where there was mainly different “wells” to drink from. My experience of the world seemed limitless as I grew from a boy to a man. I enjoyed the pleasures of life in the big city and felt like I never would tire, grow old, or want to leave it's boundaries. I felt like I would always feel satisfied with taking in all the city had to offer. I was preserved to some extent by my family instilling values and religious beliefs into me as a nominal Catholic. Yes, I was a believer in Jesus, but I never was told I needed to be a receiver of Jesus into my spirit.

Therefore, I lived by my natural, fallen concepts of right and wrong, good and bad with no realization of the Holy Spirit. I basically was enslaved to a system which had blinded me. I did not realize that I was influenced by the system we call the world today (1 John 2:15-16). The world offered me freedom, wealth, happiness, joy, peace, etc. Why then after only twenty-five years on this earth did I feel like I wanted off of it, weary and drained physically and emotionally? It is because I had been drinking from the riches of “pharaoh” and not from Christ who supplies the living, eternal, flowing water. After twenty-five years in “Egypt”, New York City, the Lord opened a way for me to travel south to sunny Florida. Upon arriving there I sensed a calmness and peace I had not experienced since my early childhood. My teenage and early adult life were chaotic and I lived in anxiety much of the time. The Lord was preparing me at twenty-five to clear my skies and unload me of all the distractions weighing me down in New York. I had much more time to reflect, slow down, and see where I wanted to turn next in my life.

He opened my heart to higher education once again and I started school where He moved me. He then led me to Miami, Florida after graduating from a vocational institute in a small town in central Florida. I found myself back in a big city, full of temptations. Instead of tall buildings there were palm trees and beautiful beaches. I enrolled at a university in Miami Beach and began pursuing my career plans aggressively. I was active in school, made the dean's list and was working part-time enjoying life. The freedom of my soul and the temptations of paradise soon had me defeated and enslaved to sin. Although I enjoyed the world, I also felt it was always so temporary and meaningless at the same time; I just could not control my earthly desires. One day I went back to my dorm room, locked the door, and turned my heart, mind and soul to the Lord and my renewed faith which I had forsaken for too many years. I was desperate, my soul was aching and my heart was broken from the vanity I experienced in an unforgiving world. The Holy Spirit came and guided me, first showing me my sins, then teaching me that I was a sinner who was unclean in the eyes of God (John 16:13). I broke down in tears from the revelation; I repented and He forgave me all at once, while calling on His precious name. I received the fullness of the living water that day and will never thirst again for Jesus to quench my thirst. I graduated and paid a visit to a friend who moved to Orlando, Florida. It turned out that she came from a Christian family. Her mother invited me to a Christian meeting on a Sunday with the local church in Orlando, and I went willingly. There I saw a real oneness which I longed to be a part of and experience. There were different races, nationalities and ages in one place experiencing the joy of salvation and oneness in spirit. I entered into the enjoyment of having Christ in my spirit and being genuinely connected with all the other Christian believers. We were and are one in Spirit with our Lord (1 Corinthians 6:17). He led me to the local church where at last my soul found rest and peace, experiencing and enjoying the Lord as grace and meeting on the ground of oneness in the Spirit.