Ship of Salvation

By Lisa Rollison

Whose ship are you on?

Escape the lies, the traps, and the prison ships of the world! Discover the true freedom available to each of us that can only be found in the truth of God's Word! Come and board God's spiritual ship of salvation! Take an adventure through the Scriptures and relive the escapades of Jonah! Experience supernat

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Apr 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9781647739546

Book preview

Acknowledgments

How do I even begin to acknowledge the person who has impacted my life so tremendously on so many different levels? We always hear the expression that someone was truly a Godsend. Well, I know for a fact that God sent me Sylvia McGinnis as the answer to my crying out to Him in prayer, to please send me someone that was Spirit-filled and Spirit-led, to teach me what I was unable to understand about forgiveness.

The day I met Sylvia, my life changed forever. Her Scripture-based wisdom and insight brought clarity, hope, and light into a dark moment of unforgiveness, against which I had been so desperately struggling. I am so blessed and thankful to know that we serve a God who hears us cry out in prayer and answers us. I am not the only person whom God has chosen to teach, heal, and comfort through His faithful servant, Sylvia McGinnis.

The number of people that Sylvia has so generously helped through her books: Would You Believe? The Lies We Believe…The Truth that Sets Us Free: A Personal Guide to Inner Healing, and The Powerful Secret of Forgiveness: Out of the Darkness…into the Light, is endless; as each person she teaches proceeds to share what they have learned with countless others, who then go on to share and to teach. It is truly mind-boggling to try to imagine how many lives have been touched by the life of Sylvia McGinnis. I have never met a more generous person with their time or with the gift, which God has provided for them. Sylvia is indeed a blessing to all who know her.

In addition to being the person whom God had chosen to be such a significant part of my spiritual development, Sylvia was also the person He used to open the door for me in both local jail ministry and Texas prison ministry for women. With each message that I have prepared for the women in jail, I began by first seeking God in His Word to receive His wisdom and discover what it was that He wanted me to share. With every message that the Holy Spirit has guided me through, He has blessed me with new wisdom and understanding about who I am in Christ Jesus and who my Father in heaven is. I have received so much more of God’s peace, comfort, and healing through those many wondrous moments of preparations as I spent intimate time with Him in His Word. It is because of all of those glorious moments with the Holy Spirit as my Teacher, from which I can draw, that I can prepare and share the message of God’s amazing love and of the healing power in His Word.

If it were not for Sylvia McGinnis’s true dedication of serving the Lord in His Truth with honesty, kindness, and understanding as she makes herself available for the Lord to call upon, so much of what God has chosen to bless me with might not have been possible. It is because of how Sylvia serves, honoring and glorifying our Lord Jesus Christ, that she can lead non-believers and believers alike into a new relationship with their Father in heaven. It is also one reason I have grown so exponentially in my own walk with God. To this day, I continue to thank God for answering my prayers through His introduction of Sylvia McGinnis into my life.

I must acknowledge my Father in heaven. All that I am and all that I have is because of His great love for me. I thank You, Father, for having never given up on me. Thank You for blessing me with the deep personal knowledge of the love, grace, and mercy you continually pour out to me and all of Your children. I thank You for Your Son, my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, whom You sent to live and die for me so that I may live the life for which You have created me. I love You, Lord. I thank You for loving me when I did not love You. Amen.

I thank You, Lord Jesus, that You would willingly endure such incredible pain and suffering to assure my personal salvation and provide all persons with a way to the Father. I am eternally grateful that You would love me enough to lay down Your life to give me this new life through You. I pray that I continue to live a life that honors and glorifies You and Your love and forgiveness for all who are willing to receive. Amen.

I thank You, Holy Spirit, that You would be willing to come to dwell within me. I thank you for Your guidance, encouragement, and convictions. I thank You for the wisdom and understanding which you supply as I study the Living Word. I thank You for the miraculous healings and spiritual transformations you have done and are still actively manifesting inside me as I continue to mature in my salvation through the meditation and application of God’s Word. I thank You for the peace and comfort that comes from knowing that I am never alone. I thank You for Your inspirations as I prepare messages to share with the women who are incarcerated. Thank You for the precious time you spent with me during the writing process, leading me to the Scriptures that You brought to my remembrance as the Ship of Salvation unfolded before me. I look forward to whatever is next that You have prepared for me to discover, learn, heal, grow through, and share! Amen.

I

ntroduction

I would like to invite you to join me on an adventure through the story of Jonah, along with many other scriptures in the Bible and the testimonies from my personal history of discovery. This is a journey that will encourage you in your faith, renew and refresh your spirit, and it will refuel that brilliant flame inside of you that began to burn for God the moment you chose to receive His salvation! This is a journey that will release you from the prisons and the lies of the world as you learn to discover the true freedom that is only found in the Truth of Jesus. There is no greater adventure any of us could ever hope to experience than the one that places us on the spiritual road of the wisdom and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit as our tour guide.

Travel along beside me as I am released from the prisons of drug addiction, shame, guilt, depression, and anxiety to the freedom of God’s salvation, peace, comfort, and joy. Grow with me as I share real testimonies about the challenges I have faced before and after my having received God’s salvation and the lessons that I have been taught along the way through the tutelage of the Holy Spirit. Watch as I am blessed and spiritually transformed when I am shown and then embrace a new level of forgiveness, a true and complete spiritual forgiveness. Celebrate with me when I am finally released from the prisons of my past and from all of the painful memories, which I had been tormented by for so long. Wander with me through the Scriptures and discover what God wants to reveal to you personally and what He wants to heal inside of you. I am so excited to have you join me on this incredible adventure into the lessons, which God has prepared for us! I know that God has a specific plan and a purpose ready and waiting just for you to discover. As you read, be open-minded and prepared to encounter the revelation of a new stone, which has been placed upon the glorious path God has designed specifically for you. There will always be the presence of a new stone, waiting for us to discover and to step out onto, hidden within God’s Word waiting to be revealed by the Holy Spirit.

May the Lord bless you as you read the words and the Scriptures written on the pages of this book, and may the Holy Spirit give you His wisdom, understanding, and guidance. Amen.

Trust in the Lord

History has always been my toughest subject, especially world history. There are so many names of people and places spoken in so many different languages. It is always such a challenge for me even to try to pronounce them correctly. I usually end up shortening their names, creating nicknames so that I can continue reading. There are so many nations and countries worldwide that are either no longer in existence or their names and borders have changed. It is all so confusing! I never could grasp why world history was so important to learn or how it could possibly apply to me. Every time I have attempted to study a history book, my mind has always wandered. Many times I have even become exhausted and have ended up falling asleep. In high school, I became very proficient at drawing maps of the world, because thankfully, the world history teacher allowed us to draw maps for extra credit. Otherwise, I doubt if I would have been able to pass the class.

I am sharing this with you because when I first began studying my Bible, it was the same experience for me. The names and places were absolutely foreign to me, and I became very sleepy whenever I attempted to read even the greatest and most important world history book of all time, the Holy Bible. Once again, I was not entirely sure of how to apply what I was reading from the past (all of the stories in the Bible) to my present-day life and to my future. You might also have had a similar experience while trying to read your Bible. So I want you to know that I completely understand the struggle. I want to encourage you to push through that feeling of being mentally overwhelmed or becoming excessively sleepy the next time you sit down to read your Bible. There is a new level of understanding waiting for each of us as we take the time to sit down with the Holy Spirit as our teacher. Instead of becoming overwhelmed with the task of feeling compelled to read the entire Bible in a year, we need to learn how to pace ourselves through the guidance and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. We should allow our focus to be upon one scripture at a time and one story. This allows the Holy Spirit the time necessary to impart His wisdom. He will also provide us with an understanding of how we are to apply what we are learning to our own lives.

There are basically two types of family vacations. One is where the main goal is to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible. We use a map app with GPS while taking the highways, HOVs, and turnpikes traveling at the highest rate of speed allowed. Food stops are determined by what is seen on the exit signs. The choice of a restaurant is based on which one will provide the fastest access and the easiest way back onto the highway. That is an example of the one-year Bible plan. You will get from point A to point B as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, you will have missed out on the many hidden treasures of wisdom and understanding along the way. You will not discover the beautiful new stones God has strategically placed onto your path, waiting to reveal His direction for you. You will get to the end of Revelation without any memory of your journey.

An alternative way to travel on your vacation would be to plan your trip using an old-fashioned printed road map. As you map out your journey, you should choose to take the slower route, which will allow you the freedom to enjoy the peace of moseying down obscure country roads. You should not set a time limit on how long it will take you to travel from point A to point B. This unrestricted journey allows you to experience the beautiful scenery that the major highways and byways do not always offer. You will drive through the small towns that you had never heard of before. You will get to see their historic courthouses and other architectural structures that are unique to that particular area. You will have the opportunity to get a taste of the traditional local foods as you dine at the small family-owned restaurants along the way. In addition, you will discover historical markers that you will take a moment to explore and learn from. The purpose of this trip is not focused on the final destination. Instead, it is focused on the adventure that will allow you to explore and discover the treasures hidden along the way. This route takes a short journey and turns it into an adventure of a lifetime as you travel along toward your final destination.

This type of travel plan is the most fulfilling way for each of us to journey through the world’s history found in the Holy Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation. This is also the way in which we are to venture out into our new life of salvation. There is a supernatural adventure waiting for each of us to experience before we reach our final destination in heaven. I am so delighted that you have chosen to join me on this adventure into the Scriptures. As you travel along with me through the book of Jonah, other scriptures from the Bible, and down the roads I have traveled in my adventure of discovering who God is, who I am in Christ, and what that means to me, you will gain new personal insight into your own journey. Hopefully, you will reexamine the current travel plans that you might have for your life, and you will open up a new map to set a new course that will lead you into a new personal adventure with God.

Let the Adventure Begin

Jonah was one of God’s prophets that lived in the late 700s BC. Back then, God would speak to His people, the people of Israel, through His prophets. The book of Jonah opens with God telling Jonah to arise and to go to the great city of Nineveh. Jonah was told to warn them that God had seen their evil ways and that He would destroy them because of it. The people of Nineveh were Assyrian, and they were known to be very cruel to all other nations, including Israel. These were Gentiles, who had tortured and murdered Jonah’s people, God’s people, and Jonah despised them. Not only did he despise them, but it also makes sense to assume that he likely felt a high level of fear toward them. So Jonah absolutely, without a doubt, did not want to go to Nineveh.

Why would God even ask Jonah to preach to these people? These people were known to be horrible and extremely cruel to all other people. These people were evil in Jonah’s eyes. So this instruction from God just could not have made any sense to Jonah. He could not comprehend why on earth God would tell Him to do this. So instead of doing what God had commanded him, Jonah left Jerusalem, headed down to the nearest port, which was Joppa, thirty-five miles away. There he found a ship that was ready to leave for Tarshish. The exact location of Tarshish is unknown. However, most people agree that it was a city in southern Spain. When you look at a map, from Jonah’s point of view back then, Spain was the last piece of land known to exist before traveling into uncharted waters. Jerusalem was on the far-right side of the map, and Tarshish was on the far-left side. So Jonah was literally attempting to run to the end of the earth, as he perceived it to be, to escape his responsibility to serve God.

Well, I think that we can all agree that it is never going to be a good idea for any of us to take that first same step down the path of disobedience, the path that leads us away from God and away from what God has called us to do. As we will discover, it is never a good idea to run away from God’s direction for our lives. We should serve God with trust in our obedience to Him. We do not need to worry about understanding why God puts it on our hearts to do something that, at the time, makes absolutely no sense to us. We might never know why God has asked us to do any particular task, and that is okay. Sometimes it might be years later, and God will bless us with a revelation of why He had asked us to pray with that stranger, to witness for Him to that certain individual, or to bless someone with food, clothes, or money. There is no end to the list of tasks that God might ask any one of us to do at any given time. Please allow me to try to save you some time from trying to figure out the why. God is the Creator of the need to know system.

Contrary to popular belief, it was not the CIA. It was God. Much like the CIA, we need to accept our assignment from God and learn how to step out with trust in our obedience, without having to need to know why.

An Obedient Traveler

In Genesis 12:1, God told Abraham to leave his country, relatives, and father’s family to go to the land that He would show him. Abraham had no clue where he would end up living; all he knew was that God had given him instructions, and he was going to follow them. Abraham stepped out into his journey with God with an act of obedience. If you follow Abraham’s journey, you will find out that it took some time before he