Spiritual Journey: Voyage to Salvation

By Lizzie Keene

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" (Psalm 119:105). Life is about traveling-traveling to new experiences while learning lessons along the way. Through my spiritual journey, I've learned the depth of God's love, not just knowing about Him, but to know Him and to have a personal relationship with His Spirit. In this book, you will experience that journey with me through relationships, churches, and visions, as I tell my story for God's glory.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 18, 2020
• ISBN: 9781098048600

Book preview

cover.jpg

Spiritual Journey

Voyage to Salvation

Lizzie Keene

Copyright © 2020 by Lizzie Keene

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Acknowledgments

Throughout my spiritual journey, I have to thank the leaders of the churches I attended and the church I attend now for helping to nurture me into my Christianity and for giving me the knowledge and the tools I needed to grow in my spiritual journey. Thank you, Reverend, Pastor, ministers, bishops, and apostles.

Introduction

When you think about the word spiritual, what does it mean to you?

I remember growing up in the church. I thought that being spiritual was someone who was very religious—so perfect that they never did anything wrong. That is so far from the truth. It wasn’t until I got much older that I realized the word spiritual was a lot more in depth. I’ve learned that being spiritual was based on your faith; it’s your personal growth relating to your salvation.

This made me want to know more about the word spiritual, which led me to this very interesting term, spiritual being the original shape of man, oriented at the image of God. Basically, your spiritual growth is to become more Christ-like, living your life without sin. Now as a Christian, I’m not always perfect, but I thank God for His grace and mercy and for giving me the perfect man to follow, which is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This made me think of the word journey, a voyage into salvation—my spiritual journey!

When you really think about it, you can’t have a spiritual journey without growth. Your journey is trials (tests) and tribulations (suffering) of life. But when you apply God’s word (Holy Bible) over every situation, it’s a powerful thing, and your life will never be the same!

Chapter 1

Baptist

I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.

—Matthew 3:11

The first time I got baptized was during my early preteen years. On that day, I was ill with a cold, but I was well enough to go to church. I remember my dad saying to me that when we get to church, I was going to get baptized. At that time, I didn’t know what it was or what it meant to be baptized until my dad told me in basic terms that I have to go down in water to be cleansed of my sins and accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I had some knowledge of Jesus based on what my dad told me about Him, but that wasn’t the problem; the problem was going down in the water, because I couldn’t swim. That was the only thing on my mind that day. Drowning was not something I wanted to experience.

I said, Daddy, I can’t swim. I don’t want to do it. He told me I didn’t have to swim, that Bishop would hold me and dip me down in the water and bring me back up. And the only thought that came across my mind was what if this man dropped me while trying to dip me in that water? Then I could drown. So I made up in my mind that I was going to do whatever I could to get out of it.

I don’t know about most people, but I remember, as a child, when I didn’t want to do something, I faked sick. Well, I was already sick with a cold, so that whole morning I tried to pretend like I was way too sick to go to church, but my dad wasn’t having that. He said, You’ll be all right, and since you’re sick, you will get healed when you go down in the water. Funny, but true.

Even so, I was not trying to hear that, and I definitely wasn’t trying to get into that water either. I whined and pouted all the way to church, and I’m sure that tested my parents’ patience, because my dad gave me this look that said, If you don’t stop, I’m going to give you something to cry about. I think we all know that look from a parent whose patience is truly put to the test by their children. So of course, I got quiet.

When I walked inside the church, I was so scared and nervous about drowning that I was silently crying the entire service. And with me already having a cold, that didn’t help my nose congestion at all. After a while, I was unable to breathe out of my nose; I had so much mucus and phlegm built up