Chosen To Believe

By Yvette Rodriguez

A true testimony of how God miraculously showed up in her life, breaking every demonic stronghold. A story of how she was set free in a dire moment when it looked like no one would come and save her.

She calls out his name into the darkness, and he comes to save her life. How she was brought out of darkness into his wonderful light, capturing her heart as he removes the veil, allowing her to see glimpses of the heavenly realm. Every dream and every vision he brought about her life only led her closer to the truth of who he is. He shows his undeniable mercy, love, and salvation as he pursues her life, which will bring her to complete surrender.

A long battle was won between good and evil in the spirit realm, fighting for her soul. Even with every struggle and the attacks on her life, she takes a step of faith to write her story, believing lives will be changed, that you would come to know that you have been chosen to believe in the goodness and faithfulness of God in our lives, that the same God who influenced her life wants to influence yours. A story that will inspire your faith to know that there is God who is alive and ready to move upon your life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 17, 2024
• ISBN: 9798887519067

Book preview

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Chosen To Believe

Yvette Rodriguez

ISBN 979-8-88751-905-0 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88751-906-7 (digital)

Copyright © 2023 by Yvette Rodriguez

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

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Prayer

Chapter 1

Mercy

Chapter 2

Love

Chapter 3

Salvation

A Letter of Thanksgiving

About the Author

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit-fruit that will last-and so that whatever you ask in my name the father will give you.

—John 15:16 (NIV)

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

—1 Peter 2:9 (NIV)

Preface

The Bible says we are to seek God, but it also teaches us that is God who initiates the pursuit: No one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day John 6:44 (NIV). You have been chosen to believe in the goodness and faithfulness of God that you would know at the end of my story that there isn't one thing God has done for me that he isn't ready to do for you.

I have been completely transformed by his mercy, pursued by his love, and now he has become my salvation. You will read a true story of how the devil used evil schemes throughout my life to try and destroy me. You will also read of how God used every trial by fire in my life and turned it around for my good and his glory.

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to carry out what is now being done, the saving of many lives. (Genesis 50:20 NIV)

You will read a story of a woman led by demonic forces and now a woman led by the power of the Holy Spirit. It's a story of how the enemy tried to end my life and how the Lord showed up and, by his mercy, transformed me into who I am today. He has given me new desires in my heart. What I once loved I now hate, and what I once hated I now love.

I'm forever grateful for the grace he has given me. In my journey, he has made all things possible by giving me strength, knowledge, and wisdom, which sustain me even today. I can finally put my entire life into perspective because I know now what my purpose is.

Most of us will go our entire life not knowing who we are or what we were intended for. We search the world for answers and follow everything that will never save us. The enemy, if you haven't figured it out by now, is the devil in our lives, and he will keep us bound with worldly distractions. He will keep you from ever knowing who your Creator is, and if he wins, you will die never knowing.

Over the past five years, I have restored and developed an intimate relationship with God. He has given me the Holy Spirit to help guide, teach, and council me. He has given me peace, joy, happiness, love, trust, and healing. He has given me a new life. I lived my entire life not knowing who I was. The enemy was fully committed to his assignment that I would die never knowing that Jesus could give me a new life.

The thief come only to steal and kill and destroy, I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10 NIV)

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV)

I can no longer keep what God has done for me a secret. I have been given a second chance at life through Christ and now have a responsibility to make sure everyone knows they can too. There is not one thing the Holy Spirit has done for me that he doesn't want to do for any one of you. I pray that my testimony will restore hope in everyone who has lost their way. I pray my story will inspire your faith to rise up inside of you and that your spirit would be awakened to the truth of who Jesus, the Son of God, is in your life. The Lord has chosen you to believe what he has done in my life so that you would know what he can do in yours.

It is not a coincidence that you are reading my story. No, it is by divine appointment. He has chosen you because somewhere down the road, someone has planted a seed in your heart, and my story of redemption will water that seed. I'm a living testimony that the Lord is still performing miracles today, and as the world tries to remove him completely from existence, his power will always be greater.

I don't know what you may be going through at this moment of your life, but I do know that God always has a plan. His plan is not that you would perish in your sin but to have eternal life. My pastor said it in this way: He loves us too much to leave us in the condition we are in.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16 NIV)

I ask that you open your heart and mind to what you're about to read because it's of the supernatural realm, a place we are told doesn't exist. Most of us grew up believing in God or some God, and we know there is one devil. So many gods in this world but only one devil—that alone should raise some questions. I have seen evil firsthand, and for those of you who have experienced or are experiencing a similar situation, you're not alone, and you're not going crazy. I want to share with the world how I came to know Jesus as my Savior. I have been given the chance to testify of his true existence. I only pray that I do a good job glorifying his name.

For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10 NIV)

Since my awakening, I have experienced miracles, healings, and many blessings in my life and the life of my loved ones. I have also experienced and learned about the demonic forces that oppose me even now. But greater is he who is in me than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4 NIV). The Lord almighty has raised me up from a grave that was never intended for me and brought me out of captivity. He has split open the Red Sea so I may walk on dry land. I no longer have to search the world to fill me as I once did. Jesus is all I need, who in himself is God. I have discovered the way, truth, and life of the one who is all sufficient for me.

And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8 NIV)

I have been restored from a broken heart, delivered from my addictions, and redeemed from my sinful life. I never thought It could ever be possible to be free from my old life. I had lost hope and was full of hate, grief, and anger, but God, who is and is to come, met me at the point of my need and established his Son, Jesus, in my heart. I'm here to testify that there is no place the hand of Jesus won't reach out to you, especially in the middle of your mess. He found, delivered, and freed me from my sinful life and now holds me in his right hand.

Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus. (Acts 4:30 NIV)

So do not fear for I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10 NIV)

I had serious accusations against me, but because Jesus interceded for me, I was found not guilty. I was exempt from the punishment I deserved because of his mercy and compassion for me. I have been washed by the blood of the Lamb, and my life has been justified and redeemed. Praise God, for his mercy endures forever!

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace. (Ephesians 1:7 NIV)

I want to share with you a story that led me to write my book so you will understand how all of this started for me. One day, while I was in prayer, I see a person walking up a hill toward a tree, and he is holding a staff. After seeing this vision, I felt I needed to walk up a hill, and the only one I knew of is a park near my mother's house. I felt the Lord had a message for me.

I had decided I would go to the hill after church on Sunday, but within the week, I heard a voice in my mind say, Yvette, let go of the stones and chakras. Everything will be okay. Go to the hill. I have a message.

I must be honest with all of you. Even though I was going to church and worshiping the Lord, I still hadn't stopped thinking about the stones and the chakras. I wasn't physically handling the stones, but they were in my heart, and the Lord knows our hearts. I didn't want to let them go. I felt they were the reason I had found God.

I have to say I was a little freaked out when I heard this message. You can't hide anything from God. So I went to the hill that Sunday after church in May 2018 ready with a notepad and a pen, believing in faith that I had heard from the Lord and he would deliver a message to me.

It was I, my son, and Carlos who went up the hill. I closed my eyes and began to tell God, Hear I am, but I heard nothing. It was cloudy and windy, and there was lightning in the sky. It was about to storm. I could feel the wind hitting my face as I stood there with my eyes closed, shutting out everything around me. I could hear my boyfriend and my son talking and laughing, and then their conversation became faint. I closed my eyes and began to breathe slowly, and I said, Lord, I must go, and I heard nothing, then I said again, Lord, I must go.

The wind was picking up, and the lighting was becoming more intense. Then I hear, Yvette, open your eyes.

So I opened them, looking up at the sky, thinking he would show me something huge. I can't even tell you what I was expecting to see, but I saw nothing. I again closed them and heard a voice say, Yvette, open your eyes.

Again looking at the sky, there was lightning in the sky, and it was getting dark. The storm was coming. I again closed my eyes and said, God, I must go, and I hear, Yvette, open your eyes to the world in front of you.

I stared out in front of me and felt like I needed to walk farther out. He was trying to pull me away from everyone. I closed my eyes once again, and I hear clearly. Whether it was in my mind or in the wind, I don't know, but I heard, Yvette, release the chakras. Write your book. Write of my salvation, mercy, and love. You will speak my word with no shame or fear. They will all believe you. You will flourish. Like the wind blows, I run my kingdom free. You must go now.

I know now I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit in the wind. Then I didn't know if I was hearing it in my mind or in the wind. It was an amazing experience.

The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. (John 3:8 NIV)

The wind picked up and began to blow very strongly. I knew it was time to go. We started heading back down the hill and saw three butterflies flying around us, a yellow, a white, and a black one. A week prior to the vision of the hill, I saw three colors in prayer. They were yellow, white, and black. This was my confirmation that the Lord was with me on that hill.

The Lord prophesied a word over me on this hill. He was letting me know he was behind me, backing me up as I write my story. I was to testify of his true existence through my story. The Lord was telling me to look at the brokenness of the world and how much it needed the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Don't you have a saying, It's still four months until harvest? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. (John 4:35 NIV)

I experienced many attacks from the enemy, but my biggest enemy was myself. I would allow doubt to set in, and it would keep me from finishing. I was still in transition and trying to understand what was going on in my life. It was like walking through another dimension and into a whole new life. Everything had been wiped away. My slate had been washed clean. No matter what I went through trying to get to this point, the Lord always showed up for me. He never left me, nor did he forsake me. He has always shown up for me in my weakest hour. His grace has always been sufficient for me.

But he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness, Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. (2 Corinthians 2:19 NIV)

He would teach me through his Word or a message being spoken by a certain pastor on TV or by my own pastors from Mercy Church San Antonio, Texas. This is the church where the Lord has placed me for the past five years. Praise God for his goodness. He has planted me with a sincere church family in Christ to look out for me. I have never felt so welcome and so loved as I do here at my church. The Lord has answered many visions and dreams through all my pastors, and I will be forever grateful.

I was a woman full of pride and would never speak of what happened to me to anyone. Only by the grace of God can I confess I was scared out of my own home. I was tough and thought I could never be broken, but today I testify of the omnipotent God who humbled me and led me into his presence. He would plant a seed that one day would bear fruit for his honor and glory.

Don't think for one minute he delighted in my destruction or think he caused it. It was my disobedience that separated