The Two Kingdoms

So there I was alone in my apartment faced with the now recognized fact that God was real. It had been over a year of battling that realization with questions and conversations and experiences. Really, there was only one question now pressing - "What are you going to do with that new knowledge, Linda?"

I made my phone call to my friend who had weathered the spiritual storms with me for all these months. "So, how do I become a Christian?" I asked. 
After she discussed with me what it all meant and my role in this transition from one kingdom to the the other, I hung up the phone and quietly spoke with God. 

Four main things happened over the next 48 hours.

• An incredible thirst for the Word of God. I can only describe it as feeling like a dry sponge soaking  up huge amounts of moisture - like an ocean -  but never being full. I drank in the Word of God for hours at a time - and yet somehow never fell behind in my university studies or felt weary. I read that first night until past 2:00 a.m.  I read and read and read. The book of Hebrews was my favorite. When I read about the Bereans in Acts 17:11 it jumped out at me and I wanted to be like them - noble character, listening eagerly to the message, and searching Scriptures day after day. From the first moment of transition into this new Kingdom of Light, I loved God's Word.
• Awakening to the spiritual battle. Throughout the preceding months of confusion, the spiritual battle had raged, but I did not recognize it. I would go from truly being curious about a question and having a soft heart, to being condemning and sarcastic and trying to convert this friend to atheism. It was a constant tug of war. The night I became a Christian, my eyes were opened to the spirit realm and a battle that I had not seen or dreamed existed. That night as I lay in bed after reading God's Word,  I saw the demonic flying around my room. Not being trained in spiritual warfare yet, I just hunkered down hugging my Bible all night.The kingdom of darkness was not happy I had quietly crossed the line into the Kingdom of Light.
• The spiritual gifts. Coming from atheism where there is nothing spiritual, the spiritual gifts described in Corinthians 12 and 14 were quite astonishing. Wow. Because the spiritual gift of tongues was the gift that was undeniably the evidence I needed to admit God existed, I wanted that gift.  I asked my friend about it, and then hung up the phone! Quietly, alone in my apartment, I spoke with God. I simply said, "Lord, you know how special tongues was to me in accepting You. Would You mind giving me that gift?" He did . Tongues flowed for hours. Languages changed as the hours ticked by, and it was a beautiful time of worship, gratitude and probably other than salvation itself, the first thing I asked God to do for me.
• Surprise at others interest. LOL. This one is just funny looking back on it. I honestly didn't think that friend of mine who had invested over a year of prayers, and answering questions, and stood in the midst of the spiritual battlefield, would be interested to know that I had in fact made the decision to become a Christian! About 24 hours after that phone call asking her what I needed to do to become a Christian, she tentatively asked me what I had done with the information. "Oh, I turned Christian," I casually responded! I indeed was surprised at her excitement, and the fact she wanted to tell others from her College and Career group who had been praying for me too. I said, "Oh, I doubt they'd be interested."  "Trust me," she responded, "they'll be interested!"

That was 33 years ago. It has been an incredible journey and I have recognized the  sound discipleship I had in those first couple of years post atheism that have come back time and time again to keep me on the right track. Next blog I will recount some of the memorable areas of discipleship I received to help me stay in God's Kingdom even though the dark kingdom was all around.