On Sunday I watched a live feed from Bethel Church in Redding CA. Kris Vallotton was preaching the morning service to a full house. He shared his testimony of how he became a Christian. He came from a difficult home life. His father drowned when he was three, his mother remarried a violent man whom she later divorced. Kris's grandfather, who was the greatest influence on his life, was an atheist. Kris knew next to nothing about God.
When he was a teen, they had a prowler who would come almost nightly and try to get into their house. They lived in a tough area, and the police tried to catch the guy often. Once his mother woke up to the prowler in her bedroom. Another night Kris woke up to him coming in the window of his bedroom. He even shot at him, but it did not keep him away. The family was under great stress with his mom sleeping with a shotgun by her side and Kris a 22 rifle by his side. His mom was covered in a skin disease from the stress and would cry herself to sleep every night.
One night Kris could take no more and he said out loud, "IF there is a God, then if you will heal my mom I will serve you the rest of my life." It was then he clearly heard an audible voice say, "I am Jesus Christ. I will do as you ask." The next morning his mom came out of her room fully healed!
A week later as Kris was in bed he heard the same voice say to him, "This is Jesus Christ, and you told me you would serve Me the rest of your life." At that point Kris began searching for God. He visited several churches looking for what he felt when he heard that voice in the night. His fiancé went with him. He was 12 when he started dating his wife Kathy, and thirteen when they got engaged. I know, crazy, right?
One night a friend invited them to a house where people got together to worship. The friend told them they all needed to go early so they would not have to stand outside for the worship. It was always crowded there. Kris describes everyone at this house as being "hippies". He did not know it then, but this group was part of the Jesus movement of that time. When they all started singing and sharing briefly how God had saved them from heroin, or epilepsy, or death, Kris felt the same way he had that night Jesus spoke to him. He knew He had "found Jesus". He and Kathy gave their lives to Christ that night, and were baptized in the Holy Spirit. Kris also began to read the Bible, no small feat for someone who had graduated from high school with a 3rd grade reading level.
Moving years ahead.......Kris is now a powerful leader in Bethel Church and their school of healing. God has used this man in amazing ways to spread the gospel, heal the sick and broken, prophesy, and cast out demons.
I doubt many of us have heard the audible voices of God, I know of only one woman myself. But Jesus does beckon us in many other ways to come to Him, believe in Him, rest in him, hear Him, trust in Him.
We often hear a still small voice in our mind, our heart, our intuition. Maybe we feel a strong desire for "more" in our lives, in the way of Bible study, or mission work, encounters with His presence, relationships, or purpose. God is speaking to us all the time beckoning us into His love for us and His purpose for our lives. We just need to tune in. Find His always-transmitting frequency, and stay tuned in.
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