Below is a testimony provided by a friend of Eternal Path who wants to share their life-changing story. Once bound by the deceptions taught by the New Age that leads a soul from confusion to delusion. We can only pray that others will be encouraged and exhorted by these personal reflections.
The date was Friday, April 20th, 2007. I know the day I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior because it is a day I will never forget. I fully surrendered to His will for me and I felt a release like no other. I am truly transformed. I am free from the bondage of a daily life of struggle. I now drink from the living water. May all the glory be given to our Heavenly Father!
I am writing this as my testimony in hopes that it may open one's mind toward the truth, toward Jesus, and strengthen those already with Him in their walk with Christ. I gave, and now give my life to Him as He did for me. I pray for Him to use me so others like you can come to have a relationship with Him, to know Him, to realize that for eternity you will never die.
For the past 10 years, I was searching and searching for the truth. I was on a spiritual path I thought was leading me to the truth. Some call it the new age. I just considered myself a seeker of truth. I was learning how the universe works. I was in awe of what I was discovering. There was a grain of truth in it all, as I later found out.
My childhood consisted of a Catholic baptism as a baby and going to church on Christmas Eve and the Thursday before Easter. I knew about Jesus because my parents were brought up Catholic. We prayed once a year over our meals at Thanksgiving. We had all sorts of experiences in the psychic realm. We were fascinated by the spirit world. We grew up believing in astrology.
My spiritual journey began at age 30. I thought I had woken up. At the time, I met a soul mate who led me to the books, The Celestine Prophecy, by James Redfield and Many Lives, Many Masters, by Dr. Brian Weiss. I wanted more. So I got a hold of as many books as I could. I felt the universe was directing my path. I read numerous books by numerous authors; Edgar Cayce, Sonia Choquette, Wayne Dyer, Bob Frissell, Shakti Gawain, Thich Naht Hahn, Louise Hay, Robert Monroe, Ruth Montgomery, Carolyn Myss, Candace Pert, Sanaya Roman, Eckhart Tolle, James Twyman, Doreen Virtue and Marianne Williamson to name a few. You name it. I have probably read it…everything from A to Z; auras, psychic children (crystal and indigo), sacred geometry, Zen.
A big influence in the beginning part of my walk was author Neale Donald Walsch. In the Conversations with God series books, he took many scriptures from the Bible and made up his own philosophies. It made perfect sense to me at the time. The late Edgar Cayce also twisted scripture from the Bible regarding reincarnation saying, “That's what Jesus meant to be born again." In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the Kingdom of God unless he is born again.” (John 3:3 NIV) I now know that Jesus was explaining the importance of a spiritual rebirth, saying that people do not enter the Kingdom by living a better life, but by being spiritually reborn.
Needless to say, I began to believe in reincarnation. Every single book I came across during this time also accepted it. I went to self-help conferences and learned as much as I could possibly learn. I read up on the major religions of the world. I studied Kabbalah, Buddhism, Meditation, Native American beliefs… I had many spiritual encounters with Sathya Sai Baba, an ascended master [Hindu god incarnate] who performs miracles.
I had believed we are all one. My take on Christianity was that it was one way to God and there are many paths to God. I believed Jesus was an ascended master like Buddha and Mohammad. I did not believe in the devil, hell or Satan. I believed everything was either positive or negative energy.
I believed that if a pole shift was going to happen in the earth, my memory would be saved through the use of the merkaba (1). I believed we create our own reality and that when you die, whatever it is you believe in, that is what happens to you. I thought I knew all the secrets of the universe! (1) Merkaba, also spelled Merkabah, is the divine light vehicle allegedly used by ascended masters to connect with and reach those in tune with the higher realms. "Mer" means Light. "Ka" means Spirit. "Ba" means Body. Mer-Ka-Ba means the spirit/body surrounded by counter-rotating fields of light, [wheels within wheels], spirals of energy as in DNA, which transports spirit/body from one dimension to another.
I owned several packs of divination cards. I used them as a tool to get answers from the universe. I had so many different kinds. Some were based on “archetypes” and some “affirmations”. Others were fun like dolphins, fairies and mermaids. Each card had a word written on it that had its own meaning or one you would discover on your own, revealing what the universe was trying to tell you. My favorite packs consisted of the angels and archangels. Since they were angels, I thought surely these must be from God- not realizing Satan can disguise himself as an angel. (2 Corinthians 11:14 NASB)
They are a means of distraction that keep us from turning to Jesus. We end up relying on ourselves, other people and other things for answers instead of our heavenly Father. It is a beautifully deceptive way for the enemy to keep us in eternal bondage. I learned later that the God’s breathed truth makes reference “And do not let your people practice fortune-telling or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, or casts spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth dead spirits.” (Deut. 18:10-11)
I was going through severe depression. I was looking for natural ways to heal. I got certified in hypnotherapy. I did yoga. I worked with my chakras. I was certified and practiced 2nd degree Reiki. I used crystals and special rocks for healing. I prayed to angels. I prayed for peace. I was looking for peace within and therefore peace in the world. During this time, I had a good friend who channeled angels. She would do readings for people as a psychic would. She called herself an earth angel, and a lightworker.
She was teaching classes on the book, The Secret. When I was first saved, I tried to tell her about my finding the Holy Spirit. She told me, "Rene', you are the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is you!" When I told her the truth I found in Jesus and the Bible, she said, "People pray in Jesus name because they don't believe in themselves. They don't believe that their own name has just as much power as Jesus. I love Jesus and have worked with him many times. But people believe him to be perfect and better than themselves. He was just like you and I. He was given the same feelings as you have. He went through the same things as we do now. It is just never talked about. The Bible is a great thing but it is still a book. It has power because people give it power. We read to gain knowledge but truth is inside of us not in any book." "And don't people give power to books like The Secret?” I thought. I wrote her back and told her to ask her angels as to which light they were from. She wouldn’t answer me.
I was still searching, searching for the truth. There was still something missing. This past April, I took my six-year old daughter, Lily, to Hawaii. I followed the guidance of the universe and looked up an old roommate I hadn't seen in years. She was in my flight attendant training class back in 1988. We were roommates for a few months. I found her x-husband listed in the phone book and gave him a call. He called her and gave her my number. When I returned home to Houston she called me.
Little did I know the plans the Lord had for me. I didn't realize all along I had people praying for my salvation. If anyone else would have told me that I needed Jesus to be saved and have eternal life, I would have told them politely, "You believe in what you believe and I believe in what I believe...respect my way and I'll respect yours."
I would get irritated at Christians who spoke about Jesus being the only way. I cannot tell you how strong the Spirit of Jesus was when I talked to Faith the day before I was saved. She asked if she could pray with me on Thursday, April 19th, 2007. I was going through a possible break up in my marriage. It had been falling apart for quite some time. We talked a little about what was going on in our lives.
From our talk, the Holy Spirit was telling her I was involved in idolatry. It was true, I was praying to angels, fairies, the sun, etc. I prayed with her. I believed in prayer. However before, I never felt power behind prayer. I also had never prayed with anyone before, especially one who had been filled with the Holy Spirit. I felt lightness, a burden removed. The Holy Spirit was telling her I was going to be “treading dark waters” and that I would need Him. She was right. He was saying,
The very next day I couldn't wait to call Faith again. I was sitting in my parked car waiting for Lily to get out of school. Faith asked, "Would you like to pray out loud accepting Jesus into your life and your heart?" I had no hesitation. I promptly answered yes. I followed her in prayer and I felt lifted again.
I finally found was what I was looking for. I knew in the deepest part of my being, the search was over. I had found Him. Later that night, she called with the promptings of the Holy Spirit to tell me Jesus is coming soon. We are living in end times as prophecy clearly indicates. I felt scared. I thought, "I want to make sure my whole family is going to heaven! What if something happens to one of us? We never know when our last day is!"
After I got off the phone, I thought about Jesus and what He did for us. He died for us. He paid for our sins. He died for me. He died for you. The more I thought about Him, His presence came upon me and I cried and cried and cried. It was uncontrollable sobbing. I felt how much He loved us and couldn't stop crying. God sent His Son to take away the sins of the world. He did God's will. I felt so much love He had for us. How could I have been so blinded? Lord you were right there and I kept pushing you away.
The next day, I felt different. In a way, I was scared. A transformation was taking place. I felt like a part of me died. I didn't know what to do now. What do I do with all this stuff? These books and things were all over my house. By His Spirit and by the help of His faithful servant Faith, I knew I had to get rid of every single thing that did not serve God. And I did just that.
Luckily, Faith had taken a five-month cleansing stream course. After writing down everything in my life that I did to offend God, we prayed together. She helped me renounce, rebuke and repent. I felt horrible for everything I had done and for what I had been doing. I repented of every single thing I could think of. I even broke soul ties with every relationship I had been involved with and by the blood of Jesus I was forgiven. I was free! The guilt was gone.
No longer did I feel the need to tell God how sorry I was. I have been completely transformed by the Lord. I used to use bad language every day. I cursed people in my thoughts and hated my mouth. The Lord cleansed my mouth. May all the glory be given to Him! I could have never done it alone. He is amazing. I do not cuss nor do I have a desire to. He also took away the urge to drink. He took that from me!
May all the glory given to our Lord Jesus Christ! Halleluiah! Praises to You Lord! This concludes my testimony. Now what do you choose? Life or death? This could be your last day on earth. Not one of us knows when our time is up.
“Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered-how fleeting my life is. You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime if just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath.” (Psalm 39:4-6)
Praise God that He came to us in the person of Jesus Christ! Maranatha!
Written by former New Age practioner Rene' Cohen, October 23, 2007
