My relationship with the Lord began when I was around nine years old. We talked back and forth all the time and I never gave it much thought; it just seemed natural to me. But it was in my early twenties that I developed a deep hunger to know more of Him.

One day, while resting on my bed, Jesus, entered my room. The room so filled with the Glory of the Lord, that I could not look up. In an audible voice, He said to me, “Ask Me into your heart.” “I’ve already done that.” I responded. His reply was simply, “Ask Me again.” “Lord Jesus, please come into my heart.” It was a simple prayer, and at that, a great weight pressed down upon me as if pressing me into the bed I was resting on. It seemed only seconds or a maybe a minute and then the weight lifted and the brilliance of His Glory was gone. I remember running to the mirror to see if I looked different, recalling that Moses’ face had shone when he came away from Presence of the Lord. I don’t know if I looked different, but I certainly was—my life was never to be the same again.

That life-changing moment preceded a series of steps to introduce me to the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Finally, my heart, that for years had been crying out for more, was satisfied. The Bible opened up to me with new understanding. My faith grew; amazing answers to prayer and miracles were happening to me at every turn.

I expect that Jesus needed me to ask a second time because I didn’t have enough understanding and knowledge of the Word. Though I had a heart that hungered for Him, there were many years that I was not living for Him. Salvation without the Word is a car without gas, going nowhere; as one of His messages has taught me. The soul remains unchanged, mind not renewed. Yes, the Blood saves us, if only we believe, but that is just the beginning. To be transformed, into the image of the Son, we must continually feed and be washed in the Word. He gave me a fresh new start; it didn’t change my salvation—it changed me!