Testimony of Suzanne L. Eutsler
My testimony is not like any other I’ve heard! There’s nothing in my history that is considered (by the religious or previously considered by me) to be things worthy of Jesus’ death for my sin! No sex, drugs, alcohol, sexual abuse, etc. However the Word of God says:
Romans 5:6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Note the words UNGODLY and YET SINNERS. Those are words that I had never associated with myself until recently!
I suppose I should mention that I don’t remember the exact time in my life when I gave my heart and life to the Lord by praying the prayer of salvation. To the best of my knowledge I didn’t get prayed over or anything, so when people talk about that momentous occasion and the excitement and joy and enthusiasm for Christ and doing His will, I don’t recall that… I just know my life has never been my own. I was always aware of my need for Christ in my life…more as a friend than a Lord and Savior, but I always knew I needed Him! I remember being 8 yrs old and loving Church, Sunday School, Praise and Worship and fellowshipping with other believers, so I have always considered that to be the age when I came to know the Lord as my personal Lord and Savior.
HOWEVER… in truth, I believe my true salvation and deliverance came in February 2001 when I joined The Fishermen Ministry. It was the first time (to my recollection) that anyone had not boosted pride and self-esteem in me by telling me what a wonderful person I was but rather shone the light on the darkness in me, that I was blinded to! I praise God for the light! I praise God for putting me under a man who taught me as one having authority (see scriptures below) unlike anything I’d ever seen. Someone who shines the light and the truth into your dark heart will either make you run towards the darkness or draw you to the light as one desiring the truth and deliverance. I thank the Lord Jesus for putting the desire of the truth and light within me. I know it was Him in me and not me of myself that continued drawing closer to Him and His Word and the Truth, even when it was extremely painful and contrary to anything I’d ever heard, learned or thought of myself.
Matthew 7:29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
Mark 1:22 And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.
I have felt that way on occasion. Desperate to run away from the light into the darkness. Darkness can be quite comforting to this flesh at times. However, the light is deliverance and freedom and hope and allows me to see that I too am a sinner and in desperate need of the gift Christ gave by dying on the cross and raising from the dead …. For ME!! On the occasions when I have felt like turning to the darkness, this scripture plays in my head. Anywhere I run to would send me back or only comfort my flesh but would kill my spirit! So that is why I choose to be here and continue to seek the Lord’s will for my life.
I was raised Anglican (aka Episcopalian) and as a teenager attended dozens of Pentecostal Churches. However when I came to the USA and joined The Fishermen Ministry I had to re-assess everything I had ever learned and believed to be true. Not by force, I might add, but by choice. Scriptures were revealed to me in a way I’d never heard them preached before and they made me question everything!! Not just questioning things I was taught but also questioning my personal convictions. It was a very difficult time for me, turning my back on everything I believed true (and hoped to be true) and allowing the Lord to begin afresh with me. The Lord keeps His Word and if you seek you will find!
Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
Luke 11:9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Over the past (almost) 9 yrs, the Scripture that is both my favorite and least favorite is this:
John 6:67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
John 6:68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
Another of my favorites is Romans chapters 7 and 8. The explanation of struggling to fight our flesh and walk in the spirit and the battle of ‘wills’ for our souls and then in chapter 8 the deliverance is through Jesus Christ and accepting no condemnation while walking in Christ Jesus and not after the flesh but after the Spirit of God.
Romans 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
I am learning to trust God and to know His character! Christ is not like any human I’ve ever known. He truly desires the best for us and is a righteous, loving, trustworthy Father! Without Him I am nothing but with Him I can do ALL things!! I am learning to seek His will and His timing in every situation. I am learning how the line of authority in the Kingdom works! I am learning that if I walk in the spirit and do only those things that the Father shows me to do then I will be walking as Christ walked which is ultimately our goal!
1 John 2:6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.