Read The Apostle's Recipe for Happiness by Ron Ash-fReado

It can be so very odd the way we are brought to serve God. You never really have any idea when or where it will happen. It could be around the next corner or over the next mountain. It may even be while driving on the on ramp to the highway on the way to work.

Odd thing is that is exactly how it happened to me. Being saved is something I have taken for granted for many years. As a teenage boy I said the prayer with my Aunt Gertrude in the house of my Nanny Lucy. She asked me if I wanted to be saved, and not fully understanding what that meant but trusting her fully, I agreed.

Although I had decided to confirm through words my commitment to being a child of God, was I really born again in Christ Jesus? Had I been truly saved? I really had no idea what it all meant. Could my being saved be decided by anyone else but God?

It was not long ago when I realized the unequivocal answer to this question: There was so much more to being saved than mere words. Today I know so much more than I did back then. Time and time again I have been asked by fellow Christians of all denominations, “When were you saved?” Question after question went unanswered for I truly did not know how to answer them. Was I to respond with a particular date and time? Was it a question of when I obtained inspiration and enlightenment? All these questions I had asked myself time after time without being able to obtain successful answers.

Answers come through the Holy Spirit in the strangest ways and at the oddest times. We may be trying to fall asleep without success when the Lord puts His words into us. We may awaken at 3 a.m. in silence to be drawn to a book, a TV show or to pray for clarity. Often it is in the not-so-coincidental meeting with a stranger who touches our heart with a few kind words. Many times it is enlightenment through turmoil, sickness or betrayal.
Such is the way in which I was saved. I remember the day vividly as I had been isolated by betrayal. It was again time for me to test my beliefs in the Word. My faith would be tested as it pertained to my marriage, my business and my journey with God.

I must further reiterate on how strange it seems at times to us as mere mortals when the Lord is working His miraculous plan in our lives. How many times have the worst things in our lives often, through time, proved the greatness of God’s plan for us? For the purpose of recognizing the true miracles from the Father, and for that purpose only, I will share with you how I became truly saved.

It was a day like any other day. The only exception in this instance was that my entire reality (or what I interpreted as my reality) had totally been tipped upside down. My trust in the people who meant most to me had been taken advantage of. Those whom I thought loved me were jealous and envious of me. What I held so dear was not what I thought it was. My family had slandered my name, demoralized my character and sold me off to pride.

It was the worst of the worst that brought out the best of the best. In it all, hidden beneath the hurt, was my true salvation. Through the pain of betrayal I would be saved.
I would need to be true to the Word. The facts had already been presented. The betrayal had been discovered through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I was asked to take action and I did. There was the answer to all the feelings I had been experiencing over the last six months. I was being played by one whom I intentionally trusted. I had been lied to by the one whom I chose not to pursue for answers. Yet, through the miracle of the Lord I received clarity. I could see the weakness in the one who betrayed me.

The weakness was one of self preservation stemming from a lack of faith. All he had was pride and he would do anything and hurt anyone to protect it. He himself had been betrayed. His confidence in whom he interpreted as his being had been challenged. What meant so much to him, his interpretation of what it meant to him to be a man, had been turned upside down. Sound familiar? However, in this case, he decided to choose sin, twist truth and become the victim. In an attempt to justify his sins he screamed, “You used me. I made millions for you and you gave me nothing.”

This is not the path I would ever have chosen to take. I have been there before and have seen the mess at the end of that road. It is a wide path that many will follow. I would travel the narrow path less traveled - I would follow the Lord down the path of righteousness.

Cultivate these things. Immerse yourself in them. The people will all see you mature right before their eyes! Keep a firm grasp on both your character and your teaching. Don't be diverted. Just keep at it. Both you and those who hear you will experience salvation.
-1 Timothy 4:15-16, MSG

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
-Joshua 1:8 (KJV)

I was being prepared for my elevation to the next level in my journey. The Lord needed to know if my soul was truly ready for what He was about to gift me with. Would I be up to the task of surrendering to the will of a truly righteous man? Could I choose the path of immediate forgiveness? The answer was a clear and unchallenged “Yes.” I chose to live in the Word and forgave immediately.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
-Psalms 1:3-6 (KJV)