Chapter 46 - My Heart Is Beating So Fast!

“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily,

I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God.”

—John 3:3

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord

Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For
with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and
with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

—Romans 10:9–10

I was up by six this particular morning. I had

coffee while reading the Bible and having my
personal devotions. The devotion read, “You will
meet someone today who needs Jesus.” I thought
to myself, I meet people every day who need Jesus.
    I then went about my daily business, which
included buying some ink for my printer. Upon
arriving at the business about eight thirty, I found
the Computer store closed. I asked a man standing
nearby when the computer store would be open, and
he answered, “In five minutes.” He turned out to be
the owner. In a few minutes, another man arrived
and opened the door. The three of us entered the
building, and a teenage girl walked in behind us.
    I located the ink and paid for it. Then I handed the
owner, the employee, and the teenage girl a gospel
tract and asked them if they were to die soon, where
would they spend eternity? The employee answered
that he had been to our church a few years ago but
was no longer attending church. The owner and the
girl said they were going to Hell. We talked for a
few minutes about salvation and other subjects from
the Bible, and then the owner left. The girl and the
man who worked there continued asking questions,
and I gave them answers from the Word of God.
    The teenager asked a question that I could not
remember anyone having asked me before in the
context of witnessing. Alyssa, the young girl, asked,
“What about premarital sex?” This question took me
aback a little, but the Lord gave me the right verse.
    “The Bible, which is the Word of God,” I
explained, “teaches in 1 Corinthians 6:9 that fornicators
shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” They
understood the meaning of the word fornicators. I
further explained that people who engaged in premarital
sex would not go to heaven unless they
repented of that sin and all other sins and turned
to Jesus for salvation. I also talked about Hell and
explained to them if they did not get saved, they
would die and end up in that terrible place.
    The young man did not want anything to do with
what I was talking about, but he listened as I continued
talking to Alyssa about her salvation. All of
a sudden, she exclaimed, “My heart is beating so
fast!”
    “Young lady, that is the Holy Spirit of God
speaking to your heart. Right now He wants you
to open your heart and let Jesus come in. Are you
ready to do that?” I urged.
    “Yes, I am,” she answered without hesitation.
    “Are you willing to give up your lifestyle for
Jesus?” I questioned further.
    “Yes, I am ready to give my life to Jesus,” she
assured me. Then there in the store, she bowed her
head and in her own words, repented of her sins and
accepted Jesus as her personal Saviour.
    Lifting her head as she finished praying, Alyssa
asked, “Pastor Jay, do you have a Bible that I can
get? I want to read God’s Word.”
    I rushed out to the church to get a Bible, that
Beam’s Bible Ministry, Gulfport, Mississippi, mails
to us and returned to give it to her. She promised
to come to church the next morning at ten o‘clock.
As I was walking out the door, the Lord reminded
me what I had read that morning, “You will meet
someone today who needs Jesus.”
     Yes, the devotional was right and the next
morning seventeen-year-old Alyssa was in church,
just as she had promised. She shared her testimony
and related how her heart had beat so fast when she
heard about salvation. When I asked her at what
point her heartbeat had slowed down, she replied,
“My heart stopped beating fifty miles an hour and
went back to normal the very moment I opened my
heart to Jesus and became a born-again Christian.”
    We dropped Alyssa off at her house after service
that morning, and I asked, “Alyssa, will you
be coming to church tonight?” She said she could
not come because of homework. I replied, “Alyssa,
this is what you do. When you go inside, do your
homework right away so you will be able to come
to church tonight.”
    But then she said, “I have volleyball practice.”
    “Alyssa, will it be volleyball, or Jesus?” I asked.
    To that, she replied, “I will be in church tonight
at seven o‘clock,” and she was.

(Copyright by Jay B Ayers)