Gloria Goering
September 20, 1959
High-school sweethearts, my parents married young. World War II separated them as Dad joined the Marines, and I was born while he was in boot camp. Wounded in the battle of Iwo Jima near Japan he received a purple heart. Later, brother Steve joined our family and then my sister Sue.
Stress between my parents culminated in their divorce when I was ten. Mother and us children moved to a housing project in Omaha, Nebraska where terrorizing gangs roamed. Becoming disillusioned with people I came to believe that the less we had to do with them, the better and stopped trying to communicate.
As a young person, I attended church regularly, was baptized, took communion, read my Bible, and prayed. Loving God, I tried to do what was right. Within me, however, I was frustrated. I didn’t realize I was not a Christian, and I didn’t know how one became such.
Several Bible verses were a concern to me, one of which was: “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:15, 16). I did not consider myself “cold” as I tried to live like a Christian to the best of my ability, but my internal struggles made me quite certain that God would not consider me to be “hot.” That left only “lukewarm.” Why does God want to spit “lukewarm” people out of His mouth? Jesus was preparing my heart, and I would soon realize His promise, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7, 8)
During my freshman high school year, our family began visiting different churches. Sunday mornings we boarded a bus or took a taxi. When we visited Temple Baptist Church, we were fascinated that people brought their Bibles and opened them to study along with the message. Pastor Herb Anderson preached clearly from the Bible and we knew more about the Scriptures after the service then when we came.
Weeks later during a Saturday evening Temple Baptist youth rally; a 1955 Billy Graham film Wire tapper was shown. The film was about a man trapped into working for a mob. After hearing Billy Graham preach, the wire tapper made a decision for Christ. The film showed not only how he connected with God but also the change in his life that resulted. That night I realized that I had taken for granted that the Blood payment Christ had made on the Cross was automatically applied and I needed to personally “believe in”, “on”, “receive Christ’s Blood” individually. I had not yet asked Jesus Christ to come into my heart and life.
It seemed as if God was speaking directly to me: afraid of “trusting Christ,” and not fully understanding what was involved, I felt that the worst-case scenario would be to leave the way I had come. I decided not to pass up this opportunity. Christ was the answer to my loneliness, frustration and emptiness.
I received His blood as payment for my sin and became God’s child, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12); in Jesus’ words, I would be “born again,” “born from above” into His family: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again’” (John 3:3, 6, 7).
It was a mystery to me that He could love me, but I marveled that He did and decided to trust Him. I whispered, “Jesus I’m in trouble and on my way to Hell, please apply your payment for sin to my account and be my Savior!” While He was at it, I also expressed that I needed Him to be my friend. He took me up on that invitation. We are not saved by feelings, but I experienced deep emotion as the empty hole in my heart was filled, and the heavy weight of sin was lifted from my shoulders.
Before, I thought that acting like a Christian made me a Christian. Now, according to His written Word, God Himself gave me the gift of salvation and declared me “Born Again.” On the way home, being concerned that I would not be able to live up to people’s expectations I decided not to tell my family about the experience. To my surprise, as soon as I walked into the house, mother looked at me and exclaimed, “Gloria, what happened to you?”
“Why?” I responded.
“Your face just seems to be lit up. I haven’t seen you smile for a long time.”
When I explained to her my decision, Mom was pleased. She had trusted Christ a couple of years earlier, but had been unable to explain to me how to accept God’s salvation. She had been praying that I, too, would somehow come to know Christ as my Savior. The following week I was baptized at the church, giving public testimony of my decision to trust Christ.
I can say “Amen,” to the sentiments Robert Boyd Munger in his pamphlet MY HEART CHRIST’S HOME so eloquently described:
Jesus Christ came into the darkness of my heart and turned on the light. He built a fire in the cold hearth and banished the chill. He started music where there had been stillness and He filled the emptiness with His own loving, wonderful fellowship. I have never regretted opening the door to Christ, and I never will!
This song expresses my new happiness:
HAPPINESS IS THE LORD
by Ira F. Stanphill
Happiness is to know the Savior,
Living a life within His favor,
Having a change in my behavior,
Happiness is the Lord.
Happiness is a new creation,
“Jesus and me” in close relation,
Having a part in His salvation,
Happiness is the Lord.
Happiness is to be forgiven,
Living a life that’s worth the livin’
Taking a trip that leads to Heaven,
Happiness is the Lord.
Refrain:
Real joy is mine, no matter if teardrops start;
I’ve found the secret–it’s Jesus in my heart.
