Altar Call...

Ambiance's world is designed around fashion, and she's the diva of her world. Whether it's at the local boutique where she's a personal shopper, or in her personal fashion consulting business, she has everything under her command. She knows what people want and how to serve it up well.

But, when it comes to the affairs of the heart and her personal life, she's in turmoil. Growing up in the church, she knows her relationship with the Lord is the most important thing in her life. Or it should be; however, she's fallen away and her lack of a spiritual life has caused her marriage to fall into disarray.

Pastor Boyd began preaching after another ten minutes of a praise session. I listened to him for quite some time. But it was the ending message that pricked my heart and really gained my attention. Before then, I had been listening half-heartedly while thinking about my life, and the run-in with Kendra at the hospital.

“There are so many scriptures in the book of Psalms you can go to for encouragement in your hour of need. His word is there for guidance, power, and enlightenment. God simply wants you to come to Him as you are. Many people say ‘Pastor, I don’t know the scriptures that well,’ or, ‘I can’t pray the way you pray.’ It’s not about knowing the right scriptures or praying in a certain way. You talk to your Heavenly Father the same way that you talk to me or your best friend. It doesn’t need to be some pumped-up prayer. Psalms thirty and two says, ‘O Lord my God, I called to You for help and You healed me.’ God desires to be Jehovah Rapha to you, which is the Lord that heals. Whether your infirmity is in your mind, body, heart, or spirit, He is the God who heals all manner of sickness and disease. Simply call out to Him, and He will hear your cry and be faithful to heal you. If you can do no more than say, ‘God, I need You!’ you can stand in faith knowing that He will come to your rescue. Because He loves you just that much. He doesn’t want to see His children suffering. He desires for you to live an abundant and prosperous life. No, God doesn’t want you to suffer, He longs to make you whole.”

“Amen!” a few people shouted out. “Preach it, Pastor!”

“Open your heart to God and allow Him to come and truly enter in. He is to be revered in all areas of your life. As you trust Him with your finances, and as you trust Him with your relationship, learn to trust Him with your heart. He will take care of you. He will heal your broken heart and lift your infirmities from you. His word says, ‘Come onto Me all who labor and are heavy burdened and I will give you rest.’ God wants to take your burden from you and allow you to enter His perfect rest. Because He lovingly offers it to us, we should accept it. We can only enter that rest through His precious word. Spending time in His word and Presence is necessary to enter that rest. When we have faith in Him and trust Him to take care of our heart and our healing, then and only then have we entered that rest. In that rest, there is strength. There is power in that rest. There is peace in that rest. And there is healing in that rest. God wants to give it to you today, my brothers and sisters.”

Pastor Boyd stepped down from the pulpit, flanked by six other ministers with his arms outstretched. “If you need rest today, come. Come to the altar, and give it all to God. If you have never accepted Him as your Lord and Savior, now is the time. Tomorrow’s not promised. Or, if you say, ‘Pastor, I gave my life to Him a while ago, but somewhere along the way, I fell by the wayside.’ It’s okay, my child, we all struggle, we all sin and fall short of His glory. You can rededicate yourselves today. Or, if you simply find yourself in the need of prayer, come to the altar now. Come, won’t you come and enter His rest?” he petitioned.

I felt a tugging in my heart. I knew I needed to walk down there and accept the offer. The only reason it was so hard was because I had been entrenched in fear that I had allowed to take root in my heart. That was what the enemy wanted. It was time for me to truly give it up to God. I had no answers. I didn’t know whether Eric would wake up tomorrow or in a few months. And when he did wake up, I had no clue if he would stay with me or leave to be with his mistress and child. I knew I had been playing a dangerous game of fire with Nick. I had not truly repented from the mistakes I had made. My heart was sorry for the things I had done, and I longed to be forgiven. I pushed past the person standing on my right and made my way down that aisle.

When I reached the end of the aisle, my father, Deacon Richardson, was waiting with open arms. I saw nothing except for my father, who stood to Pastor Boyd’s right, waiting for me. I almost flew into my father’s arms and bawled my eyes out. I had come home, and it felt so right.

Download A Woman's Design: Afflictions

About Chelle Ramsey...

Women's fiction author and blogger, Chelle Ramsey brings a refreshing perspective into the lives of her readers and wants them to find entertainment, healing and inspiration in each novel. Using real problems and challenges faced by ordinary people, Chelle wants readers to become empowered to rise above life's adversities, with faith in God, and belief in themselves.

Her stories are relatable to individuals of diverse demographics, who have suffered a loss, been hurt, have low self-esteem, have lost hope, or need a word of encouragement. She strives to take your emotions on a roller coaster ride, one page at a time. Chelle holds an MBA in Human Resource Management, which she puts to use in her Human Resources role by day, while she writes her fiction novels at night. And in her spare time, she’s a blogger, freelance writer, and ghostwriter. 
Her most important roles are those of a wife and mother of three. During her “me time,” she becomes enraptured with the enthralling stories of Terry McMillan, Nora Roberts, James Patterson and Stuart Woods. Chelle Ramsey resides in a rural community in Atlanta, Georgia and enjoys writing, family time, and watching NBA games.

She hosts the annual 20 Days of Love authors’ blogging campaign, March Madness authors’ giveaways campaign, and showcases other authors on her blog at www.chelleramsey.com/beautifully-inspired-blog. Her novels can be found online at Chelle Ramsey Amazon.
 
LINKS:
WEB: www.chelleramsey.com
EMAIL: chelleramseywrites@gmail.com
FACEBOOK: ChelleWrites
TWITTER: @UndeniablyChell
PINTEREST: ChellesBooks
INSTAGRAM: UndeniablyChelle

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