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"I believed my good works and deeds were earning me a place in Heaven ..."
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My name is Marian Donnelly. I come from a family of five, two brothers and two sisters. My parents are since deceased. Like a lot of people here in Dundalk, I was brought up a Catholic, although not really a practising one. Looking back now, the only ones who pushed me to go to mass and confession were the nuns in the school where I was taught, from age four to fourteen. As long as you could tell them on Monday mornings what colour the priest’s vestments were on Sunday, you could fake it, and that’s exactly what I did.
I always believed in God but to be honest, when it came to earnest prayer and requests for my life, it was always saints I prayed to. Even, at times, I found myself praying to my deceased parents! You see, the gospel was never preached to me nor was I ever encouraged to read a Bible; therefore, I was led to believe that I was doing just fine. I wasn’t a ‘bad’ person, or so I thought. I believed my good works and deeds were earning me a place in Heaven and when I would compare myself and my life, to that of others, then I believed for most times that I was without sin. The biggest misconception of all for the Bible tells us “we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”.
I know that today I am a sinner, saved through faith and nothing of myself or anything good in me, but Christ in me. I would like to share with you how I came to hear the gospel and how my life is so complete and fulfilled since the day I asked Christ into my life, and confessed my sins to Him alone. With a repentant and a sincere heart I told Him how sorry I was for my sins and my ignorance. We will all remain ignorant to this fact if we don’t at least have an open mind, and come to the place where we will hear the gospel. I assure you, if you come with a willingness to listen, and an open mind, you will surely not go away confused. Our God is not a God of confusion.
I was married in 1975 and by 1977 I had a son and a daughter. We immigrated to America in 1987 and resided there ‘till 1991. Only my children and I returned that year our marriage having broken up.
We were allocated a house in Lisdoo, where today I still live. With God there is no coincidence, and that is where I came to know and love my good neighbour and friend Katie Martin. We had known each other from way back but not on a personal level.
Sometime over the following few years I got to know Katie personally and she told me she was a born again Christian and invited my daughter Grainne and me, to a Bible study. So around 1995 I came to the Baptist Church and that was my first time ever hearing the gospel preached. The people there had that same joy that I saw in Katie and the pastor, Stephen Murphy, preached the word so clearly that a child could understand. But this child wasn’t ready yet.
Around 2002 God started showing me all the things that were so wrong about this so-called wonderful life I was living. I had returned to fellowship in the Baptist Church, with an open heart and mind, around Easter time 2002. I knew in my heart I was living a sinful life, and I could no longer serve two masters. I introduced the gospel, and what little I knew then, to my friend Pat. I told him we could be no more than friends. I owed it to Pat to tell him about Jesus and what He was doing in my life and how I was convicted with my sinful life. Pat started to fellowship in a Baptist Church in Cork and, within two months, was saved! The Lord is so merciful.
A wonderful thing happened quite recently that I feel I should share. While all this was taking place, my ex-husband and his wife and child returned to Ireland to live. After not seeing them for twelve years, the peace of God in my heart not only took away all hatred but also enabled me, with a sincere will and mind, to phone her, an American citizen, and welcome her and her child to Ireland. Not just that but I was able, in Christ, to meet her face to face and say the same! I can only say that I never felt such peace. What was hatred and bitterness, the Lord has turned to love and peace. What a blessing. Praise God.
Thanking you for taking the time to read my testimony. May it be a help and a blessing to you in your life, whatever your situation.
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Ordinary people in Ireland with Real life Experiences with God
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