In the days after giving my life to Jesus, I noticed a few things happened. I had heard people talk about it before, but I never really believed them, to be honest.

1. Stopped Cursing

This was the one I heard about most frequently. I thought it was caused by people wanting to be “good Christians” by using willpower to refrain from using certain words, but when I experienced it myself, I realized I was wrong. I accepted Jesus as Lord in my life one night, then a couple of days later, while talking to a friend of mine, I felt something was wrong. I realized that he was swearing a lot, and that it felt unfamiliar. During the course of the conversation, I suddenly used a cursing word myself, and I noted how foreign it felt. I thought about it, and I found I hadn’t cursed at all since that night. That was definitely a positive sign for me – I used to swear as much as my friend. :)

2. Feeling at Peace

This developed more over time, rapidly when I spent my time doing stuff related to God, and slower when I didn’t. When I had gotten rid of my pendulum yesterday, I was thinking about this as I walked home. The most convincing proof for me is that I’m currently reading a book and enjoying it, even though it’s frankly a below average bokmål translation of an American novel. All the obvious word-for-word translations and the numerous typos would have driven me crazy if it were not for this peace – and I’m sure most people I know well can verify that. Instead of pointing it out for everyone to hear, I find myself chuckling a little, translating it into English in my head while I’m thinking “now I know what it says in the original”.

3. Being Attacked

This might sound like I’m not making any sense, but I can assure you that I am. :) This is the only negative consequence I’ve experienced, and it’s more than worth it. Satan hates it when things go Jesus’s way and not his. When I quit the New Age-y stuff I was doing before and filled the void with Christ, I turned my back on Satan. Being the devil he is, he tries to get revenge by sending me thoughts of doubt, other negative thoughts, and more bad luck than usual. However, I do not stand unarmed – I have the most powerful ally in the whole universe, the Almighty Living God, and His promise that He will give you what you ask for. This means that as long as it is not contrary to God’s plan, I can basically ask for and get anything. I’ll probably write more about that as I learn more, but since I’m talking about Satan and his demons now, I’ll just say that my weapon is prayer. The thing that sets prayer apart from, say, a gun, is that it’s a weapon of peace. I can meet the attacks of the enemy with peace… and nothing will piss him off more than that. ;)

4. Feeling Grateful

This is connected to the feeling of peace, but it’s not the same. I feel grateful for a lot of things, and the list (which I haven’t written yet, but am concidering) grows every day. I’m grateful for little things like the food I eat, to bigger things like the fact that God is not only saving my soul – He is also saving the lives of my brother and father (the latter of whom has been saved more than once) while they are still on Earth. I’m even grateful for feeling grateful! :) I express this feeling through a prayer of thanks, often several times a day. It helps me connect to the Lord, but it also passes the time while I’m waiting for the metro, sitting on the train, or heating some food I brought back from Sokndal. I love feeling grateful. :)

5. Feeling Happy

I had a very good time in Sokndal, and I didn’t really look forward to going back to Oslo and the university. Nevertheless, the last day I spend at Berrjod was a very happy day. I told Grandma this: “Today is the last day before I leave, so I should logically be depressed. However, I feel incredibly happy! I’m probably filled with the Holy Spirit!” – and when I got up early to catch the train, only to realize too late that my real train was to leave eight hours later, I was still happy and laughed about it. I got off on the first stop, more than half an hour away from the original station, waited there for 1,5 hour, took another train back, and spent the day with my mom on her job, talking about Jesus while she drove around in the truck. We had a lot of fun. :)

There is probably a lot more that I haven’t even realized yet – actually I didn’t think of the feeling grateful or happy ones before I started writing today; I just felt very inspired to write about it. :)

The Holy Spirit be with you.