Faith Travels from Sheila Martinez…
The Sheila Martinez Story
I was three years old, when I had my first encounter with my heavenly FATHER. I had been watching my earthly father beat up my mom, for which I would find out later that he had wanted her to prostitute herself to make money for his heroin addiction. I had in my little heart a story that my mom had told me about my heavenly Father earlier. She told me, when it thundered (and it had been thundering and raining pretty heavy this day) that there was a BIG FATHER in the sky and all that noise was because HE was moving HIS furniture around. So when I saw my Mom lying there on the kitchen floor bleeding, I hurried to the kitchen window and pressed my little cheeks up against the cold glass and whispered, BIG FATHER could you please help my mommy?, and HE did.
We moved to Brooklyn, New York after that and with a man my mother befriended, she believed he would and could help us. He did for a time and when I was eight this man begun to molest me and my sister. That started me on a path to extreme emotional pain, fear and bondage that would cause me to get into a life of sex, drugs, alcohol and attempt suicide several times for almost 20 years.
At the age of 12, I had already begun being rebellious, smoking cigarettes, doing drugs, fighting, cursing and stealing. I had developed a really bad attitude. There was a lady who lived down the street from us, who was a Christian lady and she had invited me to go to church with her and her children on Sunday and I went. I met JESUS at Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, and was baptized at age 13. Unfortunately the love affair I was having with JESUS did not last very long because I could not open up to what had been taken place in life with my stepfather and what I had seen him do to my sister. You see it was supposed to be a secret, but that secret was destroying me because I knew deep down in side it was wrong. There were many evil forebodings in our household when I was growing up and it would take me years to understand the strongholds of witchcraft that had been passed down through generational curses that has caused my entire family to live in bondage and despair. I have always had a gift of a seer and I had witness many demonic forces in my life as I was growing up but I never understood them until I really committed myself to a deeper and more intimate relationship with my God and the Holy Spirit began to teach me and is still teaching me today.
I was 30 years old when I couldn’t stand living and no matter what I did I couldn’t die. So, I decided to leave New York City and start a new life. By this time I had had three children, a son (who I had at age 17) and two daughters. My son had been displaying emotional hurts due to the emotional hurts that I had passed on to him. He kept running away from home and I could not deal with it. I didn’t know how to help him. I didn’t know how to help myself. So, I left him with his dad (the biggest mistake I made in my life, concerning him) and took my daughters, my son was 13.
I was only in Florida six months before I was put into jail for my first DUI. I would be in jail two more times after that. One morning after a night of partying and getting high, I came home full of guilt and fear welling up in my belly and I just cried out to GOD, to help me have a new life, anything would be better than continuing to feel that fear and the hurt that was inside me.
I started flipping through the telephone book and right there the words just jumped off the page at me, “NEW LIFE”, it was a church not to far from my home so me and the girls went that morning. I was still feeling the effects of the cocaine and the alcohol when I entered that church but the power of GOD hit me so strong and I felt a love like I had never experienced before.
It was a Little Pentecostal Church called New Life Pentecostal Church of God and this little man named Pastor Moore who was the Pastor at that time prayed for me and I went flying underneath the pews! I have to admit if I knew before hand it was Pentecostal, I probably would never had gone in, only cause I didn’t know what a Pentecostal was and I didn’t want to get into something I did not understand, I was already in over my head with my life as it was. I didn’t know much about church and the little time I had spent at Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church was not enough to give me any understanding about anything. I did however learn one thing from that Baptist church that I kept with me through the years and that was I had memorized the 23rd psalm and I would recite it when I felt afraid.
Well, I did find out more about the Little Pentecostal Church, they were a people who had a unconditional love for me and my children. The presence and the power of God was always in that church and I found myself being drawn closer and closer to the things of God. I rededicated my life back to Christ at that church, and I began my journey to total recovery. The Lord surrounded me with five women in that church who took turns in discipling me, all of them with unique giftings of their own and to this day we are still dear friends and I love each and everyone one of them and I am so thankful they took me under their wings and never gave up on me.
I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, I began speaking and singing in tongues. I began seeing clearly in the spirit realm the goodness of God! The Holy Spirit began to teach me to use my spiritual gifts for His glory and He gave me some new ones! I went to bible school and I now run my own ministry, to the glory of God! I teach and share my spiritual experiences with others and try to help those who want to live the abundant life that Jesus speaks about in John 10:10, A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.
That thief is satan and his demons, he hates us and he wants us to die spiritually and in the natural, he knows his time is short, so he is trying to get as many deceived as he can to live in eternal hell with him.
My main call in ministry is to help hurting women and they usually have a spiritual gift, mostly seers, they have been hurt bad. I have a special place in my heart for these women because they have been abused by another persons hands and by bad choices they made, mainly because the enemy has already saw their giftings and wants to stop them before they are a danger to him. Oh, and he will try to stop you, just as he has tried and continues to try to stop me but I am not quitting, that is why it is so important to learn to stay in the rest of God.
For all that satan has done to me and my family, I have a holy anger that is welled up inside of me, a warriors spirit that will not quit because greater is He that is in me than he that is in world, God is on my side! I am no longer deceived!
When I cried out that morning, 15 years ago from a true heart of (repentance) wanting to change, GOD showed up and met me at that little Pentecostal church and He lead me to truths that helped me journey into freedom. John 8:32 says, it is the truth that will set you free. Once you know truth and you can deal with it, you can make the right choices to live a life like JESUS promises in John 10:10, an abundant life. Remember only the devil comes to steal, kill and destroy you but JESUS came so we could have a good life.
Everything that is evil comes from satan, God is good and there is no darkness in Him. We have to move ourselves out of the line of fire so that we can experience everything good that God has for us. I trust GOD with all my heart and I share with others what GOD has done for me so they to can live a life of peace and joy here on earth, and of course to have eternal life in heaven which is the most important thing!
I truly have a wonderful relationship my ABBA FATHER who is heaven and I talk with JESUS everyday. I allow the Holy Spirit to lead and guide me in everything I do. I can truly say I live a peaceful life and I want everyone to know HIM personally and experience what the LORD has done for me. GOD is no respecter of persons and HE will do the same for you! Will you let HIM? It is up to you! It’s your Choice.
www.restingministries.org
