|
"And
they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death."
Revelation 12:11
A
Testimony to the Lord
I would like to start
off with thanking all the veterans. I thank you for your willingness
to fight on any battlefield you were called to fight on. You were
willing to give your lives for your country. And because of your
sacrifice our Country is still free. I know that when many of you
came back you weren’t treated very nice. And some of you paid a
dear price and are still paying that price. I just want to say that I
am sorry and I personally congratulate you. Thank you all once again
for your dedication, commitment and sacrifice to keep our country
free. The bible says, “greater love hath no man then that he
would lay down his life for a friend”, and all of you were
willing to do that, thanks again.
Now I would like to
talk to you about a man that left His Father’s side in heaven
to come to earth, His name is Jesus Christ. He also came here to
fight a battle, but his battle was not against people and it wasn’t
for land. His battle was against the forces of darkness in the
spiritual realm. His battle was for the souls of men. He came to
preach the gospel, heal the broken hearted, to set the captive free,
to give sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are
oppressed, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. He came
to break the Devil’s grip on mankind. Here was a man that never
hurt anyone intentionally because his purpose was to save mankind.
You can read this in
the bible in the book of John chapter 3 — verses 16,17 it says,
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son
that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting
life. For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the
world, but to save the world through Him.” Jesus fought the
battle and won. And just like those who fought in the different wars
and suffered so that we could live here in freedom Jesus suffered so
that we could live in Heaven with Him.
Now I would like to
share a little about what my life was and how God miraculously
changed it.
To start out, I grew
up with many fears and was sick often and I never remember being
hugged by my parents and never remember being told that they loved
me. I had 11 other brothers and sisters in my family and money was
kind of scarce. Because of our circumstances, when I finally went to
school, I didn’t have nice clothes to wear and I wasn’t
too popular.
I remember at one
point of my school experience the soles on my shoes would flop up and
down when I walked. I had a very hard time in school and over time I
hated to go. I dropped out when I was 16. I went to work in E. J. and
hated every day of it. All I seemed to want to do was drink and party
and I did it quite often. I started smoking at fifteen or sixteen.
And as time went on, I ended up getting married at a young age and it
was like a nightmare. It seemed like all we did was fight and argue.
That lasted about five years and ended with her getting a divorce. I
never gave up my drinking and smoking and I was a terrible husband.
Thinking back, I can’t
remember many happy times in that marriage. One of the good things I
do remember happened on a night I was going to go out drinking. I was
just about to leave when I heard someone knocking on my door. I
opened the door and there were three guys standing there. They were
out witnessing--going around telling people about Jesus. I let them
in and they told my wife and me about Jesus. I asked Jesus to come
into my heart, and at that moment, it felt like someone had run their
hand across my chest and I felt so light and so different.
I would like to say
that is when all the terrible things I was doing ended but I can’t.
The result was that my wife at the time just laughed, acting like it
was a joke and I went out drinking like usual no one ever came back
and I didn’t know what to do. The next day I remember telling
some people at work about what had happened but none of them
understood either, so I was right back where I was. My problems just
seemed to escalate and I was getting into a little marijuana.
After my marriage
ended, I went to Texas thinking I could run away from my problems. I
got a job at Sea Arama Marineworld in Galveston where I started in
their landscaping department. Then I went into their animal training
department and found myself riding their killer whale and even got a
chance to wrestle an alligator. I started attending a church there
and things seemed to be going better. I had stopped drinking and
smoking but I still had emotional problems and a terrible temper. It
wasn’t long until I was back to my old lifestyle because one of
my main purposes for being there was to find girls. My life was
steadily going down hill. I was right back doing all the same things
I was doing before. As time went on I returned to NY and I got
married again but that lasted less than 2 years and she left and got
an annulment.
I was a terrible,
miserable person and no one could put up with me very long. It seemed
like I was always losing everything and I was getting hard. I felt
like a part of my heart was missing and I couldn’t love. To be
honest, I never knew what love was. I don’t think I ever
experienced it and I don’t think I ever gave it. To me love was
nothing but lust. I was still drinking and doing what I always did,
but now I was popping pills and had gotten into the chopper
motorcycle scene. I was becoming a real freak. Partying had gotten to
be a regular thing.
As time went on, I met
another girl and we were both into the partying and the drinking
scene. Two and a half years later we got married and when I married
her I didn’t even love her. We started raising a family, but I
started running into problems because my heart had become so hard
that I couldn’t go to my kids they had to come to me. I still
had a very bad temper and was a very miserable person. I don’t
know how my wife put up with me. She had quit smoking and didn’t
drink much. She faithfully stayed home and took care of the kids
while I would be out drinking and parting.
As time went on,
something seemed to be happening to me. I started thinking about
spiritual things. Jesus said, “no one can come to me unless the
Father draws him”, in John 6:44. I didn’t know this
scripture at the time, but it seems to me now that is was what God
was doing with me. So about 23 years ago I committed my heart to Him
and He started transforming my life.
I remember pouring
liquor down the sink, the cigarettes were gone, the drugs were gone,
and I know now that God had done something miraculous in my life. It
wasn’t long after that when my wife received the Lord and she
began to change. Satan tried to destroy our lives, but Jesus had a
different idea. He did in us what He came to do, He set us free!
Then I felt like there
was a purpose for my life I can’t thank and praise God enough
for what He has done over the last 23 years. He has taught me what
love is about and has helped me to love people. He has given me a
wife that is far beyond what I could ever hope for. He has shown me
His love for me through her and He has also given us 5 great kids
that I love and that love me. He has taken all desire for alcohol,
tobacco, drugs, and other things from me. He is helping me to
overcome my temper and helping me to overcome my psychological and
emotional problems and I can’t thank Him enough. He has put a
peace and joy in my heart. He has blessed us multitudes of times
beyond our understanding.
I am not trying to say
that we have not had any struggles or problems over the last 23
years. We have experienced some very tough times, and I am not trying
to say that Christianity is a rose garden. It is a very tough life at
times, but it is also exciting and rewarding to see how the Lord
always gets us through our tough times. The Lord said He would never
leave us or forsake us, and He never lets us down.
August 13th we
celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary and our love just seems to
get stronger and stronger for the Lord and each other. I am totally
convinced that if any married couple would put the Lord in the center
of their marriage, that the Lord will do the rest and it won’t
just be a marriage, but it will be a good marriage.
If there is anyone
that would like to experience some of these things in their life, all
you need to do is to pray to God and ask Him to come into your heart
and life. Tell Him that you are sorry for your sins, because the
Bible says that “we have all sinned and fell short of the glory
of God”, and ask Him to forgive you, and if you really mean it,
it will happen.
Thank You.
Jerry
|
