Can you believe it’s already the end of September? Seems like it just started. It has certainly been a rough month out there. My younger son lives in Michigan, in Flint, right near where the shooting took place. My daughter- in- law works with some who were attending the church. We never know what a day will bring, ask Mrs. Kirk. I thank God that He knows everything and we can trust in Him implicitly. And until the earth is eradicated of sin, we will continue to see these things happen in a more rapid pace. Until people continue to choose sin over righteousness, there will be pain, and suffering. Remember we are given free will.
At this point I would like to say that I am in by know way peddling the gospel. I make nothing from any of this. I am looking for a remote job to supplement my disability check, but this is not it. Also I apologize to the Nextdoor community, I was unaware I could only post once a week, the content I have been posting. So, this is it for this week, but I will be posting on other sites different blogs.
Now that that’s out of the way, it’s time to go back to my testimony. If you remember I had divorced my wife, went to rehab, got engaged, and married the girl that I had hired at the Deli counter. In the summer of ‘87, we went on a trip to Florida to visit her natural father and his family. They brought us to their Pentecostal church to hopefully introduce us to Jesus. As I’ve said before, I was raised in the Catholic Church and had left because I felt empty. My current wife and I attended a couple of times but didn’t care for it. I was very nervous attending this church because of all the stereotypes that circled these churches.
I will tell you that when the music started I wanted to dive under the seats lol. My wife squeezed my hand like she was going to do 2 years later giving birth to our first daughter. We got through it and sat down. The pastor read from the Bible and prayed. Not bad, I thought. I enjoyed his sermon so much, it was like the Bible was opened to me for the first time and it left me wanting more. I didn’t surrender my life that day, but I was definitely on my way to doing so. We went back to New Jersey (where we moved to), and I bought my first Bible and started in the gospel of John like I was told. Every morning I prayed a written sinners prayer and the prayer of St. Augustine before leaving for work. In July of ‘87 I knelt in our one bedroom apartment, alone, and asked Jesus to come into my heart and cleanse me of all my sins. I wanted Him to take away the pain and guilt of the divorce and to help me fight the cravings for alcohol. I began praying in what is known as my prayer language, and I thought I was going nuts haha. I quickly called my father-in-law and he explained it all to me. He prayed over me and I was feeling very light and joyful. Better than any high I ever had. Being of an addictive personality, I quickly wanted more of Jesus and the Bible.
Looking back these 38 years, I can say it was a very rocky road. But without my relationship with Jesus I would have been 6’ under a long time ago. It’s not all peaches and cream when you get born again. Far from it. Then why do it? Because you gain a Heavenly Father and a Brother named Jesus, who gives you His Spirit to live a new life. We still have free will, but we are included in an amazing family where we will live forever, with a new body like our Brothers. I can’t wait for that part! That’s just a few of the bonuses of surrendering your life to the one who gave His life for you, for the whole world.
A year later in August of ‘88, we began our journey in a new way of life and moved to Florida. I began my job in a cabinet shop making, and installing kitchen and bathroom cabinets and countertops. My wife was pregnant and got a job at a McDonalds. I was busting my butt in the Florida heat for 7.00 pr/hr. We became very involved with our new church and new friends. We were great on the outside but struggled at home. My inability to understand the dynamics of relationships was causing me to make poor decisions. I struggled still with alcohol and the newest guilt caused by my perfectionist ways especially on myself. I was also annoyed with God for not taking the cravings away. I came to know of several people in whom God took all that away from them and to this day are clean and sober. When the inner voice(spirit) was telling me that I was taking over the portrayal of Jesus in the big dramas, I laughed. I told Him that there was no way I could do that without Him healing me from the constant struggles. He did. For 10 years I enjoyed a life of sobriety. Other things cropped up though. Satan hates God and anything or anyone that stands with Him, serving Him with all their heart. I’ll put a close on the story at this point. I will pick up here next week for those on Nextdoor. For the other several media spots I’m on I’m going to send out something on Friday.
Don’t forget to hit like, or subscribe. A comment or two would be appreciated. God bless and enjoy the rest of your week 😃
The Way, Truth, and Life 