My childhood and early adult life was neither a pretty picture nor a good experience. However, God saved me and this story has a happy ending. This is my testimony to God's goodness.
I grew up in a violent dysfunctional family where my father got mean and hit us when he drank
At 15, I saw my mother beaten bloody and taken unconscious to the hospital in an ambulance. I was not quite big enough to stop the beating. (She and I had been hit before, but this was a savage beating)
At 17, I nearly committed suicide after my father hit me when I just tried to talk with him
That night in despair about 10:30 PM in my bedroom I put the barrel of a cocked loaded German Lugar in my mouth and prepared to pull the trigger. I even put a pillow behind my head so my mother would not have to clean up the blood splatter.
God miraculously intervened to stop me and saved my life (It is quite a story I will tell you if you ask)
At 18, I physically punched out my drunk father to stop him from beating my mother again
When he finally came to (drunk, bloody and his left eye swollen shut from my two right roundhouse punches), he went and got that same German Lugar and aimed it at my head screaming profanities
I believed he would have shot me dead had my Mother not jumped directly in front of the barrel
He then held Mother and me at gunpoint and pistol whipped me for an hour screaming in a drunken rage
At 21 my Mother died tragically in an accident. She was only age 48. Being the only child, I was now very alone. I always believed God called my mother home to spare her from more suffering while I was at college
In my 20s and 30s I lived a somewhat sinful life and if things could go wrong, they did
I believed I was cursed, or at least under some kind of serious demonic attack (probably so)
At 34, I became so angry at someone, I think I would have killed them had God not miraculously intervened to stop me and/or save them (another miraculous story, ask and I will tell)
In my mid-30s, God humbled me in a major career setback to break my pride
Nothing I tried or did seemed to work in my marriage, my job and my life. In grief, despair and tears I cried out “God, I don’t know what to do anymore. Nothing I try or do works. I give up.”
An older wiser Christian friend we called Coach explained to me: “God is teaching you that you cannot do it all by yourself. You must turn your life over to God and depend on Him. You’re not supposed to do it all alone.”
That year same year my father was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given 6 months to live. I forgave him, cared for him and we became very close. Better late than never to have a loving father! BTW: He lived 9 years
In my mid-40s, I really began to press into God and study my Bible to develop an intimate knowledge, understanding and relationship with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit (The Trinity.)
Since then, my life has steadily changed for the better
I am now happy, healthy, successful, prosperous, loved, and blessed with a wonderful family
If God will do this for a sinner like me, He will do it for you too, but you must ask & believe to receive
We all have a God-shaped hole in our heart that only God and Jesus can fill
The Holy Spirit of God waits patiently at the doorway of our lives just waiting for our invitation to come in
We have to invite Him into our heart and allow Him to change us from the inside out. He is our “helper” in life
The death and resurrection of Christ Jesus (the atonement) accomplished four important things for us more than 2000 years ago in the Spiritual Realm if we only believe and receive them as the free gifts of God’s grace:
o Forgiveness of our sins so we can be in right-standing with God and go to Heaven
o Healing, both spiritual and physical (by His stripes we are healed)
o Freedom from oppression (anger, despair, depression, fear, guilt, etc.)
o Blessings and prosperity (meeting our daily needs plus abundance enough to give away to others)
It is our faith (without unbelief) that serves as the bridge for these blessings to crossover from the Spiritual Realm and manifest in our physical world and lives. We simply appropriate what the Jesus has already provided
Many people think Christianity is complicated, but it is really very simple. Just believe, trust and obey what Jesus taught and what He accomplished for us through his sacrifice on the Cross. His blood purchased many blessings for us more than 2000 years ago if we would only receive these free gifts through faith that Jesus is the Christ.
Thanks for sharing.