Rags to Riches

I have heard it said I wouldn’t ever make anything out of myself because I was too dumb and stupid, but the people, as far as I know, never knew about the Lord Jesus.  And the ones that said I was dumb or stupid were right at the time and I believed what they said for many years and, as I got older, I became what I call a freak, a pawn for the evil one in the world.  

I’ve been in out of relationships and seemed to lose everything I had, I just couldn’t seem to hang onto anything.  I should have been in jail or prison at least two or three times, but I only spent one night in jail, which could have been many years in prison, thank the Lord.  I was sort of like a crazy man getting to the point of not caring about what might happen.  I flipped a van, been down twice on motorcycles, I had a guy, that called himself my friend, get drunk and because he was mad he decide he wanted to kill me, he had a rifle on me at a very close range but instead of shooting me he tried to hit me in the head with the butt end of the rifle but when he couldn’t do that he went and got a knife and tried to stab me in the stomach with it, but got my hand instead, then he turned around went over to his bed, laid down and went to sleep and I went and got my hand fixed up.  To make things worse, this guy was studying to be a pastor at the time but he hadn’t overcome his drinking problem.  I had another guy come after me with a pistol one night after I had left the bar because of a problem we had earlier and a friend of mine took it away from him before he could get to me.  

I was spiraling down and down for many years but the Lord had other plans for me that I didn’t know anything about.  When I married my wife I didn’t even love her, I lusted after her and when we had the kids I couldn’t go to them because I couldn’t take a chance of getting too close to anyone or anything because I thought I would lose them, so they had to come to me.  I had a very bad temper and smashed things and broke things and ranted and raged when things didn’t go the way I wanted them to.  

The only difference between an alcoholic and me was I didn’t go to any meetings.  Reefers and pills were my choice of drugs and choppers and custom bikes were my choice of rides and partying was my choice of entertainment and all the things that went along with that lifestyle.  I also pumped iron for many years, I am like a skeleton compared to what I was at one time.  I was going down the street when I was maybe fourteen or fifteen when I found a porn magazine in the gutter; from that situation I was hooked on porn for many years.  

I didn’t mention my experience with the Lord that I had at the age of around 21.  At that time there were some guys canvassing the area telling people about the Lord and when they came to my house and spoke to me about the Lord, I got down on my knees and prayed with them and it felt like someone put their fingers across my chest and I felt like everything was gone, all the guilt and shame, I felt like I could have jumped on the roof, but my wife at the time just laughed like it was a joke, so after they left I went right back to drinking again.  I told some people the next day at work what had happened but they were no help and at the time I was working with an atheist and I never saw those guys again, as far as I know they never came back to the house.  So I was right back to square one and after about five years my wife went and got a divorce without my consent. She loved me enough to try to commit suicide before we got married which she did and almost died but after five years living with me she hated me as much as she loved me before we got married.

Then down the road I was married again and that ended in two years; no one could put up with me long and it was my entire fault!

Then I started going out with my wife that I am with now who partied with me for a while.  I met her in a bar but she was different, we lived together for about two and a half years and when we were going to get married, which is almost 39 years ago, I was very nervous, but she told me if I would marry her I would never be sorry and she was right on her side.  It was around three years after that, that I got truly committed to the Lord and not long after that she committed her life to the Lord also.  The drugs and pills, along with the partying, alcohol and cigarettes were gone almost immediately and I think the porn was well under control, but I still had psychological and emotional problems, I was a new man in Christ, praise the Lord, and then I became a Jesus freak for the Lord!!

The only reason I am typing this is to help others realize that they can be set free also just like I was.  I am no different than anyone else in God’s eyes, He loves everyone the same and what He’s done for anyone else He can do for you depending on how bad you want to be set free and how sick you are of your lifestyle!!  I don’t care what kind of bondage you are in, my God is the bondage breaker. This is some of my testimony but I have heard others that were worse than mine and they were set free also and so can you be, if you will truly repent of your sins and ask the Lord to forgive you and to come in and be your Lord and Savior.  The Bible says whom the Lord sets free is free indeed, praise the Lord!!  

I praise the Lord for what He has done in my life but I am still not the man I want to be, but thank the Lord I am not the man I used to be!!  Some people try to make the Christian life look like it is a walk in the park; like it’s a bowl of cherries, but take it from me some days it may seem like the pits.  When you receive the Lord as your Savior, the enemy of your soul is out to get you back, but remember this, when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of Lord will raise a standard against him and no weapon formed against you shall prosper!!  And think of this, “Greater is He that is in you than he (the enemy of your soul) that is in the world,” praise the Lord!!

I pray that this will help you and be an encouragement for you.  PS don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord, no matter what the circumstance, for He is worthy!!  And let me add this; I did go from rags to riches and so can you.  So this is the conclusion of the whole matter: “Fear God and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil.”  Check it out in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14.