|
I was raised in a Christian atmosphere. We were always in church,
Sunday mornings, nights and most Wednesday nights. When I was
about 10 years old I wanted to join the church so I walked
down front and filled out the card. At the end of the service
people  walked down front and shook my hand and patted me on the
head. That was it. I was now a member. Growing up I knew I was
missing something but I didn’t know what it was. For example I
thought if I could play guitar in a rock and roll band that life
couldn’t get any better than that. So when I was 15 I got my first
electric guitar and by 17 I had a Fender Stratocaster and
Bandmaster amp and was playing lead guitar in a rock and roll
band. I can remember the thrill of playing for school dances
around the state and how good it felt to do a good job. But you
know, it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. I was still missing
something. When I was 20 years old and in college a lady sat down
with me in her living room and asked
 something no one had ever asked
me before. She asked, Dwight if you died tonight would you go to
heaven or hell. That took me by surprise. I thought for a moment
and remembered joining the church that Sunday. Then I remembered
on Sundays the little score cards you filled out if you were on
time, brought your bible or studied your lesson. I guessed I
passed on those. But my honest answer to her was I’m not sure. That
night this lady told me of a God that doesn’t keep score. About a
God that had a plan for my life. About a
 God
that sent his son Jesus to die on the cross for me and my sin
and that his love was a gift. No strings attached. All I had to
do was accept this gift by faith. That night I prayed and asked
Jesus to forgive me for my sin and to come into my life and be
my Lord and Savior and He did. It was a gift I had always known
about but had never reached out and taken before. But I did that
night. My life and my eternity will never be the same. As a
Christian over the next few years, I did lot of things. I was in
church all the time with my family and kids. I had a lot of
money. I was on the board of directors for 4 years with Youth
For Christ and chairman one year. I was on the committee for
Young Life, worked with the Wales Goebel Ministries and worked
as a counselor for the Billy Graham Crusade. But you know I
still knew I wasn’t walking as I should with the Lord and was
basically powerless as a Christian. Over the years I had avoided
doing something that in my heart I knew God was asking me to do
and that was to study His Word. I was 37 years old, suffering
from depression, panic attacks and not very happy as a
Christian. I prayed that if God wanted me to start
studying the Bible He would have to get me up and give me the
energy and will to do just that. Well the next morning I woke up at 5:00AM
bright eyed and bushy tailed. That day I started doing something
wonderful. Time daily in God’s Word. As I read I realized why I
hadn’t before. As a man I was used to being in control. I knew
that if I got closer to God I would have to give up that control.
Well it was the best thing I ever did. The more I learned about
God the more I learned about myself. The more I studied and the more I
prayed my faith grew. My life changes every day now. Not that
there are not tough times. My 15 month old son Blake died at home
with heart failure; my 19 year marriage ended in divorce; I went
from having more than I ever imagined to bankruptcy in 1990; lost
my best friend my father to liver disease and ended up in an
apartment on my knees asking God for a fresh start. He did. Ten
years later my business was rated in the top 10% of all businesses
in the green industry in the country. Amy and I met in church and
have a wonderful marriage. I have wonderful memories of my father
and son. God has used every thing in my life to show me Him more
clearly. My desire now is to share my testimony. Not for people to
see me but for people to see my heavenly Father. I’ve been on the
mountain top with the multi million dollar life style and I have
been in the valleys scrapping change out of the ash tray for gas
money. I’m here to tell you I would rather be in a valley with my
Savior than on any mountain top without Him. God’s word for His
children says many wonderful things but one thing I would like to
share and this is it: “The God that created the heavens and the
earth the God that said “I am” says to each of us, that
 if we live
our lives by faith and wait on Him, He will do a work in our lives
that is so wonderful we wouldn't believe it if we were told right
now.” I
have a question for each and every one of you. Have you ever had a
moment in your life that you reached out and received the gift of
salvation?
“By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works that
no one should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8,9)
"Dwight Elliott"
|
