Melly's Testimony

The Truth of My life

This is a brief view of my personal trials and my life. I hope that this testimony encourages you with your walk with Christ or challenges the current course you may be going.

I: Growing Up

My life is but a glance of one person, not all. I was born into a middle-class family that has struggled to keep it that way financially under the circumstances of an unstable father. He had spent much of his life in the Air Force, and that is where it seems to have begun when it came to his alcoholism, infidelity, and ungodly life. My family was lucky you could say because no one was ever severely hurt, but the real damage had affected us emotionally maybe even psychologically. I remember police being called at the height of our most fearful moments, and that the times he was put into jail we had to pick up the broken pieces he left behind. I believe to this day that it was my mother's prayers that we were kept from his threats of harming us to the point of no return. God was there with his protection and love in all our lives even through these hard times. It was at this time we knew we could do nothing to stop this from happening so we gave it to God. There were points in my life when I came home and realized that I had been given another day as another chance. I got over many circumstances in my life by remembering that it isn't the situation you are given or the outcome that matters most but how you handle it is what counts. If you believe that you can solve all the problems in life then you are not handling it well because we cannot save ourselves from sin, but there is one God that has given his only begotten son so that anyone that believes in him can be saved from sin and have eternal life because God loved you that much.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18: For our present troubles are quite small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever! So we don't look at the troubles we can see right now; rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.

II: Challenges

I grew into the years of Middle School and grew a strong faith that I wish I could have contained all my life. I felt peace because I had become a Christian. This inexplicable peace that nothing could deter me from His will gave me confidence which could be seen in my grades and was evident because I was much happier. But then I fell out of church because of the spiritual immaturity of the Youth as they would rather socialize than grow and mature in their faith, and the church that I had been attending became a place of struggle rather than support. I left good friends behind while they concerned themselves over how much fun they could have instead of their salvation so I found myself wanting to go deeper. I was spiritually stunted for 3 years as I left the church, but I did occasionally visit churches to find again what I felt yet leaving my interest hidden. God was calling but I was in too much of a depression to hear Him. Or was I ignoring Him? Then things went from bad to worse as my search for deeper meaning led me further away as I got into the New Age to find what I had lost. It didn't end with the New Age as I embraced other religions such as Wicca. I did meet new friends at first, but I still felt an aching for much more than these false religions could provide. I was so spiritually lost as each religion explored nothing more than the depths of Satan's temptations and lies that came from a desire to get more friends and to find a way to fill the void. I had found something worse than I could ever imagine for I had spoken with demons and the demon-possessed while I was looking for what was lost and only became more lost. These 'spirits' I now know were demons who disguised themselves in order to lead you into further sin so as you try to find that 'lost' part of yourself or soul mate and other deceptions from Satan you open yourself to invisible danger that can affect you in more ways than just spiritually. I thought I would not be forgiven because I had been dragged so far, and I did attempt to get myself out of this lifestyle more than a few times. It took a friend of mine to tell me that I was living a lie. I found that I was lying to myself and to others because of this lifestyle that I was seeking. Satan had deceived me but he did not win ultimately.

2 Corinthians 4:8-9: We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don't give up and quit. We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going.

III: Finding Faith Again

So I went with my mother to a new church with a lively and emphatic preacher after 3 years of rarely gracing the presence of any church door. I almost cried out loud after leaving the new church when I was home. I had found the lost part of me, but it was part of the church family I speak of and His will. I desired the Creator of my soul and not a soul mate. All that you know a soul mate to be is in Psalm 139, but it is God that knows you more than Satan and any man. I rededicated my life to God and renounced any ties to Satan's deceptions. My past was healed and forgiven but I will never forget it. Even to this day I want to cry whenever I see someone casually getting a New Age book because they do not know the Truth. Whatever they call it, the occult or New Age, in the Bible it is condemned and it isn't new but an old trick of Satan. I now know why that the aching had dissipated when I came back to a better church. I had felt so far away from Him yet he was waiting always with open arms ready with comfort and love. He never gave up on me even when I gave up on him. Thank you God. This I tell you is the truth of my life. Let the only book that you ever believe be the Bible if it were my Wish. Let no man deceive you into a realm that brings you closer to Satan who makes your sin multiply and gives you no peace. If you want to feel accepted unconditionally you will find it in God. Even when you feel the Church is against you and you find no comfort within its walls then maybe it is time to move to another and remember always God as your foundation not the walls of any building. Even when you are teased, beaten and broken, I was that way too yet Jesus Christ had suffered the worse and the same. We are not perfect but Jesus Christ was. Let us follow his example so that we can try to become like Him and love unconditionally. I pray to the Lord that whomever would read this might be encouraged to seek Him and know the truth is written. All we must do to know Him is to seek Him.

Romans 8:38-39: For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I ask forgiveness from those I had deceived with me through my lies that were induced by Satan's deceptions. Lord, you know me well as you know them. Let those who have been deceived find you and know you. There is no other God but you. Amen.

IV: Your Decision

Would you like to be saved if you aren't a Christian? Please read these verses in the order that they are written for recognizing what must be known and believed: (Read #1-4)

#1. Romans 3:23 (NIV) For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

#2. Romans 6:23 (NIV) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

#3. Romans 5:6-8 (NIV) You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

#4. Romans 10:9-10 (NIV) That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you will believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

Message to New Believers and Old: Never stop Growing as a Christian and in your Relationship with the Lord. You can Grow as a Christian through Prayer (Psalm 116:2), Reading and Studying the Bible (Psalm 119:105 or read the whole chapter of Psalm 119 dedicated to its importance), Fellowshipping with Other Christians in Church (Ephesians 2:20-21, 4:4, 4:11-13), and Bringing non-Christians to God (Mark 16:15-16).