672. Jeff Israel Gives his Personal Testimony - October 29, 2024

[00:00:06] Welcome to Wisdom Today. My name is Bill Kelley and I'll be your host. In this podcast we will be exploring the book of Proverbs.

[00:00:21] Welcome in prayer. Father God, I thank you for anyone listening to this podcast today. Lord, I pray that you would bless everyone listening today.

[00:00:31] This is going to be a special podcast, Lord. I pray that your hand would be upon it and I pray that eternity would be changed forever because of this podcast.

[00:00:41] I ask this in Jesus name. Amen. This is Proverb 29 beginning in verse 1.

[00:00:49] He who is often rebuked and hardens his neck will suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy.

[00:00:56] When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice. But when a wicked man rules, the people groan.

[00:01:03] Whoever loves wisdom makes his father rejoice. But a companion of harlots wastes his wealth.

[00:01:12] The king establishes the land by justice, but he who receives bribes overthrows it.

[00:01:20] A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet. By transgression an evil man is snared.

[00:01:28] But the righteous sings and rejoices. The righteous considers the cause of the poor.

[00:01:35] But the wicked does not understand such knowledge.

[00:01:40] Scoffers set a city aflame, but wise men turn away wrath.

[00:01:46] If a wise man contends with a foolish man, whether the fool rages or laughs, there is no peace.

[00:01:55] The bloodthirsty hate the blameless, but the upright seek his well-being.

[00:02:01] A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back.

[00:02:08] If a ruler pays attention to lies, all his servants become wicked.

[00:02:13] The poor man and the oppressor have this in common.

[00:02:18] The Lord gives light to the eyes of both.

[00:02:22] The king who judges the poor with truth, his throne will be established forever.

[00:02:28] The rod and rebuke give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.

[00:02:37] When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increases, but the righteous will see their fall.

[00:02:45] Correct your son, and he will give you rest.

[00:02:49] Yes, he will give delight to your soul.

[00:02:52] Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint.

[00:02:58] But happy is he who keeps the law.

[00:03:01] A servant will not be corrected by mere words, for though he understands, he will not respond.

[00:03:09] Do you see a man hasty in his words?

[00:03:13] There is more hope for a fool than for him.

[00:03:16] He who pampers his servant from childhood will have him as a son in the end.

[00:03:23] An angry man stirs up strife, and a furious man abounds in transgression.

[00:03:30] A man's pride will bring him low, but the humble in spirit will retain honor.

[00:03:37] Whoever is a partner with a thief hates his own life.

[00:03:42] He swears to tell the truth, but reveals nothing.

[00:03:46] The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.

[00:03:53] Many seek the ruler's favor, but justice for man comes from the Lord.

[00:03:59] An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, and he who is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked.

[00:04:10] Friends, I have a special guest for you today.

[00:04:13] I have a man named Jeff Israel, and Jeff is a Messianic Jew.

[00:04:19] So basically, Jeff, you are the first person I've ever had on that I know as a Jew besides Jesus, my Savior.

[00:04:32] And, you know, it's just an honor to have you on.

[00:04:35] But before we begin, we just went over Proverb 29.

[00:04:39] And what I'd like to do with you, Jeff, is if you would select a verse that speaks to you and let the audience know which verse you'd like to share.

[00:04:50] Verse 18.

[00:04:52] Where there is no revelation.

[00:04:54] Now, revelation means prophetic vision.

[00:04:58] Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint.

[00:05:02] But happy is he who keeps the law.

[00:05:05] Yes, you know, it's important that we keep the law.

[00:05:09] And, you know, I think a lot of times, I just mainly think, Jeff, about the Ten Commandments.

[00:05:14] Now, obviously, being a Jewish person, you think of the 600 and other...

[00:05:20] 613.

[00:05:21] You know, 613 laws that were, you know, given.

[00:05:25] And many of those are found in either Leviticus or Numbers or Deuteronomy.

[00:05:30] And, you know, I'm really, really looking forward to this.

[00:05:34] And, you know, I just want to let the audience know that Jeff has graciously accepted my offer to become a regular contributor to this program.

[00:05:45] So, Jeff, this is just an introductory type testimony.

[00:05:49] It's going to be one of many to come.

[00:05:52] And I believe that, you know, we're going to learn together through a lot of the wisdom you have to have.

[00:06:01] And I kind of feel I have to say this because Jeff is the oldest person that I've ever had on this podcast.

[00:06:06] I had Betty earlier.

[00:06:10] And Betty was a member of our second year class at Karis.

[00:06:13] And she, you know, at the time, I believe she was 83.

[00:06:18] So Jeff tops that.

[00:06:19] And he's 84 years old.

[00:06:21] And actually, you know, this is interesting, but he's actually been married five times.

[00:06:27] So, Jeff, what I would like for you to do is basically introduce yourself, talk a little bit about your childhood, what you'd like to share and how you started the journey to where you are today.

[00:06:41] Okay.

[00:06:42] Okay.

[00:06:43] I grew up in Michigan in a middle class family, so to speak.

[00:06:50] I had a good father and mother, although I wasn't really, I mean, we weren't really a real close family either.

[00:06:59] I have a younger brother, four and a half years younger than I.

[00:07:05] But we were, we never went to church.

[00:07:08] We never, or very seldom ever went to church or any kind of religious, religious things.

[00:07:15] My grandfather was a Russian Jew, but he wasn't practicing.

[00:07:21] So we really didn't have much of a background in it.

[00:07:25] Back when I was a kid, I used to do a lot of hitchhiking back and forth to town because we lived about 10 miles out of town.

[00:07:32] And back then it was accepted.

[00:07:35] I mean, that was, you know, no big deal about hitchhiking because society and everything was a whole lot different back then than it is now.

[00:07:44] Everything was safe.

[00:07:45] You didn't like your house.

[00:07:46] You didn't like anything.

[00:07:48] You just did things.

[00:07:50] But anyway, way back then, and I mean, I was a group as a normal kid, so to speak.

[00:07:58] And then I went into the Navy.

[00:08:02] And when I was in the Navy, my father passed away.

[00:08:07] And so I was pulled out of the Navy a little bit early because my mother wanted me to help her with the family business.

[00:08:13] Okay. Let me, let me just stop you right there.

[00:08:15] So if you would just share what year was that and how old were you at that time?

[00:08:20] Uh, 1960.

[00:08:25] Okay.

[00:08:26] I was 20 years old.

[00:08:29] I was born in 1940.

[00:08:31] Okay.

[00:08:32] In 1960.

[00:08:33] I came out of the Navy to help my family with the business.

[00:08:38] We had a photographic retail shop at the time.

[00:08:42] And I helped my mother with the business.

[00:08:45] And, um, that's when I met my first wife.

[00:08:49] Uh, she was a beautician next door.

[00:08:52] So, but, uh, we lived a pretty good life.

[00:08:57] Although with the stress of being a businessman and everything else, and really I have no college.

[00:09:03] I have actually no business being in business for myself.

[00:09:07] I didn't have the knowledge that I needed.

[00:09:10] And consequently, over time, Satan kept stealing some of the business here and there.

[00:09:17] And, uh, during that time, uh, I, we had our two children, uh, which I am thankful for.

[00:09:25] Although neither one of them are saved.

[00:09:27] And neither is my one grandchild.

[00:09:29] So, if you would, go ahead and, and how old are your two children?

[00:09:34] Are they boy, girl?

[00:09:35] One of each.

[00:09:36] One of each.

[00:09:38] Uh, in fact, my son was born within minutes of when Kennedy was assassinated.

[00:09:43] Ah, 63.

[00:09:44] Mm-hmm.

[00:09:44] Yeah.

[00:09:44] So, my daughter was born in 62, my son in 63.

[00:09:49] So, that's me.

[00:09:52] Okay.

[00:09:53] And neither one of them are saved.

[00:09:54] Neither one of them are saved.

[00:09:55] Okay.

[00:09:55] So, keep in prayer, anybody.

[00:09:58] All right.

[00:09:59] So, anyway, go on and, and just, just continue.

[00:10:02] Okay.

[00:10:02] And then, I mean, I became a heavy cigarette smoker.

[00:10:06] And because my dad smoked Cools, I used to smoke Cools, which are menthol too, as you're hooked on menthol.

[00:10:11] And I was smoking two and a half packs of Cools extra lungs per day.

[00:10:16] And, um, at that time, and for quite a while until I, until God delivered me from that.

[00:10:23] But that's, but, uh, and I became drinking, started doing more drinking, and getting drunk once in a while, and things like that.

[00:10:32] And then, and then...

[00:10:33] Can I just ask you this?

[00:10:34] Uh, was there any reason why you felt the need to begin drinking more alcohol?

[00:10:41] I don't think so, except I just, I enjoyed it.

[00:10:47] I mean, I felt, I liked the feeling of it.

[00:10:49] I mean, I could relax by drinking.

[00:10:53] Uh, it's a, it's a false, uh, false feeling that Satan lays on you, you know, to, to drink.

[00:11:00] I, um, I felt my inhibitions went away and things like that.

[00:11:05] Especially when I started getting, after my divorce, my first divorce.

[00:11:10] And we had a good divorce.

[00:11:11] We had a common lawyer, which is unheard of these days.

[00:11:14] But, uh, so we were never put the kids in the middle or anything like that.

[00:11:18] She remarried right away.

[00:11:20] Uh, and he was a good husband, or good, uh, good to my kids.

[00:11:26] That's all I cared about.

[00:11:28] And, uh, but we didn't live that far apart.

[00:11:30] And so my kids would come over once a week anyway and spend the night.

[00:11:34] Okay, let me ask you this.

[00:11:36] Um, you know, were you close to your kids growing up?

[00:11:40] I mean, did you, uh, you know, did you do stuff with them?

[00:11:43] Play ball, stuff like that?

[00:11:44] Take them out?

[00:11:45] Do things?

[00:11:45] Not that much.

[00:11:46] Um, I wasn't that close because at that time, my thought was about women all the time.

[00:11:54] Uh, my brain was in my pants.

[00:11:58] And that's what I'm going to say about that.

[00:12:01] But you know right where my brain was.

[00:12:02] And that's where I, uh, all my energy went to is women.

[00:12:08] And I, being a womanizer, drinking, having parties, and going out to bars and things like that.

[00:12:15] You know, I don't really know if I really need to say this, but you know, Jeff, that's, that was my dad.

[00:12:22] And my dad was the same way.

[00:12:24] And, you know, I don't really remember my dad really without a cigarette in his hand and a beer in his hand.

[00:12:31] He just, uh, you know, he ended up dying of leukemia way back in 1990.

[00:12:37] And, uh, you know, I asked myself, why is he happy with that kind of life?

[00:12:43] And my mom would be home.

[00:12:44] And a matter of fact, one time I remember him, I think I was in my junior year in high school.

[00:12:49] And I remembered, he goes, you want to go out?

[00:12:51] And I said, wow, you know, I don't go out with my dad.

[00:12:56] I said, I guess so.

[00:12:57] You know, I had no idea what his plan was.

[00:13:00] And he took us to a bar and I couldn't believe it.

[00:13:03] I sat there and I go, wow, of all the places he could take me to share, he wants to take me to a bar.

[00:13:09] And I'll never forget this.

[00:13:11] He took me to a bar.

[00:13:12] He sat there and he bought a Coke for me.

[00:13:15] And he sat there and got beer and started hanging out with his friends.

[00:13:20] And he left me at the bar.

[00:13:23] I will never forget that as long as I lived.

[00:13:26] But of course, I wasn't close to my dad.

[00:13:29] So anyway, continue on.

[00:13:31] You know, strange issue should mention this, but my dad died with leukemia also.

[00:13:35] He was 47 years old when he died.

[00:13:39] Uh, and he was a smoker, but not a heavy drinker like I was.

[00:13:43] But I, you know, and I regret when my kids did come over to our house, my house.

[00:13:49] I mean, yeah, I'd put them on the floor of their bedroom and that's where they would sleep.

[00:13:53] And, you know, in sleeping bags and things like that.

[00:13:56] They were happy doing that.

[00:13:57] But at the same time, I would have women over and I would be in the other bedroom with women.

[00:14:02] And, uh, which wasn't right at all.

[00:14:06] Uh, I don't think they saw anything particular, but I can't remember everything.

[00:14:11] And, uh, there was times I fell asleep on the couch with a cigarette in my hand and started to almost burn myself up.

[00:14:18] Well, you know, I'm going to stop you right there because there may be people listening today and you can relate to what Jeff's going through.

[00:14:25] And, you know, certainly if you have never received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, this is a common type of life for many people, even in our society today.

[00:14:36] I think it's becoming more prevalent to be honest with you, Jeff.

[00:14:39] And, you know, people, um, especially right now, our federal government is trying to take God out of every aspect of our life.

[00:14:47] And they're actually trying to promote promiscuity.

[00:14:51] They're trying to promote things that go against the family.

[00:14:55] So anyway, um, you know, that's basically it.

[00:14:58] You were living a common life at that time if you don't have God in your life.

[00:15:04] Please continue.

[00:15:05] Yeah.

[00:15:06] But I kept up this life, I mean, until, uh, Satan finally took the business away from me.

[00:15:11] Uh, I had to put the business in bankruptcy, although, uh, technology did that too because they don't have any camera shops anymore to speak of.

[00:15:22] We don't develop film anymore.

[00:15:24] Uh, so it was kind of a, it happened anyway.

[00:15:30] But, uh, I was like the prodigal son, uh, because what, what wealth my father and mother had that was supposed to go to me, I wasted.

[00:15:43] Okay.

[00:15:43] I wasted her away and with that kind of living to alcohol and women.

[00:15:49] I mean, you know, I'm going to go ahead and go to John 10, 10.

[00:15:53] You know, there may be people listening to this audience today that do not know John 10, 10.

[00:15:59] And John 10, 10 says, but the thief cometh, but to steal, to kill and to destroy.

[00:16:05] The second part of that is Jesus speaking, but I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly.

[00:16:12] But Jeff, I want to settle in on that first part because Satan took your business away from you.

[00:16:19] He stole that business away from you.

[00:16:22] And for those of you who yet have to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, that is what he does.

[00:16:28] He wants to steal.

[00:16:29] He wants to steal whatever dreams you have, your life as you know it.

[00:16:34] And if you're married, he wants to separate you from your wife or your, you know, your spouse.

[00:16:40] He wants to divorce you from your kids.

[00:16:42] He wants to do everything he can to derail everything that you have set up.

[00:16:48] So anyway, you weren't a Christian yet, but that didn't apply to you.

[00:16:52] But for those of you listening today, please pay note of everything that Jeff is saying.

[00:16:58] Please continue.

[00:16:59] Okay.

[00:17:00] Well, like I said, until 1980 when I finally put the business in bankruptcy, I packed everything

[00:17:09] that I had left that I wanted in a tape with my package into a van.

[00:17:15] And I had, from AAA, a triptych, what they call a triptych back then.

[00:17:21] It was a diagram of route.

[00:17:25] I was going from Michigan all the way down to Texas and all the way.

[00:17:30] It would have ended up in California somewhere.

[00:17:33] Because my uncle, who also had a corporate studio, he closed his at the same time, pretty much that I closed mine.

[00:17:46] And he went to California.

[00:17:47] And he went to California.

[00:17:48] He knew what he was going and what he was doing.

[00:17:51] But, so I thought maybe I'd end up out there.

[00:17:53] So I didn't know where I was going to end up.

[00:17:56] That's one of the reasons I call myself, you know, my Hebrew name is an Avraham Dov in Israel.

[00:18:02] Like Abraham, you know, he went to a land he didn't know.

[00:18:04] Well, I packed up everything into a van and I took off.

[00:18:09] And I ended up in Houston, Texas first and partied there for a while.

[00:18:18] And I got into a couple jobs there in the photographic area because I knew a little bit about it.

[00:18:26] I mean, in portraits in department stores and things.

[00:18:30] So, it was interesting.

[00:18:33] I was doing more sales than anything of portraits to people.

[00:18:38] The portraits were really poor quality because I was used to really good quality portraits.

[00:18:44] I mean, good quality coloring and everything.

[00:18:46] But I started to back off at that time on my alcohol.

[00:18:52] In fact, I think, I know God had a hand on my life all the way along.

[00:18:57] Well, I firmly believe that because...

[00:19:00] Let me stop you right there.

[00:19:02] Okay, now, we may have people listening, Jeff, right now that do not know God.

[00:19:07] They, you know, God is not a part of their life.

[00:19:11] They don't even know if God exists.

[00:19:14] They will be happy to declare that they're an atheist.

[00:19:17] But when you make that comment, I truly believe that God had a hand on my life.

[00:19:24] That needs to be explained to the audience.

[00:19:28] Tell me what you mean by that and why would you make a comment like that for those who don't know Jesus?

[00:19:34] Because I made a comment like that because there's many times when I was younger even that I don't know why I didn't kill myself.

[00:19:45] As kids, we used to take handkerchiefs, put them around our neck and pull them tight until we passed out.

[00:19:52] I mean, that's about as dumb as you can get.

[00:19:54] I mean, driving...

[00:19:58] One time I filled up...

[00:19:59] This is before I even had a driver's license.

[00:20:01] I was 15, 14 or 15, I forget.

[00:20:05] I stole my parents' car and I was doing 110 on the dirt road.

[00:20:10] I mean, there's a lot of things like that that I don't know why I didn't die back then.

[00:20:18] It's why I believe that God had a hand on my life.

[00:20:20] That's really good.

[00:20:21] And the biggest thing was how after I left Michigan and went to... ended up in Texas,

[00:20:30] I had gone and tried to stop drinking at different times.

[00:20:33] So I know what DTs are like.

[00:20:35] I mean, to an alcoholic, they're like spiders going up and down your spine.

[00:20:41] But when God stopped me from drinking, he did a cold turkey.

[00:20:48] And I just all of a sudden stopped and that was it.

[00:20:50] That was it? Forever?

[00:20:52] Well, no, not forever.

[00:20:54] Okay.

[00:20:54] Because about six months later, I thought, well, I got this under control and I can handle it.

[00:20:59] So then I started drinking again and I got back just as bad as ever.

[00:21:03] Okay, let me ask you this.

[00:21:04] This is important for me.

[00:21:06] Because at the time, you have two kids.

[00:21:08] And I'm guessing they're probably fairly young at this time when you moved from Michigan to Texas.

[00:21:15] Did you think about your kids at all?

[00:21:17] Did you have any contact with them?

[00:21:19] I did somewhat.

[00:21:21] In fact, my wife, my first wife, was having problems with my son.

[00:21:29] And she didn't know what to do so she sent him down to me.

[00:21:33] He came down to live with me.

[00:21:37] And we did that for about six months.

[00:21:42] And because of my type of job that I had at the time, I was out of town overnight sometimes.

[00:21:49] So I really couldn't control him that much.

[00:21:53] So after about six months, I sent him back up to his mother back up in Michigan.

[00:21:58] And she had me married and he was a good guy.

[00:22:01] And that was a better life environment than with me.

[00:22:05] Okay.

[00:22:05] That makes sense.

[00:22:06] Because I was still a womanizer and still drinking and smoking.

[00:22:11] Now, I'm kind of curious.

[00:22:13] You said you've been married five times.

[00:22:15] And I haven't heard anything about the second wife yet.

[00:22:17] So where did that happen?

[00:22:19] Okay.

[00:22:19] Well, I'm already going through the second wife.

[00:22:21] Okay.

[00:22:24] During my having a business and after I got divorced from my first wife, I met this one

[00:22:31] girl.

[00:22:32] Of course, I was dating a lot and I was having a lot of affairs anyway.

[00:22:37] But this one girl, she was on a rebound from her boyfriend and we just, you know, let's

[00:22:43] get married.

[00:22:44] And so finally we got married and, you know, and then six months later we got divorced.

[00:22:49] So it was just, you know, living the good life.

[00:22:54] Living the good life.

[00:22:55] If you don't have Jesus in your life, you might've thought that was the good life.

[00:23:00] Yeah.

[00:23:01] Riding high.

[00:23:02] What feels good?

[00:23:03] What does my body think makes fun?

[00:23:07] Just have fun.

[00:23:08] All right.

[00:23:09] Even the Bible says, you know, sin has pleasure.

[00:23:12] It does.

[00:23:13] For a season.

[00:23:14] For a season.

[00:23:15] For a season.

[00:23:16] That's what they don't tell you about.

[00:23:17] For a season.

[00:23:18] Yeah.

[00:23:19] You know, and Jeff, you know, the thing about it is many times when you have, you know,

[00:23:25] and you're promiscuous and you have sex with people that you really shouldn't have

[00:23:29] and, you know, and then you get married and, you know, then after that I'm sure you're

[00:23:33] still living that lifestyle that you probably had affairs on your second wife I'm guessing.

[00:23:39] Yeah.

[00:23:40] I don't think I did have, as long as we were living together, no, I didn't have an affair

[00:23:46] on her.

[00:23:48] I did a few times with my first wife but not on my second wife.

[00:23:51] We didn't live, we didn't live, we didn't live, we didn't live married that long.

[00:23:53] Yeah.

[00:23:54] I mean, six months, I mean.

[00:23:56] And, but the trouble is and what people don't understand is when you have sex with a woman,

[00:24:05] you're taking on some of their, you're taking on some of their spirits.

[00:24:10] And I mean, that's what I learned much later on but at the time, you know, I didn't care

[00:24:14] about that stuff.

[00:24:15] I didn't know God or anything like that.

[00:24:18] But I just wanted to, you know, feel good and enjoy life.

[00:24:23] So, so I, I was down in Houston and while I was down there I met my third wife and because

[00:24:37] I had this particular job had me out of town quite a bit, I didn't, wasn't able to stay

[00:24:45] home quite a bit so, you know, she wanted me to quit and let's go find it, go over to

[00:24:50] Dallas and find another job and that type of thing.

[00:24:53] And so I did, I quit the job that I had.

[00:24:56] I was an area manager for photographic studio thing.

[00:25:00] But we went over there and then I had trouble finding a job.

[00:25:05] And in the meantime I found out she was a pothead.

[00:25:09] So, I mean, she was heavy on pot, first thing in the morning, you know, doing her stuff.

[00:25:15] And then the only job that I could find was out of, was out of town, going out of town

[00:25:22] quite a bit.

[00:25:25] And during this time I was met her, we were looking, started looking for higher power.

[00:25:31] She was looking for it like I was.

[00:25:33] And that's when we started burning special colored candles, doing Ouija boards, pentagrams

[00:25:41] on the floor with candles and all kinds of occult junk.

[00:25:47] That's about all I could call this junk.

[00:25:49] That's all it is, you know.

[00:25:51] And then when I was with her and then I went out of town for a job.

[00:25:58] I went to Birmingham from Dallas.

[00:26:04] And when I was out there she divorced me.

[00:26:11] And I had to go back there to Dallas and pick up everything in the U-Haul and bring everything

[00:26:17] with me.

[00:26:18] But about that time I was in, like I said, I was in, and that was my third wife.

[00:26:25] Now let me ask you this.

[00:26:26] Where are we at year wise right now?

[00:26:30] What year are we in?

[00:26:31] And at this point, how old were your two kids?

[00:26:35] And have you seen your daughter at all?

[00:26:38] Not at this point, no.

[00:26:40] I was, this was in 1950, 1985.

[00:26:48] So you were 45 years old.

[00:26:50] Yeah, about 45 years old.

[00:26:56] And like I said, my, everything was starting to fall apart on what to do.

[00:27:01] My job took me all over but it fell apart.

[00:27:07] It got to the point that all of a sudden that I had, my paychecks were bouncing and I was extremely

[00:27:14] low in funds.

[00:27:16] And I went back up to Birmingham, Alabama where I had a girlfriend there.

[00:27:22] And stayed with her for a while and I was like almost like dead broke.

[00:27:30] And all of a sudden her phone rang and was my uncle from California.

[00:27:37] Now how he knew where I was and her phone number or anything like that, I had no idea.

[00:27:43] And how he knew that I was in trouble, I had no idea.

[00:27:48] But he sent me some money.

[00:27:52] And to get started again and so I went, I moved from there to Atlanta, Georgia.

[00:28:00] And why did you pick Atlanta?

[00:28:02] Just curious.

[00:28:03] Big town, big places.

[00:28:06] I mean, when you say Atlanta, you don't really mean Atlanta just like you don't mean Orlando.

[00:28:12] You know, I was in Hoover, which is the north side of there.

[00:28:21] And I got a good job at sales jewelry store.

[00:28:24] I was a manager trainee.

[00:28:29] But about this time I found God.

[00:28:34] When I was in Birmingham, I found God by one of the guys.

[00:28:42] We were, there was three of us guys living together that the company had put us up in one of, in a hotel.

[00:28:47] Or in a type of thing.

[00:28:50] And we were all living together.

[00:28:53] And one of the guys was a Christian.

[00:28:57] And I'm not sure if he told, how much he told me about Christianity or anything like that.

[00:29:03] But I know I got kind of tired of looking for higher power.

[00:29:05] And all of a sudden I was watching Robert Shuler Howard Power.

[00:29:10] And Robert Shuler, if you know any about Robert Shuler Howard Power, he doesn't talk about getting saved that much.

[00:29:16] But I, he did apparently this one time and I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

[00:29:23] And how old were you then?

[00:29:25] And what year was this?

[00:29:32] I think this was 84, something like that.

[00:29:39] I don't have my notes in front of me for the exact dates on these things.

[00:29:43] 84. So you're 44 years old.

[00:29:47] And you say the sinner's prayer.

[00:29:49] I say the sinner's prayer.

[00:29:50] Now, you know, I often say this for people who come on for their testimonies and we're almost running out of time.

[00:29:57] I'm going to give you a few more minutes.

[00:29:59] But you know, Jeff, many people say that sinner's prayer, but they don't have any idea what it means

[00:30:08] that they've actually done that.

[00:30:09] The Bible tells us that when you say that sinner's prayer, old things have passed away.

[00:30:16] All things have become new.

[00:30:19] Did all things become new for you at that time?

[00:30:23] Yes, they did.

[00:30:25] All of a sudden, I mean, I became a new creation.

[00:30:29] You, when you confess, when you confess Jesus, Lord and Savior, you've got to confess with your mouth and believe with your heart.

[00:30:35] Now, I'm going to go ahead.

[00:30:36] I'm going to go to Romans because this is found in Romans chapter 10, verses 9 and 10.

[00:30:43] For those people listening today who may yet never have made Jesus that the Lord of your life,

[00:30:50] those verses are key to receiving Jesus.

[00:30:56] Amen.

[00:30:57] Your thoughts on that?

[00:30:58] Yes, they are.

[00:30:59] I mean, the biggest distance in the entire world is a distance from your head knowledge to your heart knowledge.

[00:31:07] And that's when you're talking about the Holy Spirit that comes into you.

[00:31:11] If you truly believe the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is your Lord and Savior, the Lord of your life, you will receive the Holy Spirit.

[00:31:19] Now, there's different evidences of it, but the biggest thing is your mindset changes.

[00:31:27] I'm no longer concerned about women.

[00:31:30] I'm no longer concerned about alcohol.

[00:31:33] I'm no longer concerned about cigarettes.

[00:31:36] I had an actual, almost an actual, audio-verd, argument with God over cigarettes, because I enjoyed smoking.

[00:31:46] And I was smoking, like I said, two and a half packs of Cool is extra long per day.

[00:31:51] And he said, stop.

[00:31:52] And I told him no.

[00:31:54] He said, stop.

[00:31:55] I said, no.

[00:31:56] He said, stop.

[00:31:57] So I took the cigarette, threw them away, haven't touched one since.

[00:32:00] And cold turkey.

[00:32:01] That was 84?

[00:32:03] Yeah.

[00:32:04] Okay.

[00:32:05] That is impressive.

[00:32:07] And friends, if there's anybody listening that is currently addicted to nicotine, Jeff right here is telling you, you can get off of that.

[00:32:20] You can.

[00:32:21] And I know many people, if you've been smoking for years and years and years and years, and primarily you are a slave to nicotine.

[00:32:31] Yes.

[00:32:32] You can't do without it.

[00:32:35] Jeff right here is testifying you can stop if you have the desire to do so.

[00:32:44] But Jeff, tell the audience that it had to do with Jesus.

[00:32:49] And that is the only reason you did that.

[00:32:51] Oh yeah.

[00:32:52] It had to do with what God is making me into a new person.

[00:32:55] And to a new person, he wants me to be healthy.

[00:32:58] He wants me to have good lungs.

[00:32:59] To be able to speak his word.

[00:33:03] And you can only do that.

[00:33:05] I mean, if you get rid of that smoke, which is nothing but smoke from the enemy.

[00:33:11] It is smoke from the enemy.

[00:33:13] And I'm going to stop you right there.

[00:33:15] What I'm going to do, Jeff, is allow you to have a couple minutes.

[00:33:21] Share with the audience.

[00:33:23] You lived primarily 44 years before you gave your heart to Jesus.

[00:33:31] Something happened in your life.

[00:33:34] Something happened that told you you needed to change.

[00:33:39] So if you would, briefly talk about that again.

[00:33:43] And then lead anyone in the sinner's prayer before we close.

[00:33:48] The reason what I was looking for was I knew that there was,

[00:33:52] I wasn't happy with my life the way it was.

[00:33:55] And I knew there was something out there greater than I am.

[00:33:59] I knew there was a higher power.

[00:34:01] There was something out there greater than I am.

[00:34:04] And I needed to find it.

[00:34:06] It was a desire that God put in your heart.

[00:34:10] God puts in your heart.

[00:34:11] When you're born, you're born with an emptiness in your heart.

[00:34:15] And I filled it with women.

[00:34:17] I filled it with alcohol, cigarettes, booze, drugs.

[00:34:21] I filled it with everything except God.

[00:34:24] But when I finally accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior,

[00:34:30] He filled me with that Holy Spirit, which is the only thing that can actually fill that emptiness with inside of you.

[00:34:38] I now feel a purpose to my life.

[00:34:41] And God has really led me to different things in my life.

[00:34:45] And He still used me.

[00:34:47] He couldn't put in new things in my life all the time.

[00:34:51] I'm becoming closer and closer to Him.

[00:34:54] I'm not saying I'm any better than anybody else.

[00:34:57] I'm not.

[00:34:58] I'm a sinner saved by grace.

[00:35:00] And that's all I am.

[00:35:02] But if anybody needs to ask Jesus for Lord and Savior, all you've got to do is confess that Jesus.

[00:35:10] Say, Jesus, you are the Lord of my life.

[00:35:13] I believe in you.

[00:35:15] And I want you to take control of my life.

[00:35:20] I regret, I repent of the sins that I've been in.

[00:35:24] I repent of them, Lord.

[00:35:26] And I want to live a life now for you.

[00:35:31] Thank you, Father, that you hear my prayers and you answer my prayers.

[00:35:35] And I am a new creation.

[00:35:37] Now that I've accepted you, Lord and Savior of my life.

[00:35:41] In Jesus' name.

[00:35:42] Amen.

[00:35:43] And, you know, Jeff, thank you.

[00:35:45] That was a beautiful prayer.

[00:35:46] And it's been wonderful.

[00:35:48] But, friends, we are only in 1984.

[00:35:53] Many of you listening haven't been born yet.

[00:35:57] So, Jeff, we still have 40 years to go.

[00:36:00] And this is going to be a journey.

[00:36:01] We're going to be going and I'm going to take this slow.

[00:36:05] What I really want to do is get across to the people that God cares about everyone listening to this podcast today.

[00:36:12] And if you said that prayer today, that is only your first step.

[00:36:17] And listen to me and listen to me well.

[00:36:20] If you just said that prayer, first of all, welcome to the family of God.

[00:36:25] Next, what you need to do is get online.

[00:36:30] Search the local churches in your area.

[00:36:33] You need to back this decision up by finding a church that preaches directly from the Bible.

[00:36:42] You also need to surround yourself with like-minded individuals who can help you on this new walk with Jesus.

[00:36:50] Friends, this is the most important decision you ever make in your life because it's the only one that truly affects eternity.

[00:37:02] Now, may the Lord bless you and keep you.

[00:37:05] The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.

[00:37:10] The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

[00:37:15] Friends, please join me again tomorrow as we further explore wisdom today.