Gabe Randolph's Testimony

[dmday3000]

Posted on behalf of Gabe,

Gabe Randolph's Testimony:
 
From birth, I was raised in the Church of Christ.  Though I might have learned a lot about the Bible, I never was truly able to abide by everything I was taught and all of their many rules.  I was always told that once I was baptized I would be saved, so I became baptized when I was ten-years-old so I could be saved.  After being baptized, I felt nothing - no difference.  The Lord dealt with me a lot, always making me think differently from what I was told about my salvation.  I did not know if I was truly saved or not, and it made me think there was more to salvation than what I was told.  However, I stayed where I was in fear of being persecuted.  I tried to live by what I was taught, but I soon figured out that I could not live the perfect life they wanted me to live.  I struggled greatly very often, but the Lord wasn't finished with me yet.  When I was sixteen, I had grown braver, and maybe even a little wiser, and the Lord took the fear from me and gave me the strength to leave the Church of Christ.  As relieved as I was, I still struggled in finding somewhere to praise Him and find truth being taught.  So, I did not go anywhere for about two years and prayed hard for guidance.  In the meantime, God put a true Christian girl, Olivia Wilbanks, in my life.  I could truly feel His presence when I was with her, and I wanted that too.  I continued to pray for guidance, and the last two years of my high school career, He guided me closer to Him.  After graduating, the Lord led me to Grace Bible Church through Olivia's invitation.  I accepted and heard Pastor Mark preach for the first time and was truly stunned from what I was hearing - I wondered how I, a hell-deserving sinner, could be saved by God's grace alone.  I had issues wrapping my mind around what I heard because of what I was taught my entire life, but I continued to return and learned even more.  I became more and more zealous for the Lord with every day that passed and from every lesson I learned from Pastor Mark, and I knew I God led me to where I was supposed to be.  Over Christmas time, Olivia gave me a book by Eric Ludy, called God's Gift To Women,  which helped me learn that I can't have a working relationship with ANYONE in my life if I don't FIRST have a relationship with my Lord and Savior.  I soon realized what I need in my life to make it function and to truly live.  I broke down, prayed to God for forgiveness of my many sins, and immediately felt the burden lifted from my shoulders - God's amazing grace.  As opposed to my empty feeling when I was baptized at the age of ten, I felt completely renewed.  I have experienced bravery and how to be a be a man of God for the first time, and I am ready to learn so much more and fight any battle for the Lord whenever the opportunity arises because my life is no longer my own - my life belongs to Him!