Bob Green

I am thankful for what the Lord has done for me. I was brought up carefully in an old-fashioned Christian home where the family altar was established and I heard the Word of God read every day by my mother and father. But today I am a Christian because I had a real experience of my own.

The Lord dealt with me as an individual, striving with my heart for many days before I yielded. Some people tell how the Lord delivered them from drinking, smoking, dope, and other sins. I had never tasted that side of life; however, I did not have peace in my heart. I always felt condemnation for the way I was living. God convicted me of the little sins that were in my life, and I didn’t want to miss Heaven because of them. I am so glad the Lord showed me my need of salvation. One night, I prayed and gave God all my future and my plans. God came into my heart and made a wonderful change. The most outstanding thing about that night was the peace I felt. I was a new creature in Christ Jesus and had new hopes, new ambitions, and new desires.

The Lord helped me continue to serve Him throughout my school years, working, and then military service during World War II. God gave me a wonderful wife, and we had more than forty years of serving the Lord together until the Lord called her Home.

There have been some hard places in life. Some years ago, I had an accident and broke my back. From the very first day I said, “There must be a reason for this.” It might have been an accident on my part, but there are no accidents with the Lord. I prayed, “Lord, You can heal me, but I want Your will to be done above all. Work out what You want in my life, even if it takes a hard road to do it.” The following nights were long. I didn’t have a good night’s sleep for four weeks. I would watch the dawn break when I couldn’t sleep and think about what the Word says: “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” I did my best to keep a spirit of rejoicing in my heart. I didn’t want to waste my time so I would spend hours in prayer there in the hospital. God blessed me and I shed many tears of joy. Sometimes I would listen to a tape of hymns, and the words would just ring a bell with me. They were such a help through many long hours.

Another time I fell off a six-foot ladder and broke my wrists. I was alone in the church at the time, and my first words were, “Oh, no!” Then I began to pray and ask the Lord to help me. I walked over by the altar, and I said, “I am going to get down and pray.” My wrists were too sore to let myself down and my legs were sore too, but I put my elbows on the altar and got down on my knees, and I said, “Lord, I want to change that ‘Oh, no!’ to an ‘Oh, yes.’ I don’t want to leave this building until I can say, ‘Oh, yes,’ with all my heart.” I wanted to have something in my heart that was willing to go through the valley—to go through anything that God sent my way.

The Lord has given me the privilege of working full time in His service for many years, and that has been a real joy. I am glad that I can trust God. Day by day, I try to put my hand in His and commit my ways unto the Lord, even in little things. Sometimes I get too many jobs and I write them down in a little notebook and shove it in my pocket and try to do the important ones. I ask the Lord to help me to do the right ones on the right day. I believe He answers those prayers because I believe He is with me.

I cannot tell you what great things I have done or how much of this world’s goods I have accumulated, but I believe I have the best this world has to offer. I have the Lord’s salvation, and it is real in my life. I praise God for all He has done for me, and I want to give Him the rest of my days.