“Don’t be flip with the sacred. Banter and silliness give no honor to God. Don’t reduce holy mysteries to slogans. In trying to be relevant, you’re only being cute and inviting sacrilege.” Matthew 7:6 (MSG)
Jesus hits the point when He makes the above statement in His famous Sermon on the Mount: Our focus should always be to honor our Heavenly Father!
“And work with a smile on your face, always keeping in mind that no matter who happens to be giving the orders, you’re really serving God.” Ephesians 6:7 (MSG)
We are His witnesses. We are to love others genuinely, we are to help them in their time of need. One good deed can indeed change a person. The following testimony is written by an ex-convict. While he was in prison, one total stranger visited him weekly. He didn’t know him, but wanted to have an impact on his life.
His story is below.
Rob Chaffart
“I had the world at my hands. I fancied myself a movie star and a gunslinger. The devil really had a hold on me, and I on him… For over 20 years I was a gangster and pimp! I did some real ugly things I am not proud of…like shoot people for money. I used to feel justified because they were bad guys just like me.
I used to pimp and justified that by saying the girls wanted to be pimped and were women of the streets anyhow. I sold drugs and traveled far and wide with up to five girls in my stable.
I had the world at my hands. I fancied myself a movie star, and a gunslinger. The devil really had a hold on me, and I on him… I loved my lifestyle; every time I went to prison I was faced with the realities of all the wrong I was doing. You see, when one is in a 6×8 little cell and can’t get out, all you do is look at the walls, or at the ceiling and THINK, THINK, and THINK some more.
Then there comes some Bible toting Christian telling me about Jesus! I used to get so angry, until one time I went overboard. There is a brother named Nathanial, and he used to witness to me regularly, I mean, every time I looked there he was with all this soft kind of love…inviting me to church. I finally got so angry at him that one day I smacked the Bible out of his hand, and then I picked it off the floor and threw it across the cell block. Nathanial was shaking and for a moment I thought he would swing at me. He didn’t. He walked away. Next week here he comes again! I couldn’t believe it; anyway, he heard me telling pimp stories so he used the magic words on me. “Brother Victor,”…where he got this brother stuff I don’t know, but he said, “This coming Sunday there are a group of sisters coming to the prison chapel” and he invited me to go. Of course I would go – I was going to check out the cuties…maybe even catch one of ’em!
So Sunday came and I got shining and new like a brand spanking penny – looking like the star I was… So I get to church and sure enough there were the pretty ladies up front, looking good and proper. But when the prison Chaplain got on his preaching bag, he made the church go silent…All eyes on him. The scripture was when the two angels came to see Abraham; then Abraham questioned God and asked if there be 50 righteous, would you destroy all? God said NO, if there be 50 righteous I won’t destroy all. By the time he got to 10 righteous, I was feeling something. He preached, and it seemed like he was preaching at me. At one point the Holy Spirit came upon me, and praise God I was convicted. When that preacher made the altar call, I raised my hand. And then he invited all whose hands had come up to come to the front of the church. I came with tears…I mean, I forgot girls, my gangster pride and reputation, I had big tears rolling down my face. And all that day and the next I felt brand new. I felt clean, different; I felt happy. Praise God! Praise God! In prison, but free…like the blind man in John 9. All I know is that I was blind, but praise God, now I see…I’M FREE!
It’s been awhile now; I’ve got almost five years in prison, and eight months to go…Praise God. I’m 45 years of age, bi-lingual, I’m Puerto Rican and on fire for God. I’m a chef by trade, and am seeking God to see where does He want me to go and do. I’m single and sold out for Jesus!
Please keep me in your prayers and pray that God’s will for me becomes known. I truly love the Lord. God bless you for reading my testimony and I pray somehow it has encouraged you somehow some way for your own personal life.”
Written by Victor Malavet. Thanks to Precious Testimonies.
(To access the entire “Majestic Mountain View” devotional series, please click here.)