Why The Smile? (KJV)

I would like to take this opportunity to share with you what God has done in my life in the past few years. My Mom died when I was 14 years old and I started down the wrong path in life afraid, confused, and lonely—not having any confidence in myself or anyone else. I had been brought up in the Catholic faith always believing there was a God, but not knowing that he cared for me personally. For the next 16 years of my life I did my own thing, not really caring who I hurt or stepped on as long as it pleased me. The Bible says sin is pleasant for a season (Hebrews 11:25), but there comes a payday. My payday came some years later after I had tried about everything the Devil had to offer. Now I was 30 years old, still confused, lonely, and unhappy—having a void in my life that I could not seem to fill. I thought a person had to act tough, talk filthy, and get drunk to be accepted in life. In 1970, at a real low point in my life, Anne and I met a Christian couple who started talking to us about being saved, accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. This was something I had never heard before. They said that Jesus died for my sins and all I had to do was accept him and he would forgive me and give me a new start in life. About a year later, after things had gotten much worse, I knelt in a little country church in Duanesburg, N.Y. and told God I was sorry for my wicked past and asked him to forgive me for my sins and change me. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” That moment a peace came over my soul that I cannot explain and has been with me ever since. God began working in my life molding and making me into what he wants me to be (he still has a long way to go). Soon after my wife and children were saved we began attending a Bible-believing church. The first four years after my salvation I served God the best I knew how and things were going great spiritually, but financially things were terrible. We could not understand why God was allowing us to suffer to much financially. Romans 8:28 says, “All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” We continued to be faithful in witnessing, going to church, and tithing what little income we did have. In November, 1976, we felt we could take no more pressure and sought advice concerning bankruptcy, though we knew in our hearts it was wrong. After much prayer, Anne and I got on our knees and promised God we would not go bankrupt, but he would have to work a miracle in our lives to help us out of debt. GOD DID JUST THAT! In 2 Corinthians 12:9 God says his strength is made perfect in our weakness. God started a series of events in our lives that space does not allow me to list, but a month later a friend loaned us $2,000 and we went into business. During the next two years God blessed us in a mighty way. We were able to pay back the $2,000 and also pay back more than $18,000 worth of bills—the oldest one being a bill I owed someone for over 20 years. Space does not allow me to share all the ways God has blessed the years since that time, or how I can see him working daily in my life and business. It has been more than 30 years since this story was first printed, and I can honestly say that God has been faithful through many years of trials and struggles. Now that I am over 70 years old, he is still my best friend and reason for living. My goal in life is not to make a name for myself (I tried that years ago), but to testify of the life-changing power in Jesus Christ. Salvation is a very simple thing, so simple that most people and most religions won’t accept it. The Bible says, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We cannot save ourselves; we must rely on Jesus Christ for our salvation. If you realize that you are a sinner, believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins and ask him to save you. That’s salvation. Romans 10:13 says, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” If you would like this new life in Christ, or have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Sincerely, Bill Baldwin