Introduction
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Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6
Episode 7
Episode 8

Precious Memories

As my mind and heart starts turning back the pages of time, it is sorrow and joy intermingled. A joy that is unspeakable and full of glory, but also, a continual sorrow, bringing back to my remembrance, the failures and heartaches of this life. I have often said that it takes a lifetime to learn how to live, then, about the time you find out how to live, it is time to die. This applies to the children of this world, but to God's children it is different. It is true that it takes this lifetime to learn how to live, but when we have come to the knowledge of how to live, then, instead of dying we just translate into a world where we can really live and put into practice, what it took this lifetime to learn. My heart is full of praise for God, who is the great eternal Spirit of life.

As far back as I remember, God has been in my life, talking and dealing with me, even when I had no knowledge of the real truths of God. I have often found myself, through the years, asking the question, "God, why art Thou mindful of me?" I have no earthly talent, but yet, there is a cry deep down in my heart that has always been with me, desiring the perfect will and plan of God for my life.

As every young girl, I looked forward to the day I would meet the mate God ordained for me. I can well remember how, in my simple, childlike prayers, I prayed for the Lord to give me a preacher for my companion, who would preach the Bible word for word. I always pondered in my heart, and questioned my heart, wondering why people didn't read the Bible and obey every word just as it is written. I stumbled through life, faltering and failing, because I had no one to guide me into the truth. As a little light would shine on my pathway, I would walk therein.

At the age of 14, I came to the realization that I was a sinner, and must be saved by the grace of God. I surrendered to Jesus and began to seek His divine will in my life. Looking back now, through the years, I know what a dangerous place I was in. When a baby is first born, it needs loving, tender guidance, but there wasn't much to be found except a little sincere milk of the Word, just enough to keep me going and to give me strength to go on from day to day; but, as I stumbled from day, God kept talking to my heart.

At the age of 15, someone entered my life, and, as you know, when you meet the one you love, you forget about everything else in life. All my praying was pushed aside, in the sense that I knew the one I had met was not a preacher; but, looking back now, I know God blinded my eyes by love, for the time being, because He was looking down through the telescope of time, seeing the end, as well as the beginning.

At the age of 16, I married the one God ordained for my life, and felt that heaven had began; but, I was soon to learn that if you marry, you shall have trouble in the flesh, but the Lord has promised to spare us.

This part of my story, I am going to deliberately pass over, only to say that many times I wondered what happened, and why our lives couldn't be like other young lives around us; but, of course, the Lord has let me know that we had to suffer many things "to be first partakers" in matters, so we could better understand others later, when we started the work in the earth that the Lord had prepared for us. So, this part of our life, I just lay gently in the hands of God, thanking Him for His mercy, strength and understanding. It is all on record in heaven, and I feel it should stay with God. God has slain the giants, and I'll leave then buried beneath the blood of Jesus Christ, and share with you the resurrected life we have found in Him!

I can truly say that, since the day of our resurrection, the grapes of Eschol shine, and we are well able to take the land. I'll try to share a few of the golden nuggets and highlights in our adventure for Christ, with a prayerful heart, hoping that you will be encouraged to do more for Him. I guess every true Christian wishes they could have received the knowledge of God from the day they were born, and could have lived a perfect life before the Lord; but since this is impossible, because we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God, and have to fall on His righteousness and His grace to save us, I just want to be more like Him, as I see the great day approaching.

About the year of 1953, we were attending a little Midway Church of God, down below Conyers, Georgia in a little place called Magnet. God had struck George down, as He did Paul of old, and turned his whole heart in a different direction. His one motive in life was to see that me and our three small children (at this time) had a home and the things we needed in life. We weren't aware that God said that if we would seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, He would add all these other things; so we, in ourselves, were trying to obtain the material things of this life.

One day, while working overtime, George encountered an experience he will never forget as long as he lives. He had worked all day and was working at night, putting lacquer on some floors. He and another man had asked the lady who owned the house to please turn the furnace down, because it was getting warm and causing the fumes of the lacquer to become too strong. She misunderstood and turned it up instead. All of a sudden, as they worked, they began to laugh over things said that weren't funny. When this continued, one of them became aware of what was happening, and he turned to the other one and said, "Lay your brush down and get out of here!" George related later how, when he hit the fresh air outside, he saw the end of the world, and the next thing he knew, someone was over him, washing his face, trying to bring him back to. He had passed out and found himself laying on the front lawn. This was the real turning point in his life. They brought him home, and no one could console him. God had a hold of the reigns of his life and was holding them with an iron grip.

He had been smoking, but he began to make promises to God. He gave up smoking, but God wanted more than that. Days passed, and he went through an ordeal that only God knows all the details about. Something had happened to him! He could no longer work on a job. He couldn't walk fifty feet without passing completely out. Many times we would rush him to the doctor; but, one night, I remember the doctor looked at him and said, "I'm sorry, there is nothing we can do. You must get a hold of yourself, or you will end up in a mental institution." When George realized it was beyond medical help, he began to seek God's help. It only takes a few minutes to brief this on paper, but it lasted month after month. He fought a battle, until one night, he was invited to the little Midway Church of God and was miraculously healed by the power of God. I made the statement lots of times, that I was living with a different man from the one I married. He was as different as day is from night.

We began our training from that night on, but we didn't realize what lay ahead. George was working on a job driving a laundry truck, and we would attend the services at night. The Spirit of God was so wonderful! As he began to grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord, he was given a job teaching Sunday School and leading singing. One Sunday, we had a jail service and visited several men that were in jail for beating up an old man and robbing him. While there, Dale, our little five year old girl, sang to the prisoners. You could see tears falling down the cheeks of the men behind the bars, because they had children of their own. That night at church, our pastor asked everyone to pray and fast the next day for the service the next night. We were having a revival, and the Lord was really moving.

The next morning, we got up to go on the laundry route, because me and the three small children went with him every day, and we wanted to turn our job into a ministry for the Lord, witnessing and talking about Jesus. I fixed breakfast for the three children, because I knew that George and I weren't going to eat because our pastor had asked us to fast. When I called Dale, Ricky and Cindy to the table to eat, Dale, who was five years old at the time, said, "Mama, I'm not eating. Didn't you hear what Brother Ralph said last night?" I looked at George to see his reaction, and he nodded an okay, but secretly told me to pack her a lunch in case she decided to eat later; but, as the day went by, she wouldn't touch a drop of water or a bite of food. On the way home that evening, she looked up and said, "Daddy, you know what I'm fasting for?" Her daddy answered and said, "Yes, I guess it's for the revival, like me and mama are." She said, "Yes, but daddy, I am fasting so Jesus will let those men out from behind those bars!"

We realized then that she was carrying the burden of seeing those men in jail the day before. She refused to eat until after the church service that night, and by some miracle of God, those men were released from jail and they took their families to church. They may never know, until they get to heaven, the power of simple childlike faith in a five year old, but God heard and answered.

God is so good and worthy of all our praises. Hallelujah! We began to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus. When you enter the battle against Satan and his kingdom, you can expect him to fight back. He struck me about this time with what seemed to be tuberculosis. I had caught a glimpse of heaven and the wonderful benefits of God's promises, and for the first time in my life, I learned that not only could God save your soul, but was a healer, too.

Even though I lost weight and looked awful, I determined in my heart to trust the Lord and not lean on the arm of flesh. Finally, I got so bad, I could hardly get out of bed to take care of my family, and my cough got worse and worse.

I remember Mr. and Mrs. Bloodworth, our next door neighbors, and how they proved to be more that just a neighbor. We were young and they had more experience, being older. Many times they helped and advised us in our struggle to face life and its many problems. Mr. Bloodworth was real concerned, because he said that his first wife had died with tuberculosis, and he felt sure I had the same thing.

He knew that I was trusting Jesus to heal me, and had not gone to a doctor. He offered to loan us his car and pay the doctor bill if I would go see a doctor. I told him that I appreciated this with all my heart, but I had found something, for the first time in my life, that I could trust and feel was real.

I told the Lord that I was ready to die, and with Paul of old, I felt that to die would be gain, but to live was Christ, so I committed everything to His keeping. When I first repented, I went for several years without knowing or hearing anything about the Holy Ghost. When I was first filled with His Spirit, then He revealed healing to me. I thought, "Lord, if I can trust You with my soul, how much more can I trust You with the healing of my body?"

Mr. Bloodworth went himself and bought a bottle of medicine for me because I wouldn't go see a doctor. Then, one night, at the little Midway Church of God, several preachers stood up front and were praying for the sick. All of a sudden, faith struck my heart in such a wonderful way, that when they finished praying for me and I opened my eyes, their faces were shining with the glory of God, and I knew that God was working a miracle in my life. From that night on, I began to gain weight and to regain my strength. My cough left and I am still rejoicing today, with health and strength in the Lord.

Mr. Bloodworth came out one day and said, "Betty, I want to ask you something, and I believe you will tell me the truth." He said, "I know you are healed!" He could see that I was up and about my duties as a wife and a mother, and was no longer coughing, but was again healthy and whole. He said, "Where is that medicine I bought you? I have a feeling you didn't take it!" I went inside the house and brought the bottle of medicine and handed it to him with the seal not broken on it, and not one drop gone. He then said, "Betty, if you tell me the Lord healed you, I will believe you, because I know you didn't go to the doctor, and I know you are well." I said, "Mr. Bloodworth, the Lord healed me!" So, for a long time afterward, even when we moved to a different town, he would come and asked George to pray for him when something would happen to him. A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, and the joy of the Lord is our strength. He is all I need!

By Sister Betty Pike

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