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SIMON BELL

A TESTIMONY OF GOD'S LOVE

My name is Simon Bell. I am 34 years old and I live in Swaffham in Norfolk. I am also a member of the River Ministries (Norfolk). As you can see from the photograph, I also ride a motorbike.

In September of 1995 I was in a very bad road accident that has left me with a paralysed right arm. For the next three months I was in and out of hospital, undergoing very extensive surgery to try and save my arm. I was discharged from hospital just for Christmas of 1995. In the first quarter of 1996 I was once more in and out of hospital for yet more surgery. Then in June of 1996 I was married to my then girlfriend. We had been living together for about two years by the time we were married on the 22nd June. Sadly our marriage was not to last very long. Since the accident in 1995, I had been on very powerful medication, and combined with depression I had really violent mood swings. For the New Year's Eve of 1997, my wife and I had decided to go over to friends for a party. Sadly, she never showed up for the party and when I got home on New Year's Day, I came home to a very cold, damp and empty house. Then in the first few days of January, 1997, she contacted me to say that she was starting divorce proceedings.

In the Spring of 1997 a friend of mine from the Christian Motorcycle Association and I were up until the early hours putting the world to rights, and discussing Christianity. That night I went to bed with many questions that I wanted answers to, and I would add that I didn't sleep very well either! The following morning I was on a mission to get a Bible from the library and, putting all my prejudices to one side, I started reading. I was looking for answers to the questions that I had and the more I read, the more they were being answered. I found myself reading the Bible with an ever-growing thirst for more of God. After about a month of reading the Bible, another friend, who is a born-again Christian, and I were talking, as before until the early hours. He asked me if I had prayed that "special prayer". Needless to say, I did not have a clue of what he was on about! But after another long question and answer session I finally discovered from him that if I wanted Jesus, that I had to repent of my sins and ask Him into my life. That night while in bed I said to Jesus:-

"I REPENT OF MY SINS, IF YOU ARE REAL, AND IF YOU ARE THERE, I ASK YOU TO SHOW YOURSELF AND COME INTO MY LIFE"

What happened then, as the last word left my mouth, has changed my life. In the words of a song that I have on CD "...I will never be the same again..." I had had a very stressful and disturbing day that had left me, with feelings of unease that I could not shift. The very moment that Jesus came into my life, he banished all the anxieties that I had, and they have never returned since. The feelings of love and peace that I felt then have never left me. the love that Jesus has is so great. I don't really know how to put into words. It is an overwhelming, unconditional and all encompassing love that is beyond all description. I think that I can only ask you to turn to John 3 v 16.

At the time I asked Jesus into my life, I did not know what repentance meant. I do now. It means to turn around or turn your back on. In other words, not only do you stop what you are doing, but you work your way towards something that is the opposite from what you were doing. In the world of Christianity, you are turning your back on the world, the devil and all his works, while at the same time you are working towards Jesus, so that through Him "...you will have eternal life..."

Before I knew Jesus, I was an illegal drug user and I drank alcohol to excess. I was a very angry man with no real sense of direction or hope. I also had had a keen interest in the occult, magic and other "alternative, new age" things. Now, my only desire is to know Jesus in a deeper and fuller way.

Now that I have Jesus in my life, I have been delivered of my illegal, and prescribed, drug addiction. I have been freed from the chains of the occult that have tied me down through my adult life. The love that comes from Jesus has changed my life in so many ways. Knowing that no matter how bad things are, there is someone who loves me, cares for me, will stand by me, will never leave me and wants only the very best for me is a very wonder thing. On the back of my bike jacket I have had a white cross sewn on, to symbolise the risen and living Jesus, who is now in my life. I have also painted the following verse from the Bible:-

"God is not slow in keeping his promise as we understand it, rather He is patient; not wanting anyone to be destroyed. Rather, is waiting for everyone to come to repentance."

I ask you, will you repent and ask Jesus into your life, just as I have? The only thing that you have to loose is pain, and at the same time, you will gain eternal life through JESUS CHRIST.

carol.mutti@watton.org
November, 1999

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