1. Meet Ray Huff
2. The Incentive
3. The Missouri Christian
4. Glorifying God In The Fire
5. Lowest State
6. The Mule
7. The Renewing Of Your Mind
This is a faithful saying,
and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
Paul said he was chief, Spurgeon thought he was, I AM FOR SURE
the chief of sinners. Thank you Lord for your mercy on me.
----- Original Message -----
From: Ray Huff
To: Br. Roger
Subject: My Testimony
Who is Ray Huff ? In short, one who is greatly loved by our Lord,
and humbled by his love for me. I can understand what King David
said in Psalms 118:18 " The LORD hath chastened me sore:
but he hath not given me over unto death and Psalms 118:24 "This
is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad
in it. " I rejoice daily for I know the day spoken of, CALVARY,
After growing in God's Holy Word I know now that Psalms 118 is
the Lord Jesus Christ speaking through David to the Holy Father.
Although I think I know what being chastened sore feels like,
it cernly could not compare to the chastening my Lord and Saviour
recieved on my account. O thank you Lord for paying the price
I could not, thank you for shedding your Holy Blood for me.
When I was 13 my grandma and I were in town, she drove by the
Family Dollar on east Morris Street. As we drove by there I spot
my Mom's car in the parking lot so I tell my grandma and she turns
around and goes back. We got out and went into the store looking
for my Mom and she was nowhere to be found. When we got home I
quickly went and told my Daddy, I was worried about my Mom. My
dad quickly got in his truck and left to go check, about a hour
later my Mom pulls in and my Dad right behind her. She gets out
of her car and heads for the house, as she pass me she looked
at me and said I should have minded my on damn business. All us
kids stayed outside as the shouting roared inside.
My Mom and Dad were friends with an older couple that would come
over every weekend to play cards. The four of them would have
a few drinks and play cards until midnight.
When my Dad had arrived at the Dollar Store it was just in time
to see his older buddy dropping off my Mom at her car. She said
nothing had happen, the guy was just trying to talk her in to
leaving my Dad and them taking off together.
I tell this part of the story because I want to point out that
there are many things that bring a person to the alter. To save
a marriage or emotion and a drawing of the Holy Spirit which is
the only true way to be brought to the alter with repentance
John 6:44 - No man can come to me, except the Father which hath
sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6:65 - And he "JESUS " said, Therefore said I unto
you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him
of my Father.
John 15:26 - But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send
unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth
from the Father, he shall testify of me:
John 16:8 - And when he is come, he will reprove the world of
sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned, and come short of the glory
of God;
1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness
Romans 10:9 - That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
2 Peter 3:9 - The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as
some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not
willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
The next week we were going to church " a first for my family
" my Mom and Dad had went that Saturday to talk to the preacher
" J.D. Cox " and he invited them to church the next
day. My life testimony starts from this point, the hole family,
all 6 , were saved that day as far as becoming a member of a church
and being baptized. A deacon saw me crying and must have thought
the Holy Spirit was working on me, I was crying because it was
emotional to see all my family at the alter. He came back and
pulled me toward the alter where my Dad, Mom and Sister and two
Brothers where praying. He ask if I knew I was a sinner, I thought
I guess, I was a pretty routy boy. So he told me what to pray
and said I was saved. I was now a lost church member on the road
to hell, unsure of my salvation. I could not understand what I
had done so bad to be hell deserving, sure I was a sinner but
not that bad. For the next 4 years we were at church everytime
the doors open.
At 14 I started getting a weakness in my right leg, I first noticed
it trying to out run my brother back to the house after gathering
about an acre of potatoes, two 55 gallon drums full for the winter.
When I run I had to throw my leg around like I had a peg leg or
something. My parents took me to a Chiropractor for the next 6
months after which time he sent me to a specialist "Neurosurgeon"
in Chattanooga TN. I found myself in the hospital having back
surgery for a tumor they had found on my spine a week later. After
the surgery I was in ICU for 4 days and then they moved me to
a room. First thing I noticed was my bed being wet, I had spinal
fluid leaking out where they had pulled the drainage tube out
and it wetting the bed and then it set up infection and my doctor
came in the room every morning with a needle that look like something
you would give a horse a shot with, he would use it to draw infection
out of my back. After about a week and a half of doing that the
doctor came in on a Friday morning and said he had set me up for
another surgery for Monday. O how my heart dropped, I had never
felt pain like that before. That night I cried out to the Lord,
" Jesus help me, I can't stand another surgery " I felt
a small peaceful voice inside that said it will be OK, your not
going to have the surgery. Saturday my Preacher " J.D. Cox
and his wife stopped in to visit and said they where going to
hold an alter prayer for me. I wanted to tell him it was going
to be OK, I was not going to have to have the surgery, the Lord
had spoke to me. I didn't say anything, what if I told him and
I did have to have the surgery, so I said nothing. Monday morning
the doctor came in to draw out the infection one more time, there
was none, O thank you Lord. I remember a nurse came in a said
Boy someone must have been praying for you, I said yea me, she
laugh and said Amen. That was the first time I saw the hand of
the Lord working in my life. I was release to go home the next
morning. They were not able to remove all the tumor, it was wrap
around the spine and embedded in the nerves. The only thing I
could not do was run, I had a sight limp but was riding a 10 speed
bike 10 miles a day 3 months later.
At 17 I started drifting out of church more and more, I had started
working at 13 and filed my first tax return in 1976. The only
time I was out of work was about 3 months getting over the back
operation. I liked having money and by 17 it was all I care about,
so I worked all the time and left no time for church.
Like most 17 year olds I keep the roads hot spending every dime
I made. My best buddy's older brother would buy whisky for all
of us, that started me on about a years worth of drinking "
just to fit in " till I could not stand the hang overs any
longer at which time another friend turn me on to smoking Pot
and that was the high for me, no hang overs. At a age 20 I remember
a friend ask me how long I thought a Oz. of Pot would do me "
about 40 joints or marijuana cigarettes " I told him, shoot
that would last me 3 months. Two years later I found out how long
a Oz. would last. less than a week.
At 22, I knew I had never truly been saved although I went to
the alter with the rest of my family at age 13. My Mom and Grandma
invited to church one Sunday and I left under heavy conviction.
It took me a week to shake that conviction off, the ole devil
was saying you can't go up there, your a church member, what are
people going to think. My Mom and Grandma invited me to church
again 3 weeks later. I went to church that morning with my mind
made up, I was not going to the alter right now, later I thought,
I had a lots of liven I wanted to do. I had plan to get out of
church that day and go to a field party with my best friend Danny
Ridley " I help carry him to his grave 7 years later".
Well as I was saying I walk into church that morning with the
attitude that a 1000 horse could not pull me to the alter, Fifthteen
minutes into the service the Holy Spirit hit me again and 100,000
horse could not hold me back from the alter. In the blink of an
eye I found myself on my knees before a Holy God begging for forgiveness,
I was saved " the greatest day of my life ". I was on
fire for Jesus, I remember my pastor saying to me one Sunday "
don't let your fire go out" I remember thinking no way, never.
One of my first lessons was you got to read that bible"feed
the spirit" or you would find your self weak and not far
from trouble.
Later I found my self out of church and running from the Lord,
I was in church awhile and then out awhile. God allow me to run
a little ways and then the Holy Spirit always draw me back "
My Lord had begun a good work in me and he was going to finish
it.
At age 29 I work about 60 to 80 hours a week, A fellow at work
ask me if I had heard about this new laser surgery they had came
out with. It put me to thinking, the only thing I could not do
was run and my leg would give out from under me at the worse times,
I bet I have at least 10,000 falls and never a broke bone. Well
I could not stop thinking about the laser and went to Atlanta
to see a doctor, he did test and said if I did not have surgery
to remove the tumor it would get worse and they could do nothing,
but he THOUGHT he could remove it, it would be about a 2 hour
surgery and I would be back on my feet in 3 days and out of the
hospital in a week. I came home and prayed about it, I KNEW in
my heart it was not the Lord's will for me to have the surgery,
BUT, this doctor seem pretty positive. I remember praying the
night before I went to the hospital, the most foolish prayer I
guess I ever prayed " Lord I know this is against your will,
but I think it will be OK, I pray you give me the strength to
handle it ever out it turns out. I walked in the hospital Dec.2,1991
and rolled out 3 months later, I was told to get use to a wheel
chair. It was eight more months of Rehab and about a year and
half before I could out run that wheel chair, I made it to forearm
crutches " I have worn about 20 pair of those crutches out.
O how low I felt and how stupid to have gone against the Lord's
will, I felt like a guy that had went on top of his house and
jumped head first into the ground, all my fault. I was to ashamed
to even go back to church. About 2 years after that I heard that
same small voice inside again, said " Son remember when you
lay in that hospital bed at 15 and cry out to me, I did everything
that need to be done then, it would have never been a worry. The
Lord tried to detour me but I always learn the hard way.
Well at about age 31 I was so broke all time I could not pay attention,
I had went from making good money, down to drawing 7 hundred something
dollars a month. My grandma stop by one day a gave me 50 dollars,
it about broke my heart, she lived on 6 hundred a month. I had
once again come to that cross road, Trust in the Lord or Trust
in Ray Huff, well once again I did the stupid thing. I had a friend
that was a small time pot dealer and wanted to quit, to much pressure.
I made him a deal, if he would only supply me, I would take care
of his people, so that started me in the pot business, he had
a 1/2 pound a week Pot business. I worked it like a real business
and took his Pot users and turned them in to dealers, 6 months
later I was moving 5 lbs. a week. After a year or so, I hooked
my own connection, almost strait out of Mexico, I went over my
friends head and his supplier's and went to supplying everyone.
I would lay in bed at night and think " Lord why you allowing
me to get away with this" I would hear the devil say"
because you helping people in need. Lot of the money I made was
going to the people around me that needed help. After a year or
so I met a beautiful lady with 2 kids, she was a single Mom, who
had left her husband for being a pot smoker. She thought I was
the greatest thing in the world, she thought I was a great money
manager, I wasn't, I just made about 5 grand a week. I was living
a double life, no one knew. After about year I was in love and
ready to quit the pot business. I plan to get married in the fall
and start going to church again and start school and live the
family life. About 6 weeks from getting married I was doing my
LAST deal. The Lord wasn't letting me get away with nothing, my
worst fear came true Aug 21, 1996. I was busted with 58 lbs. pot,
I had 200 lbs the week before. I stood in the back bedroom that
day listen to a detective tell me I was looking at 25 to life,
they took me on to jail and I was front page news the next day.
I had my Dad go give a lawyer a retainer for me and I was out
of jail later that day. The lawyer said if I believed in God to
start church, go to school and do volunteer work in the community.
I did not need the lawyer to tell me to start church " The
Lord had my full attention and I was there bright and early Sunday
morning. After 6 months my court date was coming up, the DA was
wanting to fry me. I prayed about it and talked to my Pastor about
it, the only hope I had to dodge prison was bringing a drug organization
down, my Pastor thought it was to dangerous, but I knew I could
pull it off Lord Willing. I went to see the detective that busted
me and that stated me on an 8 month undercover operation. To make
things short I brought down a 3 state ring responsible for bring
over 6,000 lbs of Pot in to the state of Georgia. I received 10
years under the first offends act with probation and no prison
time. I learn a few lessons that time around, " Be sure your
sins shall find you out ' and " For the love of money is
the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have
erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many
sorrows. In 1998, I had the money I had left and started helping
a friend of mine build a business " legal this time "
Dalton Machinery & Surplus, Inc. " I put everything I
had in to it and push my self a lot of 12 hour days 6 and 7 days
aweek, which started me to laying out of church again. By 2001
we had built the company to about 5 to 10 million in assets. Once
again I fell in that trap of trying to secure a future I was not
even promised " the serpent the most sudel beast of the field
". I watched how greed and power, lust could take over a
man " my partner ". I had some good men of God praying
me out of there, I could not walk out with nothing, I had worked
to hard. By 2003 I could stay no longer, it was an ungodly place.
I walked out without a dime.
I stopped by a preacher friends machine shop I was starting a
new business American Machinery Sales. As I got in my truck to
leave, my friend said he would be praying for my new business.
I was almost offended, I snapped back with " That ani't what
I want " he said what do you want "to love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all
thy mind. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law
and the prophets." He said with tears in his eyes "
I love the Lord with all my heart " are you sure that's what
you want. I knew he loved the Lord that much and how precious
the Lord was to him, I had watched him grow in the Lord since
1990 it was a great blessing, he has suffered much tributions
and trials and stayed faithful to the Lord, Mr. Johnny Weathers
a brother indeed.
I had injured my ankle many times on my good leg and almost broke
that ankle on the best and only leg that worked just after that.
That put me down, closed in at home for a year and half, then
I had a tumor show up in my neck during that time, had it removed,
no cancer " thank you Lord. After that I was just starting
to be able to move a round without much pain. I thought finally
I am where the Lord wants me, the beginning of this set down had
started out dark. My testimony seem to have always been about
God had a ole wood shed, we all have been there, if you are one
of his. But this time, God showed me a place on pass that wood
shed, I will call it the wilderness, you have 2 choices, surrender
and seek the Lord with your all or he is ready to call you on
home. It was dark, had the Lord hid his face from me, have I gone
that far, my love for the Lord had been so shallow I was ashamed
to even say I love you Lord. O how I searched God's word, after
months of searching God's Holy Words, it started getting sweeter
and sweeter, I could shout right now GLORY, GLORY, GLORY all to
my LORD and SAVIOUR !!
I am about to run down, so to kind of sum it up, right when I
thought I was fix'n get back out, I broke that best leg in two
places, that's a sound I hope to never hear again. It was about
midnight, I was going to bed and then as quick as the blink of
an eye my leg was broke. I set it my self and spent the next 2
hours trying to get up on the bed. When I made it up there I just
laid there and talked to the Lord, 18 hours later I was in the
hospital again, 3 week stay that time, they made go to a nursing
home, that lasted one night and I went awal. I will start the
story from the nursing home next time.
That was about 4 years ago and I will finish the story next round.
Brother Roger there is a lot of in betweens that the Lord has
shown me, I hope to share some time.
I don't look to receive many crowns, maybe just one and that is
the crown of life only because of the Blood shed for me. Surly
I will be the least among the saints.
With Love, your brother in Christ, Ray