Into the Darkness You Shine: An Inspirational True Story About a Young Man Who, After Losing Both Parents, Found Redemption Through His Heavenly Father.

Into the

Darkness

You

Shine

An Inspirational True Story About a Young Man

who, After Losing Both Parents, Found Redemption

Through His Heavenly Father.

Curtis Rice

AuthorHouse™

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Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

Phone: 1-800-839-8640

© 2012 by CURTIS RICE. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 07/16/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4685-6350-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4685-6349-8 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4685-6348-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012909587

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Many of the quotes in this book, with the exception of Scripture, may not be verbatim. Some may have been shortened because of the length and others may have been changed to make the meaning clearer. All attempts were made by the author to keep the original intent by the speaker/writer. The accuracy of the quoted material obtained from secondary sources, mainly print media, cannot be guaranteed even though all attempts were made to keep the accuracy.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, New International Version.

Contents

Introduction

Section 1: The Life Story

1.   The Birth

2.   The Move

3.   The Phone Call

4.   Lifeless

5.   Divine Intervention

6.   The Second Phone Call

7.   Grandpa’s House

Section 2: The Rebuilding Process

8.   Forgiveness

9.   Renewing of the Mind

10.   A Giant Named Discouragement

Section 3: Faith Builder

11.   God Will Provide

12.   Inner Circle

13.   Faith in Action

14.   God Uses Ordinary People

15.   There is More Hidden in You

16.   Enlarge Your Vision

17.   Speak Life

References

This book is dedicated to my wife,

Candace, whom I love dearly and to my

three beautiful children Zachariah,

Jeremiah, and Mariah. Daddy

loves you so much.

The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;

Enjoying one moment at a time;

Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;

Taking, as He did, this sinful world

as it is, not as I would have it;

Trusting that He will make all things right

if I surrender to His Will;

That I may be reasonably happy in this life

and supremely happy with Him

Forever in the next.

Amen.

—Reinhold Niebuhr

Introduction

THE MAJORITY OF us do not really know or remember when darkness came into our lives and invaded the light. For most of us, like me, it happened so swiftly that we had no control over it. Or, for some of us, darkness just came into our lives as an unexpected guest.

Darkness is not a perfect gentleman; he always arrives in our lives on his time and at the wrong time. Life could be going perfectly one day; then, the next day, you’ll be asking yourself What just happened? For me, I did not get to ask myself that question. The question I asked myself was How was I born into darkness?

We never pay any attention to our childhood though it’s one of the most significant stages in our lives. Psychologists state that our childhood has a major role in shaping our future. Whether it’s good or bad, when you’re growing up, you usually hear someone say, They will be alright; they’re just children. They don’t understand life right now, since they got it made; they don’t have to pay any bills. Life is good for them.

In fact, children may not understand life like an adult understands life, or have to pay any bills right now, but that does not mean what they see or hear as a child doesn’t affect their future. Indeed, everyone has been or is going through the process of being a child; however, as we’re going through that process; the question we really should be asking ourselves is Are we really alright?

How can we consider this alright?

1. Half of all American children will witness the breakup of a parent’s marriage. Of these, close to half will also see the breakup of a parent’s second marriage. (Furstenberg, Peterson, Nord, and Zill, Life Course)

2. Among the millions of children who have seen their parents’ divorce, one of every 10 will also live through three or more parental marriage breakups. (The Abolition of Marriage, Gallagher)

3. Forty percent of children growing up in America today are being raised without their fathers. (Wade, Horn and Busy, Fathers, Marriage and Welfare Reform Hudson Institute Executive Briefing, 1997)

4. Of all children born to married parents this year, fifty percent will experience the divorce of their parents before they reach their 18th birthday. (Fagan, Fitzgerald, Rector, "The Effects of Divorce on America)

5. Studies in the early 1980’s have shown that children in repeat divorces earned lower grades and their peers rated them as less pleasant to be around. (Andrew J. Cherlin, Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage, Harvard University Press 1981)

6. Teenagers in single-parent families and in blended families are three times more likely to need psychological help within a given year. (Peter Hill Recent Advances in Selected Aspects of Adolescent Development Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 1993)

7. Compared to children from homes disrupted by death, children from divorced homes have more psychological problems. (Robert E. Emery, Marriage, Divorce and Children’s Adjustment" Sage Publications, 1988)

8. Children of divorce are at a greater risk to experience injury, asthma, headaches and speech defects than children whose parents have remained married. (Dawson, Family Structure and Children’s Health and Well Being National Health Interview Survey on Child Health, Journal of Marriage and the Family)

9. Following divorce, children are fifty percent more likely to develop health problems than two—parent families. (Angel, Worobey, Single Motherhood and Children’s Health)

10. Children living with both biological parents are 20 to 35 percent more physically healthy than children from broken homes. (Dawson, Family Structure and Children’s Health and Well-being Journal of Marriage and the Family)¹

Wow! That is the same thing I said when I read over these statistics, as well. But we must understand that our childhood have a bigger impact on our future than we can even imagine. It does not matter if you are currently living with a loving-caring family or you grew up in a loving-caring home. Darkness will always try to keep you from the light.

How do I know that?

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy… (New International Version, John 10:10a). These are the three things that the enemy wants to do in your life. But, if you want to know how to fight back, this book has an answer for you. Or, perhaps, you have found yourself stuck in darkness and can’t find your way out; this book has an answer for you as well. Generally, we all have experienced dark moments in our life in some form or fashion.

In the second half of John 10:10, Jesus says, I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

So if Jesus came into this world so that you may not have darkness in your life, then why are you experiencing dark moments such as depression, hurt, anxiety, abuse, etc.? In the Book of John, Jesus says, I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world (John 16:33).

Although darkness happens in our lives, we have to understand three things from John 16:33:

1. Real peace will only be found in Jesus.

2. Jesus has already won the victory over darkness.

3. The more a person seeks Jesus (light); the lesser they will see darkness (their enemy).

Why did I write the book?

I’m simply writing this book to bring encouragement, hope, and peace to your situation. The hardest thing for me right now is to go back into my past and write about it. But I know deep down in my spirit that what I have been through will help someone along their own journey. Life brings many setbacks, obstacles, storms, trials and tribulations. But the Bible says that everything is going to work together for your good (see Romans 8:28). That is the Bible verse that brought me through many storms, one I said constantly, over and over again. And throughout the book you will see how memorizing Bible verses will help you get through your situation.

I don’t know what you’re facing right now; it may be divorce, abuse, depression, hurt, or anxiety, but I know one thing—that you can emerge victorious. The Bible declares that weeping may last through the night, but joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5). In fact, your situation may be tough right now, but I come to tell you that your morning star is rising. How do I know that? God has led you to read a copy of this book.

Throughout the book I will be sharing real life stories with real principles to help you get through your situation. Also, this book teaches you how to renew your mind with the Word of God, and then shows you how to speak the Word of God in faith so that you can start seeing it manifest in your life.

If you are not sure how to speak the Word of God in faith, don’t worry because I will give you plenty of examples from my own life that I know you can gain wisdom from. In the following chapters, you’ll be able to see how God has helped me overcome many dark moments. Also, I share many dreams, visions, and encounters that I have had with God. But, most importantly, you’ll see how I learned to attack those dark places in my life with the Word of God and fill those dark places with light. And that light is Jesus Christ.

In addition to helping, this book will challenge the reader too, so you might want to consider getting one for your friend and taking the journey together. If you are willing, let your friend become your accountability partner; in fact, there is so much more power released when people work as a team. So starting a small study group would be a great idea, too! As you are reading, be honest with yourself and God. I have learned that God loves honesty. In fact, He will move on behalf of someone when they are honest with Him.

It would be dishonest for me to say that by the end of this book, you’ll be set-free from darkness. But I can promise that if you take the principles found in the book and apply them to your life and with the help of God, you’ll start to see how fast darkness will evaporate out of your life because darkness cannot live where light resides.

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

—1 John 1:5-7

When a person holds onto past hurts, it will keep them from experiencing the life that God has for them. I missed out on so much from God because I walked around mad at God all the time. However, I realized in my study time one day that God is not a bad God, but a good God. And that God’s intention was to have a perfect world and enjoy it with His perfect children. Nevertheless, mankind disobeyed God by listening to the lies of the enemy. Let’s travel back to the instructions God gave Adam:

Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there He put the man He had formed. And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil… And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.

—Genesis 2:8-9, Genesis 2:16-17

These instructions that God gave were clear, right? You can eat and do whatever you want to in the garden; just don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam had a perfect life, the way God intended it to be for us. But the father of lies (see John 8:44), Satan, came with his tricks:

Now the serpent was [craftier] than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’? The woman said to the serpent, We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die. You will not surely die, the serpent said to the woman. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

—Genesis 3:1-7

Do you see how the enemy came in and deceived Eve, and then Eve passed the fruit along to Adam? They had a marvelous life that the enemy didn’t want them to have because he once had a marvelous life (Ezekiel