THE LIFE OF AN OVERCOMER

This is a story about a person who lost their way, but with the love of a devoted daughter found Christ along the journey back home. Luke 15:11-32 (NIV)

My father, Rufus Milliam was born in Greenville, South Carolina. Every Sunday he insisted that his family attend church. It became a unspoken rule in our home from the time I was a young child to my adulthood that church attendance was non-negotiable; however, my dad would never join us. We often wondered why he made church attendance a priority for his family, but not for himself.

God knew that my dad’s salvation was of great concern to me. After leaving home, almost every weekend I would drive to Greenville to preach to him face to face. I wanted to plant the seeds in my dad of the importance of knowing and accepting Christ as his personal Savior. It really mattered to me that he make it to heaven one day.

When I was unable to visit him as frequently, I would call and talk with my dad every single Sunday. God used me to continue to witness to him. One particular weekend I was planning to visit but did not go. That Sunday evening, my dad called me. He said, “Nikita, I want you to know that I have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Savior.” He even testified that he stopped drinking and ended by saying, “I am so proud of you; you keep doing what you are doing.” Three days later, my sister Cynthia called me crying hysterically. Her words, “Daddy is dead, Daddy is dead” crushed my heart.

A few days prior to his funeral the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said “The mission has been accomplished.” God confirmed through the Holy Spirit that my greatest desire was sealed for eternity. Remember, just three days before Dad had a fatal heart attack he called me to testify that he had accepted the Lord as his Savior.

I thank God that He cares so much about my me that He allowed me to hear my Dad confess his conversion, and then He spoke to me through the Holy Spirit in the midst of my grieving assuring me that Dad would spend eternity in Heaven. God knew my heart. What a blessing it is to have that calm assurance that when I arrive in Heaven, Dad will be there! I am so thankful that I heard my dad proclaim his salvation. 1 Peter 5:7 (J.B. Phillips Version).

At the home going, I found it difficult to cry even as I saw his body lying so peacefully in the casket. My dad wasn’t in that casket. He was spending his first hours of eternity in the presence of his Savior.

Pastor Nikita Citizen, a licensed minister with Church of God, is an anointed woman of God called to both preach and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She feels her mission is to teach people how to apply the Word to their everyday lives. Pastor Nikita believes love is the foundation of any successful home, and she moves according to the Holy Spirit often utilizing her biblical mantra, “Greater is he that is in me, than he that is in the world.” 1 John 4:4 (NIV)