Jay Yelas' Personal Testimony

By: Jay Yelas

01/01/2000 - I am often asked to share my personal testimony about my relationship with God. I love to share my testimony because it is a chance to share with others what God has done in my life. Sharing in this manner is really the best witness that any Christian has, since it relates your real life experiences, not just your theology. Growing up, my parents took our family to church fairly regularly. We attended an Episcopal church, and learned plenty of Bible stories and facts about the Christian faith. I knew the Christmas story, the Easter story,the Noah story, and even learned the facts about Jesus' life. But I was never told that God wants me to pursue a personal relationship with Him. So I didn't. As a young man, I carried all these facts about Christianity around in my head with me, but never knew I could have a personal relationship with God. To me, God was a Sunday morning ritual that was left behind when I walked out of church on Sunday morning. As a young man (early 20's) who dreamed of becoming a pro bass fisherman, my days were consumed with catching fish. Bass tournaments were what I lived for. Bass fishing was my God, no question about it. Hell bent on a quest to become the best fisherman I could be, I searched for every possible edge I could find to make me a better fisherman. I had an instinctive notion that the spiritual realm was real, and so I pursued it, too, in hopes of finding a competitive edge. I started reading anything I could get my hands on about philosophy, theology, religion, etc..in hopes of coming across something that would bring me fishing success. What really caught my attention was the New Age movement. New Agers believe that people have an unlimited inner power. They focus on tapping into that unlimited power within. These beliefs were in harmony with those of some top bass pros at the time, and I figured that if it works for them it would work for me too. So I set off on a spiritual pilgrimage trying to tap my unlimited potential via New Age philosophies. When I look back now, I can see what a dangerous time this was for me. I set off on a spiritual journey without the Bible, the Truth, as my guide. It was like trying to boat across an ocean with the wrong map. I got lost. I exposed myself and my family to the occult. We had hard times with no peace or joy. My tournament success, which was to benefit from my new spiritual journey, began to suffer. After two years of trying to tap my unlimited potential within through the New Age, I found myself not getting any better as a fisherman. In fact, I was struggling pretty bad. I knew I wasn't coming close to my potential as a fisherman.Instinctively, I could feel that something was wrong, that I was going down the wrong path. Things came to a head on Christmas night 1992. At home in our bed that night, my wife and I were simultaneously awakened at 2 a.m. by an evil presence in our house. We both lay in bed frightened and scarred by an eerie, evil presence that was in our house with us. We thought at first that a person had broken in. We got up, turned on all the lights, and found no one. No signs of entry either. Confused, we went back to bed. The evil presence did not leave. We both lay in bed literally shaking we were so scarred. We didn't know what was going on. The feeling was so real, and we both could feel it as plain as day. The fact that we both were awakened by it and could both feel it told me it wasn't in our imagination. We both confirmed each others feelings: there was an evil presence in our home and it was not leaving after about 20 minutes of us both lying there scarred to death, my wife had an idea. She rummaged through some books beside the bed and found an old, dust covered Bible. She opened it at random and began to read it out loud. The evil presence left immediately! Needless to say, we were very relieved. As we reflected on what had just taken place, we began to realize that the evil presence in our home had been spiritual in nature. We had just experienced firsthand that the spiritual realm is very real, and there are two forces at work: good and evil. We had never experienced anything like that before, and haven't since either. I want no part of that spirit that was in our home that night. Our eyes began to open to the truths about the spiritual realm presented in the Bible. Our experiences had just confirmed what the Bible says is true. What a revelation! Our experience that night was the final straw. I was ready for a change already since what I had been practicing for two years was getting me nowhere. God had begun revealing Himself to me and calling me into a relationship with Him. At that same time I began to hear the gospel preached by a number of different evangelists and preachers. They preached about a personal relationship with God. This was a new concept to me. I hadn't ever spent too much time thinking about God, but when I did, He was always some distant concept to me. But what I was hearing now was that He loved me and wanted me to love Him, and pursue a personal relationship with Him. For the first time I began to feel instinctively that this gospel was the Truth. Finally, on February 28, 1993, just a short two months after our Christmas night experience, I humbly prayed and invited Jesus Christ into my life to be my Lord and Savior. I did so while driving home after an especially miserable tournament. I had tried so hard on my own to tap my unlimited potential within, and I could not do it. But my career wasn't the only thing that was faltering. My relationships were souring, and there was no peace or joy in my life. (Now joy and happiness are two different things. Money, status and things make us happy. True joy comes from within our heart from knowing God, and does not depend on our worldly circumstances. True joy can never betaken away.) I was tired and frustrated at driving my own life, and decided it was time to turn the reigns over to God. Humbly confessed the fact that I was a sinner, and repented for trying to do it all on my own. I released the whole load, and gave it to Him. He changed my heart. I now yearned to do right, to be a Godly man. He got my priorities straight. Instead of fishing being my God, now He was my number one. Fishing also took a backseat to my relationships with my wife and kids. You see, God knows that these are the things that bring us true peace and joy. He knows what is best for us. He wants our lives to be rich and full. He wants us to experience the best life has to offer us. So he changes our hearts and resets our priorities. He also wants to use us to spread His gospel. He transformed my fishing career, giving me a platform from which I can share His love with other fishermen. My career transformation was incredible. After I gave my life to Him in February, '93, I went on a fabulous 2 1/2 year run where I placed in the top 10 in 17 of the next 34Bassmaster tournaments I fished. I finished in the top 10 in 50% of my next 34 tournaments! That is a level of success that I could not reach on my own, but also it is a level of success that I haven't be enable to maintain since that time. My conclusion is that it was a period of time in which God said ' O.K., now that you have given your life to Me, I am going to firmly establish you as a top pro so that I can use you in the future to share My gospel and tell other fishermen of My love for them'. So my first 21/2 years as a Christian were exciting from a fishing perspective. I finally found the "key" to success. How ironic that my fishing success finally came when I quit trying. I simply sought God, and tried toe obedient, and He took care of the rest. That New Age stuff is such a myth. It is seductive because at first glance it gives you this little adrenaline rush of power and pride. It whispers in your ear that you are in control. That your life will be whatever you want it toe. Proverbs 14:12 says 'There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end therein is death'. That sums up the New Age movement perfectly to me. Jesus said in John 10:10 'I come to bring you life, and life more abundantly.' That sure has been my experience. My life in Christ is so much more than just fulfilled dreams about fishing success. It's about getting to know god, and building this relationship with Him. What a wonderful experience! The total ecstasy I feel when He reveals Himself to me in various ways is just incredible. Most of us know how good intimacy feels with our spouse. The love and passion shared during such times are true mountain top experiences. Intimacy with God is much the same, but even better! The mountain tops are even higher! True intimacy with God is so rapturously exuberant that sometimes I feel like I am going to explode when I am in His presence. I have never experienced anything like it! But a relationship with God is so much more than an emotional high. The Bible says we are to worship God inspirit and in truth, and this requires a steadfast devotion to learning His truths as expressed in the Bible. Daily worship, prayer, and Bible study should all be a part of our daily routine. It all boils down to a relationship with Him. Just as a lot more goes into a relationship between husband and wife besides intimacy, so too is a relationship with God many faceted. It just never ceases to amaze me that the God who created this whole universe longs to have a personal relationship with every one of us. How abundantly rich we all are! When I think about the fact that some people never experience this love affair with God, it breaks my heart. Oh, if they only knew! That is why I am so compelled to share what I have experienced with God. I want everyone to experience His love, peace and joy as I have. It's the best experience I have ever had, and He is available to everyone. When our time on this earth is up, all Christians will be headed for Glory. The only thing we will leave behind is our legacy. And the only thing about a legacy that really matters is what kind of an impact we had on other people. Did we positively influence others, or did we negatively influence them? Did our lives help make the lives of others better or worse? That is all that will matter. There are plenty of ways we can bring a little sunshine into other peoples lives. But after experiencing God the way I have, I am fully persuaded that the absolute best thing we can do for others is share Gods love with them,and help lead them into a relationship with Him.