9 years ago, on January 22, 2009, I was sitting in the Chippewa County jail facing the possibility of spending the rest of my life in prison. After 33 years of living the criminal lifestyle and spending most of my life in prison, at the age of 44 I had finally come to myself. That awakening allowed me to be open to things I would NEVER have been open to before. I knew my life of being a drug user had a lot to do with where I was and made the decision to do whatever I had to do to get clean.
Mind you, for 33 years I was highly involved in Satanism and the occult, and not only did I not believe in God, that Jesus never existed and the Bible was another mythology book like all the other ones I studied, but I had a burning hatred for all Christians.
So when I say I entered a faith-based addictions program in the jail, that was certainly not an easy thing for me to do, and I definitely had no intentions in making the “Jesus” thing part of it, I just wanted to get clean. BUT GOD! He had other plans. And long story short, after just a couple weeks, the LORD made Himself known to me and I made the decision to believe in Him and follow Him.
He radically transformed my life. I could go through pages of lists of all the bad things I have been part of, all the arrests and prison sentences, all the drugs I have used, peoples lives I have destroyed. The Bible says that the enemy (Satan) comes only to steal, kill and destroy, But Jesus comes to give life, and to give it abundantly. How true!!
I was lost but now am found. There are so many lost people in our world and this is why I have such a burning passion for going out and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. Jesus came to SEEK and SAVE the lost and to set the captives free. The Lord hears the desires of the afflicted and strengthens their hearts. He raises the poor up from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. He is near to the brokenhearted and saves those crushed in spirit. If you call upon Him in your day of trouble, He WILL hear you and deliver you. Cast your burdens on the LORD and He will sustain you. Call unto Him and He will answer you. How do I know this? Because these are His words, and He did it for me!
I know other so-called “Christians,” and maybe even churches have hurt you in the past, but people and buildings are NOT Jesus Christ. We are not called to look to and follow people and programs, we are called to follow Jesus. Look to Him and His word, not people and their words. Believe it or not, there are some good Christ-followers out there and some good churches out there. May take a minute to find them, but through prayer He will guide you. But if you are basing your opinion about Jesus on people and buildings, you are doing it wrong!
There is nothing you have done that is so bad that the goodness and grace of Jesus Christ cannot cover. When he went to the cross, He died for ALL of our sins. That’s what the cross represents. When I see the cross I am always reminded that He wants me to leave everything there. All the “stuff” from my past, all the stuff I will do today, and all the stuff I will do in the future. If we don’t give it to Him, then we carry it of our own accord. He died for it! See here’s the thing. He didn’t stay dead, he rose again 3 days later and now sits at the right hand of the Father. And when we follow him, we nailed our “stuff” to that cross, died with Him, but we also rose with him and are seated with him! He is now in us and we are in Him!! That should blow you away!
Jer. 33:3 makes it really easy: “Call unto me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things you have not known.” Want a chance to start all over again in life? I always had that thought: “Man, if I could just retain all the knowledge I have now and go back to when I was 5 years old…” Well, making Jesus Lord and Savior in your life allows this to happen. You are now Born Again in Jesus Christ and He gives you newness of life and that opportunity to not only start over but to be the person He created you to be and stop living like you know what’s best for your life.
We are not promised tomorrow, or even the next minute. Make that decision today. And I am always available for anyone wanting to talk. I can be contacted here or private message me. God bless you all.
https://youtu.be/c1ewBAiYh8Q (404)
Last Update: Jan 29, 2018 8:14 am CST
