With all our heart, with all our soul and all mind

It's been a little while since my last post mainly due to not knowing how to write, so I don't share to much information on the people I work with. It has been really hard working with people in their struggle with addiction lately. My powerlessness over them has been sticking out as I have had to watch people make their own decisions which has led them into disastrous places. It's hard sometimes to turn them over to the Lord when I want to grab them and make them do the right thing. Someone dear to me took his addiction to the end the other night and the result was death. I know I could not have done anything more, but inside of me I wish I could have. Someone asked me recently what was more important, sobriety or sharing the Gospel. To some this is a complex question because many who struggle with addictions aren't open to the gospel until they get sober. The truth is that sobriety isn't a guarantee but salvation is. The word says in Romans that if we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouth that Jesus is lord then we are saved. I also know that if we seek the Lord with all our heart and all our soul and mind he will keep us sober. I was blessed to see and witness my brother accept the Lord in his heart and confess Jesus as his savior. Therefore I believe in my heart that now he no longer has to struggle with this addiction and he truly knows what freedom is like with the Lord. We all know what it is like to struggle with some kind of addiction because our struggle is with sin. In Jesus there is victory. So then what is my job? I believe that it is to share the Gospel with men and women and to point them to Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the life!

Trust

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight" prov. 3:5-6

Wow, what a passage! What would life be if we could fully grasp this. I don't have, yet I seek it. I don't understand it, but know that it is true. I have struggled today as someone I know has gone missing. It happens a lot here and I hate it every time. Worldly knowledge and desires are killing people and it is painful to watch and experience. I can only hold in the truth and know that God is an all powerful God and never forsakes us. Even in the midst of our bad decisions. It is through God's kindness that will lead us to repentance. I pray that my friend will see God and the path that he is giving him as a way out. That he will trust in the Lord and lean 0n upon Him!

God is in control

If we went on statistics of the percent of people who recover, we would get very discouraged. We find that our hearts break to see people make wrong decisions. Even still I have to remember that God is in control. I have to turn them over to God. Today has been a struggle for me in this area. My prayers are for the Lord to move someone's heart to see the way out that God is offering. The enemy is at work and we are warned that "he is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" 1peter 5:8.

May we as believers make claim to what he has done for us. Sin no longer has power over us, and we can claim victory in Christ. No mount of addiction can hold power on us. For we have been redeemed and no longer have to walk in our old ways.

Redemption

REDEEMER, REDEMPTION English words derived from a Latin root meaning “to buy back,” thus meaning the liberation of any possession, object, or person, usually by payment of a ransom. In Greek the root word means “to loose” and so to free. The term is used of freeing from chains, slavery, or prison.
Elwell, Walter A. ; Comfort, Philip Wesley: Tyndale Bible Dictionary. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House Publishers, 2001 (Tyndale Reference Library), S. 1114

As believers we have been redeemed. We have been set free from the slavery of sin by the blood of Jesus. Jesus is our redeemer and through him all is possible. In Job 33:28 he says that "He redeemed my soul from going down into the pit, and I will live to enjoy the light."

I am fortunate to be one of those and know that it is for all who believe. I know first hand the struggle with addiction and that Christ truly does set us free. No matter how far down the pit we go, we are forgiven and there is now no condemnation for us. My heart is to share that with all but specifically right here in Kensington. God is love and is full of grace and mercy.

We have recently aquired a new house which we hope to be able to use as a place to house men who have no where to go and want to get help. Men who suffer from the agonizing grip of addiction and need to find hope. It will serve as a place for pre and post treatment, transitional living. Somewhere they can begin the change and start to enjoy the light. For this reason we are going to name it the Redemption House. We need your prayers as we go about this journey. We are very excited about this and have already seen it work through several other people in our lives. God is changing hearts and they are not just living life, but beginning to really experience the joy of knowing the Lord.