So today I’m going in to speak to several hundred inmates at a facility where they are serving their remaining time in a reentry facility and are receiving training on how to adjust to society. This is a faith based facility so they are hearing the word of God and gleaning an understanding of how God most become the main focus of their lives if they are to succeed. If they haven’t got that message yet, I will deliver it to them today for sure.
Most of these guys still have low self-esteem, anger, and other emotional issues left over in many cases from being abused as kids. They usually don’t have a vocation or skills that can secure them a good job; they have little education; no money, and no family or friends to support them due to having burned them long ago. They have nowhere to go. It is no small wonder that so many will end right back in prison.
At the low point of my life I was homeless and had all of the negatives listed above. Jesus came into my life and it was upon that rock that my foundation for escaping the black sin that possessed me was established. It was not an easy process but God led me through the darkness and I followed His light. I slipped and fell more than a few times and He picked me up, dusted me off, and got me going again. (Sometimes He took His own sweet time in doing so in order that I might glean a lesson here and there.) It worked and I began making fewer mistakes.
I read in Rick Warren’s devotional the other day where Billy Graham associate Lane Adams once compared the process of spiritual growth to the strategy the Allies used in World War II to liberate islands in the South Pacific. It really resonated with me. First they would ‘soften up’ an island, weakening the resistance by shelling the enemy strongholds with bombs from offshore ships.
Next, a small group of Marines would invade the island and establish a “beachhead” – a tiny fragment of the island that they could control. Once the beachhead was secured, they would begin the long process of liberating the rest of the island, one bit of territory at a time.
Eventually the entire island would be brought under control, but not without some costly battles.”
Adams drew this parallel: Before Christ invades our lives at conversion, he sometimes has to “soften us up” by allowing problems we can’t handle. While some open their lives to Christ the first time he knocks on the door, most of us are resistant and defensive and it takes some bombs to soften us up.
The moment you open yourself to Christ, God establishes a “beachhead” in your life. You may think you have surrendered all your life to him, but the truth is, there’s a lot in all of our lives now of which we aren’t even aware. We can only give God as much of us as we understand at a particular moment.
That’s okay.
Once Christ is given a beachhead, he begins the campaign to take over more and more territory until all of our life is completely His. There will be struggles and battles, but the outcome will never be in doubt.
That is how Christian maturity has worked in my life. I gave up drugs, smoking cigarettes, alcohol, violence, and so forth incrementally one step at a time. I’ve fought battle after battle with temptation of every description including pride, foul language, anger, rebellion, and lust for money, power, sex, and all that the world has to offer. Many times I had to call for reinforcements from my home base because I began losing the battle. God was always there for me.
These inmates that I will address today in many ways have it much worse than practically anyone reading this with one exception, almost to a person they understand they need God’s help, and that they have made far too many mistakes in life, and they desire big change in their lives. Many that are on the outside have not been sufficiently broken yet to realize just how badly they need God’s maturity in their lives.
Sometimes it takes a while but don’t grow weary as God works towards purifying and perfecting you. Undoubtedly you will lose some battles here and there and you might even have to fight another fierce battle just to retake ground already gained and lost, but persevere and be tenacious. God is with you always, so be patient and listen to the Spirit:
Philippians 1:6
“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”
June 25, 2015 – Click here to listen