Tuesday, June 11, 2019 -
There’s been an inmate here in our unit who has taken up with me. He looks out for me on the rec yard and even keeps up my rapid pace around the quarter-mile track, although he’s yet to complete the full 2 ½ miles I walk. His prison sentence is about the same length as mine and takes real pride in the fact that he has 14 years of higher education. He has his doctorate and despises most of the men we’re surrounded by, and their demeanor and motivations.
By-and-large, he’s absolutely miserable being here in prison – particularly this one – and he’s only been here two months. So I’m certain my upbeat, persevering attitude is quite intriguing to him, as well as the fact I speak of the Lord often.
He tells me he has an awareness of the supernatural and feels the presence of demons and demon activity all around us, which I have no doubt of. But I do not have that discernment, and I also know that I am absolutely surrounded by angels sent from God – as so many are praying for me and Kathie each and every day.
The past few days this man has been frequenting my cell quite often, talking about the demon activity and his frustration with it. So the Lord nudged me quite clearly that today was the day to lay it on the line for this man, whose life now seems to be miserable. He’s already told me that he believes the answer to all the demonic activity is in the Bible.
So today, I gave him the big picture of God’s plan for mankind. How He can turn us from being a miserable person into a completely different, happy person. Life becomes a joy!
People are miserable because they have no relationship with God. Man’s sin separates him from God, yet God sent His only Son Jesus to pay the penalty for our sin. But that is not automatic. We must confess our sin, truly repenting of it, and make Christ Lord of our life. When we do that, He begins to make us new and a different person immediately, yet the transformation process is a lifelong event. What is so wonderful is it gives us such joy and peace.
I told him that the moment you accept Christ, your eternal life begins, and what’s three years in prison compared to the timeline of eternity? It’s just a blip! It won’t even be measurable. And so, God put him in prison to give him the opportunity to become a new person in Christ and change his attitude on life about everything. This man now knows the whole truth, and he knows what he must do. I don’t tend to talk a person into saying a prayer of salvation, because it seems to often that such a salvation prayer is said as a rote act at the encouragement of someone else, while there is no true repentance. Maybe I’m wrong in that, but far too many who have said a salvation prayer are no different today than from before the time they said the prayer. God first has to deal with someone’s sinful heart through the power of the Holy Spirit, and I have no interest in acting in place of the Holy Spirit.
I encourage everyone who is reading this to search their own hearts and determine if you have ever really repented in a genuine way of your sin and the fact that we have turned to our own ways. If not, I encourage you to fall on your face and do so today. And, as I told this man today, your life will never be the same! Life will truly be abundant, and even in prison, we have reason to live life to the fullest, able to develop a relationship with God unencumbered by the usual burdens of life and work. It’s time for all of us to begin living life to the fullest. And that is a walk with Christ as Lord of all!
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