Talk went well

So I just got back from the Men's Breakfast at VCCG. Lonnie had invited me to speak so I gave my testimony on how the Lord delivered me from the drug and alcohol addictions that had stronghold on my life . There was a good turnout and Ben, Robert and Slim from Amadeo showed up too which I thought was awesome. Anyhow, I was nervous as hell in the beginning but once I started talking it was okay. I have talked to large groups of youth in the past but never to my peers.

There were a few things I left out that I wish I could have talked about and I even forgot to read my favorite Bible passage so I guess I'll share that now. I can't believe I left that out. But after I started talking it seemed like I was talking for a long time and I didn't want to make it too long. So here is my favorite passage in the Bible, Psalm 51:1-13 NLT

1 Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sin. 2 Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. 3 For I recognize my shameful deeds--they haunt me day and night. 4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgement against me is just. 5 For I was born a sinner--yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. 6 But you desire honesty from the heart, so you can teach me to be wise in my inmost being. 7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me--now let me rejoice. 9 Don't keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence, and don't take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me again the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. 13 Then I will teach your ways to sinners, and they will return to you.

I could kick myself over and over again for wasting more than half my life on drugs and alcohol. But God has forgiven me and has forgotten about it, so why kick myself over and over again? I don't have to. When God forgives our sin and restores our fellowship with him, we want to reach out to others who need this forgiveness and reconciliation. The more you have felt God's forgiveness, the more you will desire to tell others about it.

That is why I spoke this morning and why I desire to tell others what the Lord has brought me out of. No matter where you're at, there is a way out. And that way is through Jesus Christ and His forgiveness, grace and mercy. I can relate to the struggle, the pain and the loneliness and isolation of addiction which in turn, allows me to reach out to those who are going through what I went through and want a way out.

I am moved by love. I will continue to be moved by love and reach out to the lost and hurting. That is my heart, that is my desire.

Be Moved!