I once was lost

I lived a very hard life before Jesus found me. I was not a very good person. I may have had my own business but I had no friends to speak of. I ran with the devil, he was my earthly father and I was a very evil person. I fit right in with his plans to steal, kill or destroy. It was all about me and nobody else, it didn’t matter who you were. If I couldn’t profit by you in some way, then you were nothing to me. I would cast you off like an old sock. If I saw a chance to take advantage of you, whether it was getting money, goods, or even sex, I did. I would con you, steal from you, cheat you, hurt you, or whatever it took to get what I wanted. No matter who you were it didn’t matter to me at all. I was the con man from hell and proud of it. I was the man your mother warned you about. I was the nightmare you could never escape from. I was around every corner ready to pounce at any weakness I could find. I thought I was a master manipulator and was always on the prowl for my next victim.

This sounds pretty dismal doesn’t it? It is the truth and as I think back on the way I was it makes me sick. “I was the con man from hell” WOW. I have caused so much hurt and pain, broken lives and relationships, taken hearts and crushed them, destroyed families, put people on the street, you name it and I did it. I was heading towards total disaster and even though I knew it I didn’t care. I had my spot marked in hell. My path was plotted and laid out. I had prime real estate in the hottest place there is.

I was in and out of trouble most of my life. As a juvenile, I was arrested for breaking into houses and stealing. But it didn’t stop there. I did many bad things throughout my adult life, things I was never caught for. I sold drugs. I was a thief and a pervert. I never liked myself no matter what I did or how much money I had. I was always missing something. I searched and searched and searched but could never find what I was missing. I was miserable.

I smoked pot every day for twenty five years trying to make myself happy. I got so deep into drugs I was smoking glass, that’s methamphetamine, and I got addicted. I smoked this for almost a year and everything bad you have heard about this drug is true. Once you are addicted, it controls you. All you want is more. You have no control over it. I was trying to fill a void that was inside of me. I tried all the wrong things everything from drugs, crime, sex but nothing ever helped fill the emptiness. I even considered doing the “right things”. I had no idea what they even were. Even though I had my own business, I was running my business into the ground. I was spending all my money on “glass”, over $150.00 every day.

This is when I did something very, very bad and ended up in jail. I was 39 years old, and at this point I had completely destroyed everything in my life and I mean everything. I really didn’t have much except one thing my family. My family had always stood by me through thick and thin, through better or worse and now I had even destroyed that. I was at the lowest point I had ever been in my life. I even contemplated suicide.

As I sat in my little six by nine cell, away from the drugs, the money, all my evil desires, I began hear something. Something inside was telling me it’s time to read the Bible. It was like this tiny little voice I could barely hear. At first I didn’t listen. I was so caught up in my self pity and selfishness, but I kept hearing this little voice inside. The voice kept telling me over and over, its time to read the Bible. After about two weeks of hearing this I decided I would try to read the Bible. Heck, I had tried a lot of things to change myself. I figured what did I have to lose by reading the Bible. So I put in a request to the Chaplain of the jail for a Bible.

At this point I considered myself pond scum, that’s what I thought I was. I had given up all hope of ever seeing my family again and I saw no hope of ever getting out of jail. I assumed I would spend the rest of my life there and deserved to be there. One morning while I was eating my bologna sandwich at breakfast, I was given a Bible. At first I didn’t think much of it and sat it at my little metal table and ignored it. Then that faint little voice I had heard before started talking to me again. It took me a couple more days before I finally picked it up and decided to read just a little. I didn’t want to get carried away. So there I was sitting on thin mattress of my metal bunk and didn’t realize I had just made the best decision of my entire life. I was about to read the Bible and I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

I was still unsure understand the Bible. I had always considered it written in some foreign language. I had nothing better to do so I started reading from page one. In the book of Genesis, the first chapter, the first verse, it said “In the beginning GOD created the heavens and earth.” OK, I understood all that I just read, so let’s try verse two, “and the earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of god moved upon the face of the waters.” Do you know what? I couldn’t stop reading. I couldn’t put that book down for anything. I read day and night. The only time I stopped reading was after they turned the lights off and I couldn’t see anymore. This book, The Bible, was nothing like I expected. It was completely different than anything I had ever imagined. I was reading stories about things that I may have heard of but had no idea where they came from or what they meant. Now I was reading them for myself. I still didn’t understand everything I read. The more I read the more it felt right or true.

The more I read, the more I wanted to know. The farther I went in the book the farther I wanted to go. I’m not sure exactly where I was in The Bible but it was like a light bulb lit up and my eyes were opened and I could see for the first time. I had been blind and now I was beginning to see. It was amazing and overwhelming. I was laying there and I realized this is it, this is what I’ve been missing all my life, this is what I’ve been trying to find all my life. It was like somebody poured ice cold water over my head and woke me up. I finally found it. I finally found what I was missing. I finally found the missing link. I wished I could have seen the look on my face. I’m sure it was a look of shock, excitement and fulfillment.

Right then, I prayed to Jesus. I prayed and asked Jesus to forgive me for all my sins and to come into my heart and to be part of me. I put my trust in the Lord for the first time in my life. Then something very special and exciting began happening to me, my life was changing. My life took a complete turn, the biggest about face that ever happened to me. I turned around and was heading towards God and I didn’t look back to see what the devil was doing. I ran and ran and ran. I ran towards God and I cried and cried and laughed. I was lying in my cell in jail with no hope of ever getting out and I was smiling and laughing and thinking I am the happiest man in this whole wide world.

You see I found Jesus. I found the Lord. Right there in my tiny little jail cell I found Jesus or he found me. I once was lost but now I’m found and I am so thankful for everything God has done for me. Let me tell you he has worked miracles in my life. He completely changed my way of thinking. He’d lifted me up and held me in his arms. I felt love for the first time in my entire life. Because of GOD I only spent one year in jail he let me out, not the judge, not the guard, not Sheriff Joe, but Jesus. Jesus gave me my freedom when I first asked him into my heart and my life. Then he opened the gates and let me out of jail and he continues day after day blessing me. He helps me, he holds me, he loves me, he takes care of me. It’s only because I put my trust in him that I’m even alive today. It’s only because of Jesus that I have a roof over my head, that I have money in my pocket, that I have food in my refrigerator, that I have shoes on my feet. No matter what, he is the only reason I have anything.

The Lord has changed my life so much. I have friends now, and I can be a friend to somebody. You would not have wanted me to be your friend before Jesus, but now I can be. When I accepted Jesus the old me passed away and I became a new creation. I am not the same person I was and I will never be that person again. I’m so thankful for everything that Jesus has done for me.

Jesus can be there for you too. Jesus can help you no matter what you have done. Jesus loves you; he died on the cross so that you can have life. Think about that, he died for you! I can’t think of any thing or anybody that would ever do anything like that, but he did. He took all your sins, past, present and future, and paid the price for you. All you need to do to accept this free gift is to believe that Jesus died on the cross for you and put your trust in him, repent and ask for forgiveness for all your sins. Ask Jesus to come into your heart. He’s waiting at the door of your heart for you to invite Him in. All you have to do is ask and you will receive. He’s waiting there for you. He’s waiting for you to trust in him and when you do your life will be change for ever.

There’s nothing better than the love, peace and joy that comes with knowing Jesus. He will bless you abundantly above and beyond anything you could ever imagine. There are a couple verses that I would like to give you and I would like you to think about. There are a couple truths that the Lord has written to us. One is, if GOD is for us, who could be against us. Think about that, if GOD is for us, who could be against us? Nobody, nobody could be against us. Nobody can do anything to us. We are safe in GOD’S loving hands. GOD’S grace covers us completely.

Another one I like a lot is, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. All things, anything is possible, anything with Jesus on your side if you have Jesus on your team and Jesus in your heart and if Jesus is a real part of your everyday life, then you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. All things, not some things, all things are possible.

This is the free gift of salvation. You don’t have to earn it, you don’t have to buy it, its free. Free for anyone who asks. Free to you, free to me, free to anyone. Everybody likes free gifts don’t they?

Jesus is waiting for you. Don’t lose your opportunity. Don’t put it off, because nobody knows the time when he will return. HE is waiting for you with open arms. HE is waiting to love you, hold you and care for you. HE will walk with you through the good times and bad times. HE will never fail you. Please accept HIS free gift. Ask HIM into your life today, right now.

Please pray this prayer. Jesus, I am a sinner. Please forgive me for all my sins. I believe that you died on the cross for me. I believe you are the Son of God. I ask you now to come into my heart and to teach me your ways. Help me to be the person that you want me to be. I put my trust in you completely. In Jesus precious loving name I pray. Amen.

If you prayed this prayer you are now a child of GOD. Get yourself a Bible but please don’t stop there, you need to read it every day. There are so many great truths and many promises in the Bible. The Bible is a lot like an instruction manual on how to live your life. Work hard at building a relationship with Jesus and keep working and getting closer and closer to him. He will show you and teach you through his word everything you need to know. Love him with all your heart, mind, body, soul, every part of you and he will love you more than you could ever imagine.

God bless you

Don Hardin