Participants:
Series Code: USP
Program Code: USP210004S
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00:01 Have you ever had a thirst that just couldn't be quenched?
00:04 Well, stick around 00:05 because we are going to point you to the one 00:08 that can quench your thirst. 00:14 They try to change us from the outside in, 00:17 and that's never going to work. 00:20 Because I know that no matter 00:21 how hard and cold the exterior may seem, 00:25 I know that inside we hurt. 00:28 So we just want to come and share some hope with you 00:31 and let you know that we love you, 00:33 and that Jesus loves you beyond 00:36 anybody in this world. 00:39 I'm not here today to judge you or condemn you, 00:41 we're today to tell you that we love you 00:43 and we understand the situation that you're in. 00:51 Hello, I'm Jason Bradley, 00:53 and I'm so glad that you decided to join us today 00:56 and learn how you can have that thirst quenched. 00:59 I'm here with my brother, 01:01 Lemuel Vega from Christmas Behind Bars. 01:03 Lemuel, it's always a blessing to hang out with you, 01:06 to be with you as we've gone into the prisons. 01:09 We've gone into all kinds of correctional facilities 01:12 and you've shared practical illustrations and all of that. 01:16 Talk to us today, what's on your heart? 01:18 Well, the reason we share practical illustrations 01:21 is because we just want to simplify the gospel, 01:24 because the gospel is relevant for all people. 01:27 Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, 01:29 so whosoever. 01:31 So there's all different layers of people groups. 01:34 There's the smart lawyers and doctors 01:36 and college educated, 01:37 there's folk that maybe got a third grade understanding, 01:40 and there's some people 01:41 that have a learning disability like me. 01:43 You know, when I was in second grade, 01:45 I was all over the classroom, 01:46 they tied me in my seat with a jump rope. 01:48 In third grade I got kicked out of a Christian school 01:50 and a public school, and I just kind of gave up on school. 01:52 But if the teacher would paint a picture 01:54 and I would get it, then I got it. 01:58 And so then that's why I want to share 01:59 with these people the simple terms of the gospel 02:01 because it's not complicated. 02:03 He wants to grow us into the deep, 02:05 internal truths of the Word of God, 02:07 the Bible and scripture, 02:09 but we have to start somewhere. 02:10 That's right. 02:12 And the beginning point is making a surrender and say, 02:13 dear Jesus, please help me. 02:15 And then He begins to come in and enlighten our heart. 02:17 So today, we're talking about living water, 02:20 we're talking about the bread of life, 02:21 we're talking about scripture. 02:23 Do you have scripture you could share with us 02:24 about living water? 02:25 I certainly do. 02:27 This is taken from John 7:37-38, and it says, 02:31 "On the last day, that great day of the feast, 02:34 Jesus stood and cried out saying, 02:37 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 02:40 He who believes in Me as the scripture has said, 02:44 out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." 02:47 Rivers of living water. 02:49 Rivers. 02:50 A river is a continual flow, it's not just a little droplet 02:53 and you empty the cup and it's over. 02:55 River is a continuation, 02:57 that's what He wants to flow in and through 02:59 everyone's life to share hope with the others. 03:01 So the animals that come to the river to drink, 03:05 the flowers and the plants that draw from the river, 03:07 so He wants us to be a blessing continually. 03:10 You know, you spoke about the thirst that never quenches. 03:13 Yes. 03:15 You know, and that's what He wants to supply. 03:16 But in the world, you know, we seek a new house, 03:19 a better job, a better car, better kids 03:22 and we think that somehow all these things, 03:24 but they don't never quench internally 03:26 what God wants to do for us. 03:27 Amen? 03:28 That's right. Amen. 03:30 All the materialistic things, yes. 03:31 Materialistic things. 03:33 How did that begin to be quenched in your life, 03:34 my brother? 03:35 It was only when I came back to Christ, 03:37 that's when that was quenched. 03:38 You see, I was raised in the church, 03:39 my mother raised me up in the church. 03:41 And so, you know, the Bible says, 03:42 "Train up a child the way he should go, 03:44 when he grows old, he won't depart from it." 03:45 Amen. 03:47 And in that upbringing, 03:49 in being raised, I knew what I was missing. 03:52 When I walked away from the Lord, years later, 03:55 about 14 years later, I recognized what it was, 03:59 that void that I was trying so desperately to fill, 04:02 I was missing Christ. 04:03 And you had a lot of things by society standards. 04:04 Yes. 04:06 I mean, you were in big cities and doing lots of neat things 04:08 and lots of people who's who. 04:10 And so, when you come to Christ that water, 04:13 living water begin to flow into your life. 04:15 And now you've come to the prisons, 04:16 you've shared your testimony, 04:18 people have come up and said, they could connect, 04:19 identify and now here manager of the Dare to Dream Network. 04:24 To share around the world, that's a river surely flowing. 04:27 Amen. 04:28 For our eternal realities. 04:30 You know, the practical application here today 04:33 is we have a bottle of clean water 04:35 and we have a bottle of dirty water. 04:38 Okay, if I was to ask everybody today, 04:41 would they rather drink the clean water 04:43 or the dirty water? 04:44 Let me see it. 04:46 Well... Clean water. 04:48 Clean water. 04:51 Why is it then, 04:53 if we desire the clean water? 04:58 So that's what we choose, we choose the clean water. 05:01 But then why is it so many times 05:04 we find that we have been drinking the dirty water? 05:09 And then we find ourself incarcerated, 05:11 we find ourselves in terrible situations. 05:14 So we desire, 05:16 so there's a desire for clean water. 05:18 But yet we find ourselves sometimes 05:20 at the broken cisterns of society 05:23 and we're drinking the dirty water. 05:25 Why is that? 05:26 Born with the propensity to sin. 05:30 We're powerless. 05:31 Yeah. Yeah. 05:32 So you can think you want the clean water. 05:34 But we find ourselves drinking the dirty water. 05:37 The remedy as we find ourselves in this condition, 05:41 the remedy is to allow Christ, pray, 05:44 ask God for help in our lives. 05:46 And then what God will do 05:48 is He'll begin to come into our lives 05:51 and He'll bring living water, 05:53 clean water into our life. 05:55 Is the cup clean yet? 05:56 Not yet. 05:57 But what happened? 05:59 They prayed, they wanted right, they asked God for help, 06:02 it's a continuous progression. 06:03 God wants to continue to bless our lives and flow them up. 06:06 Is the cup clean yet? 06:08 Not yet. 06:09 You know what? God got a bigger cup than that. 06:11 You got more water down there? 06:13 I sure do. 06:14 As we continue on in our relationship with Jesus, 06:16 we don't get all cleaned up in one moment, 06:18 in one day, at one time. 06:20 We make a decision to follow Christ 06:22 and we continue to pray, 06:24 we continue to read, 06:25 we continue to study the Word of God 06:27 and we say, "Lord, you know, I need help with my life." 06:29 And we just continue on in that journey. 06:34 Whoa, bro, that cup still ain't clean yet. 06:36 Still not clean yet. 06:38 Do we give up? 06:39 Do we be discouraged on this Christian journey? 06:40 Not at all, we've got to keep going. 06:42 We've got to keep going. 06:43 That's right. Let's keep going. 06:45 Press forward. 06:47 And, you know, we started going to church, 06:48 we started doing the things that's right 06:50 and the cup, it still ain't clean yet. 06:53 Don't be discouraged. 06:55 God's got this. 06:57 As you're willing, He's able. 06:59 Officer, you've got a cup bigger than that cup. 07:02 Would you want to come over here 07:03 and show our audience today, that God's got it? 07:07 You make a decision for Christ, 07:09 we've been drinking the dirty water, 07:10 God's got this. 07:12 I mean, His supply rivers 07:16 of living water, 07:18 so don't give up. 07:20 I tell you what? 07:21 The cup's going to be clean in the end, 07:23 we just have to stay the course, 07:25 continue to surrender daily our life to Christ. 07:28 Is the cup clean? 07:30 It's looking like it's pretty clean now. 07:32 It's looking like it's pretty clean. 07:34 You want to take that out? 07:35 You want to pop out the dirt? 07:36 I got you. 07:38 We ain't done, Officer. 07:40 So the cup is clean and you know what? 07:42 We got tired, we got frustrated, 07:45 we done kicked the dog and cussed out the kids. 07:49 So now, we're real discouraged 'cause our cup was clean, 07:52 now we're real discouraged. 07:53 God's got this. 07:55 Dear Jesus, please help me, 07:57 you know, I've messed up once again 07:59 and He going to continue to work in 08:01 and through our lives. 08:02 Would you read that scripture again? 08:04 Absolutely. 08:06 "On the last day, that great day of the feast, 08:09 Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 'If anyone thirsts, 08:13 let him come to me and drink. 08:15 He who believes in me as the scripture has said, 08:18 out of his heart, 08:19 will flow rivers of living water.'" 08:22 The cup is clean. 08:24 That's powerful. 08:26 That is powerful. 08:28 You know, Brother, I want to share something with you. 08:30 We go to the reception of diagnostic center 08:32 and there's a young man who received a Bible. 08:35 He received a gift package from Christmas Behind Bars, 08:38 thanks to our sponsors, 08:39 thanks to 3ABN for the material. 08:42 This man was transferred, he'd give his life to Christ. 08:45 He realized his cup was dirty, he gave his life to Christ, 08:48 he didn't go into all the details, 08:49 he was transferred to another prison. 08:52 When this man got to the prison, 08:54 he'd taken his Bible, 08:55 which was used that we gave him, 08:57 sponsors had sent to us 08:58 and he started a Bible study group 09:00 in the prison where he went to. 09:02 And he told me, 09:04 I met him personally and he said that 09:06 when he got to that prison, 09:08 he said the only thing he had left 09:10 was some saltine crackers and a pack of Kool-Aid. 09:16 And, Brother, what they did, 09:19 is they got together in their Bible study group 09:22 and they prayed. 09:24 They asked God to bless these. 09:26 They made the Kool-Aid 09:28 and they had communion in the prison. 09:30 Yeah. 09:32 Somebody received the living water, 09:33 he began to share it 09:35 in Bible study groups with others 09:36 and they had communion 09:37 with what was left out of the package. 09:39 Wow. 09:40 How beautiful is that? 09:42 Yeah. 09:43 Would you have something in closing 09:44 or would you have something you like to, 09:46 another scripture there maybe, 09:47 it talks about water or the bread of life 09:48 because Jesus says. 09:51 "And Jesus said to them," this comes from John 6:35, 09:55 "And Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life. 09:58 He who comes to Me shall never hunger 10:01 and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.'" 10:05 And that's the power of the gospel. 10:07 That's why 3ABN is taking this message 10:10 literally around the world. 10:11 That's why Christmas Behind Bars 10:13 endeavors to go to one more prison, 10:15 one more people group, 10:17 to let them know Jesus is the answer, 10:19 He's the one that will cleanse, 10:20 He's the one that will internalize 10:22 and bring into our life the rivers of living water. 10:25 He's the bread that satisfies and we need Bible, 10:28 so we can continue to pass them out, 10:30 that this brother had communion with crackers and Kool-Aid, 10:33 all he had left and had a Bible study group started. 10:36 And so, Jason, I thank you for the many miles 10:38 you've made to come and share your testimony 10:41 with the prisoners. 10:42 We're thankful for our sponsors at home who donate Bibles, 10:45 our Bibles kit is empty, we need more Bibles, 10:48 homemade thinking of you cards 10:49 and so there's lots of ways they can be involved. 10:51 How do people donate Bibles? 10:53 What website do they go to? 10:55 Christmasbehindbars.org 10:57 Christmasbehindbars.org 10:58 You can box them up, send them to us. 11:00 Send them Media Mail, it's half price. 11:02 The used Bibles are amazing because the used Bibles, 11:06 they're usually broken, they're highlighted, 11:09 they're underlined and for someone 11:11 that never started reading the Word of God, 11:13 it's got a place to start 11:15 and it helps them to get started. 11:17 So used Bibles are very well worth 11:20 the time to send them. 11:21 I started at a young age, my parents were both drinkers 11:26 that are deceased now and I should learn from that, 11:30 just recently lost my mother from drinking. 11:32 And that progressed on to an early age, 11:35 I think about 13 and I'm still learning. 11:39 I've been in and out of incarceration 11:41 for drinking, partying. 11:44 Now, I'm getting older, 11:45 I've learnt from years of incarceration 11:48 that's not the choice I need, 11:50 I got five kids and grandchildren now. 11:53 Now, when I walk out of Boone County this time, 11:55 I'm all paperwork and everything after. 11:59 I've been on paperwork for 21 years. 12:01 And when I get out, 12:02 I'm going to join back in the church, I am. 12:05 I want my sobriety 12:06 and I want my children back in my life, 12:09 that's the key thing. 12:10 Many nights crying here, you know, in my pillow, 12:14 it don't make you less of man, 12:16 but you realize what you lost 12:18 when you are in these cold walls. 12:21 I've lost a lot. 12:22 I've had houses, I've had cars, trucks, motorcycles 12:27 and I've traded it all 12:28 in for alcohol and drugs. 12:33 It's a hard lesson to learn. 12:36 I'm really grateful for the chance 12:37 to have a second turn at life at my age. 12:42 I'm ready to get off the drugs and alcohol. 12:46 Well, Christmas Behind Bars is definitely a blessing, 12:49 the literature you guys give us, 12:50 the magazines to read, 12:54 you know, those are really nice. 12:56 It's a blessing that people put in the work 12:57 to give back to us. 13:00 It's to know that, hey, there's life and hope out there 13:02 for us, you know? 13:04 There's somebody thinking about us. 13:05 The cards that, you know, people sign and you read 13:09 and, you know, a lot of people don't get that. 13:11 What would you say to that individual that, 13:13 you know, feels like they've gone too far 13:16 and God can't get a hold of their life? 13:18 What would you say to them? 13:21 I would say that's where the devil wants to keep us. 13:24 The devil wants to keep us dumb down and keep us down 13:26 and that there is no hope 13:27 because if he can keep us from praying. 13:29 What I want to say to that individual is Philippians 4:13, 13:32 it says, "I, we, you, us, that we can do..." 13:36 All things. 13:38 "All." 13:39 A-L-L, how much is entailed in that little word? 13:41 All. All. 13:43 "That we can do all things..." 13:44 "Through Christ..." 13:46 "Through Christ, which..." "Strengthens." 13:48 That's where we'll be renewed, 13:50 is our strength in Jesus Christ. 13:51 Amen. 13:53 He will and He wants to renew our strength. 13:56 Amen. 13:57 So thank you so much for coming on and sharing again today. 14:00 Lemuel, it's always a blessing 14:02 and we hope that this has been blessing to you. 14:04 If you're looking to have your thirst quenched, 14:06 go to Jesus. 14:08 God bless. Amen. |
Revised 2021-10-28