Participants:
Series Code: USP
Program Code: USP210007S
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00:01 Have you ever been lured into a trap
00:03 that just about claimed your life? 00:05 Well, stay tuned to learn how to overcome the struggle 00:08 and regain your life. 00:14 They try to change us from the outside in, 00:16 and that's never going to work. 00:19 Because I know that no matter 00:21 how hard and cold the exterior may seem, 00:24 I know that inside we hurt. 00:28 So we just want to come and share some hope with you 00:30 and let you know that we love you, 00:32 and that Jesus loves you 00:35 beyond 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 00:42 and we understand the situation that you're in. 00:51 Hello, I'm Jason Bradley, and I'm so glad 00:53 that you decided to join us once again. 00:55 I'm here with my brother Lemuel, 00:57 my brother in Christ, Lemuel Vega. 00:59 Lemuel, it's great to have you here. 01:00 Why don't you just touch on Christmas Behind Bars 01:03 and what it's all about for a moment? 01:05 You know, Christmas Behind Bars is not just providing a Bible 01:09 for the inmates. 01:10 Because if you go into these places 01:12 of incarceration and say, 01:13 "Boy, if you don't change your ways, 01:15 you're going to go to hell." 01:16 They already know they're doing wrong. 01:18 They already feel that self-condemnation. 01:20 So the Word of God is great, 01:22 but it's nice to meet their practical needs. 01:24 You know, the granola bars and the chips, 01:26 and the snacks and the hygiene item, 01:28 it's just because we care. 01:30 Because I think somebody else set that example. 01:32 Absolutely. 01:33 Jesus set that example. 01:35 He fed the thousands. That's right. 01:36 And He spoke to them, 01:37 and helped them and mentored them. 01:40 You know, the two blind men 01:42 sitting by the wayside. 01:44 You know, they were sitting by the wayside, 01:45 and they were blind, 01:47 and as Jesus passed by, 01:48 they heard that Jesus passed by. 01:51 As they heard Jesus passed by, they cried out, 01:53 and said, "Lord, have mercy on." 01:55 And the crowd said, "Be quiet. 01:57 Be quiet, you all blind, and you're sitting by the way. 02:00 Be quiet, because we're with Jesus." 02:02 And they cried out the louder. 02:05 And Jesus stopped. 02:06 And Jesus asked those two blind folks, He said, 02:09 "What would you have that I do for you?" 02:12 And they said, "Lord, that our eyes would be open." 02:15 And you know, Jesus, our Heavenly Father 02:18 has compassion not only on these people incarcerated, 02:21 He had compassion on them, and He touched their eyes, 02:24 and they received sight. 02:26 And you know, the beauty of that is, 02:31 as they found healing, they follow Jesus. 02:34 And that's our desire for these people 02:35 with Christmas Behind Bars, 02:37 I know 3ABN as well is to connect them with Jesus. 02:41 Because then we know they're going to follow Him 02:43 in whatever paradigm that that goes to, 02:46 and others will be encouraged as well for Jesus. 02:48 And so that's what Christmas Behind Bars 02:50 is about. 02:52 As you open this program, Jason, today, 02:54 you said, "Have you ever been enticed into a trap?" 02:57 Yeah. 02:58 Have you ever been lured into a trap 02:59 that almost claimed your life? 03:01 You know, Brother, 03:03 that's what happened with the human race. 03:05 We were created in perfection, in God's image. 03:08 You know, the Word of God, it says, "And God said, 03:10 'Let us make man in our image.'" 03:12 So humanity was created in perfection. 03:15 And somehow, maybe you want to unwrap that 03:17 how they were lured into a trap? 03:19 And then we'll go into our analogy for today. 03:21 Well, we were also blessed with the freedom of choice. 03:24 Oh, yes, absolutely. 03:26 And so, yes. 03:27 And so, and that's where 03:28 that genuine love come, comes into play. 03:30 Because God didn't force us to love Him 03:33 or to serve Him or anything like that, 03:34 He allows us to choose. 03:37 And, you know, when you, I think about Adam and Eve, 03:40 and the temptation that they faced. 03:42 They had been told not to eat of, 03:45 basically not to eat of the tree, you know? 03:48 And here in Genesis Chapter 3, and we'll begin in verse 1, 03:53 we'll kind of walk down a little bit. 03:55 But here they come into contact with this serpent and it says, 03:58 "Now the serpent was more cunning 04:00 than any beast of the field 04:02 which the Lord God had made. 04:04 And he said to the woman, 'Has God indeed said, 04:07 you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?'" 04:10 Now notice the serpent was more cunning. 04:12 Now, have you ever been on the street 04:14 and you meet some cunning individuals? 04:16 Have you ever been in jail or in prison 04:19 and you meet some cunning individuals? 04:22 The serpent was more cunning 04:24 than any beast of the field, right? 04:26 And so in verse 2, it says, 04:28 "And the woman said to the serpent, 04:30 'We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, 04:33 but of the fruit of the tree, 04:35 which is in the midst of the garden, 04:36 God has said, 'You shall not eat it, 04:38 nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' 04:41 Then the serpent said to the woman, 04:42 'You will not surely die. 04:44 For God knows that in the day you eat of it, 04:46 your eyes will be opened, 04:48 and you will be like God knowing good and evil.'" 04:52 So here they are being enticed 04:56 or coerced into, 04:58 you know, trying something that God has told them not to try. 05:04 He didn't want them to experience, 05:05 their eyes were opened to sin. 05:07 Yes. They never experienced before. 05:08 Yes. 05:10 And then that's why we're born with this handicap called sin. 05:12 Absolutely. 05:13 And it's interesting that, 05:14 you know, when this happens in everyday life, 05:18 when these things happen, 05:20 people paint this picture of some sinful activity, 05:24 but it's never how they explain it. 05:27 And here their eyes were open, 05:30 but not how they probably imagined. 05:32 And it cost humanity. 05:35 The death sentence was put into place 05:36 at that moment. 05:38 That's right. 05:39 So now we're all born with a death sentence. 05:40 But there's a way out. 05:42 And that remedy is through the cross, 05:43 through the cross of Calvary, 05:45 through a personal relationship with Jesus. 05:47 You know, we have this analogy, Jason, 05:48 that I've used in the different jails 05:51 and prisons, and just, again, 05:53 something simple to connect with these folk 05:55 that are behind bars, 05:57 because I feel I'm a simple person, 05:58 not that they're simple, 05:59 but I feel I want to try to paint the picture. 06:01 And sometimes I just take an empty jar, 06:04 and this jar is not empty, but it was empty, 06:07 and we'll just put some keys in there, 06:10 a few tokens, things like that. 06:12 Just a few little nothing. 06:13 I heard a story of how they catch monkeys. 06:15 Okay. 06:17 You know, so they're actually monkey hunters. 06:19 So they're trying to, monkey right here, hey, buddy. 06:24 So how they catch monkeys is, 06:26 I don't know what they do with monkeys 06:27 once they catch them. 06:28 I don't know if they eat them or use their skins? 06:30 I don't know. 06:31 Yeah, that's my next question. 06:32 But in order to catch monkeys, they take this jar, 06:34 and they chain it to the ground, 06:36 and they put little or nothing in there. 06:38 And the monkey, out of curiosity, 06:41 comes down out of the jungle, 06:42 whatever, out of the tree, 06:44 and he comes down and he goes in there. 06:45 And he gets a look at that. 06:47 And the monkey, the jar is designed 06:49 to where the monkey can reach in. 06:51 But when the monkey hold on to something, 06:54 then is he can't get his hand out. 06:56 He's stuck. 06:57 So he is chained by his own devising. 07:00 You know, here come the hunters very early in the morning 07:02 to get Mr. Monkey. 07:04 And if monkey would only let go, 07:08 he could run free. 07:09 Yeah. 07:10 But, brothers, when we got the sin problem, 07:13 we can't let go. 07:15 Even though we want to let go, we can't let go. 07:19 That's where we got to let God come in, 07:21 and then He helps us to let it go. 07:24 So that's the analogy though, 07:25 that as we're willing, God is able. 07:28 We can't change the drug addiction, 07:30 we can't change the alcoholism, 07:31 we can't change the sin problem of our lives. 07:34 But it is through the cross of Calvary, 07:39 embedded with love, 07:41 that the Son of God hung there, died there, 07:46 told us to His Father, "It is finished." 07:48 The plan of salvation was put into place, 07:51 signed and sealed upon the cross of Calvary, 07:54 so that we can be free, 07:55 free in this life and free in eternal life. 07:58 Absolutely. 08:00 You know, Lemuel, 08:01 I want to share another scripture with you. 08:02 Because the bottom line 08:04 is we're all going to face temptation. 08:05 Even Jesus was tempted. 08:07 So I want to share this 08:09 because it's amazing what God does for us. 08:12 This is 1 Corinthians 10:13, it says, 08:14 "No temptation has overtaken you, 08:17 except such as is common to men, 08:20 but God is faithful, 08:22 who will not allow you to be tempted 08:24 beyond what you are able, 08:26 but with the temptation 08:28 will also make the way of escape, 08:31 that you may be able to bear it." 08:35 That's if we're connected with Him. 08:36 That's right. 08:38 So if we walk in with Him, 08:39 and we started down that journey, 08:40 then He ain't gonna let nothing overwhelm us, overtake us. 08:42 Yes, no temptation will overwhelm us. 08:45 And He always provides a way of escape, 08:47 but we have to take that way of escape. 08:49 Amen. 08:50 You know, and I think 08:51 one of the greatest things we can do, 08:54 you know, in addition to, of course, 08:56 accepting Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, 08:58 is not put ourselves in tempting situations 09:02 where we have to exercise 09:04 that resistance to the temptation. 09:06 So don't put ourselves or place ourselves 09:09 on the devil's ground. 09:10 Situation. Yeah. 09:11 Yeah. Absolutely. 09:13 What would you say, in closing, 09:14 as we had this analogy of the entrapment? 09:18 You know, nowadays, there's video 09:19 and all kinds of things, 09:21 there's the games and all kinds of things 09:22 on the little phones that children have now, 09:25 and what would you say for people to trust God 09:29 maybe for the first time in their life, 09:30 to be willing to try again, or maybe for the first time 09:33 that Jesus is going to be that forever friend? 09:37 I think I would say to that person 09:39 that it's important to realize 09:40 that you've tried everything else, 09:41 you've tried to fill that emptiness 09:43 that's in your life, you've tried to fill that void 09:45 that you've experienced 09:47 and nothing that you're picking up seems to fill that, 09:49 not the alcohol, not the marijuana, 09:52 not the any of that stuff. 09:54 Fancy house, fancy car. 09:56 Not the women or the guys, if you're a woman 09:58 or none of that seems to fill that void. 10:02 And that's because you're not going to the only one 10:05 who can fill that void which is Jesus. 10:07 There's someone who died on the cross, 10:10 and that's Jesus, 10:11 so that we could avoid that death sentence 10:14 that has been placed on us, 10:15 when Adam and Eve made the decision to partake 10:18 in what God told them not to. 10:20 And so, God is longing for a relationship with us. 10:24 So go in that direction, you have nothing to lose 10:27 and everything to gain. 10:28 So I would say start with Christ. 10:30 Amen, Brother. 10:32 You know, the people that find themselves 10:34 in places like this, 10:36 and we got our brothers across the way there, 10:38 they're reading their Bible, and looks like that guy up 10:41 there he doesn't really care about what's going on. 10:43 But you know what? 10:44 Brother, neither did I. 10:46 The Gideons would come in, 10:47 and they'd come in, the preachers would come in, 10:49 and I'd never go and sit down and listen 10:50 to what they have to say. 10:51 But I was standing by the bars, and I was listening, 10:54 because I wanted something different. 10:56 So I know whether they're behind bars today, 10:59 or whether they're in that fancy home or that high rise, 11:02 or whether they live in the lower part of town, 11:04 it doesn't matter. 11:05 Jesus will come and meet us 11:07 and He will supersede any of our expectations. 11:10 Amen. 11:11 But we have to start somewhere. 11:12 And with that, let's just have a word of prayer. 11:15 Our Dear Heavenly Father, 11:16 we don't know the hurting souls, 11:19 individuals in our world today. 11:20 But, Lord, we're just surrendering them to you, 11:23 here's our lives, take them, make them, Father, 11:25 mold them and shape them, 11:26 that we will be reunited on that great day 11:29 when Jesus coming back. 11:30 We love You, and thank You for this opportunity, 11:32 and thank You for 3ABN 11:33 that goes literally around the world, 11:35 and thank You for the sponsors of Christmas Behind Bars. 11:38 We love You and we look forward to that great day 11:40 when Jesus comes back. 11:41 In Jesus' name we pray, amen. 11:43 Amen and amen. 11:57 On this road to recovery, on this road to freedom, 12:02 on a brand new chapter for your life, 12:05 we have to be willing to do something. 12:08 We have to be willing to give it up. 12:12 We're tired of it. 12:13 We don't want it no more. 12:15 They don't make us feel good inside anymore, 12:18 drugs, the alcohol. 12:21 It ain't never done nothing for us. 12:24 You know, I got out of prison, 12:25 and I thought I had it all figured out. 12:28 A few years later, I was suicidal. 12:30 I was going to die or I was going back to prison. 12:34 I went to treatment for the first time in my life, 12:37 and the doctors tell me 12:38 I need another drug for my drug problem. 12:40 I said, I've been on this train for 35 years. 12:45 I kneel down and I prayed 12:46 and I asked God for help with one problem. 12:49 The biggest problem I thought I had 12:52 was drug addiction. 12:54 And I said, "Dear Jesus, please help me, 12:56 I want to but I can't." 12:58 Sisters, He'll help you with the one. 13:02 And that begins the trust that you can trust Him. 13:06 And He gets the prompts. 13:07 And then you know why? 13:09 You say, "Lord, by the way, I got this one too." 13:12 But as you grow in a newness of life, you'll say, "Lord." 13:15 And then finally you just say, "Will you take it all?" 13:21 Sisters, we've been holding them, 13:22 we've been caring, and we've been cussed out, 13:24 we've been told we ain't nothing, 13:25 we've been told we ain't nobody, 13:27 we never gonna be nobody. 13:29 That's what my daddy told me. 13:33 But my mama believed in me. 13:36 My mama never lived long enough to see a change in my life. 13:40 But one day we have a hope of seeing mama your children. 13:44 John 3:16, "For God so loved the world 13:46 that He gave His only begotten Son, 13:50 that whosoever," that's every nation, 13:53 kindred tongue and people in prison, out of prison, 13:55 "whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, 13:58 but have everlasting life," 14:00 not just in the kingdom of the gates of heaven, 14:02 but today in this life 14:03 of unsurmountable unmanageability. 14:06 God is still in control 14:08 and He wants to take your life but He... 14:10 You need to ask Him for help with this unmanageability. |
Revised 2021-11-29