He Faced the System and Found Jesus: Rob’s Testimony

maybe as we jump into this maybe just have you share a brief overview of your journey of your recovery Journey while you're in the recovery story obviously I set the stage and said that I know you do have a past you have a history of using drugs prison and on your story about cookies if you want to hear that you've got to go check the testimony out okay let's just leave that as a teaser but man really specifically one of the things that is a huge focus is Right Jesus centered recovery right we all three believe in that we believe that Jesus is the answer Jesus is the only true path of Freedom real lasting Freedom spiritual Freedom not just getting off of drugs and so Rob let me just start out with a question for you man how is your faith shaped your approach to overcoming addiction what role has your faith really played in your recovery and then how you do life now when it comes to yeah your faith for me that's everything I didn't after I got out of prison I went through a program similar to Teen Challenge you all know and I built disciplines or they helped me build disciplines of staying in the word as soon as I get up every morning starting out my day with God constantly being in communion in relationship with him and my faith is what's kept me Jesus delivered me in one encounter but it's my faith my relationship with him and my time I spending a word and with him that's kept me free for over 13 years now so it's absolutely my rock like I've never went to a meeting in 13 years A.A or n a i don't do Celebrate Recovery I'm not against all that stuff I just for me it's Jesus full on one-on-one relationship intimate time with him that's kept me this something that you said Rob that really stuck out was your discipline right because when we create systems we develop new habits and so you needed a system put in place for you because you had bad systems and that creative bad habits and so yeah it's so true man it speaks volumes right because even in my personal life today like when it comes to me wanting to work out nobody wants to work wake up at five o'clock in the morning to hit some weights right but my wife and I have encouraged each other and we're putting new systems into place to achieve our goals and so this relationship that we have with Jesus isn't about achieving a goal per se but it's about creating a system and developing a relationship with which will Branch off into communities with others that will hold us accountable to the systems in which we place disciplines fire dude that's so good that's really good yeah and in the beginning I didn't like it I'll be honest who did when they first got to TC or first got to the program nobody wanted to have this but I knew that like you said my ways and my disciplines did not work and I knew they always landed me in jail or prison or back in the rehab or whatever and so I finally gave up my plans and decided that I needed to learn a new discipline and learn a new system and I just submitted to it and when I left the house a year later I never quit doing it and it's part of who I am now yeah that's powerful and so you would say that Rob was speaking about those systems and really developing that spiritual growth in your life and not becoming a part of who you are day in and day out and so what does that look like man on a practical level right how do you maintain your faith how do you keep your relationship and your passion with Jesus like on fire to the point where it holds you right you said earlier you opened up and you said that it's Jesus criminal right and so practically speaking for maybe the new Christian or somebody that might come across that still they're trying to figure this Faith thing out after addiction what does that look like practically speaking for you what is your face how does that play out in your day-to-day life first and foremost my wife knows I say this all the time I have a wedding ring on that I wear all the time but my wife knows that I'm literally married to Christ first he is my first love and I know that sounds weird for guys that were the bride of Christ and he but unless he's that first Passion I love I'm not the husband I need to be the dad I need to be I'm not sober I'm not anything and so for me it's that commitment just like a marriage like I committed to my wife and it and I don't cheat on her I don't run around on her what so I'm committed to him first and whether I feel like it or not I'm committed whether circumstances look like it or not I'm committed and so my day and it's not a burden I want to be because I'm fully in love with him and know that he's fully in love with me was it first John 4 19 we love because he first loved us yeah that's good that's that for me that's the key like I was just sharing and preaching the other Sunday I remember he took me back to remembering that look that I had in prison like I just caught a glimpse of him and caught a glimpse of his eyes and in that moment everything went away and I met him and I was completely changed and I've never forgotten that look like there's times I need reminded of it and I have to think about it and he wrecks me during warship or something like that but the way that he pursues us and comes after us if we turn that into catch his gaze to where we're gazing back and that becomes our focus in life then the world doesn't so easily pull us away but it has to be that inward commitment to like I'm married to this thing Paul said I'm crucified with Christ nothing Galatians 2 20. and it's no longer all that live the Christ that lives in me and it has to be a wanting desire to do that though not a forceful okay I got to get rid of everything and no it's like I'm fully in love with him and that's what keeps me loving everybody else you touched on something man you touched them a lot right there we can really unpack this thing and I want to like stay on track but you talked about commitment right now for people that are listening Rob they're stepping out of their addiction or they're stepping out of a program and they've encountered Christ now would it be fair to say that you didn't have that level of commitment right away like how did you develop that over time that's a good question yeah I had no idea what the word commitment meant I was married for 10 years and I didn't really cheat on my wife or anything like that but it definitely was not a genuine loyal committing thing where I loved her like Christ loved the church and I never went to church all my life so I didn't understand God's love and I didn't understand really what commitment meant so no it wasn't like bam I got it but one thing I did do was I remember looking at the pastor in that program that ran the program pastor Wayne and I remember looking the first day I went there he took us to his house and it was like Easter time so we had a big Easter Sunday and everybody was there and I remember seeing all of his family and his grandkids and there was like 60 70 people in our house and everybody was happy and joyful and I was like I want that so what I know what I didn't I never could achieve that so whatever it takes to get there I'm gonna do it so even though I don't understand commitment and I don't understand what this walk with Christ means I'm throwing out everything I want to do and I'm going to learn and discipline myself and that's when I just told the pastor whatever he asked me to do I'm going to do it I don't and I'm in it like I said something silly you just asked me to stand in and close it upside down and gurgle peanut butter I'm gonna do it because you figured something out that I don't have so whatever you tell me to do I'm going to listen I think it's just being teachable to learn that from people that's already walking that come on yeah that's good was there ever a Time Rob where you struggled like receiving the love of Christ like I know you mentioned just now that you on you saw what the other people had did that make it easier for you because I know some people and we chatted about this a few weeks ago we had a conversation about forgiveness and on dealing with some of the shame of our past decisions and not really grasping the love of God first and not feeling worthy of it because yeah and we mean we made a lot of mistakes in our past and was that ever something that you struggle with like really acknowledging God's grace did you deal with shame during this process of ironing out working out your salvation with fear and trembling if you will absolutely that's always one of the hardest things for all of us right like we can forgive other people easier then we can let go of the things we did but it's one thing that my pastor always told me he just kept pointing me to the word and was in Corinthians it talks about his weapons are Mighty through pulling down the strongholds of anything that exalts itself above the knowledge of God and that's what he would explain to me listen you have to know that this word is absolute truth and everything else is not and so you have to pull down the things you believed and everything and get rid of that and replace it with the word and so I would just get in there man this is where you got to transform your mind renew your mind not be conformed to the world but transform it through the word and you look at Colossians and I would just go to I was just reading that before you got on 20 ask this question but in Colossians like two I think it's 13. he canceled out every legal violation we had on our record and the older restaurant that stood dingditus he erased it up all our sins all our stains so he deleted it and it can never be retrieved everything we once were in Adam has been placed into the cross and permanently as a public display of cancellation I would read that and think okay I've got to believe that if I have faith in him I'm going to believe Second Corinthians 5 17 that old things pass away and All Things become new that I'm really born again and it took time but whenever those thoughts would come up I would go to those verses and that's what I would reprogram my mind to know and believe yeah wow that's really good this is awesome because something that you're as I'm listening to your story you had an individual that God just ordained in your life right just placed in your life strategically this was all planned right because God it's the Alpha and the Omega and then and he knew that this man would be able to reach you and through his love and his compassion towards you just like you mentioned in first John 4 19 right we love because he first loved us God's love through this individual caused you to be able to receive and you said I'm gonna trust the process and I think for many individuals when it comes to addiction they're unable to trust the process because they want instant gratification they want instant results they want instant transformation but God is dealing with us on his time and so we trust as Matthew tells us right when it says my yoke is easy my burden is light right so my birthday is so we have to learn to be like the younger ox and take the yolk around our neck and follow the lead of the individual that's leading us and so that's so hard because an addiction we don't trust dude yeah we don't trust ourselves we don't trust others and so talk if you can just peel back a little bit how did you learn to trust this man that you didn't know from Adam and Eve right like how did you just like one you trusted God but now you're you're trusting man right that's a big step of faith in and of itself what and so like for you to be able to walk down this journey and to have commitment to him and commitment to God at the same time after coming out of prison and having the wardens and whoever in the cells like means eating cookies come on dude like it's crazy but I think about this and it's so important that we touch on this and the reason is because like you said we no longer live but it's Christ that lives on us and so you surrendered man ultimately but if you could just touch up yeah well and I had to come with grips it's just like I said what I told myself was okay and if all of us in this situation people going through this would be honest like the choices they made the decisions they made the people that they trusted landed them where they were landed me in prison and so it's to take that moment with this man and say when I got there I just prayed to God and I said God I trust you've placed me here because I asked for a faith-based program I actually pushed my parole back six more months to get into a faith-based program and so I wouldn't get out unless I was going somewhere and you would have to know the whole story I should have went to Charleston Charleston West Virginia was planning on getting out of there and then that guy got drastically sick and they closed the program down and I had to wait a couple more months and then the guy from levels came and so it was definitely a guy that ordained the right place for me to go and so I knew and it kept me Charleston was five hours for my kids this place was an hour so I knew the Lord brought me closer to my kids but I remember having he was a very blunt direct and in your face guy I needed that because I would have manipulated anything other than that what and so there wasn't nothing you could get around him and he would be right here in your face and up in your grill as soon as you broke some rule or something I needed that but it had a form of understanding of the word and family and everything and I just said I'm just gonna trust it because my decision making is horrible so I've trusted all of this before and it's gotten me nowhere I don't really have anything else to lose that's where I was at I was like I'm coming out of prison all my family left me nobody wants anything to do with me I'm completely nowhere and this guy doesn't even know me and he picked me up from prison he's given me a place to live and he's willing to pour into me so I'm gonna trust that's odd and I'm just gonna trust him because it can't be any worse than what I've done honestly that's where I was at that's my honest answered yeah that's good man and it's difficult it is difficult to trust people because we like we're so intent both you guys said it we're so intent on doing it our way and even though our way never worked it's this time will be different what I'm saying like this is the plan this is the Silver Bullet this time around and you can we shut people off and say I don't want your advice I've got my plan here I'm gonna do it and somewhere we deceive ourselves really into thinking that it's going to be different but it seems like when we get to that place a resolve and we're like man I just can't do it anymore and I've got to trust God and I've got to trust other people and those two things are pretty close having people that'll walk with us like you did is a game changer it is an absolute game changer with other relationships and whatnot in our lives and yeah where was I going with that so Rob let me Levy that into the next question what advice would you give to somebody based off your experience you had this gentleman that pulled into your life you trusted them what advice would you give someone trying to build some supportive relationships like that because you were blessed right I don't want to call you lucky God ordain your path and put the right person in your path some people it's difficult they don't know who to trust they don't have the benefit of a structured program that they've been sent to so they know there are trustworthy people around they're out there trying to figure this thing out on their own on going to churches that may project them because they have an addiction passed rubbing up on people that still look at them funny because they hold the purses a little closer when they get to them because they know the stuff they've walked through how does somebody figure out this relationship thing and find some of those supportive relationships hmm I had so trying to think the best way to work is I've had that relationship for a while and then I didn't have it anymore so then I had to do that so I can only tell you what I really started watching for because there's a whole lot of Christians out there they really don't know how to love people I'm just being honest they can quote a bunch of scripture and preach really good and give motivational speeches but when it comes to loving somebody that's a mess it's few and far between the really fond people that genuinely I want to just love people and so I started looking for because obviously these people are going to be looking for a spiritual leader I started looking for not just the spiritual leader and what he could preach or what he can do but I started watching for what his disciples looked like what his spiritual sons and daughters look like and when I started seeing that you see what you reproduce and watch the leadership in the congregation watch the whole focus of where everybody's going and I'm not saying every church has to be an Outreach church but there should be some Outreach to the community loving on homeless and doing some there should be some Outreach thing not just inward in the church for to be a for an addict and somebody coming out they need that type of environment where people are going to come alongside them and help them and so I would say if people coming out of prison and all they can read people very well anyway you're not going to fool most of these guys into some fake Christianity you got it all together thing so I would just say look for the ones that have people around them that are doing it and they're building up Sons and Daughters not just preaching really good if that makes sense it does yeah that's good that's really good dude I've actually heard a pastor say this he stepped away from a church and went to another church and that was the first thing he his model was growth I think it was David Platt that actually said this his model was looking at growth and rather than looking at growth he scaled everything back and looked at okay look like let me look at the pastor's kids let me look at the church members like where are they in their favor because I can tell a lot I know for myself personally when I was in my addiction I had the spirit of discernment before I was even saved like I could oh you're a fraud like you can see that yeah but this is so good because when I was in my addiction and then I went through Teen Challenge that was my issue I read the Bible and then I saw the people and I was like this isn't what scripture is declaring and I had a really big issue with even opening up to people that profess to be faith of the faith come to find out six months into my program staff members are smoking crack and I'm like yo what's going on here you guys supposed to be leading me and we're smoking what's going on I was but my mom told me throughout the whole process keep your eyes focused on Jesus stop looking at them keep your eyes on Jesus and so I think the thing is that when we put hope in man we become discouraged but when we put hope in God and God will give us the strength to take from man what he desires us to take and then move on and I think often at times we learn just to spend too much time and energy on the negative of an individual but we never see the problem from that individual how is it shaping you because often at times God will put people in your lives to shape your character for where he's taking you next yeah it might not be the way we would expect it to be true I heard somebody say on a podcast a few weeks ago I said we have this idea that we're going to find one Mentor in our lives just that one Elijah that's going to be it's going to be the Elijah to our Elijah and the reality is that people who are actively growing and are growth minded have multiple mentors what I'm saying that I've got a friend that I know that has got their finances squared away I'm talking to them about my money I got friends that are really good at Outreach and evangelism like you rob Reynolds I know you're out on the streets you're hitting it so I'm going to call you for advice in that area what I'm saying I got friends over here that are doing the other thing and so I think sometimes we're we put our expectation for one man to be perfect and give us everything we need but that's the beauty of the body we're all different parts right and we all come together and so when we learn when we see a hand over here and we learn how to move like this hand and then we come over here for learning what our foot needs to do et cetera that's a pretty loose illustration but you get the point there's that idea of going to different places but also putting ourselves around people that have integrity Paul said follow me as I follow Christ I want a leader that's confident enough to say that to me yeah I don't well just point to Jesus yes you should love Jesus and you should point to Jesus but I also want you to know that you're confident in your faith enough to say what Paul said follow me as I follow Christ and in order to say that you got to have a life worth following and as former addicts we're the people that are able to sniff that out and my blinds are still packed up in my house I still look out the windows because I'm constantly on alert man I'm seeing things that people don't see I'm used to being manipulated I ran recovery programs for years so I know when somebody's trying to pull a wool over on my eyes I may never let them know that I know but I'm certainly aware of it and I'll pull back at times and I want people in my life that I know can look at me and say follow me as I follow Christ yeah that was my soapbox moment for a second sorry fellas oh good dude that was good there's a book I don't know if y'all ever read it called in search of Timothy it's a really good book he talks about we talk about good leaders but I don't know the Lord just wanted me to say this it's important to be a good follower you look at Jesus's life like he couldn't have asked for a better leader right out of everybody he ministered to there was only 120 people that showed up at the upper room now did he have bad leadership no it's bad followership what and it's because my friend Jeremy down in Texas who has a church love him he says look for people that are Faith fat people that's that's the acronym but it's faithful available teachable what and so if we're going to look for that leader make sure that we also though are giving that person once we get some trust give that person permission to really call us on our junk to not Coast down our feelings and follow them rightly if I keep saying if somebody's willing to say follow me as I follow Christ then really follow and listen to their advice lots of times we don't want to do that we don't want to be teachable we don't want to open up in the areas that they might hit on and then we'll dismiss people because they're in our junk we need the people in our junk yeah I heard Judah Smith say a few weeks ago on a sermon that he preached he said on the Bible talks about we don't have many teachers we have a lot of teachers but we don't have a lot of fathers and Judah Smith went on to say he said could it be we don't have a lot of followers because we don't a lot of fathers because we don't have a lot of sons in the same vein of what you just said we don't have a lot of men and women who are willing to just submit underneath of a spiritual father and they're tired of chasing us down I think at times there comes a point where it's we've got to be willing to say what I want to remain teachable in every season of my life no matter how far I get want to be able to be teachable you guys are echoing and I don't want to go off on the tangent here but you guys are echoing Romans 13. because if we can't submit to man how do we expect to assume it together because that's God's order and so we have to understand his order but because we're we're former addicts submitting through Authority isn't our strong suite right there's a lot of mistrusting authority and a lot of that is placed off of the stuff that we did but that still Echoes and the life of somebody that's lived this lifestyle before there's not a lot of trust for authorities so I know we got other questions to ask but Rob can we go in that vein a little bit let's talk about that because that's a really good point you brought up Rob Grant Robin Rob so Robin about the struggle with authority so what do you guys think let's talk about that a little bit you have like for anybody I just had this talk I preached it to jail Sunday down here and I had this talk with a few of the guys like you have to throw out that mentality if you hold on to the cops and the officers and everybody's the bad guys and they're out for you it's just a victim mentality mindset and if you don't throw that off you'll never really advance in your relationship with the Lord because you'll look at every authority figure like that's part of where you have to transform your mind like you have to realize that mentality is a criminal mindset that you need to get rid of because most cops and most Heros are people with a job that's just doing their job like the fact that you we speak for me probably Justin I don't know about Robert we put ourselves in them situations for them to actually be there now are there ones obviously that don't act very well yes may have a bad attitude or whatever but ultimately the authority we wouldn't have had a problem with the authority if we wasn't breaking the law this from the beginning everybody that I disable I'm like that's one of the first things we got to really work on and how I worked on it was I would go back after I finish the program obviously and graduated I started working on going back to Martinsburg where I was from and I would purposely go to the jail or go find the police officers if I seen one out I would stop and get out of my car at someone but I thought I was crazy at first because they've arrested me several times but I would go over and thank them because if it wasn't for the ones that arrested me I would have never found Jesus in prison so then I share my story with them and as soon as I would share every one of them I never had one that got smart with me every one I've shared my story with us man thank you because lots of times we don't hear the stories afterwards like that than success stories afterwards so thank you and I'm just tell them hey I respect you and I honor you what you do it takes a lot to risk your life to go do that for a little bit of money and I'm sorry that I was the way I was so I'll make sure to make them amends everywhere I go even different states every cop I run into I said I can pray for them and make sure that I broke that mindset off of me so that's a good way to start doing it even if you don't feel it right away it's not 100 like start doing it and start breaking down the mindset because once you start talking to them you'll find out they're not as bad as you think I had on I had a car full of students one time back at TC I was a few years and a few years running the program I was still relatively young and we got pulled over and the cop came up first thing he said was I smell marijuana I'm like pastor and drug rehab director there's no marijuana in this car right and so he's like I smell where I want to search the car and of course me at this point I'm just having fun with the students but go ahead officer we'd love to have you search the car and so I got these guys there's three or four of them fresh in the program and I let the police officer shirts the car and do the whole thing and they're freaking out and before we pull off I hand the officer one of our Teen Challenge cars at the time I'm like hey I run a drug rehab program all these guys are former addicts getting their lives back together so if we can ever be of any assistance to you give them the car and the look on his face was just Priceless because number one I could have told him not to search the car I could have said no but I just wanted to have fun with the students because they're freaking out right anyways but we do carry that over Rob Grant we carry some of that Authority struggle over into our Authority with other people within the church sometimes that toxicity in our wrong mindsets are our wrong thinking carries over right have you struggled with that Rob grant let me I'm not an interview about you yeah just wondering it's just even as a black man I think it's hard because there's ways in which you can be treated that people whether it's in your job your workplace wherever you're at I struggled with this man for a long time because people would have this label you're this individual and then on top of that I had a drug robbery passed right so I've somewhat created it but then I was like born into society and culture to where this was just like the norm for people and so it was unfortunate for me but at the same time what I've learned to accept and this is going full circle about what we talked about following I've learned to look at other individuals and how they were able to perceive others through a lens and light as God saw them not as they saw them and so sometimes it's it's about looking Beyond as Peter would say love covers a multitude of sin it's looking beyond the surface and seeing the heart it's what's the potential right like I have people in my life now that would draw out as Moses was drawn out of the water they would draw out the gifting the potential that the individual had and so like for me learning how to submit learning how to surrender the thoughts the negative thoughts the stories in which I've created within my own mind took me Allowing God to heal some of my inner wounds yeah and so I think often at times what happens is it's not the authority it's not the people it's the wounds and the familiar spirits that we acknowledge and recognize that cause us to have flashbacks and memories of Trauma from our past and this is what leads people into repetitive addiction and so for me I discovered something after getting out of a program I was like when I would get angry when I'd be frustrated like I would turn to pornography and masturbation but I didn't I couldn't connect the two what and I'm like what's going on with me like why am I feeling this way but somebody in Authority or somebody I was in relation with would get me all out of sorts and rather than me going through that I would resort to this or I would result to that and so God had to begin to deal with me with my inner wounds and so I think sometimes we don't want to acknowledge those things but it takes the community it takes the submitting under somebody else and having somebody say like the hard truth to you I don't know if that makes sense and I know that went in five different angles but no this all has to do with authority man and how it shaped the way that I thought authority to be yeah it's like that go ahead Rob sorry no I agree because then if we don't process that right then we do we'll run to something because of the way we feel about that what so that's good Robert like I did the same thing like I was free from drugs and alcohol and all that but I about got married and a woman walked away the last 30 days and it crushed me he was ready to get married she walked away I didn't know what to do and on the outside I looked like I was doing well and I was raising my hands at church and everybody thought I was good but on the inside I was trying to process all of that and that was like another issue that I learned and I ran the pornography too four months ran to other women ran and I was like all of a sudden I found myself like what am I doing this is not me I don't want to revert back to that life like you said but it was how I processed that stuff and so that's good and if we don't process Authority that's what'll happen yeah man it's so crazy the trauma issue comes up over and over it's like we got inner wounds that we've not dealt with and so we end up turning to things that are addiction centered in order to get that to satisfy that or try to deal with those wounds if you will if we're not careful about healing those wounds but then also allowing the mind to be transformed it may not be a relapse with a substance but we relapse with something else right we fall back into some sin in order to deal with that pain and deal with that hurt and that transform transforming the Mind part man was so critical is there anything you guys have done to help work on that to help retrain your brain and obviously healing the trauma that's first right but really that Paul talks about that do not be conformed to the patterns of this world but be transformed by the renewment of your mind what does that process look like for you Robert Reynolds like transforming your mind and really getting your mind to where you're starting to think differently and ultimately see the world differently but see your reactions to stressful situations differently right because that's what causes relapse we react stressful situations the wrong way and then we end up relapsing and so I would love to hear how you process some of that in your life I was saying it earlier and Corinthians only talks about pulling down strongholds like that's the first thing an addiction we talk about triggers we talk about things like that or reactions so things we have to know them things first and identify I like to think of as what's your carrot what carrot does the enemy dang go in front of what is it porn is it drugs is it whatever it is that starts that process you better figure it out because the enemy is going to keep nailing it and throwing it in front of you and Don it out here until you can figure out how to transform your mind to what the word says and that's the key for me and everybody used to say to me will you spiritualize everything it's the only way I know how to transform my mind like sometimes even my wife is I don't need a pastor right now I just need a husband but as a husband I want to point you to the word and I know I need to get better at the other side too but it's the only thing Jesus clearly in the wilderness his only response was the word and so if we don't learn how to address the carrot or address our situation to deal with it and bond what's in the word that goes against it that speaks the truth that we can pull down what we used to think and put in the truth then we're going to constantly have that battle and the enemy's going to just keep knocking and really it's that transforming your mind that's how you transform your minds it's not just scripture memorization although that's good I'm not against it but that's great it's not preaching A good sermon it's literally being able to do the work we're not just hearing the word but we're doers of the word right so you have to find this only comes from the intimate relationship within if porn is your character then you have to say Okay God like the enemy just keeps coming at me with this where in your word what can I battle with this where in your word do I need to go and you just need to read it and get there what which because it's different for everybody whatever works whatever scripture whatever thing that hits you for you to deal with that but you said one earlier Robert a yoking yourself to him that's a two-fold what I think it's Matthew 7 or Matthew 11. okay which one but where he says come to me all who are weary and heavy burden and I'll give you rest that salvation I believe is what he's talking about there's that first risk but then he says yoke yourselves to me learn from me follow me and have rest for your soul so there's two different rests there's a difference between giving him your burdens laying it down but then learning from him it gives you a risk for your soul your mind putting your emotions so how do you control your mind well and your emotions is yoking to him learning from the word and figuring out how to use the word as your spiritual warfare that's your that's the weapons That's mighty is the word that's what Jesus did he repeated the word it is written so for instance when I went to go get my kids back my pastor said listen you're going to have to stand on the word of God and Proverbs 3 5 and 6 was like my life first from prison first and over with all your heart lean on your own understanding acknowledge Him in all your ways he'll direct your past so when he said stand on the word I was going to a court date where everybody was against me every card was stacked against me criminally and all of that to get my kids back she had cops on her side and everything and literally I took those scriptures and I wrote them on pieces of paper and I stuck them in the bottom of my shoes and I stood on the word of God literally and said what I'm gonna not fight these battles because the Lord told me don't fight let me fight she was an addict too and she was but I never brought that up she defamed my character God said don't do that trust me and so I stood on the word of God and I went through the court date and I ended up getting visitation of my kids her lawyer fired her and it went and so I learned early on that whatever you have to do to really do the word to receive the word and put it into practice in your life not just learn it up here not a bunch of head knowledge like we have to learn how to act it out especially men we learn better about Hands-On stuff right yeah but you can I can read a book on how to put an engine together and not be able to do it but you showed me two or three times and I could do it so I think especially for men we got to learn how to put the word of God into action in order to overcome that helps transform the mind that's good yeah I'd like to add to this and Justin you asked the question but for me just recently on this last I would say a few weeks three weeks even the Lord's just kept on repeating the word surrender and even in everything that you're saying it's an act of surrender you look at Jesus in the garden he surrendered they look at Paul in Philippians 3 what'd he do he surrendered everything he knew and he gravitated towards God right because he's gay this knowledge I have it's nothing right I can boast about these things but it's nothing to the surpassing power of knowing Christ right and so that's it for me I've really been able to journal and write down these thoughts that I'm having these lies that I've been holding on to inwardly and releasing them outwardly through a form of prayer but yet journal and I'm allowing myself to see the power and surrendering these things and giving it to God because what I'm saying and how I open up in my journal I say God this is a true struggle for me right now and I need you to come in and interview it's a burden there's challenge I'm stretch I feel perplexed in so many different ways but as I release it there's a level of freedom and I want people that's listening to understand this because when you give up that what you want control of and give it to God that's when you get your breakthrough yeah and you don't get your breakthrough in holding on to your pain you get your breakthrough in releasing your pain Jesus was in anguish he was in complete Agony and he released his pain and in the releasing of his pain he said father nevertheless not my will but your will be done so there was so much that happened in that so transformation is the application but application can never happen unless you're like Paul because in order to get addition you need subtraction God doesn't work the same way the way we work and so he's subtract this so that I can add that yeah because the two don't make sense yeah I hope so yeah I'm sorry I digressed there how do I follow that up yeah you just hit a freaking damn you just crushed it yeah I got really emotional because things understand I can't drive I've seen so much breakthrough in my life recently Robin just hearing your story man your story's just been a big Act of surrender bro yeah and so what an amazing testimony to know that hope is alive and you're rebuilding your life you're an evangelist now you're a father you're a husband like what else yeah so if somebody that's listening right now that's what oh that's just Rob that's not for me that's not possible what would you tell them it's absolutely boss we did it for me you can do it for everybody listening or anybody not listening like I was sitting in a prison with nobody at all that wanted me not one person left in my life and didn't even really want him like Justin said follow the cookie story but I went for food I didn't even go honestly wholeheartedly to meet Jesus I was just done with my life I didn't know what to do or how to do it and how to fix it but I was finally at the point of just being done and there's no way 13 years later understanding and transforming my mind like I've adopted two kids I have all kinds of felonies and misdemeanors that's almost impossible it is pretty much impossible but learning that word born again I don't think people really grab it and I promise you I've adopted two kids yesterday I know about this you choose to do that's that doesn't it's not a have to you didn't birth these kids do you choose to do that and God that's what the spirit of adoption for men that makes us Crown Abba Father he chose Hallelujah he chooses everyone he wishes none to Paris so nobody's exempt and nobody's too far gone nobody's another there is nobody he doesn't want anybody to perish and he is pursuing everyone out there as a child and he's choosing to look back and forth for one that'll just look back at him for a moment and realize that you're his and that's all it takes is that moment did for me that one look I felt wanted in love Yeah and I've pursued it for 13 years and there's no way that everybody else out there he doesn't want to do that for wow that fact that being adopted into a family and born again but if he really unders it took me a while to understand that word Nicodemus is like what do you mean I can't go back in the womb but no really like it's not an Earthly born again it's a spiritual born again and if you really would just believe that I promise I think that's the big fight of faith to really believe that you can go from worse to the worst to seated in the Heavenly places with Jesus he said you're seated with me in Heavenly places there's no thing you have to do to earn that but believe it and so if you could really believe that no matter how bad you are right now or how addicted you are or how struggling you are right now that in one moment if you would just believe just like I did in prison that he's real believe in him put your trust in him and believe fully that you belong to a different family the old life gets erased and you get a whole new born-again person to learn how to do this with and transform your mind to it's amazing there's not one person out there he wouldn't do it for yeah wow so none of us are special yeah you had me shed a tear but I had a fight I was like no I'll put invited you talk about the adoption thing man and it's just we've we're walking through that now and man I when we first brought this little girl home she had all these health issues and it was just a battle to figure that out and it's just like man we're taking all of that on and as we love her and God's been so faithful with all that but I was struggling with it and man I was walking around my yard one day praying and the Lord said Justin I adopted you with all your issues you'd have just wrecked me when that's when I made the decision that this opportunity comes up I'm signing the papers there's no questions asked and man because in our worst that's what he chose to call out to us and I think so often man we get so this Deliverance process it is a process of discipleship but I think we grow we've all run in very Spirit-filled circles and it's like just lay hands on people and they'll get delivered and the issues will just go away and it's yeah maybe that can happen but there's a process of discipleship and growing and raising where children before the father and she's helping us mature we're growing from milk to me and working the issues out and while yes salvation is instantaneous I think so often we want that instant gratification and everything we've talked about in this conversation tonight has been about having the trust to walk with God and walk with people and working our salvation out with fear and trembling and trusting the process right as a very first question Rob Grant asked about the systems in the process and trusting it and letting God do that work of sanctification which for those who may not understand that big churchy word it simply means that word of being set apart for his purpose and that's the difference right it's heart of Flesh Heart of Stone becomes heart of Flesh that's when the molding starts and we begin to be formed Into His Image but there's a process of being formed and we've got to be like child children before him and able to trust that process and just say what Dad I know you got the best in store for me okay I didn't that's another podcast that I've cried on what a message yeah the cool thing is just like your daughter okay have you fully adopted her yet not yet we're about two minutes away yeah well the moment that then papers on guess what she's got the same exact rights as your other kids same exact and he said Christ is a firstborn among many so we have to break that mindset too like we have full rights of the Kingdom just like Jesus did when we get adopted wow yeah that's so good man fellas I don't know where to go from here I appreciate Rob Reynolds I'm gonna go inside yeah Rob how can people which are what Rob Reynolds yeah how can people connect with you yeah I may do they know how to care I'd like to connect with you really where do you live at now to say this guy I'm in California oh hey man I need to come down there and hit the streets bro hey I'll have a blast people here in sunny Oceanside yeah no but like on Facebook it's just Rob Reynolds now I don't do freedom house anymore so I got rid of that staying on my name or you can look me up on there anybody can get on here if you want my phone number Justin you can put my phone number on there I don't mind if I'm going out there anybody struggling or wanting help wanting guidance I'll gladly it's 304-650-2852 you gladly get a hold of me I'll contact with you connect with you if there's any possible way I can talk and help anybody understand some of this I think what you hit on with adoption is key to understand that thing and until you really realize that and understand what righteousness and adoption really means it's hard to you battle that guilt and shame but I'll gladly connected here in any way possible yeah amen appreciate that man and yeah Rob lives as a missionary man he is all in all Faith all trust and I admire that I really admire that Audi Rob on since I met you we randomly connected somebody I don't remember who connected us somebody connect I came up there when Dale was singing one night yeah and we've connected man and you've been genuine like you just are who you are and I really appreciate that out of you man and your heart for the people and that shines through no matter where they're at what they're dealing with in life you just have a heart for them and so man keep up the good fight of faith and thank you for jumping in on our on the show tonight and just encouraging us yeah thanks Robert thank you for having me before we wrap up no man yeah just thank you dude thank you for all those that listening have listened and continue to support us we want to reach many people guys this isn't just for you share the gospel share the good news share it share this with the family friend either let them listen to and remind them that they are loved and that God wants to adopt them into his kingdom and so we thank you for all your support share adjustable at the links below yeah do that thing awesome well y'all have a good night [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign