{"id":106,"date":"2014-05-28T22:25:05","date_gmt":"2014-05-29T02:25:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=106"},"modified":"2014-05-29T07:46:28","modified_gmt":"2014-05-29T11:46:28","slug":"worship-wednesday-first-nights-sleep-not-looking-at-a-jail-term-redeemed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=106","title":{"rendered":"Worship Wednesday – First Night’s Sleep Not Looking at a Jail Term – Redeemed"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Writing<\/a><\/p>\n

They wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way; They found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, Their soul fainted in them. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, And<\/em> He delivered them out of their distresses. And He led them forth by the right way, That they might go to a city for a dwelling place. Oh, that men<\/em> would give thanks to the Lord for<\/em> His goodness, And for<\/em> His wonderful works to the children of men! For He satisfies the longing soul, And fills the hungry soul with goodness. – Psalm 107:4-9<\/p>\n

Heroin addiction no longer belongs to the streets…to some sort of fringe person… There was a time I didn’t know a single person addicted to heroin. Now I know several fighting their way out of its grip. One of those has been drug-free for\u00a0 1 1\/2 years. His story is for him to share, and I hope he’ll let me write about his journey one day. For Worship Wednesday, and especially today, I will just give you a taste of the glory that he now experiences.<\/p>\n

One way to come off heroin is to be incarcerated. The addiction that heroin births is insatiable and expensive to satisfy. This ultimately leads to some sort of crime, and then the charges and convictions follow. For this young man, he broke the law in several police jurisdictions and within each one, he was, of course, mandated to stand trial in each place, with mounting severity of penalty and potential prison time to be served. Yesterday was his final day in court.<\/p>\n

About a year ago, while in a Christian residential drug rehab program, he gave his life to Jesus. \u00a0His life before Jesus was pretty much a train wreck, and since he became a believer, he is different. Different in no self-help, “tough it out”, save-yourself way, but completely transformed from the heart outward. He is profoundly changed.<\/p>\n

Still…he had charges to face, and his\u00a0case came up yesterday.<\/p>\n

For almost two years, he’s gone to bed every night knowing that he might be in prison for several years because of his destructive behavior. Last night, he went to bed redeemed. In a case before a judge known to be tough on drug offenders and the crimes they commit, he was given probation with no further jail time than he’d already served. It’s over. All the fear and dread related to those months of desperate and paralyzing addiction was settled. That judge showed mercy –\u00a0so reminiscent of the mercy shown to him by the Righteous Judge of every one of us who has cried out for Him to save us.<\/p>\n

Maybe we don’t\u00a0really think about\u00a0what it’s like to go to bed…free. Or to wake up the next morning…free.\u00a0 We’re so used to being free, we can’t fathom what unimaginable joy this young man has had over the last 24 hours. And yet, we are redeemed…just like him.<\/p>\n

You may have heard Redeemed by Big Daddy Weave (music & lyrics by Mike Weaver and Benji Cowart). This song speaks so much to this dear young man’s situation…and to our own. No matter our situation, Christ as redeemed us. Whether we are facing a prison term or some other sort of captivity, Christ redeems us in those places…and sometimes, He redeems us out of those places.<\/p>\n

Worship with me as we consider how glorious it is to be redeemed.<\/p>\n

Redeemed by Big Daddy Weave<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Seems like all I could see was the struggle <\/span><\/p>\n

Haunted by ghosts that lived in my past <\/span><\/p>\n

Bound up in shackles of all my failures <\/span><\/p>\n

Wondering how long is this gonna last<\/span><\/p>\n

Then You look at this prisoner and say to me “son <\/span><\/p>\n

Stop fighting a fight it’s already been won” <\/span><\/p>\n

I am redeemed, You set me free <\/span><\/p>\n

So I’ll shake off these heavy chains <\/span><\/p>\n

Wipe away every stain, now <\/span><\/p>\n

I’m not who I used to be I am redeemed, <\/span><\/p>\n

I’m redeemed <\/span><\/p>\n

All my life I have been called unworthy<\/span><\/p>\n

Named by the voice of my shame and regret <\/span><\/p>\n

But when I hear You whisper, “Child lift up your head” <\/span><\/p>\n

I remember, oh God, You’re not done with me yet <\/span><\/p>\n

I am redeemed, You set me free <\/span><\/p>\n

So I’ll shake off these heavy chains <\/span><\/p>\n

Wipe away every stain, now I’m not who I used to be <\/span><\/p>\n

Because I don’t have to be the old man inside of me <\/span><\/p>\n

‘Cause his day is long dead and gone <\/span><\/p>\n

Because I’ve got a new name, a new life, <\/span><\/p>\n

I’m not the same <\/span><\/p>\n

And a hope that will carry me home <\/span><\/p>\n

I am redeemed, You set me free <\/span><\/p>\n

So I’ll shake off these heavy chains <\/span><\/p>\n

Wipe away every stain, ’cause I’m not who I used to be <\/span><\/p>\n

I am redeemed, You set me free <\/span><\/p>\n

So I’ll shake off these heavy chains <\/span><\/p>\n

Wipe away every stain, yeah, I’m not who I used to be <\/span><\/p>\n

Oh, God, I’m not who I used to be Jesus, <\/span><\/p>\n

I’m not who I used to be ‘Cause I am redeemed <\/span><\/p>\n

Thank God, redeemed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Story behind the song<\/a><\/p>\n

Official Big Daddy Weave video of Redeemed from the album Love Come to Life<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way; They found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, Their soul fainted in them. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, And He delivered them out of their distresses. And He led them forth by the right way, That they might go … Continue reading Worship Wednesday – First Night’s Sleep Not Looking at a Jail Term – Redeemed<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[47],"tags":[94,87,89,85,93,83,92,1835,86,84,90,82,71,91,88],"class_list":["post-106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wednesday-worship","tag-big-daddy-weave","tag-chains","tag-city","tag-drug-rehab","tag-drug-free","tag-heroin-addiction","tag-homes","tag-jesus","tag-mike-weaver","tag-prison","tag-prisoner","tag-redeemed","tag-savior","tag-streets","tag-troubles"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pauPAB-1I","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=106"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":114,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106\/revisions\/114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}