Daily Devotionals: Changing For The Better

0:00September 30th. Changing for the better. Have you ever listened to an ad for prescription medication? If you have, you realize half the commercial is spent listing possible side effects, each one sounding worse than the last. It almost seems like you're just exchanging one problem for another, rather than actually getting better. Well, we can get stuck in a similar problem swap more often than we realize. Each time we set out to solve an issue using nothing but our own willpower, we're feeding the sin of pride and just trading one problem for another. Today we'll meet John, a man who was in the business of changing himself, until he realized what it means to change for the better. He's here to share with us his true story. On this unshackled, daily devotional. I hated school and by age 11 I was doing drugs instead of homework.

1:00Gangs and crimes soon followed. We burglarized and I became an effective comment, a swindler. I grew increasingly tough as I learned to escape. After several stays in the state pen and Baltimore, I knew I had to change. First my name, then my address. I jumped parole and moved to Georgia where I stayed with relatives. I was a petty crook on the run, from one city to another, one scam after another. While recruiting prostitutes from my business, I was shot by an angry man with a shotgun and nearly lost my foot. I spent six months in the hospital and still didn't learn. Back to my scam I limped, wearing a cast. When the cops caught up with me, I was facing 20 years in prison for multiple offenses. In jail, I listened as a preacher told how Jesus paid our penalty and died in our place. For the first time in my life, I felt guilty. When my mom refused to help me, I hit bottom and cried out to Jesus to change me. For the next three days, I paced myself without eating or drinking. From the fourth day, I knew that Jesus Christ is Lord and I wept for a long time, born again. Then I began reading the Bible. I was sentenced to 19 years, but I believed that God would deliver me, which He did after

2:0319 months. I'm John Williams, and today I go back into prison to share the good news that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus said in John chapter 15 verse 4, Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, accept it abide in the vine. No more can ye, except ye abide in me. Brent, through the power of Christ is the only way we can truly transform. Self-help material often urges us to focus on our inner strength, but this only leads us away from the goal. But just to be more like our Savior, Jesus Christ. So will you seek His power to change for the better today? Unshackled, the longest running audio drama in history airs on over 3,000 radio stations worldwide.

3:03Real people, real life stories, stirring dramatic accounts of hopelessness and the hope that changes everything. This award-winning program grips the heart with compelling and relevant stories of transformed lives. Without Jesus Christ, we are all shackled by sin, by our wrong choices, disobedience, and selfish motives. But God is at work, and the power of Christ sets us free of our bondage. Unshackled daily devotionals are built on true life accounts. Unshackled devotional tells a dramatic testimony of transformation of a real person, while addressing a relatable issue of the human condition. A key Bible verse is provided so you can dig deeper into its specific intent in these unshackled daily devotionals. Listen to a new devotional every day, and don't forget to tell your friends about unshackled, daily devotionals.