Pick Your Poison - 40 Pack

"Poison = Substance that kills or harms seriously" (Random House Dictionary).
Pick Your Poison
As a teen Alcoholic, when choosing my favorite drink for the night, I was asked to “pick my poison!”  I and my friends would wear out this phrase quite often.  Little did we know then just how deadly that poison we were drinking really was, just like Adam and Eve in the garden before sin was introduced through disobedience to God's Word (Genesis 3:1-24).
Alcohol and other Drugs would control my life well into my late 20's.  My first real awareness with alcohol poisoning (substance abuse) was the night I was asked to go riding and drinking with some of my friends.  We were out for a joy ride, as we called it, just having fun!  As I recall, we were on a gravel road, doing about 50 or 60 miles an hour, headed toward an overpass with the brakes applied, sliding, then stopping just inches from the guard rail that would keep us from a 25-foot drop off. Oh, I forgot to mention that I was riding on the roof of the car with my beer in hand.  
Yes, me and my buddies, we were just out having fun! 
In my early 20’s, I found something else to experiment with - grass, weed, marijuana (cannabis).  
I remember, one afternoon, sitting in a room with friends smoking a joint getting a buzz on.  The joint that was rolled was the size of a large cigar and being passed around the room with each person (12-15) in the room taking turns smoking it.  When it came to my turn I was told to keep it, that it had been rolled just for me.  I forgot to mention that I had just experimented with drugs 30 minutes prior, and was already drunk.  The drugs were given to me by the same "friend." I can’t really tell you how I made it home that night, if ever! We just wanted to have some fun! 
Being tired of being drunk and looking for the next high due to a void, an empty feeling, I started calling on God to help take away my pain and He did.
At twenty-seven years of age, I turned my shattered life over to Jesus Christ.  
Jesus accepted me just as I was without any questions asked.
There are pieces of my life that I can’t remember, but there is enough to be happy about.
I still have fun but without the poison.  I am now living a happy victorious life in CHRIST!
2 Corinthians 5:17 states “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”  
And 1 Corinthians 6:20 says “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.”
Your fellow laborer in Christ,
B.V. Monjarez, B.R.E.
“I will praise Thee (God); for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”  Psalm 139:14
 
You Can Have a New Life in Christ
ADMIT that you are a sinner.
Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short (missed the mark) of the glory of God.”
REALIZE the penalty of your sin.
Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
BELIEVE that Jesus Christ died to pay the price for your sins and rose from the dead.   
Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
TRUST and RECEIVE Christ alone as your Savior. 
Romans 10:9, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
Just as a newborn baby grows physically, in a similar way you can grow spiritually, by taking the following steps:
  READ THE BIBLE – starting with the Gospel of John, read a chapter each day.
  PRAYER – Spend time each day talking with God.
  WORSHIP - Regularly attend a church that honors Jesus Christ and teaches you the Bible.
  FELLOWSHIP – with Christians who will help you grow in faith.
  WITNESS – Tell others what Jesus Christ means to you!