My name is Chris Abrams, and Jesus has changed my life into something totally new. He set me free from addiction through John 3:16 Ministries. I arrived here on June 18, 2023 after several weeks of indecision and reluctance to God’s pull on my heart to surrender everything to Him. After arriving on a Sunday, that next Friday June 23, 2023 I gathered with the brothers also living in Arkansas County faith house and asked Jesus Christ to save my soul and take over my life.
I began making poor decisions to fit in and rebel against God at the age of 14. High school, college, graduate school and my career were all about having a good time and worldly success. The secret I was trying to hide is that drug and alcohol use had gained an irrevocable foothold in my life, in my mind and heart. I had allowed sin to overtake and slowly destroy any trace of God’s protection and provision He had given me. Life had all of the normal ups and downs, but my desire to live a worldly life was all that mattered. I faked Christianity on the outside and was empty on the inside.
Restlessness: if I could come up with 1 word that described how I felt all of the time, “restlessness” is the word. I felt uneasy, out of place in my own skin, and wondered “what am I doing? I mean really what is my purpose in life?” The thing that plagued me for so many years is that I knew the Bible, I acknowledged what Christ had already done for me on the cross, but I refused to totally surrender to Him alone. I wanted to keep my double life going as long as I could…until 1 day I couldn’t any longer.
God brought me to Him through a series of incidents, being exposed to my family and my dear wife and my kids. Sometimes God’s love is best shown to a man trapped in addiction through total humiliation. God, who is a perfect and loving Father, doesn’t demand that this happen, but He disciplines those He loves (Hebrews 12:6). Sometimes we choose to bring a much harsher path than God designed for us and offered to us. A truly repentant man must accept his life choices and the consequences that he brought upon himself. That was me up until June 18, 2023. And then something supernaturally amazing happened…
Jesus set me free. I asked…no I begged Him to come in and change my heart and mind. I pleaded to Him for a new life. I didn’t want to perish alone and spend eternity in hell. I desperately needed His love and transformation that only Christ can give. He alone offers salvation on that day was my day of salvation!
John 8:36 promises us that when Jesus Christ sets us free, we are free indeed. What this means: I am forever free. I can’t go back to my old sin-ridden life. Now it is my life’s duty to tell everyone I know what Jesus has done for me and anyone who asks can receive (Matthew 7: 7-12).
I remained in residency at John 3:16 Ministries for 10 months. During time God placed a desire in my heart and mind to serve Him as an Instructor. My wife and I prayed over it for a few weeks before both of us came to realize God had called me to remain in the ministry a total of 16 months to serve as a resident, House Dad and ultimately the privilege of an Instructor role. I am home now and God is opening up doors that are too many to list. He has provided all my needs and set my feet upon the rock of Jesus Christ for all my remaining days, until I see Him face to face.
If you need help, if you want a new life, if you want to be free from the darkness and emptiness of addiction, come to John 3:16 Ministries immediately. Don’t wait…don’t delay…get here this Sunday and see the goodness of God who loves all of those trapped in addiction.