He Stayed Free for 13 Years After Addiction Here’s How He Did It

listen it's not Jesus didn't do it right what and so if we look at how do we put on Christ and put on things you have to read the word and see where it shows this is how he walked this is what he did he said follow him I've got to follow that not what I used to do and how I used to do it and well man I just want to Rob thanks so much for taking time to sit down and chat again we've been on a few calls man on we did the live video with you being Rob and that was such a powerful conversation a while back and then before you were on the audio only podcast and now man it's so cool how God has allowed our relationship to grow over the years like just coming up and speaking at Teen Challenge one time and then over all those years staying connected and why don't you introduce yourself maybe to those who are going to listen in that aren't familiar don't know you and then we'll go into our topic and our conversation for the day but thanks for coming on Yeah man so my name is Rob Reynolds originally from Martinsburg West Virginia wound up living there most of my life man until probably about 2007 when I got moved to huttonville West Virginia where I did some prison time but I was a 17-year drug addict alcoholic bipolar Matic depressive paranoid schizophrenic they said borderlines I don't know a lot of that I think was drug induced but there definitely was a lot of psychosis going on with my drug use there's times six seven months that I would just be gone and don't remember anything there's even times my daughter's 29 now and she'll bring up things and there's years of stuff I don't remember for my drug addiction and so I know the mental illness place played a big part I was on probably 10 years I think I was on cak Wheel wound up at the end 500 Mig twice a day which that's a huge amount to be on and so I just had a whole life my parents were addicts and alcoholics really just thought that was all I was ever going to be there wasn't any hope for anything else I had one grandmother that prayed I never seen her go to church but she would say she prayed in every meal we prayed so that was about the only real encounter or relationship that I had with church or God was her praying and then I remember I think I was five I had my grandmother take me one other grandmother take me to a Bible school she never really went to church either she took me to a Bible school I think just to get me out of the house for the summer yeah and I heard David and Goliath so I did hear that but other than that when I got married that story didn't keep you out of prison it did not keep darn it was a good story and I thought it was really cool but I just thought it was a story what so I always did remember that the only thing I remember from childhood then when I got in my drug addiction started getting into criminal activity and all that after I got married my wife that I was married to at the time though I was married 10 years and her mom and dad were Christians and they would take us to church on Christmas and Easter we had to go it was a mandatory CER thing and I would go and I've told you this before but I sat in there high and drunk and I know probably smelled and looked horrible I was strung out and everybody just let me sit in the corner and nobody talked to me nobody definitely didn't share the gospel with me and then and I had an experience after I got clean one time I thought I would go do plumbing and work with her Uncle who was a Sunday school teacher and a deacon in the church I thought well maybe this is a direction I should go and then he cussed me out every day and treated me worse than any secular boss that ever treated me so I'm like yep don't want the Christian Life right so I continued just being a drug addict until I wound up in prison in 2004 yeah I got in and out back then I think it was 200000 2004 I was in and out a lot I did 52 weekends in a row one year but then 2004 to 2007 I just went on like a threeyear I was that addict that always said I wouldn't do heroin I wouldn't shoot a needle anyway and I wouldn't smoke crack and up until 2004 I didn't do those two things and then 2004 I just really didn't care I wanted to die I had a bunch of back surgeries got hooked on oxy cotton and I just went downhill started getting evicted everywhere and just really started stealing a lot and robbing stores and 2007 I got convicted of three robberies one was a sheet store one was a bar and then one was a man outside a store and that got me a 10f flat prison sentence finally so I went to huttonville did all together between a regional and huttonville was two years to get to huttonville waiting and then about two and a half years at huttonville and I had two people there that really and you've met Mark two people there that really shared the gospel with me I was trying to my daughter was the last one that ever talked to me my oldest one she's 29 now but she was like 12 when I went to prison so I bet she was probably 14ish she wrote me a letter and said she was done with me and didn't want to talk to me no more and at that moment I finally decided right I got to do something like my Way's not working I remember when I was a kid my dad was going like saying I wouldn't be like my dad and I didn't want to be a drug addict and I just had this realization that why I've end up way worse than my parents ever were and so I started seeking some help I got in rsat program for drugs and alcohol there I met Rocky and Mark and they started sharing Jesus and I'm like man get out of here F Jesus stuff everybody in prison tries to give you a Bible right yeah but I watched them if you've been in and out of jail you start watching you're good at watching people and for three or four months they were consistently the saying Rocky was happy and Mark just had peace that I didn't see anywhere else yeah and he kept saying it was Jesus so they finally invited me to Kyro prison Retreat and the catch was it had good food and free cookies right yeah I went for the cookies and the food what I'm saying yeah Mark's been on the show man we did his interview a couple probably four or five months ago now but his story dude is just so yeah what a great he in 16 years from murder just to see that and then the Forgiveness that transpired between the victim's family and him and how all that informed his life and man here in your story and for those who are watching like if you want to catch the full details like some of the stuff that Rob flew past at the intro of this conversation it's a couple episodes back me him and Rob Grant had a nice long conversation Rob Shar you shared a little bit more of your story in detail one of the things I wanted to chat about today was you went through all that the Lord got a hold of your life I cut them off on purpose so you'll go watch the other video so scroll back up in the channel and check that out so that was intentional but man like the bridge version on the other side is that man you've now how long has it been since you stopped using like when's the last time you got h i don't this is going to sound crazy for most people especially in recovery I don't even remember or think about the last time I got hot I got born again November 20th 2010 and met Jesus Christ and that's the day I go I know there was some time before that but I don't even it's not even I've never even thought about it like that day November 20th 2010 changed my life right so you've never been back since never backslid I've never wanted to get high I've never had a desire to get high yeah I know some people think that's crazy but I know the old me and I know the me now and I never have so let's talk about that for a little bit I wanted to jump into that topic because relaps is like one of those hot Buton topics in the recovery world and we both seen it man we're folks on even coming to the faith-based programs we work for context Rob works with adult Team context Rob works with adult Teen Challenge now he's run a Ministry called Freedom House you have a passion right for ministering to those who were just like us and we see the ups and downs and I think all of us have worked with somebody and on the back end of their story scratched our head and wondered what did they get wrong or what did we get wrong as Leaders like did I miss something in them did could have done something better more right all that stuff that we fight through and then there are stories like yours where you got a hold of Jesus right and there's been this just like lasting Freedom now I've given up a long time ago trying to like describe a very specific formula because recovery is so different but maybe just for context of conversation like how did you do it right like I think that's the part where I can't tell everybody on the call what's going to work for all of them but what worked for Rob right that allowed you to get a hold of Christ at that time in jail with everything that went down your story and then all these years later like staying free and not using continually like what's been your key to not relapsing it's the constant relationship with the Lord not just being the church services and all that man first it's the encounter I believe you have to have not just say a prayer not just but there has to be a real encounter with him to where it's tangibly real that changes I can tell you that the ocean's really nice and the waves come in and if sand feels Squishy in your feet and shells come and go and it sounds good but when you're standing there it's different what and so I know that the encounter that I had cuz I didn't even want to believe what but when I met him that day it was different and then I knew that when I got out I was smart enough to know that okay I got this encounter but I don't know anything about his word I don't really know how to read his word I don't know how to understand his word I don't know what to do with it I don't even know where to start with it do I read it like a book do I what and so I had to get in a program and I got into a program and I just remember like when I got there cuz like I said we run them to the yearlong program it's people don't want to come for a year I didn't really want to either spent four and a half years in prison away from my kids but when I got there I remember sitting down and seeing this pastor it was Easter so he had the whole family and he had a huge table it's probably 13 15t long and it fit 20 some people and it wasn't even enough room for all of his family there was kids and grandkids and I remember sitting there looking and thinking man like he has what I want he has a life he's loved there's family people are gathering together like I think all of us long to have what like to feel like we're part of a family and loved and wanted and I was like whatever he did I don't know how to do it so I'm going to listen to and I just remember sitting down when I first started that program and I told that Pastor whatever you tell me to do I'm going to do right I'm sorry if I get an attitude along the way but I'm not going anywhere because you got what I want and I just had this tenacity to go after that's a good word and then we went into the first prayer meeting and everybody was speaking in tongues and rolling around the floor and I'd never seen that keep in mind I was unchurched which I think is a good thing because you don't have anything to unlearn right it was just I walked in and I was ready to leave I was like send me back to prison never mind I'm gone isn't that crazy though how we could go and this is the part that always astonished me like we can go to parties and watch people under the influence of drugs and alcohol do the stupidest craziest thing somebody acts up a little bit in church under the influence of the Holy Spirit and we're like oh my gosh it's so weird and like do this like the stuff that we did like anyways I digress but like so that encounter the Holy Spirit was present right and so what was it like when you said the encounter started it all off right so bring that in for somebody who is unchurched right how did that like for you had not really been Church C or thing a few times here and there only knew David and Goliath is the only Bible story you're in this prayer meeting where people are filled with the spirit the Lord is moving and then like how did the Lord draw you in and allow you to get to that point where you were open right to the Holy Spirit moving and the Lord ultimately starting that work in you that's why I said what I said about the pastor first I told him I would listen that freaked me out and then he came over he seen me cuz I went back in the corner and he came over and said down I'll never forget what he said to me like he was usually pretty bold and pretty blunt but he was real gentle in this moment and he said hey are you all right I'm like no send me back to prison and he said are you freaked out I said yeah this wasn't what we did at jail in church I'm not used to this and he said open up your Bible and I want you to read acts two and I read it and he said I want you to read it to me again like slow down and read it and I read it we took our time and he said I just ask yourself this is it possible that what you're reading is what happened is it possible that we're living out like scripture like could you see that and he said son if you'll keep your mind open that everything in this word is for you it's personal you can walk in it you can live it and you can do it you'll never go back to that lifestyle and I was like really he said if you'll just believe it's the absolute truth and stand on it for the rest of your life you'll never go back so when did you believe it right because like I made a statement at the end of my sermon on Sunday we were talking about vision and developing a plan and a future for your life and I told the church I said I never forget when I met Jesus it was because somebody looked beyond the mess and told me God had a plan for my life and in that moment I was just broken enough and just foolish enough to believe that he was telling me the truth and that was the transformative moment for me I'll never forget it as long as I live when was that moment for you that like what he said made sense it dropped into your heart and you're like man this is right I can have this I had to go through extensive court dates to get my kids back and I had to go all the way to Martinsburg which was an hour and a half from levels he couldn't go with me so I would go down there and I would call him and we would pray before we go in and I remember he always said Rob stand on the word and so I remember praying to the Lord and when I got saved in prison the guy gave me Proverbs 35 and 6 which trust in the Lord with all your heart not on your own understanding acknowledge Him in all your ways he'll direct your paths and so that gave to me and him telling me to stand on the word this is going to sound crazy this is just how the Lord works with me I was like okay Lord what my pastor was telling me I'm just honesty my ex-wife really still hated me and was didn't want me to have the kids she had cops obviously that she was friends with that all knew my past had everything against me to get my kids back I'm fresh out of prison I'm still on parole I'm going through all the what and I'm fighting to get him back with nobody with me just me I'm looking at cops on the other side what in uniform and here's a judge and the Lord said listen I need this my first time I really heard him talk to me he said I need you to not fight to not retaliate not respond you just own up and you just show that you've changed wow and I was like how do I do that when everybody's against me and so I took the stand on the word and I wrote down Proverbs 35 and 6 and I put them under my shoes or under my feet in my shoes and I stood on in that courtroom and I walked through like 9 months of court dates like that being attacked and accused ridiculed and I had a paid lawyer that my dad got that said I know dirt on her I can and I said no we're not going to use that right I said I'm paying you the Lord told me to be still and trust him yeah and so I did that and at the end of that like her lawyer fired her she ended up with no lawyer and the judge gave me custody my kiss like partial C every other weekend which I did not see coming on the first round what do you say to the judge like everything they're saying about me is true I'm not going to deny any of it yeah and when I got the prison I was sharing the gospel I didn't realize it back then but I was sharing the gospel in the courtroom I'm like sir absolutely everything she says is true I hope that I can stand here today and show you that I'm a changed man because I've met Jesus Christ I fell in love with him and my life is changing and going a good direction now and I'm going to continue that path and so I just I learned through that process I was like when I got done and I got that verdict I just remember sitting out there at Kuran I'm like oh my gosh like did what he said and I followed the word and I stood on it and I trusted the Lord and here's what happened I didn't understand it was Way Beyond what I thought was possible and the outcome was there and so that was like the first moment where I seen the word come to life in my life when using it if that yeah for sure and so that started that Foundation of knowing that God was for you and imagine building a confidence right that man if like overcoming the desire to use again number one not only did I assume you had the mental like understanding that if I go back to that it's going to destroy all the progress and I think that's the part where I think maybe sometimes I don't necessarily like agree with the secular some of the secular stuff it's like relapse is a huge deal what I'm saying like it doesn't have to be part of recovery but the other side of that is that it I think where we've overblown it is that we don't show people enough Grace when they do like people are going to struggle and stumble and it's like we don't have to kick people when they're down but like my heart is like man I would hope people could have that same encountered with you did like you did and like I did that we don't have to go down that road again and so during that whole process man was there Temptation talk about that and the stuff being thrown at you and how did you battle that part of it very practically speaking learning to stand on the word and learning that the word is you will know the truth and the truth will set you free learning that and for me the whole thing of never relapsing sums up to this man it might even be some what I speak about tonight like when it says transform your mind like we've got to understand to get rid of everything that we believe the way that we live the way that we thought the way that we responded to things like all of that has to transform and the word is what replaces that and teaches us to live differently right and so that word born again what it's thrown around Loosely in the church but for me I know and this belief has never left me I know that the day I met him I died and I got born again like I literally seen my encounter was seeing my myself laying there dead right and I knew that when I came out of the other end of that I wasn't bipolar that I wasn't manic what like everything left me so then understanding the word when you have the encounter and then you get in the word and start realizing hold on 2 Corinthians 5:17 old things pass away All Things become new now I'm new like and so the reason why I haven't relapsed is because it's not in my DNA in the worldly secular part it's like hey you're always going to be an alcoholic it's in there you inherited it well no I died right and I now I have a new bloodline and in this bloodline there's no alcoholism no drug addiction no bipolar no mental illness I'm different and I'm made new yeah wow that's good and transforming your mind to really believe that not just quote it say it and put it on a t-shirt is the key to never going back why would I go back to that knowing what I get right jails institutions and death if you want to throw the recovery term mean still kill destroy and this Jesus new life is Abundant Life yeah so good dude it's like going out to the graveyard and taking up our old like an old corpse like and like yeah like he's gone he's buried man what a powerful perspective and illustration there so that process of renewing the Mind obviously like it takes work and that's the part of like old life new life but then being willing to put the work in and knowing having a healthy perspective right like and so how did you frame that right when ing the work that had to be done how did you I guess maybe convince yourself or stay committed to the process of what the Lord was doing in your life well because I knew again I started learning to really stand on what I knew was a truth and that John 10:10 okay if I choose this life it's still kill destroy if I choose this life it's Abundant Life what and so I'm like okay if I put in this much work for the enemy to destroy my life and my family I can put in work to get to know the word cuz it to me it's an identity crisis every form and I learned this even the SEC it wasn't really a secular but in the rehab program in prison every one of our addiction addictive behaviors anything whether it was drugs alcohol sex whatever always goes back to an insecure identity it always goes back to low self-esteem or something like that what and so the thing isn't get rid of all the symptoms the thing is really change your belief system to believe who you are in Christ right and when you can believe that about yourself like we love because he first loved us we can't give away love or be love until we know that we're loved and so when you get the identity of I'm really adopted into a kingdom I got a dad that loves me with no performance no I don't have to earn it or fight forward and I really can't do any bad things to lose it I can walk away from it and choose to but this dad loves me and so you get security and knowing who you are and when you do that like why would I want that like I have a whole Kingdom in my like everything is laid in front of us we coair with Christ and inherit a kingdom that killed death in the grave what I'm saying that conquered all the darkness and we get to walk like him that's what the Bible says because he's trying to make us into His Image God made us in his very own image right he created and he told Adam go subdue the Earth we have all the power to subdue that stuff but we have to know who we are and really believe it and I think that's what it was for me my process was okay I see it but now I got to really believe it and for me and I think most men maybe women aren't this way but man we got to have handson stuff you can teach me stuff a classroom on putting an engine together but if you take me out there three times and show me and have me physically do it I could probably put it together after that right yeah so I had to just take the word that it says it's life right it's living and breathing and active so if it's active that means I can do it and when I started putting it into practice like putting it in my shoes and doing that stuff it started becoming who I was and it was easy to believe is that Mak yeah makes sense absolutely well you talk about that like I'm born again right I'm I'm born into a new family a new identity right and I think so often we bring we try to like mix the old and the new what I'm saying and so it's like if I'm born again and now I'm a babe in Christ I'm having to relearn yes a new way of life and what ends up happening I think a lot of times and this is why relapse is so prevalent we bring old Rob or Justin into God's design and God's pattern and so where that mixture is the Bible talks about lukewarm is what it's he vomits us out of his mouth and that's strong language but it's necessary language right because God is like opposed to the mixture so if I am new in Christ then I understand I've got to relearn all of this and so that's that part where like yeah man I guess the maybe the more healthy question would be how do people get to that place of desperation to where they're willing it's not about relapsing or not relapsing but how do I get to that place of desperation where I'm willing to let that old man completely die yeah amen cuz it's things we don't notice either like it's simple things like how you deal with a bad circumstance right well we learned from our parents what we learned whether it's screaming yelling throwing stuff anger rage what we learned that and we don't think like that's the old man that is the old man and so then we have to learn how don't let the sun go down while you're still angry man you got to forgive people and I think that's the hard part when Jesus said follow me we all like the signs wonders Miracles and raising the dead and all that stuff right but when he taught them he didn't teach them about that he taught them hey forgive your enemies pray for the ones that persecute you he taught ways to transform your mind St your you look at the wrong thing yes it's like those are the things that has to transform what even one of my things was lust it's like I grew up where it was normal on the walls porography everywhere so you get into the kingdom and it's like oh that has to change too that my view of women has to change so you have to start seeing things and I got convicted by Holy Ghost one day of looking at a girl and he's like that's my dog and I'm like oh right sorry Dad like wow you put it in that perspective I have daughters hold on I don't want nobody look what and so Jesus says if you even look at a woman lustfully you've committed adultery so there's plenty of things that we have to look at in there that we can see people don't think foul language is a big thing listen it's not Jesus didn't do it right what and so if we look at how do we put on Christ and put on things you have to read the word and see where it shows this is how he walked this is what did he said follow him I've got to follow that not what I used to do and how I used to do it and like you're saying it's got to be this desperation which is where I was at I was completely done with my life and I just said hey if you want this crappy life you can have it cuz there's nothing left right yeah if you'll take it have it and he clearly said I'll give you mine and that was a crazy exchange that makes no sense a treasure in Earth and vessels right it's like so let me then ask for somebody who is on Rob if you're speaking to somebody you're ministering to somebody that has maybe made a surface commitment right there's not been a lot of depth and they're battling through relapse specifically right and so how are you challenging somebody in that I know every situation is different so let's just go very broad right how are you challenging somebody to go back and figure out what went wrong what was it they were missing that didn't give them that staying power to be able to continue in the new life that Christ cuz you said we agree like that identity crisis or selfish steam issues what I'm saying and so what's your starting point in those type of conversations one if they would be raw and honest like what's your biggest issue is it insecurity is it not being a good dad is it find out what the triggers if you want to say that what's the things that cause you to get off whack and say what forget that I want to do I'm angry what are the things that really get you stirred up cuz that's where we got to start the root not the symptoms let's find out what it is it pride is it low self-esteem whatever it is like what do you really think of you and then let's find the scriptures that deal with that and if you'll make a commitment to really study and practice those scriptures you'll find out after some time those behaviors will go away like that is the way like you'll know the truth and the truth will set you free that's the way we get past that stuff and then if there's the situation as Paul hey take this from me hey my grace is sufficient there's just some things that's going to be a weakness and you got to be okay I heard one pastor say it like this you'll never learn how to surrender to the supremacy of Christ the lordship of Christ until you understand the sufficiency of Christ like the need for him in every area yeah that's good what like until you get that hey some things I'm not even going to be able but I'm going to depend and trust him I'm going to pray to him I'm say God this is my weak area right now as soon as the Temptation comes I'm going to pray I'm going to get on my face I'm going to turn on worship music I'm going to do whatever it takes to get in your presence so that I don't do what the old man wants to resurrect and do and that's the only way to kill that self-sufficiency is to acknowledge the weakness when it comes up and be man enough be bold enough to acknowledge the weakness and have that humility before the Lord right cuz that all of this starts with just the raw truth of being able to be honest with oursel and other people and until we're comfortable right not lying to ourselves anymore I got to hold on this is oh it's just a small relapse it's not a big deal whatever those statements are that we often tell ourselves we lie to ourselves to make ourselves feel more comfortable about our sin right like there's got to be that Honesty that gut level honesty and rawness and that's like God is so we think he's opposed like he's repelled by our failures but really man even when we blow it he's drawn to our weakness he's drawn to our humility and our ability in those moments to say Lord here I am I blew it again and like if that happens like it's he's always willing to meet us there with our Grace but I think some of us end up some people end up stuck in that cycle cuz they's too busy denying that there's still an issue right that they haven't dealt with yeah one it's like the bad view of the father causes a lot of that when we do mess up I love the book The Epistle of First John like I could I stuck in that and I can't get out of it yeah I think it's in one 2 through six or something he says he is pure light in him there's no darkness and when we REM remain in unbroken fellowship with him the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all unrighteousness so what you just described is that scripture for me it's like okay if I blow it just like if my kid fell off a bike or if my kid stole a candy bar or whatever anything if they ran away from me it would hurt me yeah but if they ran to me I'm there hey I got what I'll help you up and but I think having the wrong view of who God really is what and understanding that he is that Grace he is that all light that he doesn't want the darkness around and if you'd run to him more the darkness would quit happening that's how you learn it's not follow the rules right it's keep running to Dad and stay in his presence long enough and he cleanses all of that stuff yeah we don't spend enough time with him sometimes to ever get to know his character and we'll never know who he is until we get close and spend time well Rob I'd love to talk longer but I know we're getting close to time for you to speak tonight and so for those watching man you can I'll tag Rob in any Facebook post and if this is on YouTube I'll drop his page in the comments his Facebook profile Rob works with adult Teen Challenge pastors of church and now in umland Maryland right everything's over in Cumberland they're doing an incredible work over there and so I encourage you to go check his stuff out as well and then also tonight this is going to air after the fact but his message from the Teen Challenge Freedom nights here in Chen Valley will be up on the YouTubes as well so I encourage you to check that out and man thanks for the conversation I wish we could have went longer I know we really just scratched the surfix but man I really appreciate it we can continue it anytime yeah absolutely all right well God bless you guys thank you for watching I appreciate yall continuing to tune in to the podcast and please hit the like button subscribe to the channel leave a comment maybe give some feedback what are your thoughts on relapse prevention identity really figuring out who you are in Christ and U just give us some feedback and we'd love to engage with you in the comments God bless you guys have a great week