Toby’s Testimony

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit.  I came to Columbus Rescue Mission on December 5, 2007 directed here by my Lord!  I joined the New Life Program because I saw what the Lord had done in Cody’s life. I wanted the peace that he has.  After 27 years of “Being Dead” while living, I told myself, What’s  9 to 14 months, if God can fix me, it will be worth it.  I should have been dead and gone, but the good Lord let me live on.  Why?  I’ve asked myself many times.  I didn’t have enough guts to just kill myself, so I tried partying myself to death.  Out of the last 24 years, I’ve spent 18 years in prison, jails, and half-way houses.  I’ve drank Lysol and other hazardous things just to catch a buzz; anything that pumped my adrenalin, I was into.  I even got “high” from shoplifting.  I “was” an “8” time loser!  Now today I’m a “1” time winner!! I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.  Galatians 2:20. Today is August 5, 2008, and it has taken me 8 months to write my testimony while trying to figure out who am I.  I finally met my Father, I am a son of God, and I love Jesus Christ!  Since I’ve been here at the Columbus Rescue Mission, I’ve been baptized by my Pastor, Jim Bates; I’m continually learning and growing; two different employers have given me jobs, and numerous teachers have taken their time to teach me.  I even got an overhaul from a great dentist! Thank You Lord!!  Becoming an adult doesn’t always mean we’re capable of running our own life, “brokenness and surrender” is teaching me to rely on God!  Thank You Lord. And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life and this life is in the Son.  He who has the Son has life, he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.  1 John 5:11,12. P.S. I also passed my drivers license test today, Praise the Lord. When one man is enlisted and equipped to serve, mentor and disciple one man, so that this man can do the same for another, a chain reaction occurs.  Thank you Chaplain’s Ted, Don and Dave. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the  Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Mathew 28:19. Toby Thompson PTL