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From dusty roads to paradise

My mama passed on a notion to me, that she heard from some preacher she can't remember. The Bible is our sustenance, our manna. We need it daily. DAILY. Just like food. And who doesn't eat? Dead people. I remember the first time I heard that. It was so eye opening to the people I saw every day. I could tell just by a simple conversation who wasn't actually partaking in the word of God daily. The spiritually dead. One man in particular described that to me. He is my brother. I love him dearly, but honestly he isn't the type you'd want over for dinner.
He's not a bad person. Made some pretty bad decisions over his life, but it's the language that would get you. He could make a sailor blush. I've never heard so many curse words in one sentence before.
Matthew 15:18 says But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. Judging by that, my brother was the most spiritually dead person I had ever met. Saddest part is, if you asked, he'd tell you he was a Christian.
He was vulgar. He made dirty jokes in front of his own mother without missing a beat. He was the angriest person I've ever known. It seemed like no matter what, Kevin would never be happy. He treated people badly, because he was his own number one. Always.
Then something happened. Jesus' grace radically collided with my brother's heart. It happened literally overnight. We were talking about God one day, and as usual I was inviting him to church. He told me he didn't need to go, because talking to me was like going to church. I know he meant that to be an insult, but I have to say, that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me.
I don't even remember exactly how the conversation went after that because I didn't know it would be significant at the time. He got off the phone, promising to listen to a sermon called "power of the same," by Steven Furtick. Next thing I know, he was calling me and his exact words were "I need a bible."
Once Kevin started getting into the word of God, a real miracle of the heart happened. All he wanted to talk about was God. He wanted to read, and listen, and learn. Talking to him was engaging. The day after he got his bible, we had a two hour conversation and not one time did he curse. You can't do that by yourself. Even if he tried, he would eventually slip up, after all the years he talked like that.
From there he really accepted Jesus, and now we talk every day, almost all day. Always about God. We are reading the bible together with a few others. We had an estranged relationship. Now, not only is he my brother, he's my brother in Christ!
Pastor Paul lit the salvation candle for Kevin today. I sat in my seat, and watched the light from the candle, with my brother sitting right behind me. I thought back to what Kevin had said to me, talking to me was like going to church. I'm so incredibly blessed that now, I can say the same to him.

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