"Set at Liberty" - To

 "Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty: and whom, if he come shortly, I will see him." (Hebrews 13:23 KJV) 

  "Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near." (Hebrews 10:23-25 NLT)

 If you didn't know, or haven't heard, I was totally against any and all religions; having no desire to even think about going into a church. I was pretty much settled with reading the Bible on my own, praying to God, in my own way, and having my own private fellowship, with a God I really didn't know! If that sounds strange to you, that is totally fine; because it really was strange; and it was wrong! 

 After I was arrested, back in the day, I focused quite a bit on getting things in order; as it was, I felt that I was going to prison, as the judge who sentenced, me back in the late 70's for dealing drugs, came out of retirement to put me away. However, there was about 5 or 6 of us that were getting tried, and everyone had a lawyer, except me; I thought I would defend myself, because I felt that I wasn't doing anything wrong, selling drugs to my friends. 

 When we rented a place to stay, the guy who owned it had a termite company, and I started out working on his rentals; but he saw that I was a hard worker, so he trained me to do termite work. I had another job, which was driving a truck for Napa auto parts; but on January 1st, 1981, I was totally working for him, at least 12 hours a day, six days a week. 

 Early in the spring he sat me down and asked if I wanted to be licensed to do inspections, and he began to get me ready for the test I would be taking. The day we were filling out the application, we were sitting on his Livingroom floor, and he was filling out the questions, as I answered them. When it came to the spot where it asked, "Have you ever been convicted of a felony?" I told him that I had not yet, but I was going to court for a felony charge. 

 When I told him what the charge was, and that we had been going to court for at least eight months already, he asked me if I had a Lawyer. I told him I did not, and that I was defending myself. So he asked me what my defense was going to be; and I told him, "I believe in the Bible, and in the Bible, it says that God created the Herbs, and He said it was good; and I was just about giving good Herbs to my friends." 

 Well, that didn't go so well; as he instantly jumped up off the floor, and said, "I am getting you a Lawyer!" He put a $5,000 retainer down for some hotshot Lawyer, and in May of 1981 I was sentenced to one year in the County jail. The new judge we had, (because the first one gave up trying to convict me, as the trial just kept dragging on and on), gave me a lesser sentence, because I was gainfully employed; he even gave me a month to get my affairs in order; and on June 15th, 1981, I got a ride to the L.A. County Jail...

"Once a religious leader asked Jesus this question: "Good Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?" "Why do you call me good?" Jesus asked him. "Only God is truly good. But to answer your question, you know the commandments: 'You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. Honor your father and mother.'" The man replied, "I've obeyed all these commandments since I was young." When Jesus heard his answer, he said, "There is still one thing you haven't done. Sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."" (Luke 18:18-22 NLT)