Steps to Freedom: A Testimony of Recovery and Renewal

By Danny Ray Christian

“Freedom is not free,” it took me nearly forty-years to realize this fact about freedom. It was not until I fully embraced the grace and love of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, that I experienced true freedom. This book gives a concise description of the byways and highways I took in order to arrive at the point in my life where I could honestly say, “FREE AT LAST,
THANK GOD ALMIGHTY, I AM FREE AT LAST!”
In the course of me going from a man who spent 3/5th of his life behind prison bars and insane asylum fences. I can tell you that freedom was wasted on me as long as I took it for granted. I was delivered from all the mental, emotional and spiritual shackles that held me bound, the day I gave my life over to God. Now I can declare that I not only talk about the joy of being free, but can also testify that there is no more liberating freedom than that which comes with Christs’ blood bought Salvation, and the peace of mind that the Father gives all those
“whose mind is stayed on Him.”
It is my belief that none of us can get the full benefit out of freedom in its true form until we understand that, “The One we serve determines the rewards we get for our servitude.” The reality is, that as long as we live on this earth, we are going to serve either God and Jesus, or Satan and our flesh. Trust me when I tell you, “Your life will be a hundred times better off if you commit yourself to being in the will of God.” I hope that you will read my testimony as it is summed up in this small book, and know that what Jesus did for me, once I accepted the freedom he purchased for me on the Cross of Calvary, he will do the same thing for you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 6, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669810292

Danny Ray Christian

Danny has been certified by Toastmasters International as a Competent Public Speaker (1991 East Moline). He received his GED from the Chicago City Colleges (1981) and obtained a certificate in Graphic Arts from Southeastern Illinois College (1987). He is a former member of the Pan-African Revolutionary Socialist Party. He spent twenty years in prison and ten in Elgin Mental Health Center. While in the hospital he wrote over eight-hundred poems, three books of daily meditations, and numerous speeches and Afro-centric anecdotes. He also acted as a mentor for younger consumers while there, leading his own peer-support groups and chairing GROW for four years (2003-07). You can contact him about appearing at your venue at [e-mail]

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Copyright © 2022 by Danny Ray Christian.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 02/04/2022

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

839860

Publish Work

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Dedication

This book is dedicated to the Recovery Community,

both those in recovery and those assisting them.

Contents

Publish Work

Dedication

Preface

Part One: Surrendered and Conceded

Step One: Gave up the need to control everything

Step Two: Became willing to take direction

Step Three: Identified and embraced pain

Benefit: Found contentment

Part Two: Admitted problem

Step One: Reframed problem as opportunity and challenge

Step Two: Took responsibility for actions

Step Three: Became a giver

Benefit: Became less selfish

Part Three: Turned tests into blessings

Step One: Focused on solutions

Step Two: Chose life

Step Three: Became accountable to God and others

Benefit: Life became manageable

Conclusion

Preface

For an addict, drugs and alcohol or whatever it is they are addicted to is never the real problem, something always stands behind their using and it is usually a sense of guilt, shame and hurt (disappointment). I used drugs to reinforce feelings of self-loathing I felt after my father walked out on us when I was just three years old. His absence from my life created a void in my heart and soul that I filled first with feelings of insecurity and ultimately with pain numbing substances and self-destructive behavior.

That is why I say I went from being," used up (empty) and useless (stuck) to