(After struggling as a young adult with alcohol and drug abuse, Karl trusted Jesus Christ as his Savior at age 23 in the 1980s. The story Karl shares below, taken from his book The 7 Resolutions, occurred three weeks after he placed his faith in Christ.)

I had never met the man who sat across from me. He stretched out to hand me the clear glass pipe freshly loaded with crystal methamphetamine. I took a hit, and in a moment, the drug’s rush was followed quickly by crushing condemnation.

How God pulled off what happened next, I’ll never fully understand. He gave me the strength to bolt from that place. As I ran through the room, I didn’t know if I’d get tackled or shot; I just had to get out of there. When I crashed through the front door, I was running for my safety, but really I was trying to outrun my shame.

That two-mile stretch of road I covered was a blur. God was carrying me, but Satan talked my ear off, telling me I was unredeemable and deserved to die. Opening the front door to the place I was staying, I shuffled quietly to my bedroom, falling to my knees. The shame blanketed me.

This shameful night happened three weeks after the light of Jesus had shined into the darkness of my soul and saved my life. I was only 23, but in a moment, God had changed me. I had finally experienced what it meant to be born all over again. My new life was breathtaking. But there I was, a three-week-old failed follower of Jesus. Evil was taunting me with this thought: “You might even be a child of God, but some of your battles just can’t be won.”

But, over three decades later, I can tell you with complete confidence that, because of the gospel, you can win your biggest battles. It’s about believing God’s promises and resolving to follow His plan for embracing them. It’s about overcoming what is defeating you. It means beating addictions, altering destructive behaviors, and killing bad habits that you’ve grown accustomed to or possibly written off as unwinnable.

If you have truly believed that Jesus both died for your sins and came up out of the grave and lives today, and if you have turned around 180 degrees to follow Him, you already know the path you walk has plenty of challenges. But the promises and extravagant abundance of life in Christ are inestimable.

• You have been given access to every spiritual blessing. (Eph. 1:3)
• You are empowered by God to experience the unimaginable. (Eph. 3:20)
• You have received a spirit of power, love, and sound mind. (2 Tim. 1:7)
• You are uniquely designed by God to do great work. (Eph. 2:10)
• You have been chosen and destined to bear much fruit. (John 15:16)
• You are free in Christ and no longer a slave to sin. (Gal. 5:1)
• You are dead to your old life and alive in Christ. (Gal. 2:20)
• You can now be strengthened and matured through trials. (James 1:4)

“If you’ve got chains, He’s a chain breaker.” For Christian music artist Zach Williams, the song Chain Breaker is personal. In a conversation with Moody Radio’s Chris Fabry, Zach shared how he had run far from the Lord, but how everything changed when God took hold of his life and broke the chains of sin that had entangled him.

Chris Fabry said that just as they were ending the interview, a listener called. He worked as an Uber driver, and that day he had tuned in to Moody Radio and Chris’s interview with Zach.

“He told us that a young man had gotten in for a ride, and his rider had been listening to my interview,” Chris said. “After the song, the young man asked him, ‘Do you think that’s true? Do you think God can really do that?’”

“What I like about this story,” Chris continued, “is the mystery of the young man who left the car. Instead of tying up all the loose ends, we only know that a seed was planted.”

But we all know that a seed is more than enough for God. Just as God had changed Zach’s life, He used Zach’s song sent over the airwaves to impact the life of someone else. The truth of the gospel rippled forward, breaking the chains of sin as it went.

“This story shows what we’re all about,” Chris said. “Not every listener has a conversion after one hearing. And not every person listening is ready to commit their life to Christ. But the faithful telling of stories and being true to the gospel is something God uses to motivate us as believers to proclaim the gospel to those who don’t know Christ.”

Most of us have experienced the pain of a loved one’s passing. But the valley of grief that Renée, a Moody Radio listener, had to travel through recently is simply unfathomable to imagine.

In the span of five grueling years, Renée had to say goodbye to her mother, then her baby, then her father, her boyfriend, and finally her best friend. This series of unexpected deaths left her devastated, defeated, and contemplating ending her own life.

“I was lost and full of grief,” Renée remembers. “I didn't want to wake up and live. I wanted to sleep and never wake up.”

Renée knew no one she could turn to for the help she desperately needed. But one day, while surfing stations on the radio, she came across Unlocking the Bible on Moody Radio. From that moment on, the gospel changed everything.

“I heard Pastor Colin Smith’s program,” she says, “and he spoke about a God who is close to the brokenhearted. I would stay in my car just to listen to his comforting words.”

Eventually, after listening to the program repeatedly and coming to a clear understanding God’s offer of salvation and new life through Christ, Renée placed her faith in Jesus as her Savior and turned her life over to Him. Unlocking the Bible helped Renée discover the only One who could save her from her sin and bring the ultimate hope to her life.

“I met Jesus thanks to this program,” she says. “And I thank Moody Radio for sharing the Word with lost people like myself. God bless this station. May it comfort and save many more! I want to thank this station for the uplifting messages you share for people like me who have nothing to hold onto in times of grief.”

Moody Radio is committed to sharing the good news of Christ at least 10 times a day, every day, as well as nurturing listeners’ spiritual lives through biblical truth. As a nonprofit radio ministry, our mission is only made possible through the generosity of financial partners like you who keep Moody Radio on the airwaves. Please consider making a gift today as the Lord leads you so that listeners like Renée can continue meeting Jesus and encountering the gospel on our programs.

Moody School of the Bible is an answer to prayer for rural pastors and Christian leaders in West Africa. This innovative approach to ministry provides biblical and theological training through solar-powered devices using content from Moody Radio’s long-running teaching program, Radio School of the Bible.

The school’s achievements so far have far exceeded everyone’s expectations. Since launching in 2017, Moody School of the Bible has already graduated 1,000 students in Ghana—with many more graduates to come through your financial support!

Thanks to the giving of generous supporters, Moody Bible Institute partnered with Theovision, a nonprofit ministry in Ghana, in 2016 to contextualize, translate, and record the course material. Each student who attends Moody School of the Bible receives a solar player loaded with an audio copy of the Bible in their language plus four Bible classes for each of two training levels. Students take oral exams on their phone.

“I really appreciate the opportunity that has been given to me to undergo this program,” said Jacob Amoah, a Level 2 graduate. “I have gained more knowledge in God’s Word, which is helping me in my evangelism work as I share the Bible with people in my community.”

Dr. Gregg Quiggle, Moody professor of theology, was in Ghana last summer to speak to the 439 graduates at Moody School of the Bible’s 2021 graduation ceremony. Dr. Quiggle praises God for the incredible success of the program.

“I can’t even describe what it’s like to see these people who have desperately wanted something to finally get something that they can understand and use,” he said. “It’s truly one of the most important things I’ve ever done. This is pure Mr. Moody—providing basic Bible education to lay people, the people who need it the most and have the least access to it. In many places in the world, people do not read or write. And while many have cell phones, most are basic phones with no screen.”

Isaac Kwaku Mensah, a Level 2 graduate, said his love for God and his faith grew significantly through Moody School of the Bible.

“I recommended the program to some friends who were amazed at my new life, and they also enrolled,” he said. “They are now graduating in Level 1. Thank you so much for this knowledge and insight.”

Through your generosity, more rural pastors like Isaac can receive the biblical and theological training they need to share the gospel and disciple believers in West Africa. As we raise crucial funds for Moody Radio during Spring Share 2022, we’ll join with Theovision International to help access a matching gift for the Moody School of the Bible project in West Africa.