Month: May 2019

Following Jesus

25th May 2019 aeboyle 2019, May, Thought For Today Comments Off on Following Jesus

None of us intentionally set out to do the wrong thing. We do what we believe is right. Unfortunately, sometimes it isn’t.

I first made a decision to recover from addiction in 1987. I entered rehab, I attended A.A. I learned and applied the Twelve Steps according to my understanding of my life. I thought I was doing okay but eventually, I relapsed because God wasn’t involved in the process.

My goals and thought process during that time were very much focused on what I wanted. Recovery became a reality when I asked God what He wanted and shaped my life around making His reality my reality.

Take Inventory of Your Motives Before You Act.

25th May 2019 aeboyle 2019, Featured, May, Step 4 Comments Off on Take Inventory of Your Motives Before You Act.

Proverbs 21:2 We justify our actions by appearances; God examines our motives.

None of us set out to do the wrong thing. Generally, we believe we are doing what is right for us. But God sees the motives of our hearts. Often we make choices in areas of life where the right actions are difficult to discern. In our lives, we would do well to learn to take inventory of our motives by asking the question “Would God be pleased with what I am thinking or about to do?” It doesn’t please God when we are living just for our own selfish ambitions.

Appetite – What The Bible Says

25th May 2019 aeboyle 2019, May, What The Bible Says Comments Off on Appetite – What The Bible Says

Don’t go and stuff yourself! That would be just the same as cutting your throat. Wise men and fools alike spend their lives scratching for food and never seem to get enough. Both have the same problem, yet the poor man who is wise lives a far better life. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush; mere dreaming of nice things is foolish; it’s chasing the wind. All things are decided by fate; it was known long ago what each man would be. So there’s no use arguing with God about your destiny.

Proverbs 23:2 ~ Ecclesiastes 6:7-10

A Change of Appetite

25th May 2019 aeboyle 2019, May, Thought For Today Comments Off on A Change of Appetite

Matthew 5:6 God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied.

We cannot live on yesterdays intake. Nor will we survive very long on an unhealthy diet. Hamburgers, fish, and chips will satisfy our hunger but they bloat the stomach and dull our desire for healthier things. Spiritual junk food similarly appeases our innermost appetite temporarily but nullifies our experience of necessary grace.  God invites us to His banqueting table. The big question is whether we accept or refuse Him.

Whatever spoils our appetite for God, regardless of how innocent it is of itself is SIN.  As we journey daily on the ‘Road to Recovery’ we need to hunger and thirst for more and more  of Jesus Christ, the ‘Bread of Life’

Prayer: Lord turn me away from the sinful things of the world that ignite my appetite. Let me taste the Living Bread, hunger and thirst for the things you attract my soul to.

Don’t Let Pride Trip You

24th May 2019 aeboyle 2019, May, Thought For Today Comments Off on Don’t Let Pride Trip You

Proverbs 16:18 If you are proud, you will be destroyed. If you are proud, you will fall.

With humility comes wisdom and with wisdom comes honor.

Before coming to The Salvation Army Bridge Program I was also in rehab in Rockingham in Western Australia. Where I learned all the right things and did all the wrong things. I remember the Director said to me “I hope I am around when you finally get serious about recovery. It will be something to watch.”

I never knew what he was talking about but I do now. I was so proud of my achievements I was a relapse waiting to happen. When it did I fell further than I have ever felt before.

The glory of my recovery today goes to God. I am just a guy who made a decision to stop and trust Him

  • Are you proud of your recovery or thankful to for it?

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What the Bible says

Leviticus 26:19 I will break down your stubborn pride. I will make the sky above you like iron, and it will not rain. I will make the ground under you like bronze, and you will not be able to farm it.

  • God used sin’s consequences to draw us to repentance, not to get back at us for doing the wrong thing.
  • Misplaced guilt is one of Satan’s favorite weapons against us.

Proverbs 13:10 Pride only leads to arguing. But those who take advice are wise.

  • Pride stirs up conflict and divides people.
  • Humility, by contrast, heals.

Be open to the advice of others, ask for help when you need it, and be willing to admit your mistakes.

Daniel 4:37 That’s why I’m singing–I, Nebuchadnezzar–singing and praising the King of Heaven: “Everything he does is right, and he does it the right way. He knows how to turn a proud person into a humble man or woman.”

Daniel 4:27-33 “King Nebuchadnezzar, listen to me—stop sinning; do what you know is right; be merciful to the poor. Perhaps even yet God will spare you.” But all these things happened to Nebuchadnezzar. Twelve months after this dream, he was strolling on the roof of the royal palace in Babylon, and saying, “I, by my own mighty power, have built this beautiful city as my royal residence and as the capital of my empire.” While he was still speaking these words, a voice called down from heaven, “King Nebuchadnezzar, this message is for you: You are no longer the ruler of this kingdom. You will be forced out of the palace to live with the animals in the fields and to eat grass like the cows for seven years until you finally realize that God parcels out the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he chooses.” That very same hour this prophecy was fulfilled. Nebuchadnezzar was chased from his palace and ate grass like the cows, and his body was wet with dew; his hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers, and his nails were like birds’ claws. 

IF YOU STUMBLE MAKE IT PART OF THE DANCE
Don’t let PRIDE trip you up!

Contentment – What The Bible Says

23rd May 2019 aeboyle 2019, May, What The Bible Says Comments Off on Contentment – What The Bible Says

Less is more and more is less. I would rather scrub floors in the house of my God than be honoured as a guest in the palace of sin. A pretentious showy life is an empty life; a plain and simple life is a full life. If you walk around with your nose in the air, you are going to end up flat on your face. But if you are content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.

Psalm 37:16 – Psalm 84:10 – Proverbs 13:7 – Luke 14:11

What Are You Doing?

22nd May 2019 aeboyle 2019, May, Thought For Today Comments Off on What Are You Doing?

We are all familiar with the question. As kids we were often in trouble, trying to find acceptable answers to the question. Out of our comfort zones as we attempted to justify wrong decisions and actions.

In 1 Kings 19: we read of Elijah running away from an uncomfortable situation. The Bible says ‘he fled for his life ‘ He told God he may as well die. Divinely supplied nourishment helped him recover and regain positive motivation.

We may be running away, but the question applies. What are you doing? We need to take time out. To talk to God, to listen to Him and to trust Him so we to can recover and regain positive motivation as we walk into a new future with Him.

Talk to God then Listen

22nd May 2019 aeboyle 2019, May, Recovery Comments Off on Talk to God then Listen

There are more troubles all around me than I can count. My sins have caught up with me, and I can’t see any longer. My sins are more than the hairs of my head. I have lost all hope. Psalm 40:12

Sin creates a barrier between us and God. If we want to break down the barrier we need to understand God is greater than the barrier. Through the recovery process He gives us hope for reconciliation with Him.

What do you see in your future with God?

19th May 2019 aeboyle 2019, Living Life Recovery, May, Thought For Today Comments Off on What do you see in your future with God?

Psalms 41:4 I said, “Lord, show me your favor. Heal me. I have sinned against you.”

Pouring our heart out to God opens up the way to forgiveness. Forgiveness opens up the way to change.

Personal experience of God’s pardon in my life helped me to seriously consider the fact I was now on the road to change. Up to that point, it was all still a bit of a pipe dream. I had learned about the process of recovery through my journey without really considering the question of what next?

Confession to God for me was the start of His involvement in my life. I realized through communication with Him I had a chance to live a productive and practical life. It was the beginning of my realization that I had hope.

 

About Encouragement, Comfort and Fellowship

19th May 2019 aeboyle 2019, May, What The Bible Says Comments Off on About Encouragement, Comfort and Fellowship

Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from His love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form, He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated Him to the place of highest honor and gave Him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  Philippians 2:1-11

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