Day: 28 May 2020

Any Lengths

28th May 2020 aeboyle 2020, Discussion Starters, LLR Videos, LLRTV, May Comments Off on Any Lengths

Page 58 – Chapter 5 The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous

Our stories disclose in a general way what we used to be like, what happened and what we are like now. If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any lengths to get it you are ready to take certain steps. At some of these we balked. We tought we could find an easier softer way but we could not.  Remember we deal with alcohol, cunning, baffling and powerful! Without help it is too much for us. But there is One who has all power – that One is God. May you find Him now.

How far are you willing to go to achieve and maintain your recovery from addiction and compulsion? Have you tried and failed in the past? Do you get so far, seem to be going well and then relapse? Thinking you were going well as you became complacent, stopped attending meetings, implementing what you have learned?

Tonight, I want us to take an honest look at our willingness to go to any lengths. What are we doing to discover God’s will for our lives and seeking His power to carry it out?

I. TRUST GOD IN EVERYTHING
Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all. Run to God! Proverbs 3:5-7

II. THE ENERGY YOU ARE EXPERIENCING IS GOD’S ENERGY That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure. Philippians 2:13

III. PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING
Stay alert; be in prayer so you don’t wander into temptation without even knowing you’re in danger. There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God. But there’s another part that’s as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire.” Matthew 26:41

IV. KEEP MOVING FORWARD
Your heart’s been in the right place all along. You’ve got what it takes to finish it up, so go to it. 2Corinthians 8:11

 V. WORK AT IT Concentrate on doing your best for God, work you won’t be ashamed of, laying out the truth plain and simple. 2 Timothy 2:15

VI. RECOVERY REQUIRES CHANGES
Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:31-32

VII. THERE IS A PURPOSE TO RECOVERY
We neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing. Ephesians 2:10

DISCUSSION STARTER

2 Corinthians 10:3 I do live in the world. But I don’t fight my battles the way the people of the world do.

Recovery causes conflict. You will find that because of what you are learning in recovery you no longer think like other people. You no longer act like other people. For some of those people that is going create conflict.

In Luke 12:51 Jesus says “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you. I have come to separate people.”

There is no middle ground in recovery. You are either in or you are out. It requires commitment. Even when conflict arises. Conflict for me in the process of recovery meant moving away from everyone and everything I knew and loved. It added a new dimension to the phrase. If you love it set it free.

ARE YOU WILLING TO GO TO ANY LENGTHS TO OBTAIN AND MAINTAIN RECOVERY

ALL THIS AND MORE

28th May 2020 aeboyle 2020, May, Morning Harmony, Comments Off on ALL THIS AND MORE

The time has come When the Lord will save his people. Your shame and disgrace are ended. Everyone who sees them will know That they are a people whom I have blessed. Isaiah 61:2,7,9

The proclamation of Isaiah, six hundred years before Jesus came on His mission and ministry. Those of us who have experienced rock bottom are able to clutch tightly to this message of redeeming power. Centuries before His arrival on earth Jesus was announced as our Deliverer. Able to reach down into the lowest parts of our lives and carry out a rescue mission on our lives. The problem is not enough people on this earth have relented from their self-imposed captivity and called upon Him to deliver them from sin and oppression.

How blessedly relevant is the ‘Good News’ Christ IS our One True Higher Power. He brings us release if we allow Him complete control of our lives. He imparts songs of joy which overthrow sorrow and remorse, grief and distress. He is a life promoter. He establishes righteousness. He plants us like trees in His Kingdom, transplants us from our old wilderness.

All of this placed alongside the promise made to those who have squandered much of life. It is time to about-turn , trust God, turn to Him and allow His wonders to come into uout hearts and lives.

What The Bible Says

There’s no such thing as self-rescue, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. The cost of rescue is beyond our means. Psa 49:7-8

Wait and watch for God— with God’s arrival comes love, with God’s arrival comes generous redemption.
Psa 130:7

God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ. Rom 3:24

“These are some of the signs that will accompany believers: They will throw out demons in my name, they will speak in new tongues, they will take snakes in their hands, they will drink poison and not be hurt, they will lay hands on the sick and make them well.” Mar 16:17-18

PRAYER
Maker of heaven and earth redeem my past according to Your will and purpose. Fit me for service, lift me from sin by Your saving grace. Bring me deeper into relationship with You. Amen

Contact LLR

%d bloggers like this: