Tag: Control

Discussion Starter #55

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Rely on God

Matthew 6:34 Don’t worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Worry! Worry! Worry! It’s how I used to spend my life. It’s not anymore. Because I have learned to ‘Rely on God’ It wasn’t easy, it took time, it took practice, but I finally learned it.

Relying on God doesn’t mean do nothing. It means do the best you can with what you have available to you and leave the outcomes in His hands.

Most of the worry I experienced in life was about things I had no control over.

  • What are you worried about?
  • What can you change right now?

#Available #Outcome #Control

What The Bible Says

It matters very little to me what you think of me, even less where I rank in popular opinion. I don’t even rank myself. 1 Corinthians 4:3

Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not depend on your own understanding. In all your ways remember him. Then he will make your paths smooth and straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6

Say just a simple ‘Yes, I will’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Your word is enough. To strengthen your promise with a vow shows that something is wrong. Matthew 5:37

Prayer: Lord help me today not to worry about the things I cannot change.

Discussion Starter #47

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NOWHERE TO RUN

Psalms 139:7 How can I get away from your Spirit? Where can I go to escape from you?

Do you believe recovery is a choice? I ask that question because I read it somewhere once and I am not sure if I believe it. Another thing I heard about the twelve steps was ‘If they don’t stop you drinking they will spoil it for you.’

Today I believe that all of our lives God has His hand on us. Take a short inventory of your life. Do you think you would still be here if not for God’s intervention?

The verse above says “How can I get away from your Spirit?” The answer is you can’t. God is everywhere, He sees everything, He knows everything and He is involved in everything. Even if you die God is there!

Recovery is about regaining control of your life. You do that by giving up control.

  • Are you willing to give up control of your life?

PRAYER
God today I had over control of my life to You. Help me to let go of it.

#Willing #Control #Regain

Step One Week 2

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Step One: I admit my life is a mess and I am out of control

None of us is perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you’d have a perfect person, in perfect control of life. James 3:2 #Control #Admit #Mess

Verse For Today

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“You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God.” Matthew 5:6

  • Addiction and compulsion lose there influence over our lives as we increasingly yield them to the control of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God living in us reduces our appetite for sin and increases your hunger for God

Romans 8:5 Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in them.

It Wisnae Me!

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1 John 1:8-10 If we claim not to have sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we acknowledge our sins, then, since he is trustworthy and just, he will forgive them and purify us from all wrongdoing. If we claim we have not been sinning, we are making him out to be a liar, and his Word is not in us.

We often balk at having to take responsibility for the wrong we do and want so much for it to be someone else’s fault. I have heard a lot of people complete STEP TWO I believe God exists, that he cares about me and He can help me to regain control of my life and wait for God to make everything right. I have heard people ask the question:

  • If God has forgiven me for my sins because of Christ’s death, why must I confess my sins?

In admitting our sins and receiving Christ’s cleansing, we are:

(1) Agreeing with God that our sin truly is sin and that we are willing to turn from it.
(2) Ensuring that we don’t hide our sins from God and consequently from ourselves.
(3) Recognizing our tendency to sin and relying on His power to overcome it.

Recovery is not easy but it is simple. I had it explained to me very simply a long time ago and it is the best description I have found. Steps 1-2-3 “I can’t – God Can – I think I will let Him.”

Listen and Obey

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Hebrews 3:15 It has just been said, “Listen to his voice today. If you hear it, don’t be stubborn. You were stubborn when you opposed me.”

This is my favorite verse in the whole Bible. I remember when I was wrestling with handing my life over to Christ’s control attending three different services where this verse was shared.

Since then when I am feeling down I like to read it in context

Hebrews 3:14- 16 We belong to Christ if we hold tightly to the faith we had at first. But we must hold it tightly until the end. It has just been said, “Listen to his voice today. If you hear it, don’t be stubborn. You were stubborn when you opposed me.” Who were those who heard and refused to obey? Weren’t they all the people Moses led out of Egypt?

For me it says it all: I am changed because of Jesus. He is in control and I am not. When He speaks my part in our agreement is to listen and obey.

#2309 Daily Reflection

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DO YOU BELEIVE?

Bible Reading: Galatians 3:1-9
Focus Verse: Galatians 3:6

As I have stated previously I grew up believing in God. What I didn’t believe is He had anything to offer me, because I believed God’s job was to help the weak and I never saw myself as weak.

I am and have always been a strong-willed individual. I see what I want and I go after it.

In recovery, this can be both a strength or a weakness. Strength because when I made a conscious decision to pursue recovery it was with 100% commitment. Weaknesses because I do not always give the right consideration to other people’s views, and sometimes I have to admit God’s leading. What helps me to overcome this is I believe strongly God is in control of my life and the life of others and I need to let Him lead.

– Do you believe God is in control?
– Are you prepared to let Him lead

Prayer: Lord today I give complete control of my life

#2240 Thought For Today

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thought_for_todayJesus said Matthew 5:47  “If you are friendly only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else?”

When we are caught up in ourselves and out of control it seperates us from God. When we come into recovery and make a consious decision to make Jesus Christ our One True Higher Power God makes us His friends.

All of my life I had very few, really close friends. Not because I am anti-social like I tried for so much of my life to portray to others. But, because I find it really hard to get close to people and show the real me because deep down I still feel like “I am not enough” 

The Bible says in Proverbs 18:24  There are “friends” who pretend to be friends. The same verse says “there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” For me that friend is Jesus Christ. He accepts me for who I am, unconditinally, with all my flaws and failings and no matter where I am at any stage of any day He is ready and willing to spend time with me.

Proverbs 22:24-25 warns us “Don’t befriend angry people or associate with hot-tempered people, or you will learn to be like them and endanger your soul.”  Everyone I choose to associate with influences me as a person, whether I know it or not. I believe I am who I am today because I have been fortunate over my recovery life to have good, caring Christian men in my life mentoring me and influencing me to help me to learn what it means not just to achieve sobriety but to be transformed by the renewing of my heart, mind and soul.

James 2:23  tells us  “Just as the Scriptures say, that Abraham trusted God, and the Lord declared him good in God’s sight, and he was even called “the friend of God.” We can be friends of God, like Abraham by putting our faith in Him and trusting Him to help us to recover more day by day.

In John 14:15-17  Jesus says “If you love me, obey me; and I will ask the Father and he will give you another Comforter, and he will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit who leads into all truth. The world at large cannot receive him, for it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you do, for he lives with you now and some day shall be in you.” Jesus promises me if wecontinue to follow His leading in our lives the Holy Spirit will walk with us daily and wewill know His presence in and through or lives.

GOD IS SO GOOD TO ME!

 

 

#2229 On Your Own ~ You are not enough

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12 StepsI ADMIT MY LIFE IS A MESS AND I AM OUT OF CONTROL

Romans 3:23 Everyone has sinned. No one measures up to God’s glory.
None of us is good enough to achieve recovery on our own. The Bible tells us that. We all need God’s help and we all need each other.

 

  • Decide today to follow God’s direction for your recovery.

 

  • Find one person in your support group who you have something in common with and commit to helping each other.