2022 | Day Fifty-One | Verse for Today
Many times in my spiritual walk I have been tested – many times I have failed but with God’s help, I have always come through. And, in coming through become stronger in my faith and in my life.
Tag: Decision
Trust in the Lord with all your heart.
2 Corinthians 13:9 I’m glad when I am weak but you are strong. I pray that you will become perfect.
It’s sad when someone who has done so well suddenly relapses. Casualties occur in recovery and in the Church. The sight of some who fall victim to the enemy of who just trip up is not a pretty sight. Those who care grieve over spiritual casualties.
When down-hearted hang on there. When you seem to be at a standstill, hold tightly to Jesus. If things around you are looking bad, look up. Make a conscious decision to keep going. The death of our Lord and Saviour guarantees our ultimate victory. So don’t crumble or collapse and become a casualty. Keep on keeping on. Confirm your commitment to the process.
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not depend on your own understanding.
Prayer: When I am tempted to give up Lord fortify my soul
with courage and conviction so I feel going on.
Focus on God
Psalms 34:4 I looked to the Lord, and he answered me. He saved me from everything I was afraid of.
In the process of God changing our sinful habits and attitudes, it is important we keep our focus on Him.
If you ask ten different people in recovery the best way of achieving and maintaining recovery you will get ten different answers.
Recovery in my life is covered in prayer, meditation, and being led by God. I do have trusted people in my life whom I go to bounce things off but the final decision in everything I do lies with me and God. God gave us free will for a reason. I believe that reason is to see how much we have learned through our relationship with Him and how we implement it in our daily living. Don’t make any decisions you have not talked to God about.
Psalms 34:2-8 I will glory in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
I. FOCUS ON GOD – He changes our character.
Romans 5:4 Endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident
hope of salvation.
II. FOCUS ON GOD – He conquered our past.
Romans 8:37 Despite all this, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loved us enough to die for us.
III. FOCUS ON GOD – He controls our future.
1 Corinthians 2:9 It is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him. ¨
from today’s Scripture:
HEAR and REJOICE
Matthew 6:7 When you pray, don’t be like the people who don’t know God. They say the same things again and again. They think that if they say it enough, their god will hear them.
GLORIFY and EXALT
Psalms 99:9 Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his holy mountain,
for the Lord our God is holy.
CALL and BE SAVED
Luke 7:50 Jesus said, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Step 6 – Day 5
The Lord’s decisions are good forever. His plans are good for generation after generation. Psalms 33:11
Discussion Starter #65
Recovery is NOT a Temporary Thing
Eternal life is to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, the one you sent. John 17:3
Lasting, growing, spiritual recovery comes from not only knowing who Jesus is but from being in close, intimate, personal relationship with Him – FOREVER!
Jesus is The way, The Truth and The Life. There are many other philosophies in the world that tell us they have the answers. They may have some answers but only Jesus has all the answers to solving life’s problems.
People look everywhere for the answers to life and in doing so they usually miss Jesus – the only true source of eternal life.
I am so glad that Jesus loves me and I have made a conscious decision to stay with Him – FOREVER!
Especially when I feel confused, lonely and afraid.
Discussion Starter
Hebrews 12:1 We must be determined to run the race that is ahead of us.
Luke 9:4 Keep it simple; you are the equipment. .
#Answers #Decision #Simple
Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me today to stay in constant, intimate relationship with You.
Discussion Starter #51
Nothing is too Hard for God
Psalm 109:26 Lord my God, help me. Save me because of your faithful love.
One of the things that led to my downfall previously in recovery was the need to tell the best stories in meetings, (the drunk a logs)
I remember an old-timer in an A.A. meeting in Western Australia asking me the questions “how old are you? What have you done in life?” When I told him I was 23 he said to me” You can’t be an alcoholic you are too young. Go and get some rungs on the board and then come back.” I did, relapsed a few times but never lost contact with A.A. Why? because I knew I was an alcoholic and I needed to do something about changing my life.
Recovery has nothing to do with where you have been and what you have done. Nothing to do with your age, gender, race or religion. Addiction doesn’t discriminate – it accepts everybody. Recovery is about where you are right now and realizing to move forward you need help – God’s help.
“Don’t be ridiculous!” Saul replied. “How can a kid like you fight with a man like him? You are only a boy, and he has been in the army since he was a boy!” [1 Samuel 17:33.] David replied: “The Lord who saved me from the claws and teeth of the lion and the bear will save me from this Philistine!” [1 Samuel 17:37] Step Three says “I am making a decision to let God help me change and commit to working with Him to do so.” Join me tomorrow as we move forward in this wonderful, life-changing, miracle-working process called RECOVERY!
#Recovery #Life #Decision
- Are you ready and willing to let go of the past?
- Have you accepted that God loves you because of who you are?
Prayer: Help me remember today God that You love me just the way I am.
God Saved Me From Big Things For Big Things.
I believe the statement above. Not because I have tickets on myself but because I firmly believe when we take Step Three Made a decision to turn our wills and our lives over to the care of God. When we make a conscious decision to live our lives according to God’s will He opens doors for us to walk through, equips us to walk through them and prepares the way for His glorification through our actions and behaviors.
Isaiah 58:11-12 says “I will always show you where to go. I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places– firm muscles, strong bones. You’ll be like a well-watered garden, a gurgling spring that never runs dry. You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your past. You’ll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again.”
William Booth the founder of the Salvation Army gave a charge to the soldiers of the Salvation Army to ‘Go For Souls and Go For the Worst’ A charge I take very personally and seriously in my recovery life. Since I entered Bible-based recovery in 1989 it has been my goal to seek the lost and assist them with His help to find a personal relationship with Him so they too can go through the doors God opens for them and influence people in their sphere of influence in living lives that mirror God’s purpose.
1 Peter 2:5 says “Present yourselves as building stones for the construction of a sanctuary vibrant with life, in which you’ll serve as holy priests offering Christ-approved lives up to God.
” Recovery is about ‘Spiritual Growth’
Matthew 5:6 “You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.
- You can’t share with people what you don’t have.
- You can’t learn about God’s Way of living unless you live it.
- To live it you have to learn it and to learn it you study it and apply it.
Proverbs 24:6 says “Strategic planning is the key to warfare; to win, you need a lot of good counsel.”An important part of the recovery process is securing relationships with a sponsor and accountability partner to help you better decipher God’s purpose for your life and apply it to your daily living.
Step Twelve “Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others and to practice these principles in all our affairs.”
One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Isaiah 61:4 “They’ll rebuild the old ruins, raise a new city out of the wreckage. They’ll start over on the ruined cities, take the rubble left behind and make it new.” A goal that can only be achieved in God’s strength with God’s help in God’s timing.
Work Therapy
Ephesians 6:6-7 Don’t just do what you have to do to get by, but work heartily, as Christ’s servants doing what God wants you to do. And work with a smile on your face, always keeping in mind that no matter who happens to be giving the orders, you’re really serving God.
An important component on the Salvation Army Bridge Programme is ‘work therapy’ The Message Bible says “Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part. Our counsel is that you warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet. Be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs. 1 Thessalonians 5:13-14
For me ‘work therapy’ was an important part of my spiritual walk. Towards the end of my time on the Bridge Programme, the Salvation Army was commencing a new ‘Red Shield Industries’ on the rehab property in Mount Barker, South Australia. I was invited to participate in establishing the RSI where I volunteered on completion of my time on the programme, was employed and appointed to the position of Assistant Manager responsible for assisting set-up of RSI from the ground up. My job involved setting up a Home Collection Service, establishing new Family Stores, fitting out the stores, employing staff to manage the stores and helping with the day to day running of Red Shield Family Stores. Following marriage to my wife Karen I was appointed as the Assistant Manager of the Salvation Army’s new warehouse in Gepps Cross and through a series of different events eventually progressed to the position of State Manager of Family Stores in South Australia before moving to Melbourne with my wife and two sons Duncan and Mitchell as the Territorial Transport Manager.
This was all made possible because I made a decision whilst on the programme that wherever God leads me I will go. Over the past thirty years, this has meant boldly acting in faith and obedience.
Work Therapy played a big part in the transformation of my life and restored me a measure of self-worth I would not have achieved without it.
Recovery is a lot more than just learning and applying the ‘Twelve Steps’ Recovery requires life transformation. 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 says “Stay calm; mind your own business; do your own job. You’ve heard all this from us before, but a reminder never hurts. We want you living in a way that will command the respect of outsiders, not lying around sponging off your friends.” Good News is for sharing and each of us as we move forward in the process of recovery need to remember that fact and ” warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet. Be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs.”
None of us can do this on our own.
WORK THERAPY IN THE PROCESS OF RECOVERY WILL BE REWARDED
Proverbs 12:14 Well-done work has its own reward.
WORK THERAPY HELPS US DISCOVER A NEW FREEDOM
Proverbs 12:24 The diligent find freedom in their work.
WORK THERAPY TEACHES US THE IMPORTANCE OF SPIRITUAL GROWTH
Romans 12:11 Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master.
GOD’S A PLAN AND A PURPOSE FOR US EACH
2 Corinthians 10:16-18 We have no intention of moving in on what others have done and taking credit for it. “If you want to claim credit, claim it for God.“ What you say about yourself means nothing in God’s work. It’s what God says about you that makes the difference.
4o Days of Recovery ~ Day 23
Admit Alone ‘You are not enough’
Romans 3:23 We’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us.
One of the hardest things any of us will ever do is admit failure.
The ‘Good News’ is we are now all in the same position. All on the same page, all aiming at the same goal ‘recovery’ from the pain our problems caused us through our own ‘bad choices’
None of us in our own strength is capable of achieving and maintaining recovery. The Bible tells us we all need God’s help and we need each other as we move forward together.
- Will you make a decision to seek and to follow God’s direction for your life through recovery?
- Is there one person in your support network you are willing to ask to walk with you as you support each other?
#2333 Thought For Today
Respect needs to be earned. I’ve said it, you’ve said it. We convince ourselves if God is real and wants me to respect Him and His Word He needs to do something to earn my respect.
When caught up in a life of addiction, lying, cheating and stealing I had no respect for anyone or anything, including myself. That all changed when I made a conscious decision to follow Jesus. When I look at where I was to where I am now; Yes, I respect Him!
- Who do you respect? Why?
- Who do you want to respect you as you move forward in recovery?
Podcasts
Living Life Recovery
Living Life Recovery is a safe place where people can come, share and investigate the realities of God’s promises for themselves.
We believe that as we investigate God’s promises for our lives and practice the ‘Spiritual Principles of Recovery’ as outlined in ‘God’s Word’ we will find the strength and freedom we need to live productive and peaceful lives.
We welcome anyone who has a sincere desire to change their lives. To rise above the pain and turmoil caused by dependencies and compulsive behaviors their own lives or the lives of a loved one or friend.
2022, Discussion Starter, Day 148
Responsible Trust in God requires seeking His will and His power to carry it out. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://livingliferecovery.com/2022/05/28/2022-day-148-discussion-starter/
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