Paul lived for two years in his rented house. He welcomed everyone who came to visit. He urgently presented all matters of the kingdom of God. He explained everything about Jesus Christ. His door was always open. In Christ, we come before God with freedom and without fear. We can do this because of our faith in Christ. Since we have confidence in the new promise, we speak very boldly. We can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?”#Live#Open#Freedom#Faith
“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 8:5Those 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.
I’m living my life for Jesus, His love and grace I’ve seen; And now that I live for Jesus, Life has a new-found theme. My life has a new-found intention. I follow a purposeful aim, And life has a new-found dimension, I witness that I’m born again. I’m living my life for Jesus, His love and grace I’ve seen; And now that I live for Jesus, Life has a new-found theme
Galatians 5:22-23 What happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard–things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.
Focus Verse: 1 Peter 5:5 All of you, leaders and followers alike, are to be down to earth with each other, for– God has had it with the proud, But takes delight in just plain people.
We need to be willing to care for others, desire to serve others and lead by example. We need to avoid negative models, failing to live by the ‘Principles of Recovery’ Jesus provides an example of us of the people He wants us to become. We need to submit to the leadership of the Holy Spirit and allow God‘s, peace and wisdom to flow through us each and every day we spend ‘Serving in Recovery’
I’m asking God, for one thing, only one thing: To live with him in his house my whole life long. I’ll contemplate his beauty; I’ll study at his feet. Psalm 27:4
All they gave Him [God] was lip service; they lied to Him with their tongues. Their hearts were not loyal to Him. They did not keep His covenant. Yet He was merciful and forgave their sins. Many times He held back His anger and did not unleash His fury! For He remembered that they were merely mortal, gone like a breath of wind that never returns. Psalms 78:36-39
The slogan for Living Life Recovery. Given to me by the Holy Spirit in 2005 why I commenced this ministry is “RECOVERY IS ABOUT LEARNING TO LIVE LIFE. LIVING LIFE IS MORE THAN JUST RECOVERY.” I don’t know about you but early in recovery, I learned to talk a good game. And if I am honest I probably still do but for different reasons that I used to. I used to talk a good game (lip service) because I learned to express the horror of my story in meetings and one people over because they believed I was doing so well. It wasn’t true and recovery for me back in the beginning 1987 recovery was all about me. I learned to talk of a higher power I never knew, expressed faith I never had and embellished my story to make it fit whatever group at which I was sharing.
Then one night alone in my room in rehab in South Australia I met the real Higher Power and He invited me to follow Him and never live the way I used to live again. He had always been there in my walk, prompting me to follow Him and obey Him but He knew I was merely mortal, destined to failure when left to my own devices. I said yes and from that day to this day I have never returned to or desired to return to my old way of life.
Recovery is about learning to live life. God’s way Living life is more than just recovery. Life is not just about meetings. Life is about living. Listen obediently,…… Do what you’re told so that you’ll have a good life, a life of abundance and bounty, just as God promised, in a land abounding in milk and honey. Deuteronomy 6:3
Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day’s out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ’s law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived. Galatians 6:2
As we wind down the “Christmas Festivities’ for 2018 and begin preparing for the ‘New Year’ I am reminded today ‘Recovery is a choice’ Jesus came into the world with one purpose “to save sinners’ but is’not automatic. It requires character building work and it requires ‘Making a Choice’ Jesus didn’t come to force us to live God’s Way. He didn’t come to guarantee us afree ride to heaven.
The Bible says in Proverbs 16:9We plan the way we want to live, but only God makes us able to live it. Many of us over the life of our addictions and compusions have made choices in the past to change our lives. Made plans to live differently and failed. We need to understand by ourselves we can change nothng. We need to get into close, personal relationship with the Holy Spirit. We need to learn to listen to Him, learn from Him and apply what we learn on a daily basis to our lives, in every area of our lives if we want to truly ‘change’ 2 Corinthians 5:17 says “We look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons!” Recovery requires us to take a long hard look inside ourselves and make a choice to remove the the things that are causing us to live the way we are living.
1 Corinthians 1:27-28 says “Its obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these “nobodies” to expose the hollow pretensions of the “somebodies” That’s ‘Good News’ for all of us because it means God can and will use each of us in the process of recovery.
Psalm 16:5 says “My choice is you, God, first and only.” As I prepare for 2019 that’s my choice. What’s yours?
“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.“ Matthew 5:6
