Archives for: March 2014

03/28/14

Permalink 08:13:40 am, Step(s): 04 Introspection, 174 words   English (US)

Why Introspection?

As Christians, we believe that, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9). So, why then should we make "a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves"? Doesn't God just erase our past? No. He forgives and cleanses, but He doesn't give us amnesia.

It's been said that, the most powerful thing we can do for the kingdom of God, is to witness to others of the way that God is working in our lives to heal our dysfunction. If that's true, then how are we going to do that if we can't remember what our dysfunction was? How are we going to overcome, not only by the blood of the Lamb, but also by the word of our testimony (Revelation 12:11), if we have no testimony of what we used to be like?

I know that, for me, I have a choice. Either I can choose to continue to evaluate my life (and deal with it), or I will revert back to the insane cycle of repeating the same negative behaviors over and over again, while expecting different results.

"Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light." (Luke 11:35-36)

"Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves." (Step 4)

03/21/14

Permalink 08:23:52 am, Step(s): 03 "I will co-operate...", 431 words   English (US)

Mike & Blind Bart

"Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." (Mark 9:23)

God had delivered Mike from most of his chemical addictions, but his addiction to nicotine was stronger than ever. It was especially hard in the small town in which he lived. Safeway was the only grocery store and because of the way the store was arranged, he had to walk right by the cigarettes in order to get to the groceries.

He had tried the "5-day plan", patches and every other method of quitting that he had heard of. He quit smoking many times, only to pick them up again at a weak moment. Mike was about to give up when, as he was reading in his Bible, a story caught his attention. It was the story of blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52).

As Jesus was leaving Jericho one day, with the typical large crowd of noisy people surrounding Him, blind Bart happened to be sitting beside that same road begging. When he asked a passer-by what all the commotion was about, he was told that it was Jesus of Nazareth.

That was all Bart needed to know. You see, Bart had heard of the love of Jesus, and knew he could trust Him. He believed that Jesus could bring healing to him. So, he immediately began to cry out, "Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me!" Many told him to be quiet, but he cried out all the more, "Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me!" Finally Jesus heard Bart's pleas for help, came to him, and healed his vision.

This was exactly what Mike needed to know. Hope began to well up in his heart. Since Jesus healed Bart of his blindness, then surely He would heal Mike of his nicotine addiction. It was then that he purposed in his heart, that whenever he was tempted, he would cry out, "Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me!" Seriously, he really did do this -- verbally, out loud! He told me, "People look at you funny when you do that in Safeway... but you don't smoke cigarettes. No, you don't smoke cigarettes."

After Mike began to trust in God enough to surrender himself to Jesus in his weakness, he never smoked another cigarette -- for the rest of his life.

It may not be nicotine, but we all have negative behaviors that easily beset us. Friends, it matters not what your weakness is. Jesus is willing, able, and longing to deliver you too. You can trust Him. Even if you turn away from Him, He will never leave you, nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5).

"And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way." (Mark 10:52)

"Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him." (Step 3)

03/14/14

Permalink 08:05:50 am, Step(s): 02 "God can...", 843 words   English (US)

That's My God!

I believe that there are only two great powers in the Universe. There’s the power of good – the power of infinite, unimaginable love. This is the power that gives us humans the freedom of choice, as to whom we will serve. Then, there is the power of evil – unimaginable evil. This is the power that continually strives to enslave us through his deviant lies. We commonly refer to these two great powers as God and the enemy, or satan.

But there is a problem using the name God, when referring to this great and wonderful power of love. This is largely due to the fact that the vast majority of people who call themselves Christian exhibit behaviors that mirror the attitudes of the enemy – behaviors that are far from being that of a loving, higher-power. I am qualified to speak of this, because, in so doing, I am speaking of myself. You see, I have been a “Christian” all my life. But, in spite of that, I’ve had all these deviant behaviors, and I’m quite sure that, as a result of this, I have turned many off to Christianity. So, what’s with that? I went to church every weekend. I studied my Bible. I held offices in the church. Most people thought of me as a good Christian. I talked the “talk”, but I sure didn’t walk the “walk”.

More recently, it has become clear to me that there are very few spiritual Christians in church – any church. In fact, there is some pretty good evidence that there are more spiritual Christians outside of the church than there are on the inside. Now, I need to be very clear right now that I’m not speaking against belonging to a church. I love my church and I have no intention of leaving it.

My point is this: if you have been offended by so-called “Christians”, as I have been, I want to apologize to you right now. As far as I know, I’ve not offended any of you, but I have offended many. And this, I deeply regret. So please, do not let evil behavior of carnal Christians skew your view of God. When I exhibit deviant behavior, I am NOT representing my Heavenly Father but rather the father of all evil – satan himself. You see, satan would have us to believe that God is evil and he will go to any length to achieve his goals.

So, who is this God that I am learning to love more and more each passing day? This is the God who left the place of infinite glory and power to become a tiny, helpless human infant in this horribly evil and primitive world. This is the God who grew to human manhood without using His Divine power to in anyway help His own human flesh. This is the God who can help me, because He was tempted in all points like as I am, while NEVER yielding to the constant temptations of satan. This is the God, who in human flesh, admitted, that of Himself, He could do NOTHING. That’s my Jesus! Jesus gives me courage to admit to myself, and others, that I can, of myself, do no good thing.

Jesus is the God who blessed and healed every honest soul who He came in contact with. Jesus is the God who allowed Himself to be falsely accused and beaten unmercifully without one word of complaint. Jesus is the God who while being nailed to that old rugged cross, cried out, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!” Jesus is the God who died to pay the penalty for my sins and yours, and then was raised again to newness of life, just as we have the privilege to do when we take up our cross and follow Him. That’s my Jesus! That’s my God!

My God loves you and me with an everlasting, infinite love that we cannot even begin to fathom! Do you know my Jesus? Do you love my Jesus? In my carnal nature, I have sunk lower than a snake’s belly and yet He has always been there for me with His unconditional love to pick me up and gently guide me from where I was to a better place. That’s my Jesus!

If you have drifted away from God, do realize how easy it is to come back? Even if you’ve never given your heart to God, His arms are open wide right now to totally accept you as one of His chosen ones. All He needs is your heart. The Bible says, if you will confess your sins to Him that He will not only freely forgive you, but He will also cleanse you from all unrighteousness! This is justification – He wipes your record clean, just as if you had never sinned! He replaces your past, sinful record with Jesus’ perfect record. He will give you a fresh, new start! Praise God!!

Continued...

"Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." (Step 2)

03/07/14

Permalink 07:49:19 am, Step(s): 01 "I can't...", 214 words   English (US)

Helpless In Battle

The battle is raging. The artillery of our enemy is aimed to destroy each and every one of us. If we do nothing, we will surely die! The enemy we face has been in battle for thousands of years and has millions of warriors at his command. Unprotected, we will not survive, "for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12). Our "...adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8). If we live life our way and on our terms, we will surely fail. We CANNOT be the master of our own destiny.

After trying to fight this battle on my own for many years I finally came to understand that I was powerless. My life had become unmanageable, and I was helpless to do anything about it. The good news is that, in retrospect, I see now that this is exactly where I need to be. "For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself." (Galatians 6:3)

In a battle, it seems strange to admit powerlessness, still expecting victory. But, humble honesty about our true condition is vital in being able to proceed to the next step toward engaging in the war that we MUST win.

"We admitted we were powerless over our problems, that our lives had become unmanageable." (Step 1)

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