Sid's Recovery

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)