Here are some random things I have come to discover as I have worked on myself in the 12 steps of Celebrate Recovery over the last year and half:
Faith is grounded in a relationship with God, who knows the way for me and promises to lead me on it. It is both my attitude and action towards God.
I am designed for dependence on Him.
Trying to get through this life on my own limited strength, knowledge, and resources leads to futility and a loss of hope.
No matter what limitation or circumstance I am struggling against, God can empower and equip me beyond what I thought possible.
God will make a way for me, perhaps in ways I don’t expect. And He does His best work when I am at the end of myself and admit it.
My walk with the Lord will be richer, more fulfilling, and more successful if I surround myself with people who are committed to support me, encourage me, assist me, keep me accountable, and pray for me.
I need to recognize the value and need for God’s wisdom in my life; I need to ask Him to show me and help me search for His wisdom actively. God always knows what to do, when I don’t.
I need to leave my baggage behind and let God have me. Holding onto my baggage from my past will hinder my journey with God – He can show me how to leave my baggage behind.
I need to take responsibility for my own life, own up to my faults, and accept blame where it is justified – and stop pointing my finger. It’s my responsibility to live a life which reflects Him and His principles.
I need to welcome problems in my life as gifts from God to help me become a better Christian for His Kingdom. God sees my difficulties different from the way I do. God’s way is not out of my problems but through them.
I need to accept pain as a part of life. Acceptance will help me live in God’s reality so I can adapt and change to the way things really are and learn to trust God.
God has a heart. He feels deeply, especially about me and my rebellion really hurts Him.
God knows and can identify with my sufferings because of Jesus. I need to view my problems as the next step in my growing relationship with Him.
When God makes a way for me, it usually takes time, so I must allow time for God to work. Time allows God’s healing ingredients to be applied in my situation. Time is a blessing, not a curse. I need to realize that even though I can’t see God, He is working behind the scenes. I must sow the seed He gives me and wait patiently for Him to water that seed to sprout and produce fruit.
I need to love God passionately with every area of my life, including my pain, my fear, and my despair. If I love God, connect to Him, and follow Him as He commands, I will value what He values and seek to do what honors Him and is best for me.
When I am in a bad situation, I must not pull away from God but draw closer. I need to love God in that situation. Invite Him into my feelings, thoughts, actions, and reactions. I need to immerse myself in His love and He will show me the way. God will make a way for me to the extent that I make a way for Him in my heart. God needs access to every part of me.
I need to realize that God wants the best for me. God has grace and mercy for me and is committed to work in me, with me. God loves me completely and He is going with me every step of the way. I need to listen attentively to God. I need to submit, wholly, to God.
God is always good and loves you very much. Blogactchalater
-gravyjmm
Friday, January 26, 2007
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Over and Over and Over and Over and Over...
The implication of inconsistency is intangible to insanity. I sound pretty smart but not really. I thought it would be fun to say that. I think what I just said was, “The suggestion of unpredictability is vague to madness.” Which to me sounds like a college professor quote? Actually I like the discussion of insanity. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again and expecting different results each time. How many have I thought that I could control the situation by yelling, screaming, getting angry and getting my point across and being sarcastic and rude and still couldn’t control the situation. I many times have I been quiet about my spouse’s addiction, protected them by doing for them what they can do for themselves and thinking they would change with my help and lo and behold they were still addicts. How many times have I tried to forget my pain by drinking and drugging and the pain was still there. How many times did I think my problems would just go away and they didn’t? Well if insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again and expecting different results each time…then what is the definition of sanity? How about… “wholeness of mind; making decisions based on the truth.” There is only one truth that I know…that’s God’s word, Jesus. Read this acrostic from celebrate recovery about SANITY:
Strength
Acceptance
New Life
Integrity
Trust
Your Higher Power
Strength - With Jesus as my only source of life, He gives me the strength to face my fears of my past hurts, hang-ups, or habits that normally would fight, flee, or freeze. Psalm 46:1 tells me that, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear” Psalm 73:26 says, “My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” I basically cut myself from the power source and try to work on my own. A lamp can’t work if isn’t plugged in; like wise I go nuts trying to figure it all at on my own, relying my own strength and understating to live and I burn out because I’m not plugged in to the source…God. Choosing to allow my life to finally run on God’s power—not my own limited power, weakness, helplessness, or sense of inferiority—has turned out to be my greatest strength. Where I am weak, He is strong.
Acceptance – Romans 15:7 says,” Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” I need learn and understand to have REAL expectations of myself and others. God sees through my mess, pain, sin, guilt and saw that I was worthy saving. I need to have these same eyes for myself and others. The Serenity pray specifically asks God, “to give us the courage to change the things we can and to accept the things we cannot change and the wisdom to know the difference...” As you or I rely more Jesus everyday and moment by moment…we start to accept others as they really are, not as we would have them be! We accept our own responsibilities and stop putting blame on others.
New Life – the truth is, when you’re at the bottom, there’s no place but up. 2 Corinthians tells us, “…We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.” The penalty for our sins was paid in full by Jesus on the cross. The hope of a new life is freedom from our bondage! 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! It’s awesome to know that Jesus came to give you a new life, you don’t have to hold on to your sins, pain, guilt, shame…He took them from you.
Integrity - We gain integrity as we begin to follow through on our promises. Others start trusting what we say. The apostle John placed great value on integrity: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” Remember, a half-truth is a whole lie, and a lie is the result of weakness, shame, and fear. Truth fears nothing—nothing but a cover up! The truth often hurts. But it’s the lie that leaves the scars. A man or woman of integrity and courage is not afraid to tell the truth. Jesus says that truth will set us free and He gives us what we need to be truthful and live in integrity.
Trust – Proverbs 29:25 says, “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.” As we “let go and let God” and admit that our lives are unmanageable and we are powerless do anything about it, we learn to trust ourselves and others. We begin to make real friendships that last…the more that I became brutally honest with myself, the better the relationships I have made because I no longer hide and those that I am close with are the same…there is no judging or beat down…pure accountability and companionship - friends whom you can trust, with whom you can share, with whom you can grow in Christ.
Your Higher Power - Jesus Christ, loves you! “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us,” Romans 5:8. No matter what comes your way, together you and God can handle it! “And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out” (1 Corinthians 10:13). “Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens” (Psalm 68:19). If Jesus is your Lord and Savior, He will help you in your time of trails.
Well that’s enough from me for now. Ask yourself…What I am doing over and over again and expecting different results and it’s just not working? There is hope! Blogacthalater.
-gravyjmm
Strength
Acceptance
New Life
Integrity
Trust
Your Higher Power
Strength - With Jesus as my only source of life, He gives me the strength to face my fears of my past hurts, hang-ups, or habits that normally would fight, flee, or freeze. Psalm 46:1 tells me that, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear” Psalm 73:26 says, “My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” I basically cut myself from the power source and try to work on my own. A lamp can’t work if isn’t plugged in; like wise I go nuts trying to figure it all at on my own, relying my own strength and understating to live and I burn out because I’m not plugged in to the source…God. Choosing to allow my life to finally run on God’s power—not my own limited power, weakness, helplessness, or sense of inferiority—has turned out to be my greatest strength. Where I am weak, He is strong.
Acceptance – Romans 15:7 says,” Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” I need learn and understand to have REAL expectations of myself and others. God sees through my mess, pain, sin, guilt and saw that I was worthy saving. I need to have these same eyes for myself and others. The Serenity pray specifically asks God, “to give us the courage to change the things we can and to accept the things we cannot change and the wisdom to know the difference...” As you or I rely more Jesus everyday and moment by moment…we start to accept others as they really are, not as we would have them be! We accept our own responsibilities and stop putting blame on others.
New Life – the truth is, when you’re at the bottom, there’s no place but up. 2 Corinthians tells us, “…We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.” The penalty for our sins was paid in full by Jesus on the cross. The hope of a new life is freedom from our bondage! 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! It’s awesome to know that Jesus came to give you a new life, you don’t have to hold on to your sins, pain, guilt, shame…He took them from you.
Integrity - We gain integrity as we begin to follow through on our promises. Others start trusting what we say. The apostle John placed great value on integrity: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” Remember, a half-truth is a whole lie, and a lie is the result of weakness, shame, and fear. Truth fears nothing—nothing but a cover up! The truth often hurts. But it’s the lie that leaves the scars. A man or woman of integrity and courage is not afraid to tell the truth. Jesus says that truth will set us free and He gives us what we need to be truthful and live in integrity.
Trust – Proverbs 29:25 says, “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.” As we “let go and let God” and admit that our lives are unmanageable and we are powerless do anything about it, we learn to trust ourselves and others. We begin to make real friendships that last…the more that I became brutally honest with myself, the better the relationships I have made because I no longer hide and those that I am close with are the same…there is no judging or beat down…pure accountability and companionship - friends whom you can trust, with whom you can share, with whom you can grow in Christ.
Your Higher Power - Jesus Christ, loves you! “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us,” Romans 5:8. No matter what comes your way, together you and God can handle it! “And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out” (1 Corinthians 10:13). “Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens” (Psalm 68:19). If Jesus is your Lord and Savior, He will help you in your time of trails.
Well that’s enough from me for now. Ask yourself…What I am doing over and over again and expecting different results and it’s just not working? There is hope! Blogacthalater.
-gravyjmm
Thursday, January 11, 2007
sdfouawhvasn
So as the year begins dost doeth stuff! I tend to have a habit of noticing things as they occur as most tend to do! In the last the year or so there have been 3 or 4, I believe, Dictators who have died and there is one whom is very sick and soon to be deceased! Coincidence or Na! You be the adjudicator. I'm thinkin' na. There is always a reason that things happen but I don't have the answers. I just accept them. I not really sure where I am going with this but it seems to me that quite a few men who thought there were powerful are now pushing up daisies...hey food for thought. Anyways be sure to observe the things going on in the world…Maybe someone is trying to get your attention! Blog atchalater!
-gravyjmm
-gravyjmm
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
2007...baby! (literally)
Big happens’ in 2007…my baby girl will be born, I eventually turn 30, just maybe the Redskins will figure “it” out what that “it” is, Wrestlemania 23, my wife and I’s 3rd anniversary, and probably some other things but just can’t remember them right now. I am not sure what the New Year brings for you but I hope that you are blessed in this coming year…blog at ya later.
-gravyjmm
-gravyjmm
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