God Understands!

Psalm 147:5 (Life Recovery Bible)
How great is our Lord! His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond comprehension!

God created all things and cares about all creation, even the most lowly. We may think no one cares about us, but we can be assured that God does. He even watches over those who have no one else to care for them.

We can never understand all about ourselves, but God understands us completely - Sometime we don't know what we want, how we feel, what's wrong us, or what action we should take on particular things. but God's understanding has no limit, and for that reason He understands us fully.

With Christ's help, our understanding will grow - We hear with our ears, but their is a deeper kind of listening with the mind and heart that is necessary in order to gain spiritual understanding from Jesus.

God reveals truth to people who will act on it - Some people do not understand God's truth because they are not ready for it. Be patient take every chance to ask God for the Holy Spirit to open your mind and your heart to receive the truth and act on it.

Action is the Magic Word - Sobriety and Beyond (Father John Doe)

Discernment

James 1:5
If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it.

Discernment is essential in making wise decisions - Whenever we need the way to go in recovery we can pray to God, and He will supply the answers we need. I know it sounds too easy but it is true. We don't have to grope around in the dark looking for answers to our recovery questions all we have to do is ask God to guide us in our choices and He will.


Having discernment means judging correctly - Jesus said, "Do not judge" Matthew 7:2 he is talking about us having judgmental attitudes that tear others down in order to make ourselves look good. Paul taught us we should exercise discipline and let God be the final Judge 1 Corinthians 4:3-5

Discernment is essential for spiritual growth - In order to mature in recovery we must learn discernment. We must train our consciences, our senses and our minds to distinguish between good and evil. Can you recognise temptation before it grabs you?

Alcoholics Anonymous tells us our dependencies are cunning, baffling and powerful - In order to overcome them we must learn to Want what God wants! That is true discernment...

Prayer and Meditation

Prayer is an opportunity to bring our will into line with God’s plan – Our prayers won’t change God’s mind, but they may change ours. Prayer helps us to understand the mind of God.

Prayer is speaking with God – We can be confident that God hears our prayers and answers when we call on Him. When we feel our prayers are bouncing off the ceiling God loves you. He hears and answers when we speak to Him but the answers may not always be what we expect.

Prayer reflects dependence on God- In recovery we are asked to turn our wills and lives over to Gods care. To do that we must depend on God to answer when He feels it is appropriate – with what He feels we need – knowing that He only has our best interests at heart,

Prayer is better than complaining to each other – We should make a conscious effort to pray when we feel like complaining. Complaining leads to stinking thinking, which leads us back on a downward spiral. Prayer quiets our thoughts and emotions and prepares us to listen.

Meditation is obedient reflection on God’s Word - To be successful in recovery, follow God’s Word. You may not succeed by the World’s standards, but you will be a success in God’s eyes – and His opinion last forever.

Meditation is consistent reflection on God’s Word – Meditation means spending time reading God’s Word and thinking about what you have read. It means asking ourselves how we need to change our attitudes and actions so we are living the way God wants.

Meditation is careful reflection on God’s Word – As we read God’s Word we need to be open and receptive to Him. The mind is like a parachute – it works better when it is open. We need in our personal prayer time ask God to reveal the His truths to us and how He wants us to apply them to our lives.

Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." Mark 14:38 (NIV)

If we are to achieve real sobriety in our lives we must continue to grow. A person who does not continue to grow will slip back.

Spiritual Growth results from listening to God and obeying His Word: Hearing includes absorbing and accepting information from God through daily prayer, reading and meditation of His Word.

Spiritual Growth results from learning more about God: Learning includes understanding God's purpose for our lives and the implications of failing to apply the 12 Step principles in our lives daily.

Spiritual Growth results from following God's leading in our lives: Following is putting into action the things we learn and understand through daily relationship with God, attendance at meetings and sharing with others in recovery.

Hearing, Learning and Following are essential to Spiritual Growth if we fail to apply any of them in our recovery then we are in danger of relapse.

Forgiving Others

Proverbs:24:29 And don’t say” Now I can pay them back for all their meanness to me! I’ll get even”!

Forgiveness is a mark of a changed life: If we have really changed and experienced true recovery (a gift from God) we will want to share it with others. By forgiving those who have harmed us we are not excusing their misdeeds. But we are recognizing that they are human, in spite of their failings they are created in God’s image and we need to love them as God loves us.

Forgiveness is not the pattern of the world: In these times of constant lawsuits and demand for legal rights. When someone hurts us the Bible tells us we must forgive them. Forgiving them may:

• Break the cycle of retaliation and lead to mutual reconciliation
• Cause the other person to feel ashamed and change their ways
• Hurt us just as much, maybe more than it does them

Forgiveness is an act of willingness: It involves both our attitudes and actions. How we feel and act towards someone who has hurt us. By telling the person how you feel and that you wish to heal the relationship can lead to the right attitudes and actions being followed by both parties.

Matthew 6:14-15 “if you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you, But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

If we want to be forgiven by God and by others we must begin by forgiving others. It’s what the Bible commands us to

Complacency

James 4:13-14 NIV
Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."

Complacency grows out of a false security in our new found lives:
When are on the road to recovery we can get into a false sense of security, Where we feel we have got it beat and life is going to be great from here on in. We can take God for granted and forget it is Him who has blessed us with the gift of recovery and transformed lives.

Complacency is evidence of failing to apply the principles of the Twelve Steps to our lives:
We must never believe that knowledge of the principles of recovery is enough to keep us clean. Recovery is daily reliance on God - daily commitment to live by His principles - daily application of what we have learned through prayer and meditation.

Complacency often degenerates into relapse:
When we first get recovery we are excited and keen to grow but as we grow it is easy for us to become lazy and cease practicing the things that keep us on the recovery road. Attendance at meetings - daily devotions and prayer - listening to and following the directions of God - seeking counsel from our sponsor.

Complacency brings God's loving discipline:
God doesn't forget us - though He doesn't always rescue us at the time we want. He does act in His time and sometimes that action is discipline. Discipline not to punish us but to bring us back to Him. The Holy Spirit can reignite the excitement and desire to grow in all areas of our lives if we allow Him to work in our hearts.

Have a God Consciuous Day!

Proverbs 27:1
Don't brashly announce what you're going to do tomorrow; you don't know the first thing about tomorrow.

Luke 9:23
Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

It has become the norm in customer service for shop keepers to close a sale with the comment "Have a nice day" But wishing it won't make it happen. In the Twelve Steps we are taught to live 'One day at a Time' None of us can know what another day is going to bring us, but within the principles of faith, love and hope we have a strong foundation when surprises or crisis arise. Strong people of God experience a child-like trust in Him which no or mishap can destroy.

God consciousness at the beginning of each day will start us off well each day. Practicing the presence of God in everything that occurs in our day helps us to grow in our Spiritual walk and demonstrate that we are truly changed through His Saving Grace.

Next time someone suggests you "Have a nice day" try replying with "You have a God conscious one too!"

DON'T FORGET THE PAST!

Today I want to thank God for my past!

As a recovered alcoholic it is sometimes easy to forget where we came from, where we are now and how we got here!

Recently in my Spiritual life I am experiencing changes. Changes I am not necessarily comfortable with but I know are necessary. I also know God has it all under control and the changes will become 'The Norm' in His time.

Our past is important because:

• It influences our future - I spoke with someone today about the incredible difference God has made in my life since I became a Christian and the fact that because they were so big I know God expects big things from me. Once upon a time that would have terrified me but today, even though sometimes it makes me uneasy, I am content in knowing that when the time comes He will give me all that I need to do whatever it is He wants me to do.
  
  
• It is a reminder of the Grace of God in my life - knowing where I am now and where I was is a very humbling experience because I know by myself I would not be here living the life I am today. It by His Grace that I get to live daily and experience life daily.
  
  
• It is a helpful lesson for today - There are times in all of our lives where we drift back into the old way of thinking, old way of acting and at those times the Holy Spirit can intervene in our lives and teach us how God wants us to live.
  

Today I thank God for my past because it was that past that led me to be the person I am today!

CONFESSIONS

My enemies will retreat when I call to you for help.

This I know: God is on my side!

Psalm 56:9

There is a misconception that being a nice person is all we can aim for. Some obtain this through concentration on their churchianity. Some try turning their back on the nastiness of the past and make niceness their main aim. It is hard to work out the bad and good within ourselves. Ever since Adam and Eve fell for the notion of being 'as gods' and pulled away from the true God all of us have the same desire and are ready to try and achieve it. Self-reliance in deciding what is good and what is evil either achieves self-glorification or confusion which can cause us to turn to God. God directs us to the mirror, where we view of our ugly selves. beyond that view He shows us a view of the life-changing Saviour, Jesus Christ. In Romans 7:18, Paul says " I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.I want to do what is right, but I can’t" He made this confession knowing his need of Jesus Christ. Like Paul we too need to confess our inability to change on our own and put our trust in Jesus. Once we begin to call for God's help and keep turning to Him our lives begin to be transformed into the lives that He wanst us to live.

God can and will overcome all the hurdles that we face in recovery. But he requires that we confess our sins to Him. Not for His benefit but for ours - by speaking it we understand it and by understanding it we can know how to overcome it with His help.

Running Away

Jonah 1:1,3 One day long ago, God's Word came to Jonah, Amittai's son: But Jonah got up and went the other direction to Tarshish, running away from God. He went down to the port of Joppa and found a ship headed for Tarshish. He paid the fare and went on board, joining those going to Tarshish—as far away from God as he could get.

When we decide to let God have His way with us, big things are going to happen, some of them uncomfortable. After a few of them happen, many of us opt to go back to our comfort zones, afraid to continue God's way because we don't understand what is happening.

Jonah clearly heard God and knew what was required; instead of following God he chose to run in the opposite direction.

In life also sometimes watch unhappily as others run away from life's responsibilities. When we do we are like Jonah caught in a storm and feel any move we make will be unsafe. We expect something to swallow us up and cause us to have a turbulent future. Or we can feel like we want to quit, want to be thrown overboard. The reality of life is. it is uncomfortable.

Jonah ran away because he didn't want to be what God wanted him to be. He thought by hiding he could avoid making any tough decisions and avoid his responsibilities. But there is nowhere we can hide from God! Where can you hide from the One who made everything?

As we travel through recovery, 'come to believe in a Power Greater than ourselves' and 'turn our wills and lives over to His care' Let us not hide and shirk our responsibilities but 'accept God's plan for us' and 'enjoy every good thing He has ins store for us'

About Living Life Recovery

Whilst a member at the Ferntree Gully Salvation Army I participated with the Church in the '40 Days Of Purpose' series designed by Pastor Rick Warren.

As part of the 40 Days I was given the position of 'Small Group Coordinator' and in that capacity was invited by a member of the Church who stuttered to come to his stutter support group and talk to his small group about them attending his small group during the campaign.

During the meeting a time was given to pause and reflect on 'how to deal with their stutter and overcome obstacles in their lives'. During this time I had time to reflect on my own life and God spoke to me and and asked "Why are you not helping people with addictions?"

Following that meeting I committed to God to do something to reach those still suffering from the negative effects of addiction and other compulsive behaviours. I then began looking for Christian Recovery material to use for this purpose. I purchased Christian Recovery material from Saddleback Church in the form of Celebrate Recovery material and proceeded to prepare to begin a Christian Recovery Ministry. During preparation God made it clear he wanted to do something different and so one day sitting at the kitchen table at home God gave me the vision for Living Life Recovery. At that time he also gave me the Logo and the slogan 'Recovery is about living life.. Living life is more than just recovery..'

Since then I have been preparing for LLR and waiting on God to show me the steps He wanted taken with it. In 2008 Living Life Recovery is now a reality.

Run every Wednesday night from 6:30pm at my current church
Belgrave South Baptist Church

We join together for:

• Fellowship (sharing soup)
• Worship (singing songs together)
  
• Teaching (studying the Twelve Steps and their daily application in our lives)
  
• Sharing (talking about the One true Higher Power and how we intereact with him personally

Today I am glad that a number of years ago I committed to God to do what He wants me to do and because of it the lives of others will be changed.

If you want to know more visit http://livingliferecovery.com
or email me at aeboye@livingliferecovery.com