Category: Addiction Recovery

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The Road to Recovery :: STEP TWO

STEP TWO: Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

 

For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. ~ Philippians 2:13

PRINCIPLE TWO: (Celebrate Recovery) Earnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to him and that he has the power to help me recover.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. ~ Matthew 5:4

 

At this stage of our recovery journey, we are beginning to find peace with God; faith is birthing within our heart and soul. Our spirit has been pricked by the Holy One, nudging us back home to a safe place ruled by Love.


When we humble ourselves by recognizing God’s power it brings us to a place where we can believe for more, we become able to receive the strength we desperately need to recover. Only through honest transparency about our weaknesses, our hurts, habits and hang-ups, can we truly find healing. We will never be totally free until we yield ourselves to God.

God knows all our dirty little secrets, but he needs us to know that He knows. Not to rub our nose in them, but when we can feel ashamed for the right reason, when we have a true sense of regret for our past actions, maybe, just maybe, we can learn from them.

Principle Two is the Hope principle. Here is the acrostic from Celebrate Recovery:

 

H – Higher Power 

For everything comes from him; everything exists by his power and is intended for his glory. To him be glory evermore. ~ Romans 11:36

O – Openness to change 

Throw off your old evil nature and your former way of life, which is rotten through and through, full of lust and deception. Instead, there must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes.  ~ Ephesians 4:22-23

P – Power to change 

Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you. ~ Psalm 25:5

E – Expectation to change  

I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again. ~ Philippians 1:6

By admitting our powerlessness in Step One we moved from a life filled with pain and suffering to one with hope. Our hope grows when we believe that a power greater than ourselves, Jesus Christ, can and will restore us to sanity.

Are you struggling today? Is your life one of insanity and despair?

Don’t delay. Call out to Jesus. He alone has the power to change your life.

He is your Hope for a better tomorrow!

Reflect on hope in Christ as you listen to our Road to Recovery theme song by David Zasloff: http://youtu.be/yHIO_1JlBKc

Resources:
Celebrate Recovery Bible
Life Recovery Bible
The Twelve Steps for Christians



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LIVING LIFE LESSONS :: What Are You Thinking?

 

With our busy, stressed out life it’s easy for our thoughts to turn negative or unhealthy… allowing current events to bring worry and fear; doubting your self-worth; having sexual fantasies about people… the list could go on and on. 

 

Let’s find help for this troubling issue.

 

In the early days of my recovery, I struggled constantly with my thoughts. After living a destructive lifestyle of sexual addiction, using pornography and fantasy regularly, I had a lot of garbage in my mind that I wanted out. But the harder I tried not to think about them the more they came. I was trapped with my past in my brain.
 
Then God showed up! One day in 2005 I found a verse that literally saved my thought life.

Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. ~ Philippians 4:8-9 NLT

I wrote the verse on a 3×5 card and kept it with me all the time. Whenever a bad thought or image resurfaced I would pull out my card and recite it out loud. This is my confession:

 I will think only on things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely admirable, excellent and praiseworthy! 

If my thought didn’t fit into one of these categories it wasn’t allowed! Somedays I had to recite this over and over and over and over to keep my mind free of unwanted thoughts.

We can’t erase the memories we hold in our brain. As much as we want to we can’t push the negative thoughts out. But we can put new thoughts in. We have the power and ability to create new memories, by putting positive thoughts and images in.  The more good we put in, the more bad stuff gets pushed to the background. Until one day they seem to be gone. OK, sure if I want to recall a past image, it’s definitely possible. The trick is not to allow those thoughts to surface long enough to bring all their baggage.

If there’s one principle that was a turning point in my life journey, it is this:

 THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU’RE THINKING ABOUT! 

If you don’t like what’s in your thoughts — put in some new things. You have the power to redecorate the rooms of your brain. Why not put pretty things there?

True… Noble… Right… Pure… Lovely… Admirable… Excellent… Praiseworthy… 

 

Do your thoughts fit in these categories? 

 
As an exercise to ground myself further, I did a word study on each of these categories. This was a great way to build them deeper into my mind and helped me tremendously. 

If you’re struggling with your thought life, I challenge you to follow my example for one week. 

 

You won’t be sorry!

 

 

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