September 2, 2010
When we come to recovery we begin by admitting we aren’t God and that there are things in our lives that are out of control, and that we are powerless to change our situations on our own. It doesn’t matter what’s going on in our lives, it could be drug or sexual addiction, it could be a broken relationship or anger issues, it could be that we haven’t dealt with some pain from the past. It doesn’t matter what the hurt, hang-up or habit is, if we want to find healing we need to trust a power greater than ourselves to heal us and free us.
Like many of us, you may have tried to fix your problems on your own, by your own power. And like all of us, you’ve probably realized that your power just isn’t enough. But, there is a person who has that power. His name is Jesus Christ. If we want to find healing and freedom from our hurts, hang-ups and habits, we need to put our trust in Him.
Proverbs 3:5-6 says,
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Look at that, that’s a promise. If we trust Jesus, He will make our path straight. Not might, not maybe, but will. Think about going on a hike. Isn’t a straight path easier to follow than an unmarked, crooked one? Especially one made by someone who knows the area? You and I can bluster along on our own, by our own power, but if we trust Jesus He makes our path straight.
Today, as you think about your path, are there ways you can trust Jesus more? Maybe you don’t have a relationship with Jesus yet and you need to start by trusting Him for the first time. If that’s you, click here to find a church in your area that has Celebrate Recovery. These churches would love to meet with you and help you as you begin to trust Jesus with your life. Will you make that decision to trust Jesus as your Lord and Savior, today?
If you’re new to Celebrate Recovery, you may need to trust Jesus to help you with your hurt, hang-up or habit for the very first time. Maybe you have a relationship with Jesus as your Lord and Savior, but you haven’t asked Him to help you with some of your issues. Will you turn over your life issues to Jesus, today?
Even if you’ve been around Celebrate Recovery for a long time, there may be issues in your life that you have held on to as “yours”. Things that you haven’t given to Jesus. Will you turn those things over, will you trust Jesus with all of your details, today?
Today will you decide to stop leaning on your own power, your own understanding and begin trusting Jesus?
September 1, 2010
When is the last time you were quiet? Really quiet. Our lives are filled with noise. It’s everywhere we look. We wake up to alarm clocks, turn on the news in the morning, or read the paper during breakfast. The radio goes on in the car, we have the internet and conversations with people all day, not to mention text messages, phone calls and emails, then the radio goes back on during the drive home. Once we get home many of us turn on the tv and crash out. When we wake up, we do it all over again.
When are we quiet? We all need to stop, be quiet and give God the chance to speak to us. There’s a story in the Bible about a man named Elijah. Elijah was a prophet of God, he was God’s messenger. In the book of 1 Kings, God tells Elijah to get ready because he was about to be in God’s presence, the Lord was going to pass by. Here it is starting at 1 Kings 19:11:
The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
Read that again, where was God? God’s voice, God’s presence showed up in the gentle whisper. He wasn’t in the loud things, the places we might expect Him to be. He was in the quiet. It’s so easy to miss the gentle whispers of God, especially when the volume of our lives is cranked up.
Lots of us have had the frustration of feeling like God hasn’t spoken to us.The question is, have we been quiet long enough to give Him a chance to speak? This question isn’t to make you feel shame or guilty, but to simply ask the question, “Am I being quiet? Am I giving God a chance to respond, to guide me, or am I filling my days and nights with noise?”
In Psalm 46:10, God tells us to, “Be still, and know that I am God.”
In our fast paced lives, we need to slow down, be still, and be quiet. That’s not to say that if you do, God will audibly speak to you, He may communicate that way, He may decide to speak to you through Scripture or by gently leading your heart and your decisions, He may use another person and speak through them, but, if we want to hear from God, the way is clear. We need to turn the volume down on everything else, spend daily time in prayer and Bible reading, and practice listening for God’s voice.
What can you turn off today? Can the phone be put down for a few minutes? Can the emails go unchecked for a while? Is there a show or a program or an event that can be missed to spend time with your Creator?
It’s hard to be quiet. And, like lots of things that are hard, it takes practice. But what it boils down to is this: If we want to hear from God, we need to listen for Him.
August 31, 2010
Do you have a best friend? Someone you just love talking to? Think of them right now. When was the last time you spoke? Was it on the phone or in person? Who did most of the talking? What would it feel like to go a week or more without talking to them? A month? How would you feel if you didn’t speak to them at all?
It’s important to talk to our friends, to try and connect with them somehow. Whether we do this over the phone, in person, in a text message or even on Facebook, we all know what it feels like to be disconnected from the relationships that matter to us most. It’s not just being disconnected though, if we don’t spend time communicating, both speaking and listening, in our important relationships, we never get a chance to know about those people. We won’t learn what they like, what they don’t like, what they’re interested in, what they’d like for us to do together. We’d never get to know them.
If it’s important for us to communicate to others, how much more important is it for us to spend time talking to, and listening to, God? This communication, prayer, is essential for our spiritual growth and for our recoveries. We need to spend time talking to our Creator (Genesis 1:26) to our Lord and Savior (John 3:16), continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and we need to spend time not just talking, but listening (Psalm 143:10).
The Bible is full of so many more verses that instruct us to pray. It would take more than one post to list them all. Prayer might be new to you, it might feel uncomfortable. Lots of us have a hard time talking to someone we can’t see. For now, think of it as talking to your best Friend. Romans 5:11 tells us,
So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.
When we talk to a friend, you don’t worry that we choose the fanciest, “right” words, we just talk, we can talk to God that way. We can go to Him with our details, and with our big picture plans. We can tell Him about everything that’s going on in our life. Whether things are good or bad, we need to talk to Him, to pray, more. James 5:13 says,
Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.
Today, will you set aside some time and pray? Will you talk to God, your Heavenly Father, your Friend, about all that’s going on in your life? Will you stop and listen to Him and let Him teach you through time in His presence and through reading His Word?
August 30, 2010
We hear that question all day. Every time we see someone we either ask, or are asked, “How’re you doing?” Most of the time, we answer quickly, flippantly. We say, “Great!” or “Fine,” or we come up with something clever like, “Can’t complain, no one would listen.”
The thing about all of those answers is, they aren’t necessarily true. Ok, maybe not all of the people who asked would have been safe people for you to really talk to. Or it could be that today when someone asked how you were doing, they didn’t really want to know. They may have just wanted you to say, “Fine” or “Good” or something similar, but, when they asked, did you stop to think about it?
How are you doing, really? Try something. Take just a minute and really examine yourself. In fact, don’t do this on your own, ask for God to examine you as well. Ask God, “How am I doing today?” You may want to pray this prayer found in Psalm 139:23-34:
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Then, pay attention to what God reveals to you. You may find that you have come out of time where you have experienced great victory, that you are doing really well today, and when you responded, “Great!” you really meant it. Praise God for that. In fact, if that’s where you are right now take some time to thank God for giving you that victory. Celebrate it!
Maybe God has shown you that there’s something in your life that He wants you to hand over to Him. It could be a failure, a fear, a frustration, a relationship, something you’ve carried around for years or something brand new that’s crept in quietly. Now that He’s brought it to your attention, give it to Him. Now that He’s shown you how you’re really doing, tell Him about it. Ask Him to help you.
If you’re afraid, ask for peace.
If you’re frustrated, ask for resolution.
If you’ve failed, ask for forgiveness.
If you feel broken, ask Him for healing.
If you feel stuck in a hurt, habit or hang-up ask Him for freedom.
When we do this, when we present our requests to God, when we come to Him in prayer and ask Him for guidance, when we ask Him for help, the Bible promises us in Philippians 4:7 that,
“the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
So, “How are you doing?” Really.
If you find that you’re not doing as well as you’d like to be, don’t go through it alone. Click here to find a Celebrate Recovery group in your area!
August 27, 2010
If you’ve been around recovery for a while, or even if you just started checking it out, you’ve probably heard the phrase, “One day at a time.” This idea, to live in today, is offered as encouragement to take life in 24 hour increments. Sure, it’s cliche, but it’s cliche because it works.
Too often we either live in yesterday, stuck in the past, or in tomorrow, fearful of the future. The problem is, we can’t change yesterday, and we can’t control what happens tomorrow.
Many of us have regrets of things that we have done or that have been done to us. We keep running over those regrets and they have begun to define who we are. When we realize that we have hurt someone we need to do our part in making things right by making amends, and when we find we’re carrying around the burden of a grudge of something done against us, we need to offer forgiveness. I know that many of you may have been hurt deeply by someone and forgiveness doesn’t seem like a possibility today. It’s so important that you don’t try to go through this process alone. Click here to find a Celebrate Recovery in your area where you can meet other people, people who have been through what you’re going through that can help you in this process of forgiveness. It may seem impossible today, but with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26) All of this is part of the process of recovery, but if we decide to either not offer forgiveness or to not make amends, and all of us have the need to do both, we will stall in our recovery and be stuck in our yesterday’s. Not that we should deny the past or the pain that we find there, only that we should not dwell on it. We need to trust that Jesus will help us in making our relationships right, and that He has forgiven us for the wrong things we have done in our past’s. His death on the cross paid for our sins in full. When we trust Him and turn our lives over to Him, we are forgiven.
Others of us live so far off in the future worried and anxious about things that may or may not happen. When we do that we are in effect saying to God that we do not believe He will be there when we need Him. Undoubtably, most of us have things looming on the horizon that are frightening, a bill that we’re not sure how we’ll pay, a meeting that could have major implications in our lives, any number of unforeseen issues that keep us up at night. The problem is, worry doesn’t work. No matter how much we worry we still can’t control what’s going to happen. That isn’t to say that we don’t plan or think about tomorrow, but that we trust Jesus will be there for us when we get there. Jesus’ resurrection from the grave gives us the power to live new lives. When Jesus is our Lord and Savior, our Higher Power, He gives us hope for tomorrow.
So what do we do? We do as Jesus instructed and live in today. He tells us in Matthew 6:34,
“So don’t be anxious about tomorrow, God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time” ( TLB)
Instead of regretting the past or dreading the future, each of us needs to live in today. It is today that we have an opportunity to live changed, new lives. It is in today that we have the chance to share the Good News of Jesus Christ to others. It is in today that change is possible. We find freedom from our past and from our fears of the future when we make the choice to live in today.
So, what freezes you? Are you stuck in your past or are you worried about your tomorrow? How can you begin to live, one day at a time?
August 26, 2010
From time to time we’ll highlight the 8 Principles of Celebrate Recovery and how we can practically apply them to our daily life. For a complete list of the Principles and the Biblical basis for each, click here.
Today we’ll look at Principle 7. Wait, Principle 7? Shouldn’t we start with Principle 1?
Yes, we all need to start at Principle 1, where we each:
Realize I’m not God; I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and that my life is unmanageable.
That’s the beginning of the journey for each of us. If you’re new to Celebrate Recovery or just checking us out, start there. But, no matter if you’re brand new to Celebrate Recovery or if you’ve been a part of a Celebrate Recovery group for years, Principle 7 offers us all something we can, and should, start doing right now.
Principle 7 says,
Reserve a time with God for self-examination, Bible reading, and prayer in order to know God and His will for my life and to gain the power to follow His will.
Principle 7 tells us to reserve this time, to make it important, to schedule it. Maybe even go so far as to mark it on a calendar or a to-do list. Make it an appointment, one that is unbreakable and non-negotiable. It doesn’t matter if this time is first thing in the morning or late at night, what matters is that it’s a time when you are able to give it your full attention and a time that you know you’ll be able to make it a daily habit. Make a part of this time talking to God in prayer, asking Him to search you and examine if anything is out of control in your life or if there is an area He wants you to focus more on, and a time to read His Word, the Bible.
Each of us could benefit from spending more time in God’s Word. But many of us don’t know where to start. We thought we’d offer one plan to get started. This post isn’t about which Bible to read, although we’d suggest a good modern translation, like the NIV, that is true to the original language of the Bible but that is also written in a way that’s easy to understand. This post is about where to start. When we approach the Bible it can be confusing. There are testaments, books, chapters and verses. It’s easy to get stuck. If you’ve been reading the Bible for a long time, or if you’ve put your’s down for a while, this may be a way to help you get started again or to give you a fresh take on what and where to read.
Here’s one suggestion on where to get started:
If you’re new to reading the Bible, start in the New Testament. Begin by reading the Gospels, which are the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, because these books are all about Jesus and his life and ministry. Start by reading one chapter from one of these books each day.
As you get started reading the Bible and it begins to become a habit, you can add to that reading. Maybe read a Psalm each day. The Book of Psalms is an incredible book of songs and prayers to God that speaks to us and what we’re going through. Read through the Book of Proverbs. There are 31 chapters in Proverbs and 30 or 31 days in each month, you can read through this book 12 times a year if you read on chapter of Proverbs each day. Then add to that time, read a chapter from one Old Testament book, something from Genesis, Exodus, one of the prophets like Isaiah or any other books of the Old Testament, and one chapter from any of the books in the New Testament.
If you read one chapter from each source listed above, you’d read 5 chapters a day and it would take 20-30 minutes. If you’re already in the habit of reading your Bible, keep going with your plan, this is only one way to read the Bible, there’s hundreds more.
The point is to get started reading the Bible, and then, keep reading. Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” If we want the road to recovery to be well lit, we need to reserve a daily time with God where we read His Word.
August 25, 2010
Philippians 4:4 says,
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
Always? Really? Does that seem impossible? To rejoice in the Lord always seems hard. We all know life can be tough, and that we all go through hard times. It seems like when we look around at our lives there isn’t always that much to rejoice about. But here’s the thing, the verse tells us to “Rejoice in the Lord always.” Not in our situations or our circumstances, but in Jesus, in who He is and what He has done for us.
Whatever is going on today, can you think of any way you can rejoice in the Lord? We asked our Facebook page, “What’s worth celebrating today?” and got some great responses, I wanted to share some of them here.
People are celebrating, rejoicing in:
- A relationship with Jesus Christ.
- That the depression is lessening.
- Friends, spouses and family members finding Jesus and life change through Him.
- Getting baptized.
- For mentors and friends in their lives.
- For waking up clear headed after finding sobriety.
- For Jesus’ forgiveness and grace.
- For finding freedom from hurts, hang-ups and habits.
- Restored relationships.
- For finding and living out God’s purpose for their lives.
- For new strength and power to live through Jesus.
This is just a small sample and a summary of the many comments we received. To see all of them, visit our Facebook page.
Today, focus on the things worth celebrating. They may be small, they might even feel insignificant, but when we focus on what God has done for us, even if that means we think about the breath we just took or that our heart just pumped again, we find it easier to find more things to celebrate.
This doesn’t mean we should deny our pain or pretend that things aren’t tough. In fact, if you’re going through a hard time right now facing the pain and the problem is the only way to get through it. Pretending that life is fine and that nothing is wrong won’t help. But, too often we get stuck in our hard times. We allow our difficulties to define us. When we get stuck in our pain and our problems we lose sight of who God is and what He has done for us. By thinking about the things He’s done for us, by focusing on who He is, we find the power to deal with the hard time and know that He will lead us through it. And then, we have even more to celebrate.
What can you celebrate today? How can you rejoice in the Lord today? Start there, thank God for the things He brings to mind and see if He doesn’t reveal more things to rejoice in. Then, tell someone else, you never know how that may encourage them.
August 20, 2010
Yesterday we saw that we are better together, that we need other people to come along side us as we walk the road to recovery. Thankfully, we have someone else on our side who not only gives us the power to recover, but loves us.
His name is Jesus.
In Celebrate Recovery our Higher Power, our Lord and Savior, is Jesus Christ. He alone has the power to help us recover from our hurts, our hang-ups and our habits. No matter what you may be going through, Jesus cares about it.
1 Peter 5:7 says,
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
That means that we can turn to Him in any situation. He wants us to give Him our worries, our fears our troubles. He wants us to cast them on Him. Why? Because He loves us.
So today, what ever you’re going through, give it to Jesus. Cast all of your cares on him.
Because He loves you.
August 19, 2010
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, 12 says,
“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”
This verse tells us that we are better together, that we shouldn’t try to go through recovery alone. This is especially true for those of us in Celebrate Recovery. We need each other.
Here’s the truth, recovery can be hard, not all of the time, there is incredible victory too, but at times it can be hard. But, you don’t have to go through it alone. That’s why we suggest everyone builds a team of accountability partners and a sponsor. These are key relationships that help us all as we journey through recovery. The best place to find these relationships is at a Celebrate Recovery meeting near you. These people should be folks you can meet face to face. They should be the same gender as yourself and be people that can help lead you closer to Christ.
Having a team of people around us can make all the difference in the world. In fact, in order to progress through the 8 Celebrate Recovery Principles, we need other people. If you’re going through a rough time right now, a solid group of people can help you walk through it. When things are going well it can be easy to put forming these groups on the back burner. But, it’s a good bet that each of us is going to need to lean on others sooner or later. It’s a good idea to start forming these relationships now, before you need them.
In Celebrate Recovery we need Jesus Christ as our High Power, our Lord and Savior, and we need other people to keep us accountable and focused. Remember, “Two are better than one.”
August 18, 2010
We wanted to let you know that we’re going to expand the scope of the main Celebrate Recovery webpage to include more content in the coming days and weeks. We hope the stories and content will encourage and help you as we walk the road to recovery together. The contributors are all people who have gone through Celebrate Recovery in their own lives and have seen the healing work that Jesus offers us all.
We’ll be looking at the 8 Recovery Principles, providing insights into the recovery journey, highlighting testimonies from all over the world, and much more. To give us ideas on what you’d like to see on this page please join our Facebook page.
Thanks,
Johnny
