The Light in the Darkness

It amazes me how many brothers and sisters get caught up in the world. Here on Facebook and other places on the web I see posts from brothers and sisters sharing their horoscopes, apps like what mythical character are you, what Greek god did you descend from, etc. We must be careful with the things that we get caught up in. We are told not to imitate evil but what is good.

Some will say – ‘What’s wrong with horoscopes?’ Horoscope is another word for astrology. With that let’s look at a couple of definitions.

Astrology: the study that assumes and attempts to interpret the influence of the heavenly bodies on human affairs. Synonym: star divination

Divination: is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of a standardized process or ritual. It is an integral part of witchcraft and has been used in various forms for thousands of years.

There you have it, astrology (horoscopes) are a ritual that is an integral part of witchcraft. The Bible says in Deuteronomy 18:10-11

10 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. (NKJV)

There’s witchcraft, also soothsayer, a person who professes to foretell events. The bible is very clear that we are to stay away from any form of witchcraft. In Galatians 5 Paul tells us that those who practice witchcraft will not inherit or partake of the Kingdom of God.

Now some will say they just use it for amusement, but Paul warns us in Ephesians 4:27 to not give place to the devil, to not give a foothold to the devil, we are not to do anything to allow evil to have any place in our lives.

This goes to those who use the apps that ask questions and then tell you what Greek god or goddess you are. Once again, this is giving the devil a place in your life. It may be very unassuming, but if you let evil creep in, if you post these alter egos, what are you telling others? What are you claiming in your post? You’re a god, or a goddess. There is only one God, and it should be the God that you are following.

These apps and posts may seem relatively innocent but that is exactly how we open the door to allow evil to creep in. In John 10:10 Jesus said ‘The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy.’ Why give the ‘thief’, ‘the evil one’ a foothold to destroy us.

Finally, in Ephesians 6 we read:

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (NKJV)
We must take up our stand against the devil. It’s not like were fighting a human made of flesh and blood. We are fighting against principalities, powers and the rulers of the darkness of this age. So take your stand so that we may be able to withstand the evil in our day.

Walk in the light, the light of the world. Walk in the light of Jesus so that you may overcome the darkness of this world. Let Jesus lead you in the truth, so that your deeds may be clearly seen and that they have been done with God. I want to end with this:

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” John 3:16-21 (NKJV)

A New Year, a New Way…

It’s the New Year. A time of making resolutions and trying to change the things that we have resolved to change. I think most people fail to achieve their resolutions. I don’t think most people have the power within themselves to keep them from a habit that has been with them for years. That is why so many people wind up in AA, NA, or one of the many other 12 Step programs. They are looking for help in resolving, recovering from, a behavior that has been with them for years and they can’t seem to break out of it.

A study was done throughout 2007, where 3000 plus people were tracked while attempting to achieve a range of resolutions that included losing weight, visiting the gym, quitting smoking, and drinking less. At the start of the study only  52% of participants were confident of their success. About half thought that they  could or would actually accomplish their goals. Why even make a resolution if you think you will fail from the start? At the end of 2007 it was found that only 12% actually achieved their goal. That is about the same as the recovery rates of AA and NA. So, what’s missing in the New Years Resolution and Recovery equation?

We have to get ‘I’ out of the equation to make any steps towards success in any resolution. It’s the same as with any 12 Step Recovery program, we have to let go and let God! We first must admit that we are powerless over our addiction, adverse behavior, mistakes we keep making, whatever you want to call it, and that it controls our life, that our life is unmanageable.

Once we can admit we are powerless then we can come to terms with the fact that if we can’t do it, it will take someone with more power over our life then we have. We come to believe that a power greater than ourselves can  restore us to sanity.

So, where do we find that Higher Power, a power that can take our bad behaviors that have placed us in bondage and set us free? We find that power in the only one that has the power to heal our hurts, to heal our relationships, to remove our shortcomings, to reveal to us the truth that can set us free. The one that offers us a real freedom. A freedom that doesn’t just free us from one or two of our behaviors but a freedom that is revealed in every aspect of our lives.

We must turn of will and our live over to the care of God. The one true God, the creator of the earth and the giver of life. The Triune God, that is, God the Father, His Son Jesus, and the Spirit He has promised to send us. We must turn our will over to the care of God, as we understand Him. We don’t need to know anything other than we believe that God exists and ask for His saving grace through His Son, Jesus.

Jesus said ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’_[a] Jesus tells us that the only way to the Father is through Jesus. The only way to experience the true power of God is to enter into relationship with Jesus. Jesus gives us all access to God the Father, and lets us experience all that God has to offer us, including help with our resolutions.

It was Jesus that said ‘…you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free’_[b] and ‘…if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed’._[c]

Jesus said He could make us free and He will show us the Way, the Truth and the Life. He will show us the way to live our life according to His way and it’s not as hard as most religious people make it out to be. He will show us the truth, the truth that will set us free, all we have  to do is be willing to listen. He will give us life, a life of freedom here on this earth today, and a eternal life for tomorrow.

So this year make just one resolution. Resolve to follow the Way, the Truth, the way to a life of freedom. Just let go and let God. ‘Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.’_[d]

Notes:
All quotations NKJV
a. John 14:6
b. John 6:32
c. John 6:36
d. Proverbs 3:5

Making Amends and Forgiveness

 

As we work through our recovery we must keep in mind that we must always seek God’s direction in the things we do. We claimed to have turned our will over to God, so we must continually seek His will. As it says in the BB on page 85, ‘How can I best serve Thee – Thy will (not mine) be done’. When we come to Step Eight and Nine the Good Book (the Bible) has lots of directions for us on making amends. Since we should be using both the BB and GB in our lives and in seeking God’s direction for our lives let’s look at Matthew 18:21-35 and see what light it can shed on preparing and making amends.

²¹ Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, when my fellow believer sins against me, how many times must I forgive him? Should I forgive him as many as seven times?"  ²² Jesus answered, "I tell you, you must forgive him more than seven times. You must forgive him even if he wrongs you seventy times seven.²³ "The kingdom of heaven is like a king who decided to collect the money his servants owed him. ²⁴ When the king began to collect his money, a servant who owed him several million dollars was brought to him. ²⁵ But the servant did not have enough money to pay his master, the king. So the master ordered that everything the servant owned should be sold, even the servant’s wife and children. Then the money would be used to pay the king what the servant owed. ²⁶ "But the servant fell on his knees and begged, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything I owe.’ ²⁷ The master felt sorry for his servant and told him he did not have to pay it back. Then he let the servant go free. ²⁸ "Later, that same servant found another servant who owed him a few dollars. The servant grabbed him around the neck and said, ‘Pay me the money you owe me!’ ²⁹ "The other servant fell on his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything I owe.’ ³⁰ "But the first servant refused to be patient. He threw the other servant into prison until he could pay everything he owed. ³¹ When the other servants saw what had happened, they were very sorry. So they went and told their master all that had happened. ³² "Then the master called his servant in and said, ‘You evil servant! Because you begged me to forget what you owed, I told you that you did not have to pay anything. ³³ You should have showed mercy to that other servant, just as I showed mercy to you.’ ³⁴ The master was very angry and put the servant in prison to be punished until he could pay everything he owed. ³⁵ "This king did what my heavenly Father will do to you if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart."

The first thing we see here is Peter asking Jesus how many times should we forgive a brother or a sister, ‘seven times?’ Jesus states that seven times is not enough. Jesus tells us seven times seventy, or 490 times. Is 490 some magical number? No, Jesus is just making the point that we should forgive anyone as many times as is necessary. Just hold on to that thought and we’ll come back to it later on.

Jesus then goes on to tell a story of forgiveness and mercy. He tells of a king that decides he is going to collect all the money owed to him by his servants. As he starts going through his kingdom and settling the  debts that he is owed he comes across one who owes millions. The king orders that he, his wife, his kids and all he owns be sold to resolve the debt he owes.

Now, I would like to ask, what would you do in this situation? Would you accept what was coming? I am sure that everyone of us would try to work out an agreement. We would beg for more time and promise to re-pay the entire debt, even though we knew in the back of our mind that we could never re-pay all that we owed. The story says the man also dropped to his knees and begged. This man humbled himself to his king, and ask to for the king to forgive him of his debt. Yes, he asked the king to forgive the debt, as both the servant and the king were well aware that ALL the money could never be re-paid.

The king now has a decision to make. Does he tell the servant to give him a couple of days to think about it? No, he had compassion on the servant and told him he didn’t have to pay the money back. The king forgave the servants debt. He showed the servant forgiveness and let him go free. The servant now had his freedom, he was no longer in bondage, the king had set him free.

This is how God responds to us when we confess our wrongs to Him. He responds with compassion and forgives us. We sometimes think we have to fix our wrong doings before God will forgive us. The Bible tells us in John 3 that God did not send Jesus into this world to condemn us but that we might receive His forgiveness and have a real, everlasting relationship with Him.

Being free, the former servant now runs into another of the kings servants. This servant owes the man a few dollars. The man grabs the servant by the throat and demands the money owed him. The servant does the same thing the man did when confronted by the king, he falls to his knees and begs the man to be patient with him and he will repay all owes. The man is having nothing to do with his plee for patience and has him thrown into prison until he could repay his debt.

Is that anyway for a person to act towards another? He was just shown mercy for the same type of transgression but cannot find it in his heart to do the same for his brother. This is typical of the self-serving, self-centered nature of man. Man always is looking out for himself, wanting what is rightfully owed him, and willing to go to any lengths to get it.

I really think, and this is coming from me, that most of us, most of the time are more concerned for ourselves than we are the other person. The world in which we live is always telling us that we need to look out for ourselves. We are in control of our own life and our own destiny. We need to invest in ourselves. Then we are told to be careful. Everyone is out to get us or to take advantage of us. We are taught, sometimes from a very young age to not trust anyone. It’s no wonder that we a so ‘I’ focused.

We must come to realize that we need to think of others before we think of ourselves. We need to look at our brother and see what his needs and wants are. We need to place our brother before us. When someone asks for mercy, like the servants above, we need to be quick to forgive. We don’t say, ‘Let me think about it.’ It just need to forgive. If we need time to think about it then we will get back into ourselves. When we get back into ourselves, we will come up with all kinds of reasons, that we justify in our minds, of why we should not forgive.

The king catches wind of what the first servant had done and he calls him on the carpet. The king, now angry says, how could you? I forgave you of  much and you could not even forgive your brother a few dollars. You self-centered, miserable, evil man. I will have you thrown in prison until you repay everything you owe.

There are consequences to everything we do. We make our choices and then we live by the consequences. When we do harm to others, even when we upset others, we can hurt our relationships with others. Sometimes the hurts can last a life time. It can seem that we have been alienated for life. That we are placed in a cell, away from the estranged brother, in a prison of our own making. That is why it is so important to show our brother mercy, compassion and forgiveness.

As stated in the last sentence of the passage: "This king did what my heavenly Father will do to you if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart." Jesus is emphasizing the point of forgiveness, that forgiveness is very important. I think Jesus in Matthew says is well:

²³ Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.       Matthew 5:23-24

We can not make amends to others until we have forgiven them for any harm they have caused us. We have to forgive them. In many, if not all cases, it is the resentment that has caused the damage in our relationships with others. Really, if we were not resentful of something they did to us would we really be asking for forgiveness. In every case there is a reason for our resentment. We resent the fact our spouse poured the booze out, dumped the pills down the toilet, took the kids and left. We resent our boss, because we did not get the raise we think we deserved, we didn’t get the promotion, we got fire. We resent the fact that our best friend always took the car keys, that they wouldn’t stay at the party longer, that they deserted us when we continued down the path of self-destruction and we would no longer listen to our reason. Behind every broken relationship we can find resentment.

Step Eight of the Twelve Steps tells us we were ready to make amends to everyone we had harmed. Step Eight is about us forgiving them and asking God to forgive us for the resentment and the harm we have done to them. It is becoming willing to make amends. The Big Book, on page 77 states when we go to make amends; ‘We go to him in a helpful and forgiving spirit…’ A forgiving spirit means we have forgiven the other person and God has forgiven us for the past hard feelings. We have forgiven the resentment we have held and we are ready to set things straight with him.

Step Nine states we make direct amends whenever possible. Amends is asking forgiveness and granting forgiveness to others. Amends is setting things straight and making restitution  when necessary. We need to admit when we are wrong. We need to forgive the other person, to show the other person mercy. We need to ask for forgiveness when we are wrong. We need to ask for our own well being and because God has asked us to do it.

In the beginning of the Jesus stated:

You must forgive him even if he wrongs you seventy times seven.

This is Step 10 and 11 in action. Jesus used ‘seventy times seven’ to mean that we should forgive as many times as needed. Step 10 says we must continue to take a personal moral inventory, as many times as needed, and when we are wrong to promptly admit it. We are to ask forgiveness to God and to the other person. We are to forgive them at the same time.

Step 11 says we seek God through prayer and meditation, seeking God’s will and His knowledge to carry His will out in our lives. God will directs us to those we need to make amends to. We just need to pray for Him to show us. As it says in the Big Book on page  85,  ‘Everyday is a day in when we must carry the vision of God’s will into all our activities. “How can I best serve Thee — Your will (not mine), be done.”’

It is hoped that this will help others as they practice the principles of the 12 Steps. Please feel free to post your comments and open a discussion on your thoughts on what has been presented.

12 Steps in 7 Words

I have been Studying the roots of the Twelve Steps and the ideas behind the Steps. I ran across the following the other night when I was examining ties between Alcoholics Anonymous of the 1930s and the Oxford Group. In particular I was reading about the influence Dwight L. Moody had over Frank Buchman, the Oxford Group founder. Moody had referenced the 32nd Psalm and described it using seven words: Conviction, Confession, Forgiveness, Prayer, Protection, Guidance, Joy. Those seven words fall right in line with Buchman’s Oxford Group language of the Five C’s – Confidence, Confession, Conviction, Conversion and Conservation.

Samuel Shoemaker who Bill W. referred to as a co-founder of AA also referenced the Five Cs in his writings. Sam would not deny it when Bill W. said he was a co-founder, he would however give credit to God and the Oxford Group. Could the Five C’s have had an influence on the Twelve Steps or perhaps Moody’s Seven Words that are used to describe the 32nd Psalm.

Let’s look at the 32nd Psalm and then the correlation I see between the seven words Moody used to describe the Psalm and the Twelve Steps.

Here is the text of the 32nd Psalm:

¹ Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered.
² Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity,
         And in whose spirit there is no deceit.
³ When I kept silent, my bones grew old
         Through my groaning all the day long.
⁴ For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
         My vitality was turned into the drought of summer.  Selah  
⁵ I acknowledged my sin to You,
         And my iniquity I have not hidden.
         I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,”
         And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.  Selah  
⁶ For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You
         In a time when You may be found;
         Surely in a flood of great waters
         They shall not come near him.
⁷ You are my hiding place;
         You shall preserve me from trouble;
         You shall surround me with songs of deliverance.  Selah  
⁸ I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
         I will guide you with My eye.
⁹ Do not be like the horse or like the mule,
Which have no understanding,
         Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle,
         Else they will not come near you.
¹⁰ Many sorrows shall be to the wicked;
         But he who trusts in the LORD, mercy shall surround him.
¹¹ Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous;
         And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

Let’s begin by looking at verses 3 and 4 where I see Steps 1 and 2. In verse 3 we see a person who is dejected, who is broken, who I think we can say is at the end of his rope. Why else would he be silent, with his bones aching and groaning all day long. He has lost all sanity. He is powerless and his life has become unmanageable.

Verse 4 shows that he is aware of someone else’s presence, that God has had His hand upon him. He is coming under Conviction, the reality of his selfishness and self-centeredness . He is coming to realize that a power greater than himself has been with him and as we shall see in the next verse he calls on his Higher Power to restore his sanity.

In order to turn our will and our life over to the care of God we need to work through a series of principles, or steps if you will. These steps encompass more than just Step Three. If we look at the BB and we look at the way the steps were worked in the late 30s/early 40s, we find that when we turn our will over to God, we do it with a prayer but that prayer does not end with an amen (see BB. pg. 63, para. 2). The prayer is concluded when we complete Step Seven, when we go through Confession, when we ask God to remove all our defects of character (BB. pg. 76, para. 2). Then we must also do Steps Eight and Nine to complete the asking for Forgiveness. We must have our relationship with others right before we can approach God on getting our relationship right with Him.

In Matthew 6:14-15 it tells us we must forgive others before God will forgive us:

¹⁴ “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

We can not make amends to others until we have forgiven them for any harm they have caused us. Yes, we have to forgive them. In many cases it is the resentment that has caused the damage in our relationships with others. Therefore we must forgive them for whatever reason we are resentful towards them. Once Steps Three through Nine have been completed then we have acknowledge our sin, our defects of character and shortcomings to ourselves and God. Once we have confessed all to our Higher Power we have done what is described in verse 5 of the Psalm.

Verses 6 through 8 are Steps Ten through Twelve. They instruct us to pray and to get our direction from God. We can only get direction that comes with Prayer and meditation, meditating on the Big Book and the Good Book. We must pray and ask God for direction. We must also take a daily inventory and ask God for His forgiveness when it’s required. We must continue to practice the principles in all our affairs, which only come through God’s instruction and Guidance.

So, what do we get for all this? We get verses 1, 2, 10 and 11. We get blessings and Protection. We receive God’s mercy. We get to be glad and rejoice because our Higher Power has delivered us from a sorry state of ‘I’, from a state of powerlessness. He has made us upright in heart and righteous, and because of all He has done for us we can shout for Joy.

The only thing left out of the passage is the warning in verse 9. God tells us not to be like the beast with no understanding, which must be harnessed. He tells us that the wicked shall have many sorrows. So, stand strong in the seven words: Conviction, Confession, Forgiveness, Prayer, Protection, Guidance, Joy.  Then you will have found true serenity. You will have true peace and happiness. You will have a life with the true Higher Power, with our God, our Creator.