Know When to Fold Em’, Know When to Walk Away

Know When to Play Them

I’m back…  It’s been awhile since I posted anything on here but I figured it was time.  Life can deal you some messed up cards sometimes but it’s all in how you play them that determines the outcome.  I have been fighting all the signs on how my life should go, but today I made the decision to get back to my roots and pick back up where I quit two years ago.

My wife and I attended a funeral today for a good friend and a great Christian Motorcyclist.  It was a very nice funeral that lasted nearly an hour and a half.  Person after person shared memories and testimonies about the persons life and how he had affected them.  It was a great time of sharing with friends, some we hadn’t see in a couple of years.

A couple of those were two CMA ministry leaders that I had the pleasure of working with up until about two years ago.  I took all last year off mainly because of health issues but after talking with the two of them I have decided to go back into CMA and make myself available as much as I can.  It will be different seeing as I sold my motorcycle last fall but the call has come so I will return in a cage.

I am also trying to put it all in God’s hands and am trusting Him to provide me with whatever I need for the ministry.  If I am to get another bike, He will provide.  ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.’  Proverbs 3:5-6  (NKJV)  So, that is what I will do.

Back to the Sober & Clean folks, that’s were I’m headed.  First to Woody’s Pig Roast and then we will go from there.  Woody’s was the first Clean & Sober event we went to when we got involved in CMA seven years ago.  We went for the day on Saturday.  We were hooked and have been every year up until last May.

If you have never been to a Clean & Sober motorcycle rally, campout or event imagine a bunch of bikers having fun and not a drop of alcohol around.  The Pig Roast puts on a big Filipino Pig Roast on Saturday afternoon.  They have guest speakers, bike games and a ice cream run.  If you never been come on out to Woody’s Memorial Day Weekend in Waitsburg, Wa.  Leave the booze at home and come party with us.

So after holding my cards for 2 years, it’s time to play them.  I’d be willing to bet that I win and I will be blessed.  Until next time, please take it One Day at a Time.

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.

God, as We Understood Him

God, as We Understood Him

As I have worked the 12 Steps and shared the 12 Steps with others I have met many individuals who say they struggle with the Steps. Many of them relapse and some make it back to AA or NA but many more of them fall back into their addiction and live the rest of their lives struggling with the addiction, looking for an easy way out, or they die addicted to narcotics and/or alcohol. It brings up the question as to how AA achieved the success they had in the early days and what is being done different today.

I have heard differing numbers recently about the number of people that actually recover today and it’s between 12 and 17 percent. In the early days of AA the number of Alcoholics that recovered was at 75 percent. 50 percent recovered immediately and 25 percent more recovered after a few relapses. In Cleveland Ohio in the late Thirties and early Forties they had a astonishing 93 percent recovery rate. Comparing today with the early days we have to wonder what the difference is between then and now.

The main difference, as I see it, has to do with how the Steps were presented and taken. AA as it existed from 1935 till 1939 met with the Oxford Groups. The Oxford Groups were a Christian Fellowship and God and His Son, Jesus were talked about, shared amongst members and were the main focus of their lives and their recovery. How many AA meetings today do we hear God and Jesus being shared? If an AA does speak about God or Jesus they are generally not called upon to share in the future or at least the other AAs try not to call upon them.

In AA today there are many who have never taken the 12 Steps. They attend meetings, they read the Big Book but never really apply the steps to their everyday lives. Some go as far as getting a sponsor, some go through many sponsors, but they still do not apply the steps to their lives. Many sponsors today have not taken the 12 Steps as they were designed to be taken. If a sponsor isn’t working the steps as they were intended then what kind of an example are they showing the sponsee. A sponsor’s main activity should be carrying the message of AA to others. A sponsor should have a real concern about the sponsee, the sponsee’s family, and the sponsee’s recovery. A sponsor should be applying the steps in their day to day lives and showing the sponsee how to do the same.

In AA meetings today we sit through a hour or a hour-and-a-half of alcoholics sharing about the days of their drunkenness, their sickness, and how they used to be. We hear about how they are still struggling to stay sober and clean. We hear about the problems with their wife, their kids, their job, their finances, their anger, their fears, the list goes on and on. Very seldom do we hear about what our Higher Power is doing in our lives. We do not hear about the changes that God is making in their lives. In AA we all know about our past. We were all alcoholics, otherwise we wouldn’t be there. We don’t need to know more about the way we used to be. We need to hear about the changes that God is making in our lives. If your life is not changing then you have not found the High Power. God, as we understand Him is not turning you life and your will over the the care of a door knob, a cloud, a teddy bear, or whatever your imagination comes up with.

God, as we understood Him is not about picking your own god. It is about starting with whatever knowledge about the High Power, about God, an individual has. Everyone has a knowledge of God, whether it be good or bad. There are those in AA that have attended church for many years and they have a knowledge of God. It can be varying degrees of belief and knowledge depending on the teaching of the church and their own prayer and meditation. As for the atheist or the agnostic, they have a knowledge of God, however they have decided to reject God, that He  doesn’t exist, due to their own reasoning. Then there are those that believe in God but have never experienced God in a tangible way. Everyone has a knowledge of God. Whether they accept to believe that God exists is their choice.

When we start taking the steps our sponsor should have qualified us to determine if we were an alcoholic and if we were ready to get sober. He should have used something like this:

1. Do you think you have a drinking problem?
2. Do you want to do something about it?
3. What are you willing to do about it?

The Big Book states on page 46, “We found that as soon as we were able to lay aside prejudice and express even a willingness to believe in a Power greater than ourselves, we commenced to get results, even though it was impossible for any of us to fully define or comprehend that Power, which is God.”  All that is necessary is a willingness to believe. Starting out you may not be able to define or understand the power, but if you give it a chance God will show Himself to you and you will begin to see results. The results of a changed life, a change for the good, and you will be free from alcohol, narcotics and anything else that is controlling your life.

We cannot go on working the steps with our own conception of God. We must take the steps as they were written and that includes submitting to the God of the Big Book and the Good Book. Do you want to be recovered and free from alcohol or do you want to be in recovery for the rest of your life? The choice is yours but really consider if your willing to do anything to be recovered, and if you are find a good sponsor, one that will show you how to take the steps and one that has submitted to God and relies on God everyday. It will completely change your life, every aspect of your life and not just your abstinence from alcohol.

Fathers

 

Happy Father’s Day. How’s your relationship with your father? Some of us have father’s that really care and love us. Others have a strained relationship with their father. Others don’t have any type of meaningful relationship with their fathers at all. So, how does that affect our relationship with God our Father? For some it’s not a problem at all. For others with a strained relationship or those don’t don’t have any relationship, or maybe don’t even have a father, it can really affect the person spiritually.

Let’s look at a paraphrased version of Luke 11:10-13 and see what it tells us about God the Father.

"What do you think? You can bargain with your Father? Just ask your Father for what you need. This is not some game we’re playing to get what we want.

Think about it. If your son asks for fish, do you give him a live snake ? If you daughter asks for an egg, do you give her a creepy, crawly, insect or spider? Do you deliberately try to scare and torment your children?

As bad as we can be, we would never think of doing such a thing to our children. So, don’t you think that your Father in Heaven, who loves you more than anything on this earth, will give you all things your spirit needs through His Holy Spirit. Just ask Him!”

In real life how do you treat your children and how were you treated as you were growing up? As the passage says would you give your child something that would hurt them? A child may ask a parent for something but in most cases a parent does not give a child something that would harm them. They may not get exactly what they asked for or they may not get anything. It would be a rare case in which a parent deliberately hurt their child.

We live in a world however that is full of evil and brokenness. Because of this bad things can happen to any of us, adults or children. There is a way however to overcome the evil of this world and to find peace with ourselves and those around us. The way is through a relationship with the Living God, our true Father, the creator of all that exists.

In the Bible, in the Book of John, we see so much as to how we enter into a relationship with God and how God will help us. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he sent His only Son (Jesus), that whosoever believes in Him (puts their faith and trust in Him), shall not perish (pass away, be destroyed) but have everlasting (eternal, today, tomorrow and for ever) life.”

That’s the promise. All we must do is to believe that God gave us His Son, Jesus, to overcome this world, all the evil of this world, and lead us into a life of freedom. In John 14:6 we read:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Jesus tells us here that He is the way, the truth and the life. He can show us the way to live a life of freedom. No longer as a slave to this world, but a free man who can experience life as it was meant to be lived. He can also show us the truth. He can guide us through life showing us the good things of life, and He can shows us the bad, the things we should stay away from. He also promises us life. Life today, tomorrow and for all eternity.

The second thing that Jesus tells us is that the only way to enter into a relationship with God is through Jesus Himself. No one comes to the Father except through Jesus. When we place our trust in Jesus, when we put our faith in Jesus, we enter into a relationship with God and Jesus.

Once we enter into that relationship we receive the help that was mentioned in Luke 11:10-13. The spiritual help through God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit. In John 14 Jesus tells us of the Spirit.

¹⁵ “If you love Me, keep My commandments. ¹⁶ And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

²⁶ But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things

Jesus tells us in verses 15 through 17 that if we love Him and do as He says we will receive another helper, the Spirit of Truth. What does it mean to love Jesus and keep His commandments? It means to put our trust and faith in Him and have a living relationship with Him. Then the Spirit of Truth will dwell within us. The world does see the Spirit or know the Spirit but we do when we accept Jesus as our friend and God as our Father. The Spirit will dwell with us and in us.

We are also told in verse 26 that this helper is the Holy Spirit and the Father will send Him to us in Jesus name. The Holy Spirit will teach us all things. The Holy Spirit will teach us the way, and the truth. He will help us to experience the life that Jesus has promised us.

A relationship with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit doesn’t mean we won’t have our problems but problems are much easier to endure when we know that the Three of Them are on our side.

On this Father’s Day think about the relationship you have with your earthly father and our Heavenly Father. Realize that God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit will be by your side no matter what. Then if you don’t have a good relationship with your earthly father ask God for His help. God loves mending relationships, ours with Him and ours with others.

Life and Death

Life and Death! I have experienced it all in the last few weeks. From the passing of a very special lady who was part of CMA and a great witness for her Lord, to two neighbors who passed on the same Saturday. Then just three  days later the passing of our foster son’s mother. Friday we witnessed the birth of a new life into our world.

So, how do we deal with the loss of friends and family? Do we mourn death or do we celebrate the life that they had? I think everyone deals with death in their own way and their own terms. I have seen memorials that celebrate the life of the deceased, I have seen memorials that mourn death, and I have seen memorials that have been used to preach salvation and have barely touched on the person the memorial is supposed to be for.

I the case of the CMA member who passed recently it was a celebration of life. Family and Friends gathered together to share memories of the difference the woman had made in their life’s. Sharing a meal together, sharing memories and sharing the loss but at the same time remembering her for who she was and what she had done. Family, friends and bikers paying tribute to a very special person who had touched each individual’s life in some special way. It was fitting that the person who she had raced many times from her three wheeled scooter in the slow drags performed a burn out in her honor. A real celebration of life.

A week later our neighbor of twenty seven years passed on. She was the mother of my sponsee in NA. She died peaceably in her sleep. We were with the family as the coroner and the funeral home came to do the things they have to do. On the following Wednesday the Memorial service was held. Her son-in-law did the memorial service. It was a celebration of life also. People shared their memories and stories then gathered afterwards for more sharing, sharing food and the life she had lived.

Her daughter had shared with me the day before the service that she had given her mother The Shack to read. It made a profound difference for her and, I believe, with her relationship with God. About fifteen years earlier she had lost her first grandson when someone abducted him and they found him dead. This grandmother, after reading The Shack, forgave the killer and others in her life whom she had been harboring ill feelings against. She was ready to go home and meet her Lord.

The very same day that she passed on a twenty-one year old that once lived next door to us, and continued to visit next door lost her mother. She was forty-four. She had a rough past and had fought the battle with drugs and with the law. She had been out of jail for about a year and had been clean for quite awhile since getting out of jail. We had just talked the week before about her daughter’s wedding and were looking forward to the wedding day.

The police suspected foul play in her death and ordered an autopsy. They had found ‘H’ and syringes in her purse. The autopsy came back negative on any criminal action and the coroner sent off samples to  toxicology because they suspected drugs may have resulted in her death. It takes six to eight weeks for the toxicology results. We can be really quick sometimes to draw conclusions from the circumstances surrounding a given situation. Did she have a relationship with God? I don’t know…

Three days later on Tuesday morning I was headed to work. My foster son’s mother lived up the street from us about four blocks. As I approached I noticed a police car sitting across the street. Then I noticed my foster son and his brother standing in the front yard. As I passed the house the coroner was crossing the street to the house. I had just been through this three days before and knew immediately that his mother had died. She had battled cancer for about a year and a half. However, she died of an heart attack at fifty seven years old. I don’t know what relationship she had with God. I had only met her a time or two and that had been about twenty years ago.

So what’s the point of all this?

Life can be too short sometimes. There are a couple of points I would like to make out of these situations. First in the case of the latter two deaths we don’t know where their souls are now that the bodies have died. All too often we jump to conclusions and judge a person without really knowing anything about the person. One thing I know for sure and can tell everyone, we do not know what is in another person’s heart. Jesus said in Matthew 7:

1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

Jesus is telling us here that we have no business judging anyone. He calls us hypocrites for trying to tell someone else what their problems are and we don’t look at ourselves, examine ourselves, and correct our own hearts. And if anyone thinks they have a perfect heart, remember that the only totally perfect person to ever walk this earth was Jesus. Jesus also said in John 5:

24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”

We are told that if we believe in God, and believe that Jesus is the son of God, we will have everlasting life. We are also told that we will not come into judgment but that we have passed from death into life. So, once again I ask who can say what anyone else believes?  Can anyone of us look into another’s heart or mind and see what they believe? I say no and I say that we should not draw conclusions and judge others based on what we see. We all fall short of the glory of God but it by His grace that we will see Eternal life and one day stand in His presence.

The second thing I learned from these deaths and the other point I’d like to make is what are you doing tomorrow? Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:

34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Don’t worry about tomorrow. Today has enough of it’s own problems. More importantly we read in James 4:

…you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”

We do not know what will happen tomorrow and really what is our life? Our life is but a vapor. Some translations say a fog or a mist. The point is that life on this earth is but for a little while in the grand scheme of things. Like the fog, vapor or mist it is but for a while but likewise we do not know when is will dissipate. We do not know when it will go away. We are here one minute and the next we can be gone. Either by the choices we make or by the choices of others. Likewise, God can call us home to be with Him at any moment. So live life today. As we say in recovery, ‘One Day at a Time, One Step at a Time.’

We really should say each day, ‘if the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.’ We should live everyday for God and according to what He would have us do. God gave us the life we have.  We should thank Him each day for the day He has given us and live it for Him.

This brings up a big question. How is your life and where are you going when you die? When we die we have two options and they are ultimately up to us. Without getting into a discussion of hell, we have two choices: eternal death or eternal life. Eternal death would be enough of a hell to know it’s not a choice I would want to make when I can have eternal life. Eternal life is really very easy to obtain. God tells us that all we have to do is have faith in the fact that He sent His son to die for us, that through His death and resurrection, and our belief in Jesus, we have everlasting, eternal life.

After all the memorial services in two weeks and the three deaths in three days the most remarkable thing happened to end the two weeks. Our seventh great grandchild and fourth great grandson was delivered into this world. What a remarkable ending. It kind of brings everything into perspective and makes me realize how precious life really is. As I held my grandson I could help think about the friends I had lost. It brought hope and peace to my soul. I know where two of the women we recently lost went when they died. They are with our Lord. The other two, well, I can’t say, only the Lord knows. I can take peace from that and knowing it is not my decision to decide their fate. God is in control and I’m not.

Recovery in the Resurrection

I have been thinking about recovery and what it looks like in comparison to Easter. As I look around at all the brightly colored eggs, chocolate bunnies, Peeps and little plush rabbits, sheep, chicks and ducks I came to the conclusion that Easter is a very strange holiday. Unless of course we dig into what Easter is all about. Easter is another day that has become very commercialized and is driven by retailers, greed and making a quick dollar. At a close glimpse we see very little to do with the real reason that Easter came to be. Never mind that it is a pagan celebration of the goddess Eastre, the goddess of fertility, which is represented by the rabbit. Hence the Easter Bunny has become a part of the day, as we now know it.

Many people celebrate Easter as a Christian holiday. They will spend the entire week before Easter dwelling on the crucifixion of Jesus, the Christ. Most church services you will attend Easter week are very solemn, sober and some, very sad. They will spend the entire week reflecting on the pain and persecution that Jesus endured on the day He was crucified. Then on Easter Sunday they will all go to Church and once again they will probably hear the story of the crucifixion one more time and then they will be told that three days later He arose from the grave.

The resurrection actually happened, just as Jesus had promised, and gave all of mankind a reason to celebrate. That glorious and joyous day that should always be remembered, not just on Easter, but everyday by those who believe in Him. It should always be Resurrection Day. A day to celebrate new life, a new beginning, a fresh start.

If the resurrection had never happened then what are we to believe? Jesus would have just been a great man, a great teacher and maybe a prophet. A man who shared with everyone he came in contact with a philosophy of love, caring and sharing. A man who taught us that we should love our brothers and sisters as we would want to be loved. A man with great powers to heal others and raise the dead. Pretty miraculous things for a mortal man. But Jesus was not a mere mortal man. He was the Son of God and He was sent to give us a way to live life free of the bondage that this world offers. A life free of all the evil desires of our hearts and our minds.

In recovery, we learn in Step Three, that we must make a decision to turn our life and our will over to the care of God, as we understand Him. In our recovery group, Steps to Freedom, we have changed it slightly. We use this version: Made a decision to turn our life and our will over to the care of God through Jesus Christ. Why? Because Jesus tells us in John:

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6

Jesus tells us that the only way to God, to the Father, is through Jesus himself. Jesus also promises us a new way to live. He promises us a way to live in truth. He promises us a way to experience life to the fullest.

The same way Jesus was resurrected and lives again, still today, He offers us a new life through a relationship with Him. We can have a new life, a fresh start, a new beginning. Let’s look at a man in Jesus day that was told about receiving and new life and how Jesus explained it to him.

There was a man named Nicodemus who was one of the Pharisees and an important Jewish leader. One night Nicodemus came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we know you are a teacher sent from God, because no one can do the miracles you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot be in God’s kingdom.” Nicodemus said, “But if a person is already old, how can he be born again? He cannot enter his mother’s womb again. So how can a person be born a second time?” But Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born from water and the Spirit, you cannot enter God’s kingdom. 6 Human life comes from human parents, but spiritual life comes from the Spirit. Don’t be surprised when I tell you, ‘You must all be born again.’ The wind blows where it wants to and you hear the sound of it, but you don’t know where the wind comes from or where it is going. It is the same with every person who is born from the Spirit.” John 3:1-8

This man, Nicodemus, found it hard to believe what Jesus was telling him. Just like many of us, we find it hard to believe in something we cannot see. This talk about being ‘born again’, Nicodemus just couldn’t grasp the idea. Once again, it is hard for us to understand the concept of being born a second time. However, Jesus stated that unless we are born again we can not be a part of God’s kingdom. If we do not accept Jesus, that is, to believe that He died for our sins and on the third day He was resurrected, we cannot enter into a relationship with Him or God. As Jesus put it, ‘you cannot enter God’s kingdom’.

Now, if we must be ‘born again’, how does this happen? Jesus told Nicodemus that we must be ‘born of water and the Spirit’. The Apostle John used the word ‘born’ throughout his writings. Twenty two times he uses the word to refer of the gracious act of God in imparting upon those who believe in Jesus, the nature and disposition of “children,” imparting to them spiritual life. He also uses water to refer to the setting aside of all that the believer was according to the flesh. In other words, once we accept Jesus our old ways are forgotten. They are buried to never again be remembered by God and were given entirely new beginning, a new life. The Spirit then imparts upon our heart, our inward man, the moral qualities that bring us into a new life. A life free of the evil desires and actions, (i.e. sin) that we so easily fell into in the past.

That isn’t the only time Jesus refers to the Spirit that God gives us. He goes on to give us several more examples of the Spirit that is given to us when we choose to enter in to a relationship with Him.

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever — the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. John 14:15-18

“These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:25-27

Jesus tells us if we love Him and keep His commandments God, the Father, will send us a helper, the Spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit. Jesus also tells us the world cannot receive the Spirit because it can nether see Him or knows Him. However to those who believe in Jesus as the Son of God, in His death and in His resurrection, Jesus says they will know Him, for He will dwell with you and through the Spirit Jesus will live through us.

Jesus also tells us that the Spirit will teach us all things and bring to mind all those things that Jesus taught and did while He was alive on this earth. Jesus also says that He will give us peace, not peace as the world gives but a true peace and understanding of all things that are right for us. He will give us the Spirit of truth and He will show us the way to live a right life.

So, how do we get this new life? How do we have this spiritual experience? Once again Jesus tells us.

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. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “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. John 3:16-18

All we have to do is believe in Jesus as the Son of God, and once again that He died for us and He arose three days later. This is a gift from God and all we must do is make the choice to receive God’s gift. When we accept the gift and ask God to come into our hearts then we receive His Spirit. Then the changes begin in us and we rise up as a new person. We then receive a life free of the bondage of this world. We begin to change into the creatures that God intended us to be. We receive a new life, an everlasting life, that starts the moment we make the choice to accept the relationship that God, Jesus and His Spirit wants to have with us. It’s a life of freedom for today, tomorrow and forever.

We are also told that God did not send Jesus into the world to condemn us. Those that believe in Him are not condemned, our past is forgotten and we begin our new life with His Spirit inside of to lead us to the right way of living, to the truth that we need to hear, and to a new life. We don’t have to fix ourselves first. Jesus accepts us just the way we are. God accepts us just the way we are. They have a unconditional acceptance, and unconditional love for everyone who seeks to know them. They know we are broken and in bondage to many different things in our lives. They are just waiting for us to reach out and ask for help.

However, we are also told that those who reject Jesus, those who choose not to believe that He came to save us from this world and it’s ways are condemned already. Condemned to a life of eternal death. Some believe that is hell but one thing we can know for sure is that to be condemned is to stop living, die and be buried or burned to ashes. Given a choice between life for today, tomorrow and forever, heaven or an eternal death, which would surely be hell, what are we going to choose?

Step Twelve speaks of having had a spiritual experience we are to practice these principles in all our affairs. Step Eleven says through prayer and meditation we are to improve our conscience contact with God, seeking His wisdom, seeking His Spirit. We could go through each of the Twelve Steps and find God and Jesus having something to say to us about each. By seeking His Spirit, His wisdom, we receive His help with all of the steps and His help to live the life that was meant for us. A resurrection life that we celebrate on this Sunday, every Sunday, and every other day of the week.

Recovery, Freedom and the Christmas Story – Part 2

Today is Christmas. It’s a perfect time to reflect on Christmas and look at what we can learn from the story that can help us with our recovery and/or provide us with insight into the freedom we can experience when we enter into a relationship with the Living God, Jesus. In part one the Christmas story, as Matthew told it, we looked at the story and insights given from points using Joseph and Herod. In this second part we turn to the Christmas story as told by Luke:

26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!” 29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!” 34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.” 35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. 36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she’s now in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God.” 38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her. 39 A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town 40 where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. 41 At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. 43 Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me? 44 When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. 45 You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”
46 Mary responded,
“Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.
47 How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!
48 For he took notice of his lowly servant girl,
and from now on all generations will call me blessed.
49 For the Mighty One is holy,
and he has done great things for me.
50 He shows mercy from generation to generation
to all who fear him.
51 His mighty arm has done tremendous things!
He has scattered the proud and haughty ones.
52 He has brought down princes from their thrones
and exalted the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away with empty hands.
54 He has helped his servant Israel
and remembered to be merciful.
55 For he made this promise to our ancestors,
to Abraham and his children forever.”
56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back to her own home.
(Luke 1:26-56 NLT)

Recovery Insight (verses 1:51-55)
Verses 46 through 55 are referred to as Mary’s song. In these verses we read a stark contrast to the ways of our world and the ways we think. We go through life and think it is unfair and things do not turn out the way we think they should. It is important when we think life is unfair or that it is not going our way to realize that the ways of God’s are not our ways. We must come to realize that personal fulfillment and genuine recovery do not come from our greatness and our success, but through genuine repentance and sincere humility. We must take a personal inventory, admit our wrongs to God, another person and ourselves. We must humbly ask God to remove and to forgive our shortcomings and we must make amends to those we have harmed. We must put our life in order and realize where our real strength in recovery comes from. The most important relationships in life are not with the rich and famous but often with the lowly, needy, and those in recovery.

1 At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. 2 (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. 4 And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 5 He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.

Recovery Insight (verses 2:6-7)
How do we respond to Jesus today? Do we accept His offer of relationship or do we reject him like many have done since His birth over two thousand years ago. From the time of His birth the response hasn’t changed. This is depicted in Jesus’ welcome in Bethlehem and it illustrates how most people respond to him today. Jesus’ birthplace was nothing like the one we see pictured in our Christmas cards. It was a cold, dark, dirty cave with a feeding trough for a bed. Jesus was foretold to be a King, coming from the line of King David, He entered a world unfit and unprepared for his royal presence.

When Jesus was born it was God who came and took on human flesh. He came into the world just as we did. He grew up, learned a trade, worked and taught among the people. There was one difference, Jesus was perfect, sinless, and He loved everyone. God’s willingness to come to our world, a world dark and dirty from sin, is a reason for us to be thankful. God came to this world as Jesus to be in a relationship with those that would believe in Him and would seek Him. We don’t have to do anything beforehand. We sometimes think we must clean ourselves up, overcome our addictions and fix ourselves in order to make room for him. When we let Jesus become apart of our lives, he accepts us as we are. Only after we accept Jesus do the real changes begin and moral inventory begin. Once we enter into a relationship with Jesus, He is there to help us with the process of cleaning up our lives.

8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

Recovery Insight (verses 2:8-12)
When we encounter the living God it inevitably elicits fear. We are taught by many of the religions and churches of today to fear God. It looking at the word fear from the Greek of the New Testament we find that the word ‘fear’ is translated as ‘reverence, obedience’. We are to show God reverence and be obedient to Him, not cower with trembling and fear as our world teaches it.

Now, picture yourself in a wide open field in the middle of the night. All of a sudden an angel appears and a radiance, a really bright glow surrounds the angel and lights up the night sky. This terrified the shepherds that night outside of Bethlehem. ‘Don’t be afraid’ the angels reassures the shepherds. The shepherds then realized what the angels were telling them, that a Savior for all people was born, a Messiah, the promised and expected deliverer from captivity, a liberator who could give men their freedom. The shepherds also realized that God wanted to communicate with them. They realized this as the angel of the Lord spoke to them with God’s message of the birth their Savior and the fact that they were free to visit the baby. They realized that God wanted to have a relationship with them.

God coming in the flesh as Jesus reassures us that our holy and almighty God is also a personal God. It reassures us that God is with us and for us. It opens the door for us to have a personal, real relationship with Him. We no longer need to fear the unknown future or the all-too-familiar past. When we enter into that relationship with Jesus we put our faith in the living God of yesterday, today and tomorrow. God loves us and such love has no fear because His perfect love casts out all fear. (see 1 John 4:18)

13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” 15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them. (Luke 2:1-20)

Recovery Insight (verses 2:19)
In recovery we often have painful thoughts, thoughts from a guilt ridden past and thoughts of a very uncertain future. Those thoughts often intrude and disrupt our daily lives and often times cause us to feel depressed. We must find the courage to face those darker issues in order for us to break free of the bondage that haunts us from our past.

Mary had faced a lot to get to the point she was on that Christmas Eve two thousand years ago. By Mary’s example she shows us how if we focus our thoughts on God He can lift our spirits and give us the courage to take the next step. She meditated on what God was doing in her life and wanted to do in her life. If we do the same, we will gain the courage to take a step toward recovery and freedom. Reflecting on the joy with the sorrow, the awesome with the terrible, the gain within our pain will lead us to an emotional and spiritual healing.

Conclusion
In this story of the humble beginnings of the life of Jesus we can receive insight into our recovery. We can also obtain some simple truths as to how Jesus would come to set us free. Through a relationship with the living God we can receive freedom from the bondage of this world. All it takes is for us to enter into a relationship with God and His Son Jesus. As we have seen God loves us. God loves us so much that he came to earth in the flesh as Jesus. God does not want us to fear Him but to love Him in return and love our all those around us.

So, in closing, it Christmas! Let’s reflect on the birth of Jesus and what it can mean to others and us.

Merry Christmas!

Recovery, Freedom and the Christmas Story – Part 1

As this is Christmas Eve I thought I’d share some recovery insights from the Christmas story as told in the bible. Hopefully we’ll find something in the two parts that will at some point help us in our personal recovery. In part one we’ll look at the story as it is told in Matthew. In part two we’ll look at Luke. I’ll also include some commentary at the end of part one as to the prophecies used by Matthew in his telling of the Christmas story. I hope that you can find hope and peace through what the prophecy said about the birth of Jesus.

18 This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. 20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: 23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” 24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. 25 But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus. (Matt 1:18-25 NLT)

Recovery Insight
Shock! That is what Joseph experienced when he found out Mary was pregnant. His reaction to the implications of Mary’s pregnancy was to break off their engagement. Joseph was a man of principle and his reaction was well intentioned. The Jewish law of the day an engagement was a legally binding contract requiring the couple to marry. Adultery or divorce could only break the engagement, and the law allowed a man or a woman who violated the engagement contract to be stoned to death. Joseph had many options but decided to break the engagement quietly. He did not want her stoned to death and he did not want her publicly humiliated. Joseph decided to end the engagement silently.

An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and explained to him the child was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Joseph did as the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife.

Pretty heavy stuff to be laid on a young man. It is apparent that Joseph had turn his life over to the care of God and listened to God when he spoke. Had he made the decision based upon his own judgement it would have turned out entirely different. He did not have a clear understanding at first of the situation and probably thought that Mary had cheated on him. Attitudes and decisions based on incomplete understandings are significant problems to relationship and can affect our recovery. Patience, honesty, and perseverance in communication with others and our higher power are crucial to preventing far-reaching mistakes such as broken relationships.

When we turn our lives over to the care of God we must seek God’s direction in our relationship with Him and others. We do this through prayer and meditation. God will speak to us but we must listen for His voice. This is accomplished by asking God for his help, prayer, and then meditating on His word, the bible, and listening to others we know that are truly in a relationship with Him. This is how we learn what God truly wants for us and we begin to see God’s heart and His love for us. Out of God’s love for us we will begin a journey that will allow us to share God’s love with others, we will begin to see the truth and leave our past behind, and begin to enter into real relationships with others.

1 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, 2 “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.” 3 King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. 4 He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?” 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote: 6 ‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’” 7 Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. 8 Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!” 9 After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! 11 They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.
13 After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” 14 That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, 15 and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.” 16 Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance. 17 Herod’s brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: 18 “A cry was heard in Ramah—weeping and great mourning.
Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted, for they are dead.” 19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. 20 “Get up!” the angel said. “Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead.” 21 So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and his mother. 22 But when he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod’s son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee. 23 So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: “He will be called a Nazarene.” (Matt 2:1-23 NLT)

Recovery Insight
King Herod had learned how to get people to do the things he wanted. Maybe that is why he was king. Herod was also a tyrant and could charm and manipulate others to do his dirty work. Herod thought he could find out who this baby really was and find out exactly where the baby Jesus was by manipulating the wise men. By showing an interest in and a desire to worship the baby Jesus Herod thought he could get the wise men to report back on where they found him.

Once again we see God speaking to the wise men and Joseph. In both cases the warnings were heeded and Joseph left with Mary and the baby Jesus to Egypt. The wise men like wise returned going a different way than they came. When Herod found out he was furious. So angry that he had been tricked that he ordered all the babies under two years old to be slaughtered.

Frequently we meet people who come into recovery with abusive or oppressive personalities. In the early stages of recovery they will ‘play along’ with what they learn by pretending to work the steps and telling us what they think we want to hear. Later they will try to manipulate us, hoping to crush any resistance to their control over their own lives and the lives of others. We need to learn a lesson from the wise men and Joseph and be careful to avoid such people.

Conclusion:
Most of us in recovery have come to grips with our need for a higher power and most of us believe in the God of the bible as that higher power. However some of us may struggle with the fact that the bible claims Jesus as the Son of God. Let’s look at some of the proof that we can find in the passages that have been used in this article. The two passages used make claims as to the prophets and what they said about Jesus’ birth. The references from the passages are listed below:

“Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” Isaiah 7:14

‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’ Micah 5:2

‘I called my Son out of Egypt.’ Hosea 11:1

‘A cry was heard in Ramah—weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted, for they are dead.’ Jeremiah 31:15

‘He will be called a Nazarene.’ Isaiah 9:1

The preceding passages from their perspective writers, Isaiah, Micah, Hosea and Jeremiah, are all referred to as prophecy. Simple put, they foretold the future. There is much argument as to the textual reliability of the bible as a historical document but there is much archeological evidence to support the accuracy of the bible. As far as textual accuracy goes the bible has been translated several times for Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek so it’s easy to see how it may not be as accurate as it was when it was originally written. Archeologists have found proof to it’s accuracy by dating relics found that reinforce what the bible says. Assuming dates and events that have been discovered let’s assume that the bible is a historical document, and it is reliable, then we can say the birth of Jesus was foretold some 300 to 700 years before His birth. The one fact we do know is the dates of the documents are accurate. That means that these prophets hit the nail on the head in their prediction of Jesus birth. They also foretold of other events in Jesus life including His death and the way he would die. Pretty amazing if you think about it.

The first three of the prophecies are pretty clear as to their meaning. The second two require a little explanation.

In Jeremiah 31:15 Jeremiah makes reference to Rachel sorrow when Joseph’s brother’s sold him into slavery in Egypt. Likewise it reflects the sorrow of all the mothers who lost children when Herod ordered they be killed. It also makes reference to Jesus’ dad, Joseph, who took the baby Jesus to Egypt.

Isaiah said in Isaiah 9:1 ‘Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory.’ The meaning behind this passage is that Galilee of the Gentiles,…will be filled with glory. The town of Nazareth was located in Galilee, hence Jesus was called a Nazarene. Also of note is the fact that it says ‘Galilee of the Gentiles’. Anyone who was not Jewish was considered a Gentile. Hence, all of us if we are not Jewish are Gentiles. Interesting that when the Jews rejected Jesus and He died on the cross, He died for the Jews, as well as the Gentiles.

The point I wish to make and for everyone who does not have a relationship with God’s Son, Jesus, is to consider that these prophesies about Jesus pretty much add to the authenticity that Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus is ‘God with us.’ Jesus was God in the flesh, who came as man, walked on this earth, taught His ways and loved everyone. He loved everyone so much that He took the sin of the world upon Himself, that whoever believes in Him will continue to live once our mortal life on this earth is done. All it takes is to enter into a relationship with Jesus. If we have already turned our lives over to the care of God then shouldn’t we really have all the blessings that God has for us? All Jesus asks us to do is to have a relationship with Him, follow His ways and love everyone as He has already loved us. Make Him our master, our teacher, and follow His ways as outlined in His gospels.

Part 2 will look at Mary and the Shepherds and what insights we can gain from the Christmas Story in Luke. Until then, have a Merry Christmas Eve…..

Looking for Love

Book Review – The Misunderstood God

When I read the ‘The Shack’ it confirmed some of the ideals I had come to believe through my conversations with God. It also opened my eyes to several new beliefs and thoughts. It was a wonderful book and I couldn’t put it down until I had finished it. It also had made me hungry for more of the truth about God’s love and it’s role in our relationship with Him.

The publisher of ‘The Shack’, Windblown Media had several other books listed on their web site and I had to read them all. So started my journey on becoming a Free Believer. All the books published by Windblown are excellent and I would recommend them all.

The latest book from Windblown is no exception. ‘The Misunderstood God’ (TMG) by Darin Hufford is an excellent look into God’s love for us. What my conversations with God and the Shack began to show me as to God’s love for me, TMG took several steps further. In this book Darin explores God’s love through God’s own definition of love as found in 1 Corinthians 13.

Before I had read TMG I had used an exercise which Darin presented in my own life and in the Recovery gathering that I host. The exercise is to use the verses found in 1 Cor. 13:4-7 and replace the words love with God. In our group we used this exercise using our own names and then the name Jesus in place of the word love. It can really show you where you lack and give you insight into how Jesus loved.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1 Cor 13:4-7 (NIV)

Darin uses God in place of the word love and uses the same descriptions to show us God’s love for us through real dealings with real people. He shows us how the Institutional Church and religion have distorted how God really loves us. Darin does this using humor, reality and lives as examples.

God doesn’t turn His back on us, He doesn’t get impatient with us, He isn’t easily angered, and the list goes on. So if you feel something is missing in your relationship with God and Jesus, read this book. Get a new understanding of how God loves us, how he wants to relate to us and start living free from the guilt of the religion and doctrines that may have clouded you view of our Father. You just may find you’ve been looking for love in all the wrong places.