Dreamer
Member
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2005
- Messages
- 2,134
Many Christians still struggle with addictions even though they are saved. They do not want to be an alcoholic, they do not want to smoke, they do not want to be addicted to food or pornography.
But even for an addicted person to merely stay dry or straight does not speak to the richness and quality of life that many recovering people enjoy.
The difference between the struggle for sobriety and the JOY of sobriety centers around the recovering person's willingness to seek God and God's way of life for that individual!
There is no way that it is God's will for you to be caught in the bondage of an addiction. By choosing to take a spiritual approach, you make the journey God-centered! The journey can therefore be safe and joyful. But there is also pain involved. We must be able to look at ourselves squarely and let God show us our sin and our need of Him.
Today instead of going through the full 12 step plan, let's focus on the first three basic steps:
1. We admit we cannot possibly help ourselves.
2. We believe God can help us.
3. We turn ourselves completely over to God.
1 John 5:14, 15: Now this is the confidence we have before Him: whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked Him for.
Wow! Those verses get me pretty excited! (LadylovesJesus found them for me.)
Well, you know for sure God wants to take the addiction from you. So re-read those two verses above and believe them and pray with faith. Find a loyal accountability partner, someone who loves the Lord, someone who will pray with you anytime and will ask you to be honest with them.
There is nothing at all wrong with joining a 12 Step for Christians group. I have gone through the 12 Steps for Christians in a group six years ago. Next month I will be going through the class again in a different church, and I think it will be more indepth. The reason I am going through the class is I have a problem with holding in anger and letting it fester. I want God to take this from me. Also, I want to fully learn this method and how God uses it, so that I can work with jail inmates using the 12 Step program.
12 Steps for Christians is not exactly like Alcoholics Anonymous, but takes some of the basic premises from it, because AA works! But Christians need the Bible as their main source, and we definitely do not call our Lord, "A Higher Power".
He is Lord. He is God Almighty. He is Jehovah-Jirah.
Job 14:7-9 "There is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its shoots will not die. If its roots grow old in the ground and its stump starts to die in the soil, the smell of water makes it thrive and produce twigs like a sapling."
Let God crucify your desires for pornography, alcohol, homosexuality, cussing, illicit drugs, chocolate, or anything else you are addicted to. He will be faithful to give you new life like a new tree. His Living Water will be your source, and His Word will be your guide.
But even for an addicted person to merely stay dry or straight does not speak to the richness and quality of life that many recovering people enjoy.
The difference between the struggle for sobriety and the JOY of sobriety centers around the recovering person's willingness to seek God and God's way of life for that individual!
There is no way that it is God's will for you to be caught in the bondage of an addiction. By choosing to take a spiritual approach, you make the journey God-centered! The journey can therefore be safe and joyful. But there is also pain involved. We must be able to look at ourselves squarely and let God show us our sin and our need of Him.
Today instead of going through the full 12 step plan, let's focus on the first three basic steps:
1. We admit we cannot possibly help ourselves.
2. We believe God can help us.
3. We turn ourselves completely over to God.
1 John 5:14, 15: Now this is the confidence we have before Him: whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked Him for.
Wow! Those verses get me pretty excited! (LadylovesJesus found them for me.)
Well, you know for sure God wants to take the addiction from you. So re-read those two verses above and believe them and pray with faith. Find a loyal accountability partner, someone who loves the Lord, someone who will pray with you anytime and will ask you to be honest with them.
There is nothing at all wrong with joining a 12 Step for Christians group. I have gone through the 12 Steps for Christians in a group six years ago. Next month I will be going through the class again in a different church, and I think it will be more indepth. The reason I am going through the class is I have a problem with holding in anger and letting it fester. I want God to take this from me. Also, I want to fully learn this method and how God uses it, so that I can work with jail inmates using the 12 Step program.
12 Steps for Christians is not exactly like Alcoholics Anonymous, but takes some of the basic premises from it, because AA works! But Christians need the Bible as their main source, and we definitely do not call our Lord, "A Higher Power".
He is Lord. He is God Almighty. He is Jehovah-Jirah.
Job 14:7-9 "There is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its shoots will not die. If its roots grow old in the ground and its stump starts to die in the soil, the smell of water makes it thrive and produce twigs like a sapling."
Let God crucify your desires for pornography, alcohol, homosexuality, cussing, illicit drugs, chocolate, or anything else you are addicted to. He will be faithful to give you new life like a new tree. His Living Water will be your source, and His Word will be your guide.
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