Truth Sets You Free

One of our lessons in CR is on being powerless to control our tendency to do the right thing and admitting our life is unmanageable (step 1).  This is a devotional from “Experiencing God, Day-by-Day” by Henry & Richard Blackaby.  All credit given to the authors.

And you shall know the truth
And the truth shall make you free.
John 8:32
 

God’s truth never restricts you; it always sets you free!  Are you discouraged?  Is there a sense of bondage in a particular area of your life?  A lack of victory over a certain sin?  A harmful addiction?  It is possible that you do not yet understand a truth about God that can release you.
 
If you feel powerless to meet the challenges before you, take encouragement from the promise of Philippians 4:13: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  If you are defeated by circumstance, hold on to the truth of Romans 8:28 that God can work your most difficult situation into His good.  If you are enslaved to a particular sin, work the truth of 1 John 1:9 into your life, which promises that if you confess your sin, God is faithful to cleanse you from ALL unrighteousness.  All of these truths await the Holy Spirit’s implementation into your life.
 
It is one thing to know about the truth.  It is yet another thing to experience the truth of God being worked out in your life.  God’s truth will have no effect upon you unless you accept it and believe it.  Perhaps you have already read and heard accounts of God working mightily in the lives of others.  But have you allowed God to implement those truths into your life?  What truth about God would you like to be experiencing in your life?  Ask Him to implement that truth into your life today.

What Are Celebrate Recovery’s “Hurts, Habits and Hang-Ups?”

At First Baptist Dallas downtown, we often open our Wednesday night Celebrate Recovery meetings with a general invitation such as, “Welcome to First Baptist C.R., a safe place to address your hurts, habits and hang-ups in the context of a Biblically based 12-step program.” That’s great, but…what do we mean by “hurts, habits and hang-ups?”

Generally, a hurt, habit or hang-up can be anything that keeps you from realizing your full potential as a person. Hurts, habits and hang-ups can knock you off of God’s plan and throw you into a worldly detour headed toward destruction and despair.

A “hurt” could be classified as any life experience that may have damaged your heart. Some offense against you that crippled your ability to deal with the world in a healthy way. Something that may have twisted your view of yourself, God or others. Some common hurts include:

·      Abandonment

•       Abortion

•       Abused as a child, or by a spouse, employer, or the church

•       Adoption

•       Betrayal

•       Dysfunctional family (divorce, alcoholism, drug abuse, rage, etc.)

•       Neglect

•       Rape

•       Rejection

“Habits” tend to be unhealthy patterns that often start as a perceived “remedy” for some problem in your life, but end up turning into a chronic bad behavior or addiction. Habits are the repeat, default scripts you run to when the going gets tough. They are your grooved plays that continually lead to trouble in your life. Some common habits are:

•       Abusive behavior

•       Alcohol

•       Bitterness

•       Cheating, affairs, unmarried sex

•       Critical spirit

•       Drugs

•       Eating disorders

•       Gambling

•       Gossip

•       Homosexuality

•       Isolation

•       Lying

•       Self-mutilation

•       Sex addictions

•       Spending problems

•       Stealing

•       Unforgiveness

•       Wasteful pursuits

•       Workaholism

And lastly, “hang-ups” are those road blocks that keep you from progressing further in God’s plan for your life. They are often shaped by some bent thinking you may have received as a child, or some unhealthy attitude you may have adopted as a means of coping with life’s challenges. Here are some common hang-ups we work out in our 12-step Celebrate Recovery process at First Baptist Dallas:

•       Anger

•       Anxiety, worry

•       Arrogance

•       Body image problems

•       Bullying, bigotry

•       Codependency

•       Control freaks

•       Depression

•       Fear

•       Frigidity

•       Greed, envy

•       Guilt (false) and/or shame

•       Impatience

•       Lack of self-control

•       Lack of trust in God

•       Laziness

•       Materialism

•       People pleasing

•       Perfectionism

•       Pride

•       Procrastination

•       Racism

•       Self-righteousness

•       Self-condemnation

Almost everyone suffers from a hurt, habit or hang-up. Almost anyone can benefit from Celebrate Recovery. Join us this Wednesday as we work out our recoveries together. Our doors open at 5:30 p.m. for snacks and fellowship. Worship starts at 6:30. Open group sharing begins at 7:15. We’re usually out by 8:30. If you’re ready to get real, C.R. is a safe place to heal. God bless you, and see you soon!

Joe

DENIAL of the TRUTH

The Celebrate Recovery Leader’s Guide defines denial as “a false system of beliefs not based on reality.” In other words, denial is believing a lie. Denial is a method to downplay the pain caused to us or caused by us. We employ denial when we’re not ready to confront the pain either that which was inflicted on us or that we inflicted on others. This is an example of believing a lie so as to achieve comfort.

Can denial also bring us discomfort? Can we also define denial as not believing truth?

What is true? Reality is true, not defined by me or others; it’s defined by the Bible. God’s word is true. What is truth? What does the Bible-the truth-say about God? What does the Bible-the truth-say about me?

1John 4:15-17 “If anyone admits that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have assurance on the Day of Judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.” NIV

John 8:31 “To those who believed in Him, Jesus said, ‘If you embrace my teaching, you are really My disciples. Then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.’” NIV

As a damaged person, I am often in a state of denial of the truth, God’s truth. I am a grateful believer in Jesus Christ, my Savior. But how often can I say, “Jesus Christ, my Lord?” Do I struggle with denial of the truth of the Bible that states quite clearly that I know and rely on the love God has for me; that the truth shall set me free?

How often do I take Jesus at His word? How often do I truly believe that I am a new creation; that I am new? 2 Corinthians 5:17 Do I believe this for others, but not myself? Do I think that God did not mean that for everyone in Christ, but only a few? Do I indeed believe this?

How dare I NOT accept the truth of the Bible concerning me? How is it that I accept the lies of my past abusers and even Satan so readily and staunchly, but not the promises and truth of my Lord? Why do I punish myself? Why is this so difficult for me?

My exercise of this form of denial affects me in the same manner as the other type of denial. Not accepting God’s truth prevents me from having genuine relationships with my Lord and others. This denial causes me to be less useful for His purposes, it causes impotence. This type of denial keeps me in bondage to my past and prevents me from growing to the full potential available through the love of Jesus. This denial prevents me from loving my Savior, and from accepting His love for me.

Here is an acrostic for this type of DENIAL –denial of God’s TRUTH about me:

Disagrees with God’s word
Engages the enemy
Negates the truth of God’s promises
Inhibits my growth through Christ
Alienates me from God and others
Lies to me about who I am in Christ

In recovery, any form of denial is counterproductive. Denial for comfort and protection or, for punishment and harm must be conquered to allow spiritual growth and recovery to progress unimpeded. I encounter many roadblocks on my recovery journey. This is a roadblock that I may need dynamite to blast through. I have spent many years as an impotent believer in my Savior.  He is also my Lord; I am so ready to honor that relationship. I am so ready to begin to believe and take to heart my Lord’s love and promises for me and for all of us who are grateful believers in Jesus Christ, our Savior.

Dianne

Denial

Before I could begin on my road to recovery, I had to come out of denial and face my sins from the past and the present.  Celebrate Recovery is for any ‘hurt, hang-up or habit’ and so I first came to Celebrate Recovery because of a ‘hurt’ – my husband had left me for another woman, our 26 year marriage had ended and I was in pain – a pain at this point that was not as intense as it was in the beginning but a pain that was always there on some level.  But I was also in denial – in denial as to my part in the failure of my marriage, in denial about my anger, and in denial about the other relationships in my life – especially with my daughters.

It wasn’t until I went through the Step Study that God brought me face to face with my denial.  The first thing He showed me was my anger.  Throughout my divorce, I would have told you I felt many different emotions – sadness, loss, grief – but I never felt anger.  I even wondered to myself why I didn’t feel anger.  Now don’t get me wrong, I did get angry at my husband from time to time over different things, but I didn’t feel that overall anger at my husband’s betrayal.  Through the Step Study, God helped me to find that anger, express it in a healthy way and then give it to Him.  God also gave me the courage to admit I was angry at Him – angry at God for not intervening and saving my marriage.  He allowed me to express that anger to Him and then leave it there…..with Him.

I think I lived in denial about my anger out of fear…this emotion was so big and so powerful, I was afraid to express it….so I just stuffed it down so deep, that I couldn’t feel it.  But once I faced it, admitted it to myself and someone I trusted and then released it to the Lord, I felt SUCH freedom….and the pain became less.

The next thing God revealed to me as I worked the steps in the Step Study was my co-dependency both with my ex-husband in the past and with my daughters in the present.  God showed me how I acted as my husband’s ‘holy spirit’ as I tried to manipulate and coerce him into doing those things “I” thought God wanted him to do, rather than letting God speak to him and work in his life.  My focus was not on God or what God wanted…my focus was on my marriage or my family or my husband.  Focusing on these things is not a bad thing in and of itself, unless you put them before God…which was what I did…and that is SIN.

The current co-dependent behavior with my daughters was the hardest for me to see and the hardest for me to change.  I would get in the middle of their squabbles and try to negotiate the peace…or if they had a problem – particularly a money problem – I would ‘fix’ it for them…or if their dad didn’t respond appropriately, I would make excuses for him thinking I was softening the blow and it wouldn’t hurt them so much.  I did all of this thinking I was helping them…but God showed me I was hurting them instead by not allowing my girls to learn from their mistakes or to learn how to get along with each other and by not allowing God to work in their lives. 

Why did I live in denial for so long?  Out of fear…fear of an emotion that felt out of control, fear of finding out some ugly things about myself and fear of having to make changes.  It is so much easier sometimes to live in denial than to face the changes that God wants us to make in our lives.

Is it better not living in a world of denial?  Absolutely!!  Is it hard?  Absolutely!!  It all comes down to taking God at His word and trusting Him – “Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own.  Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go..” Proverbs 3:5.  After coming out of denial and working through the 12 steps, I have found freedom from the pain of my past, found joy in the present and have hope for the future.

Chris

BAH HUMBUG

What is your Christmas Carol? 

I once heard a sermon entitled “Wrong is Right.”

At Celebrate Recovery we know “God doesn’t waste a hurt.”

Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge said, “If a man repents of his ways, is there no hope?”  He went on to make some very strong amends. So strong, that he exceeded his own expectations. 

In order to make amends he had to do an inventory, a fearless and searching moral and spiritual inventory.  That meant coming out of denial, acknowledging his life was out of control, and that the Christ whose birth we celebrate at this time of year was his higher power.  Where we get the strength to do that is through a personal relationship with Jesus.  A relationship in which we seek His will and direction for our lives.  If we think about the Christmas Carol, we see Ebenezer did not start with a strong relationship, but one of thought, in a form of vision or dream, introduced from the outside or conviction from childhood.  A relationship grows from a seed to a flower and then reproduces.  The twelfth step is sharing or giving back what we learn, the strength, healing, and hope of the eleven other steps. Twelve steps in all, yet one walk as each works in unison with the next.  

So whether we are at step 1 or 12 is not what is important, but rather that we are at a step.  All the time we must press forward on our journey, leaning on our sponsor or accountability partner when needed. This way we learn to stand strong, so others can lean on us when they have a need.  Celebrating our recovery instead of “bah humbug,” then becomes our Christmas Carol. 

 Happy New Year!

John