Month: August 2004

Keep doin’ what you are doin’

Colossians 3

Rules for Holy Living

1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your[1] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.[2] 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

This scripture speaks so totally to recovery. In a time when people are more polarized than we have been for a long time (at least politically) we must keep constant reminders like this one to continue doing the good things that recovery has taught us to do.
In the weight loss program that I am currently participating in, I could all too easily lose all of the progress that I may make toward my goals of a healthier self by forgetting the disciplines of correct eating and exercise.
This is no different in our spiritual lives. We must continue to fight the good faith and constantly remind each other of God’s grace that allows us to accept ourselves and other just as God has. This grace gives us the power to continue to do what God calls us to do.
I pray that Gods grace will shine its light into your life and allow you to see and accept yourself as God sees you, and to accept those that God brings into your life. May we learn to daily give and receive God’s grace in all of the different forms that God showers us in it.

Life with no regrets – Jack’s story…

I regret many things in my life. I am working on healing from my past, what was done to me and what I have done to myself and others. My most recent regret is my lack of Faith in God. Like Paul in Romans, I so don’t understand or like what I know I choose to do, or rather DON’T DO, and trusting in God for positive outcomes in my life has always been a very real sin problem for me.

This past week has been a whirlwind of much needed spiritual teaching from Him!! It started when a stray tabby-tomcat literally walked into my life all battered and bruised while on vacation. He took to my family immediately, and so totally unafraid he rested in our home away from home. We sheltered him, gave him a new name, mended and patched him, endlessly kissed and hugged him (of course, and only – cuz he let us, truly amazing!) and even provided for all the necessary unpleasant issues needed to be done such as vet checks, shots, bathing and (ugh) neutering. Through it all Jack has been such a tremendous trooper and continually amazes us with his great nature, docile and loving temperament, and acceptance of all the conditions thrust upon him. Jack belongs to us now, we belong to Jack it’s like he’s come home in a way and we’ve totally bonded in less than a week! He’ll be going home to Maryland with us in a few days.

Earlier this week Jack didn’t look so good and I was very worried and afraid for his health, even for his little and so vulnerable life, after all we demanded of him. I allowed my fears to take over and didn’t trust Jack to God’s divine hand and goodness. Then yesterday God spoke to my heart and warmly told me that Jack would be OK, that there were many reasons for His bringing Jack to us, and that He wasn’t giving Jack to us just to take him away through a sudden death. God reminded me to see beyond the circumstances to his deeper work at hand.

There is much more I could share about Jack’s story and his amazing kitty ways. He is doing well and truly resting. But, the deeper story is how God spoke to my heart through Jack’s amazing rescue from the streets. It dawned on me that I am a Jack myself! I was battered about by the world, lost, running scared, broken and bruised – and I happened to come across God. When I knew in my heart who had found me and that I was totally safe with Him, I let go and totally surrendered to God for salvation, much like Jack has done with us! God initially did a lot of binding of my heart, mending and healing – holding, hugging and caressing. God also provided for some very painful procedures that I wouldn’t have chosen for myself but were necessary for my very survival. And, like we will inevitably do with Jack, God will continually watch out for me, heal me, provide and take care of me.

Now, when I find myself lacking trust in God, if I can keep my wits about me, all I need to do is think of Jack and his amazing story of redemption. I think I may carry a picture of him and place one at my desk at work. I need all the reminders I can get!

Thank You Father God, for your loving and tender grace, for your spiritual love and teaching, for your son Jesus, and most of all (right now) – for Jack, and his story! Carole M

Living life with no regrets

As a human being there are so many things to regret. Things that we don’t do, that we should have done, and things we do that we wish we had not done. When we live in the grips of addiction, our lives can feel so wretched as we lose more and more control to drives in our lives that take over our sense of how we should live, and any propriety that we think we may possess.

Saint Paul talks about these feelings in his letter to the Romans in Chapter 7. The dilemma is known to all of us.

The fact is we all fail in our attempts to be “good”. This is part of the human condition. If we cannot accept the “bad” parts of ourselves, we tend to beat ourselves up and live our lives in regret.

This cycle of regret is broken when we accept ourselves as God has accepted us. God loves us so much that he gave his only son to die for us. God did this even though he new in advance that we would blow it so many times. This is the grace that we live in, and it is wonderful gift to be able to live life, and not regret the falls along the way. We know that as long as we live in relationship to God through Christ that we are forgiven and can live outside of the laws that govern sin and death.”

Life’s Storms……

My daughter recently moved with her family to Florida. I talked to her just hours before Hurricane Charley was due to hit her area. She was feeling panicky, but was confident that God would see them through this storm.

There is nothing we can do to prevent the winds and rain of life’s storms from hitting our lives. What can make the difference? Well panicking certainly does not accomplish anything positive. Yet there is a helpless feeling as the inevitable storm dashes our lives into the temporary darkness of uncertainty. Although panic does not accomplish much, it feels like the right thing to do in the moment.

My advice for my daughter was to follow the directions of the local officials, and trust God for the outcome.

When the storms of life enter our lives, the advise is the same. We need to follow the instructions of our higher power, and trust him for the outcome.

Another thing my daughter did was to invite her friend’s family over to her place since they felt that my daughter had a safer shelter from the storm.

We need to invite others into our lives to help us weather our storms as well. Life was intended to be lived in relationship with others, and sharing the stormy times can be a tremendous strength to make it through. I am sure that as they sat the storm out, there was a tremendous bond that was strengthened through the adversity.

When life feels stormy, seek out a friend!

What are you seeking?

We are all seeking something. Is it something that will make you feel better? Better for how long?

As we grow up and develop, there are needs that we have that are hopefully fulfilled by our parents, family and friends. These needs include feeling known, cared for, loved, and appreciated just for being. In a typical mother you find all of these things. Hopefully your mother had all of these qualities when she was raising you. Anything less than this in a family environment creates a dysfunctional family.

Many if not most of us have been raised in dysfunctional families. As adults from dysfunctional families, we seek comfort in what we perceive as “adult” ways. Drinking, partying, drugging, abusing ourselves and others becomes the norm. We feel guilt, shame, loneliness, or self loathing, and we want to feel better.

The real thing we feel in all of this is a loss of connectedness to God and others. Getting this connectedness back is what recovery is all about.

What are you seeking?

If you have looked for God in churches built by man, did you find Him? We need to look deeper for Him than just the trappings of religious traditions. Jesus said that those who worship Him, worship in spirit and truth. Throughout history man has built beautiful and awesome Churches, Mosques, Temples, and Synagogues as places to worship and connect with God. The truth is that these are just physical places. They can bring comfort, and hopefully will bring you closer to followers of God, but until you have invited God to live life in your heart and purpose to share every day of your life with him, this religious experience is in vain.

Many churches today have become purveyors of religious goods and services. They do what they can to out-do other churches. True religion is something that is lived everyday, and is shown by how we live our lives.

What are you seeking?

Comfort can only come to those who have mourned. Rest can only come to those who have worked. Good can only be recognized when you have seen evil. Recovery comes when you do the work to evaluate your life, and purpose to make changes.

Take that good bonding with you!

When we think about bonding, there is a psychological term that is important. That term is “emotional object consistency”. What this means is that we experience bonding with a friend or loved one, that feeling is imprinted in us to the point that even when we are separate we can still feel the love and acceptance. This is an important part of our well being and ability to cope with the normal stress that arises throughout the days of our lives.

When we are not properly bonded, the feelings of anxiety we would feel on a normal day could be overwhelming. Life is very cruel. We get cut off when we drive, snipped at in the office, and the bad news can just pour in. If we can bask in the feelings of comfort and strength that we receive from our close relationships in those stressful time, life can be tolerable.

Psalm 1

Psalm 1

1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Psalm 1 remains one of my favorite psalms. I memorized it when I was young. It speaks clearly about recovery. I always wanted to picture myself as the well-watered tree. This seemed to be something far from my life until just recently.

Verse one speaks of a person whose life becomes more and more stagnant as he goes from “running the good race” to “walking in the counsel of the wicked”, and then “standing in the way of sinners” and finally to “sitting in the seat of mockers”.

Someday we may wake up, and find our lives at a standstill. No growth no joy. BUT there is recovery for that person.

What does it mean to be blessed? Blessed is an old fashioned word. Joy is a better word, and those of us who know what recovery is all about about know this joy for ourselves.

As we place our delight in the kingdom of God, and make it the place we dwell in both day and night, our lives get moving again. New life fills our veins and we start moving ahead again. New growth appears, and we are like the planted by the streams of water.

What it boils down to is choices. Life is a series of choices. We choose to do the things that our conscience tells us is right, or we choose to follow the urging of what might make us feel good even if it’s just for the moment. In the long run, when all of the marbles are counted, a joyful life comes from making the right choices.

Seek the Lord while you can. Find the new life that can come from recovery of your relationship with Him.