"Get Right With God" and "Get Right With Others"

Days come and go....as do the roller coasters in life....sometimes we will have a set of circumstances that muddy up our waters so that we're not seeing clearly through the lens of life that God has given us...and sometimes when we make decisions during those cloudy times, there are untoward ripple effects upon others around us....others get hurt....we get hurt....others take offense....we take offense....and the walls go up....not only between us and others, but sometimes even between us and God....and if the waters become cloudy enough, we may not even know the direction in which we are to continue going...our priorities become muddied in life.

Then come the questions that we ask ourselves....and if we are brave enough, we may even ask of someone else....what do I do?....how do I get out of this?....how can I fix this?....who do I see?...etc, etc.  And the spinning begins, and we lose our compass point, our rudder, our sail....and we just wallow in the pit of muddied waters.

So what do we do?!?!?!?!  It's really not that difficult.  The muddied waters may seem to be too deep to see a way out of the situation, but all we really need to do is to stand up.  I like the way Jesus managed the scenario when He was being questioned left and right by the Sadduccees, and Jesus was answering with an even keel, and then one the more learned teachers of the religious law came up to Him with a question.

Mark 12:28-34
²⁸One of the religion scholars came up. Hearing the lively exchanges of question and answer and seeing how sharp Jesus was in his answers, he put in his question: "Which is most important of all the commandments?"
 ^29-31Jesus said, "The first in importance is, 'Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.' And here is the second: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' There is no other commandment that ranks with these."
 ^32-33The religion scholar said, "A wonderful answer, Teacher! So lucid and accurate—that God is one and there is no other. And loving him with all passion and intelligence and energy, and loving others as well as you love yourself. Why, that's better than all offerings and sacrifices put together!"
 ³⁴When Jesus realized how insightful he was, he said, "You're almost there, right on the border of God's kingdom."
   After that, no one else dared ask a question.

 If we choose to "Get Right With God" (Commandment # 1) and "Get Right With Others" (Commandment # 2), then all else will fall into place.  Jesus is our compass point....our rudder....our sail.  When we are wallowing in the pit of muddied waters, we need to re-set our compass point to "Get Right With God" and "Get Right With Others".  To do otherwise is to try and take control of the circumstances of our own accord....and oh my, oh my....that is how we run our ship into the underlying reef. Been there, done that, folks. And, admittedly, still do.  Praise the Lord that He is always there to forgive me...and you.

Praying for you,

Ron

Develop A Relationship With The Lord

The CR journey is a framework upon which our own life experiences can be reviewed.  Typically, we have reached our current point in life knowing very little about ourselves.

As we develop a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ, more will be revealed to us.  Slowly, we will be given the strength to put the past behind us and to build a new life.  The depth of our relationship with God will be increased as our knowledge of Him increases (Psalm 119).

Our lives can become less complicated if we work the CR 8 Principles and the 12 Steps regularly, which will lead to improving our relationship with our Higher Power, Jesus Christ!  When we do this, our lives are blessed with God's ongoing gift of peace and serenity (John 14:27).

The goal of CR is not simply to recover from past sins and hurts.  The goal is to teach ourselves to make the healing choices that will help us become Christlike in our character.

In developing our relationship with Jesus Christ, He will provide all that we need to keep on traveling the journey of this gift of life that He has given us -- 2 Corinthians 12:9 -- "And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness' (NKJV)".

Get right with God in order to get right with others! 

Praying for you,

Ron

Don't Be Discouraged

Don't be discouraged in walking the Celebrate Recovery (CR) journey.  An understanding and grasp of the 8 CR Principles and the 12 Steps will form the foundation for "working the program".  Our hurts, hangups and habits (H-H-H) typically do not develop overnight in our lives.  As such, we need to be patient to allow sufficient time to digest these Principles and Steps.  Remember, it is God's timing and not ours.  When we try to "control" the process, then that's when we trip up.  As said in the Step program, "Let Go, Let God"!

From personal experience as well as observation of others on the CR journey, it is likely that each of us will go through these Principles and Steps more than once.  This wonderful journey/pilgrimage is a lifelong process during which the CR tools are to be used regularly.

Stay humble to Jesus Christ, and allow Him to lift you up as stated in James 4:10 "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up."

Trust in God

Celebrate Recovery (CR) uses insights gained from the Bible to help us identify and deal with hurts, hangups and habits (H-H-H) in our lives.  In order to "deal with these issues", we must rely upon the power of God's Word along with the 8 CR Principles and the 12 Steps.


Trust in God's guidance and support is essential (Hebrews 11:6 -- "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him".)


In the CR journey, we must realize that God wants the broken parts of our lives to be returned to wholeness.  God gives us the courage, the strength, and the comfort for us to give Him the control of our lives as outlined in the 8 Principles of CR and the 12 Steps (Philippians 2:13 -- "For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good purpose".)

See you at the next get-together: every Tuesday, 7:00pm-8:30pm, Room WC207 (lower level), First Evangelical Free Church, 3300 S. 84^th Street, Lincoln, NE; childcare is available.

Praying for you,

Ron

Celebrate Recovery....Why CR???

Often we each take a look at ourselves in a mirror, and we get to see what we look like on the outside.  But what are we really "looking like" on the "inside"?  And in order to do that, we need to look at our "spiritual mirror"?

How is your “spiritual mirror” doing?  Do you like what you “see”?....what do others “see”?  Are you "hurting"?  Are you "broken"?  Is there a crack in your “spiritual mirror”?  Do you have a “mask” taped to your “spiritual mirror” that gives a false impression that you are "okay"?

Plain and simple….many of us feel as though our “spiritual mirror” has cracks in it or is smudged from past and present “issues” in our lives.  CR calls these issues hurts, hang-ups, or habits (H-H-H).

Just as the back of a pretty tapestry has a web of loose strings and knots, so do our lives.  We may portray ourselves to others (and even to our self) with a “mask” as if all is “fine”:  “I’m doing fine….just fine…yep, everything is fine…A-okay on this end!”  And yet, each of us typically has an underlying tangled-up web of H-H-H that can smudge our life's tapestry...which can haunt us and cause pain….and this situation will have an adverse effect upon our relationship with others and our self-value.

All of us have created unhealthy and ungodly methods (aka “masks”) for handling life.  What “mask” is in your wardrobe that you wear?...what are you hiding in your life?  What is in your life’s “medicine cabinet” to handle the hurt and discomfort in your heart?...what do you do to self-treat your pain?  What kind of “band aid” do you use?...how do you cover or manage the bothersome issues in your life?

We all need a Biblical and balanced journey to help us overcome our H-H-H.  CR is that type of program.  It is based on the actual words of Jesus Christ who is the ultimate Healer of all wounds!

When the term Celebrate Recovery is heard or seen, folks may think that “recovery” is only for those with substance abuse…but that is not true!  It is for anyone who has issues with anger, relationships, sex, co-dependency, pornography, food, gambling, abuse, depression, drugs, alcohol, etc.

The fact is that life is like an “onion ball” which has one “issue” layered upon another “issue”…some of which we may not even be aware of because we are blinded by the one that is on top and foremost in our lives, or we "choose" to put on the "mask".

Celebrate Recovery provides a practical and spiritual journey to use its 8 Principles along with the 12 Steps as a recovery tool from our H-H-H.  CR is a journey….a spiritual pilgrimage.

Come along and step onto this wonderful and beautiful path that Jesus Christ has mapped out for us.

One of CR's guidelines is confidentiality, which helps to make it a "safe room".


Praying for you,


Ron