Counting Down...

2010 is breathing its last breath as 2011 stands in the wings waiting to make an entrance.
Much has happened this year.
Rapha was sold by Steve to new owners and we have spent the year getting to know them and what they expect of us.
Change is a part of life and we found that to be true during this transition period. Despite who may own Rapha, it is still God's rehab. Our firm belief is that those who are trapped in addiction don't have a drug and alcohol problem, they have a living problem. A broken relationship with Jesus, which has caused them to look for ways to fill up the emptiness inside. Rather than choose God, we chose drugs, alcohol, sex, money, power, greed, and we grew more selfish. We grew so selfish that we became the center of our own little universe. Here in this place, we looked to others to make us feel good, to provide for us no matter what we had done or the trouble we had gotten into.In all of the chasing after the "feeling" the drugs and alcohol gave us, we lost the ability to make a choice to stop.

So we bring all our "mess" to rehab, hoping someone has a magic bullet to shoot us with that will cure us. Real recovery begins with a simple concept....."I'm tired of drinking and drugging." What is really being said in that statement is that "I'm tired of the destruction that comes with using." It is at this place that we begin to look outside ourselves for the answer. I have truly come to grips with the fact that I am powerless to manage the affairs of my life. I no longer am capable of making sound decisions. I am in need of a power greater than myself that can restore me to the place where I can make sound decisions.When a person reaches this crossroads, then they are ready to work a program.

What do I mean, when I say, "Ready to work a program?"
Well, the power comes in the relationship we enter into with Jesus.
We have surrendered our will and our live over to the care of God as we understand (today). Later on, as I walk out my program, my understanding of God changes.
Now that I'm empowered by the Holy Spirit given to me after I am saved, I need some simple steps that will help me. That is where the 12 steps come into the picture.

They are steps, each one building on the other, that provide us with discipline and direction.
Steps # 1-3 -- Make peace with God.
Steps # 4-11 -- clean house (or take care of our personal baggage and character defects as we change lifestyles.
Step # 12 -- Give away to others what has been shown and given to us.
Very simple, yet profound in the fact that the steps work.

I trust that as January 1, 2011 approaches, you will be prepared to take this journey into a new life free from the bondage and darkness that is known as addiction.

God on you.....
Thanks for stopping by the Greene Street Letters.
mb.