Payday

I've been at this recovery stuff for over 14 years. If you could translate that amount of time into the number of men who have come through the program, it would turn out to be a good number of men. Some have done well. Some have struggled (and continue to do so). Some simply gave up and made no effort to change. Among those who gave up, many have died. Death is the part of recovery that I hate the most. As a wise man once told me, "We are called to be obedient and plant the seeds God has given us." He went on to tell me..."We have good seed." In other words, the things that God has given to us to share, works and brings change to those whose hearts receive this Word/Seed.
We don't always get to see the end result of God's work in the lives of the men who come through Rapha. Guy's move on. Some we just never see again. But we rest in the knowledge that God's seed will produce fruit. That is why we pray over (and continue to pray) for each person who comes through Rapha.

God has a wonderful sense of timing and I was the recipient of such timing yesterday.
A former client came by to visit and catch up on the going's on at Rapha as well as share from his own life.
What a story. His story is one of the good seed that took root and has now produced fruit.
Bobby was a client at Rapha back in 2005 and over the years, God has taken Bobby on a most incredible journey. Bobby is now a full-time minister and evangelist who oversees an all male facility that helps men move back into main stream society. Bobby also is involved with prison ministry and makes several trips each year to prisons to share the message of hope and Christ to the inmates. Bobby's message is from the heart because he has experienced the first hand love of Christ in his own life. It is from this perspective that Bobby can relate to others who are struggling. It is also Bobby's perspective on life and Jesus that makes his message so powerful. Bobby has walked out his own recovery under the direction of God's Holy Spirit, so Bobby knows that it is real and not just another story.

As I sat and listened to Bobby share stories about all that has been going on in his life, I had this incredible sense of being grateful to God. You see, it really isn't about me and my time at Rapha. It isn't about the time I spent with Bobby during his program. It is about the faithfulness of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit as Bobby gave himself to God. Any time a former client comes back and they are doing well, that is payday for me. That is God's gift to me that says, "See...I'm still working in the lives of men who have come through Rapha. Keep teaching. Keep loving. Keep sharing the good news that Christ is the answer to every addiction problem that a person could face." That is why we are called to make disciples. Don't let the term "disciple" throw you off. I know it sounds all religious-see but it only means a follower. I want to introduce people to Jesus and see them fall in love with Him and follow Him. How's that for good stuff?

Over the years, God has given me a passion to teach those who have been entrusted to the program at Rapha. But in the course of teaching, I am to look for those who want to become disciples to God's word. The words of II Timothy 2:2 is a verse that I hold dear as the staff pastor at Rapha.  And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.  Not every one will have a call to teach others. Not every one who comes through Rapha burn with the desire to share what Jesus has done for them. But those who do, I want to help teach and train and equip them so they can take the message to others. This is the heart of the Kingdom of God, sharing the message of Christ's redemption.

Because of Christ's redemption, I am a new creation of infinite worth.
I am deeply loved.
I am completely forgiven.
I am fully pleasing.
I am totally accepted by God
I am absolutely complete in Christ.

When my performance reflects my new identity in Christ, that reflection is dynamically unique.
There has never been another person like me in the history of mankind, nor will there ever be.
god has made me an original
one of a  kind
Special person
And so are you

God on you...
mb