Saturday...Smatterday...Gotta Wear A Hat-er-Day

It has been a good week at Rapha. The guys have been checked in during class and we have completed the entire 12 Step Teachings. Now, come Monday, we'll roll back over into Step #1 and commence the whole shebang all over again.

Spent most of the day yesterday with men who were working on their fifth step ( Admit to God, another human being and oursleves the exact nature of our wrongs). This particular step is always the hardest to get through simply because you are telling another person all the deep, dark, sticky stuff you have done in your past. Main purpose of the step is to be free from those secrets that we have kept that have power over us and seem to be at the root of the addiction. Another part of the step is to begin to realize the character defects we possess that also aid in keeping the addiction active.

I am so looking forward to the service tonight at Rapha. The whole worship team will be together after 3 weeks of different stuff going on in our lives. I feel as though God has given me a good word for tonight. The message will come from Luke Chapter 5 and deal with the vision of Jesus as opposed to our own way of seeing things. Please be in prayer for us tonight that we can get out of the way and allow God to do what he does so well....save...heal....restore....and give life.
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Numbers 14:1-2
And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and aginst Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, "Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt or would God we had died in this wilderness! And why has the LORD brought us into this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? Would it  not be better for us to return to Egypt?

The people who came out of Egypt.....
Came out of a lifestyle of slavery, abject misery and poverty....
Came from a place with no hope and no future...
Are now railing aginst Moses and Aaron accusing them (and God) of manipulation.
"You brought us out here to die and our wives and children will become easy pickings for whoever!"
Sounds to me like the flesh is up and running wild.
Instead of remembering what God had done for them, they were playing that age old game of "Should-a, would-a and could-a".   In other words they were projecting their fears toward Moses and Aaaron.
When fear rises up, it replaces faith.
When fear rises up, it replaces common sense.
When fear rises up, it becomes the preminent voice that we tend to listen to.
It's hard to hear God's voice when fear is screaming in my mind.
Now, lets get real honest here.
Fear is a part of begin human.
God  knows this.
Why else would every time an Angel shows up or Jesus shows up in Scripture, the first thing that is said is, "FEAR NOT!?" It isn't the fact that we are fearful, it is because we are not to allow that fear to take control of our emotions and our minds. We turn our fear toward our faith that God is bigger than anything that we might face in our daily lives.

For someone in addiction, fear of the unknown is a huge battle that must be fought.
Not knowing what is out there today, or what problems might come our way is something that every person in recovery faces.
But we learn, through the steps and through Scripture, that God is worthy to be trusted.
His promises are "yes and amen" and he is always with us no matter where life takes us.

Psalm 23:4 reads, "I will fear no evil, for you are with me."
It is the presence of God, the work of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit that enables me to face life today.
Because of Christ's redemption....
He will grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.....
Courage to change the things I can.....
And wisdom to know the difference.....
Just for today....

God on you......
mb