Romans 6:15-19 (Mess. Bible)
So, since we're out from under the old tyranny (sin ), does that mean we can live any old way we want? Since we're free in the freedom of God, can we do anything that comes to mine? Hardly. You know well enough from your own experience that there are some acts of so-called freedom that destroy freedom. Offer yourselves to sin, for instance, and it's your last free act. But offer yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits. All your lives you've let sin tell you what to do. But thank God you've started listening to a new master, one whose commands set you free to live openly in his freedom!
Sometimes in this world of addiction and recovery, those who are trying to break free from the bondage and sin of addiction see freedom in a way that is not based in reality. In other words, we have a tendency to fall for the world's definition of freedom rather than God's.
They believe, or at least want to believe, that freedom means no more pain or trouble or heartache. If you're talking about self-inflicted pain, trouble and heartache...then that is a right view. We have turned from our old ways of living to embrace a new way.
But pain/trouble/heartache or still out there. They exist because we live in a fallen world filled with fallen men and women. People will hurt you, but God will never desert you. People will cause you pain, but God will bring healing and comfort when the pain is too much. People will break your heart, but God is the mender of broken hearts. How can I say this? Because he has seen me through some dark and difficult days, that's how!
God in me, guiding me daily, is what makes the TWELVE STEPS work. Those steps are merely a discipline that keeps me focused and on the right track. God is the motivation and Power that enables me to move forward and not look back to that old life style.
I grew up in church, so I heard over and over about the "Power" of the Holy Spirit. I knew that I was filled with Him and that He was the connector (so to speak) to Jesus and the Father, but it wasn't until I began to hang around Rapha that I saw a new work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said in Acts 1:8 that if the disciples would wait in Jerusalem, they would be clothed in Power when the Holy Spirit would be poured out on them. Now, imagine you are an addict. You've tried and tried to quit but you can't. You've almost convinced yourself that you are hopeless. False Belief #4 becomes your motto: "I am what I am. I cannot change. I am hopeless." But then you hear about the Steps and how people have stopped drinking and drugging by working them. Let's say you do surrender through working Steps 1,2 and 3. Now what? Because you have surrendered yourself to Jesus through confession and repentance (Turning away from your old life..not just in body, but heart and mind) then God gives to you the on-going key to your freedom. He is called the Holy Spirit.
John 16:12-15 reads: I still have many things to tell you, but you can't handle them now. But when the Comforter comes....The Friend, the Spirit of Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all truth there is. He won't draw attention to himself, but will make sense out of what is about to happen and, indeed, out of all that I have done and said. He will honor me; He will take from me and deliver it to you. Everything the Father has is also mine. That is why I've said, "He takes from me and delivers to you."
I know this sounds like Twilight Zone/ science fiction...but it is real.
God places within you His Holy Spirit to be a "voice" of reason as you walk through your day.
As you study your Bible, that voice will teach you, encourage you and show you truth that will aid you when you face problems or situations that, in the past, use to throw you for a loop.
If you have stumbled by this blog on accident and what you've read has stirred your heart, then pray.
Pray right now and just ask God to save you.
To take you from your current way of living and give you a new life........a new way!
He will take you up on your cry for help.
I pray that you find this God today, and that you begin to experience and live in real freedom.
mb
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