The One True HIGHER POWER

Psalm 124
Oh blessed be God! He didn't go off and leave us. He didn't abandon us defenseless, helpless as a rabbit in a pack of snarling dogs.
We've flown free from their fangs, free of their traps, free as a bird. Their grip is broken, we're free as a bird in flight.
God's strong name is our help, the same God who made heaven and earth.

Beloved....
It is about today! Only Today! It doesn't matter what took place yesterday. It doesn't matter if you gained a great victory over your addiction, or you slid back into the muck and mire of using again. It is about today! You have been given another day by God. You have been afforded another opportunity to turn to him and acknowledge your need for His Higher Power. The only true Power that can transport you into the life you've never been able to live successfully.

No matter what took place yesterday, God stands ready to wipe the slate clean and start over in your life when you confess your sin ( your stubborn way that keeps you doing the same old stuff over and over) and ask His forgiveness. He is more than willing to come down and put something on you (His Holy Spirit) that will clean you beyond clean. I know this is going to sound silly, but it really is like putting one foot in front of the other.

Take the first step.......admit that you have created a mess through the choices you've made. You look at your life and you see destruction....broken relationships.....you are empty inside, miserable and you don't know where to turn. What you have just done is admit that you are powerless. It begins with "I don't just have a problem.......I am the problem!"

Then take the next step......Believe that there is a Power greater than you. A Power that you might never have considered before.....A Power that exists outside yourself, but who is willing to come and fill you up with His Power. My belief is that there is only one who could fit the bill of being such a Power.....Jesus Christ. Romans 10:9-10 reads...."It's the word of faith that welcomes God to go to work and set things right for us. This is the core of our preaching. Say the welcoming word to God----"Jesus is my Lord and Savior"----embracing, body and soul, God's work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That's it. You're not "doing" anything: You're simply calling out to God, trusting Him to do it for you. That's salvation. With your whole being you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it out loud: "God has set everything right between Him and me!"

Take one more step......Take this confession of sin and embracing of Jesus into your heart and turn your will and life over to him. You turn your life over, one time. You turn your will over to his care daily. Sometimes a hundred times a day....In other words, you get out of the way. You begin this new life, this journey by hooking up with others who are on a similar path as you. You can find these people at Celebrate Recovery meetings.....A.A. meetings..(Believe me, I understand that A.A. has gotten a bad rap, but rest assured that there are good folk who fill those meetings).

You got up sober this morning. If you didn't, then now is the time to start. It begins with this day. It is simply about maintaining your sobriety today. Yesterday doesn't matter.......we won't worry about tomorrow, it's out there and will get here soon enough. One day at a time....

God on you....
mb