Rev. 21:4
.......And there shall no more pain, for the former things have passed away.
No more pain....
What a glorious thought....
No more pain....
What an incredible promise....
No more emotional pain..
No more physical pain...
No more mental/psychological pain...
No more pain.
In a world that has the corner on the "pain" market, this is a verse that resonates in the heart of every human. The idea of living in a state of being where pain does not exist.
Pain is a major part of addiction. Pain usually is one of the vehicles that drives some to use. Not so much the physical aspect of pain, but the mental and emotional. We hurt, so we get high to escape the feeling. Trouble is, in the state of being high, we usually create more pain through our using,so that when we come down from the high, the pain we sought to escape from is now ten times worse. Such a burden only fuels the desire to escape again.
Repeated attempts to out run the pain only drives us deeper and deeper into the addiction. Suddenly you find yourself not just trying to escape pain, but you are the instigator of new levels of pain. It's kind of like getting shot in the foot. It's hurts really bad. So what do you do? Get yourself a gun and shoot your foot one more time. This time the pain is worse and it's harder to walk. What's your answer to the pain? Shoot yourself again. At a certain point in the addiction, the pain that is experienced is self-inflicted.
You don't have to live like this.
You don't have to walk crippled through life.
There is healing for you.
I know...I know...you've heard all the religious mumbo-jumbo about "Jesus will take your pain" and "Just come to Jesus and He will give you a new life". Let's get honest here, can we? You've heard it, but you've never lived it. Did you get that? I said, "you've heard all the promises of what Jesus can do for you...but you've never experienced it for yourself." Consider this. If there was an inkling that these comments might be real..that this Jesus truly is who He claims He is, and is capable of doing what He claims He can do....wouldn't it be worth it to simply check it out for yourself? I think it would.
To be able to live life without the pain that addiction heaps on you. To be able to clean up the destruction and rubble that have come from repeated bad choices. To actually have hope again, and a future. In other words...to have a real life. Would that not be worthy of looking into?
You see, that is what we do on Saturday nights at Vineyard Recovery Church. We want to spread a table, if you will, of the truth of who this Jesus is. And you are invited to come and sit and dine at that table. You may not like everything that is presented, but there is something for you that will lead you into a deeper understanding and experience with this God we have fallen in love with. We simply want you to know that you do not have to live under the lies and bondage of drugs and alcohol.
I know that the word "Church" brings up all kind of negative connotations....I want you to understand what it means since we have attached it to the words "Vineyard Recovery". Church simply means "A gathering of people who have found life in a relationship with Jesus." Those who gather on Saturday night share a common sin/sickness ---addiction. We have found a common solution to our problem....Jesus. So we gather and sing worship songs to Jesus. Singing from hearts of gratitude that not only has this Jesus spared us from destruction and death, but has given us a future and a hope. There is comfort and power in being with like minded people. In one sense, Saturday night is a time where we can get our "batteries" recharged so we can go back out and fact Sunday through Friday, then next Saturday we will gather and do it all over again.
If your free tomorrow night, consider coming and joining us. We'd love to see you. Meeting starts at 7 p.m.
We are located on Broad street between Fourth and Fifth Streets.
See you then!
God on you...
mb
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