John 3:16-17 (Message Bible)
But John intervened: "I'm baptizing you here in the river. The main character in this drama, to whom I'm a mere stagehand, will ignite the Kingdom life, a fire, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He's going to clean house---make a clean sweep of your lives. He'll place every thing true in its proper place before God. Everything false he'll put out with the trash to be burned."
Lot of pain out there last week. I received more calls from people who were hurting than I have in years.
"I can't seem to quit."
"My girl friend has left me because of my using."
"I need help right now, I can't wait any longer."
And on and on and on....
One after another looking for relief from all the destruction that had brought on themselves through their using.
To say it was overwhelming is the understatement, because at my core, I'm a fixer.
Only in these cases, I couldn't fix anyone.
I can point in the direction someone needs to go.
I can walk with them through the process.
I can be there for them.
But in the end, it all boils down to how ready are you to quit?
If you are sick and tired of being sick and tired, then there is ground there on which to build.
Don't confuse recovery with wanting all the problems to go away.
Some will say that they are ready to recover, to get some place where they can begin to work on themselves. But when push comes to shove, you find out that they really didn't want to quit using or drinking.......they only wanted a time out from the pressure. Now, even in this case, sometimes just being in a recovery setting gives them a clearer view of what they have done to themselves. But not always.
Bottom line in all of this....
I don't know of anyone or any thing who can do more for someone struggling in addiction, than Jesus.
Oh, there are programs that are good at helping people cope with addiction.
There are programs who can get people clean and able to function in society.
But there isn't a program who can produce real life that will take an individual beyond death.
That comes only through a person...
That person is Jesus.
Truth be known...
We catch a lot of flak from both sides of the fence when we introduce Jesus into the equation.
From the recovery side, we accused of being a bunch of "holy rollers" and "religious nuts". We have been told to not bring our Jesus into A.A. that God can be whatever you want Him to be. Well, we all know where that is coming from. First off, there is more mention of God, as creator and giver of life in A.A. material than some want to admit. The other thing is that A.A. was never intended to be a religion. A.A. was founded by two drunks who had encounters with God and it changed their lives. Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith were brought together after Bill's encounter with Jesus in a hospital. Bill lost all desire to drink again after being a hopeless drunk for years. In fact, everyone had given up on Bill and had resigned themselves to the reality that he would die a drunk. God had other plans, and through an encounter with Dr. Bob Smith, the two began a journey to put these Twelve Steps together.
On the other side of the fence is the church (not all of it, but a good portion). They speak out of ignorance about A.A. and the Twelve Steps. They paint a broad picture of what is wrong with all this Twelve Step stuff. God bless 'em. They have trouble ( I think) with the whole "God as you understood Him". In their minds, what they hear is that you can make up a god that fits your life. What really is being said, is that we come to the God we understand today. That you don't have to be a theologian, or a Bible scholar...in fact you don't even have to be saved to come to this God. You come as you are, to a God that has always been. A good friend of mine has a saying (don't you love friends who have saying's? I do)...."You can't work those Twelve Steps and not hit your head on the cross." Get it? Jesus is the answer to the addiction problem. The Twelve Steps are the disciplines to walk this new life out.
People have a tendency to confuse the issue of addiction.
It really isn't the alcohol or the drugs that we are waging war against.
It is the human heart.
The human heart that is under the influence of a sin nature that leads it into all manner of wrong.
Until that heart is dealt with and set right by the infusion of God's Holy Spirit....there will always be the propensity to do the wrong thing.
SO the real problem of someone in addiction is that they have a broken relationship.
Let's be about the business of the Kingdom introducing those still in the darkness to our Jesus.
He is the best high you could ever have.
God on you..
mb
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