John 12:37
But despite all the miraculous signs Jesus had done, most of the people still did not believe Him.
John 11:53
So from that time on, the Jewish leaders began to plot Jesus' death.
Step # 2
We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
Unbelief...
Doubt.....
Skeptical....
All born in the darkness of a heart that truly does not know its creator.
When we reject the one who created us, we turn to our own understanding to show us the way through this life.
Such foolish wisdom can only end badly.
For those who have an addictive personality, it is a sure thing that such a life will surely not end well.
The first two verses listed above tell a sad truth about living outside of a relationship with Jesus.
In the first verse, the unbelief, doubt and fear kept people from receiving what God wanted to give them. Jesus came to heal and destroy the effects of the works of the devil in this world (See I John 3:8). But when we refuse to turn loose of the unholy three (unbelief, doubt and fear) we have chose against God's will to see us healed and made whole.
The second verse shows us the darkness that can descend and smother a person who lives in unbelief. IF we keep rejecting Christ, our hearts grow colder and colder to His offer for a new way of living (not only in this world, but in eternity to come). Our thoughts will grow darker and more evil will invade our heart. The men mentioned in the second verse were the religious rulers of the day. The ones who kept the law of Moses. Seems they dropped one of the Ten Commandments...you know the one about "Thou Shall Not Kill". Opps...
Then we find ourselves in Step # 2, with the truth of "COMING TO BELIEVE" in a power grater than ourselves. Coming to believe, to me, indicates a process that we are taken through where faith is applied. Step # 2 doesn't mean we have all the answers or that we are totally sold on this whole recover thing. What it does mean is that we are at a point in our addiction where we are ready to embrace a different way of living. Our heart and mind are looking outside of our own ability for the answer to our problem.
So why is it some believe in this Jesus...
And some don't?
If I could answer that, I'd be a rich man. Well, maybe not rich but certainly famous.
The whole concept of what some refer to as "Free Will" or "having a choice" is a true mystery. There are some who have said that we don't really have free will. That when we stand outside of a relationship with Jesus, the only thing we can choose to do is sin. It may take the form of various levels of sin....from telling a "little white lie", to being a serial killer. We all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. Some believe that we can't receive anything from God until He initiates it in our heart. In other words, part of the Holy Spirit's work is to convict us (show us our sin and the answer to our dilemma) and to point us to the answer to all our sin problems. That answer is found in a person, and that person is Jesus.
We find the answer to this eternal question about free will and choices in Step # 2.
A POWER that is greater than us. A POWER who is capable of addressing every state of our human condition. Someone who can undo the dark damage that sin / addiction has wrought in our lives. We have reached that rock wall of truth and we can't seem to get around it or over it. IT looms before us like an ancient fortress. But this POWER , whose name is Jesus, lays hold of us when we arrive at the place where we believe in Him. When We believe that He is capable of doing for me what I cannot do for myself. At this place...the wall still standing and us with no answers, is where this POWER breaks through my unbelief and the process of climbing over the wall begins. What was impossible before, is now not only possible, but is taking place. WE are being shown and empowered to scale the wall and move on in our new life.
Unbelief....
doubt....
fear.....
All are a part of the human condition. IT is not a question of having unbelief, doubt or fear...it is a matter of who are you going to turn to when they rear their collective ugly heads in our life.
Who will I turn to?
Easy....
Jesus.
God on you....
michael b.
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