It's About Taking The Message To Others

It's a message about life....
And it's life that is the message.
Can't separate one from the other.
Some like to lay hold of the message in order to have this new life, and once obtained (at least they think they have it) they hold it unto themselves and forget about the others still out there in darkness where they have just come from. Selfishness that screams, "I've got mine, let them get their's." Not the way the message works. 

It's like working the Twelve Steps all the way down to Step #12 and quitting at # 11. No need to take this message to others...
I've got what I need. Is that the ultimate act of selfishness or what? I think maybe yes it is. To be afforded the greatest gift a breathing human could ever be given.....
And then simply reject all others in order to build your own kingdom. Leaving them to grope blindly in the spiritual darkness of their own existence looking for way out. I've got mine...let them find what they need..

So to me, it's all about the message....
You can dress it up, but it has no need for that.
You can put it to blues...reggae...rock...country...classical..it fits perfect and will pierce any heart with the white hot love of God. A love so pure and holy that it raises dead people to new life. 

It kicks away the tomb stones, removes the grave clothes and plunges that dead corpse with a life that no one or no thing can stop. Because that is just how God moves. HE really isn't interested in taking you behind the curtain to show you how He works His life giving message...He simply offers it and says, "Do you want to be healed?" We are all up in the understanding of the how's and why's and wherefore's of this life that has been offered to us. God simply says, "Do you want it? Do you want to be healed?" The message is simple. Do you or don't you?

The message is bigger than sobriety...
It is more powerful than abstinence...
It is not bound by time, culture, or societal dictates...
The message cannot be harnessed or changed to fit man's whims or fantasy...When such tries to take place, the message is no longer the message, but some counterfeit look alike that has no power to change anything. 

Step # 12 puts the exclamation to the message....
"Having had a spiritual awakening..."
In other words, our old way of living has kept us unaware of the truth that was all around us. We moved through it daily unaffected by it. Moving to get whatever our DOC was in order to simply fill normal. But for whatever reason, the message lay hold of us and we received it. We did more than believe...we laid hold of...we took it into our very core and it became life. This message that this POWER greater than ourselves could set us right. Now here in Step #12 we have evidence of the truth. Our very lives now reflect the reality and power of the message. Because it was given freely to us, the message is not something we can afford to hoard or hide. We don't just give it away....we take the message....we take it to those still trapped by their addiction. 

And this "Taking out of the Message" is why Vineyard ReCovery Church....Catalyst Recovery and Thriving continue to meet each week....to Let other know of the power and impact this message has had in our own lives. We don't relegate our message to only the nights we meet....we are a people who take it out! 

We truly are a people who realize....
Without His mercy...we are hopeless...
Without His love....we are lost....
Without His direction....We can make no progress...
And without His person living in our heart....
Jesus is just words on a page and notes in a song...

God on you....
mb