Mark 13:33 and 37
Watch therefore.....
And what I say to you, I say to all............Watch!
The biggest thing about this new way of living we call recovery, is the need for attention. Attention to the details of our life that we have, in the past, not given one thought to. Paying attention to where our thoughts may roam to. People that we know we don't need to be around. Places that are now off limits because we find a greater value in living sober than in being somewhere.
If you have truly embraced Jesus...some would call it being saved or born again, then you have a dual purpose in watching. Jesus calls us to keep one eye (spiritually speaking) on His promises. Knowing that they are given to us for our safekeeping and to aid us as we walk through our day. I guess you could say that the number one promise He gave to us, is that He is going to return. Yep! That's right. Jesus is coming back. I know that some will pish-posh this notion. Call me loony....a daydreamer...an escapist....I don't care what you call me, just don't call me late when He does come back. Funny part in all this "coming back" is that we are called to watch and to pray. To go about our daily business here in this life, but to be keenly aware of what is going on around us in relation to God's work. By that I mean we need to always be listening for God's instructions. In my life, when God speaks, it is usually a very faint thought that goes through my mind. I have grown so accustom to it working this way, that when those thoughts come to me, I'm just crazy enough to believe God is leading me. Now, one other thing....I believe that God's "voice" becomes clearer as you study the Bible. The things I hear that I believe to be from God, never ever contradict what I have read in the Bible. In other words, God will never tell me...."Hey Michael...it's o.k. to have beer or twelve." The more I digest the Word of God, the easier it becomes to hear God as I try to follow His leading in my daily activity.
The second part of this "dual watching" is that I am to watch for the plans and schemes of the devil. I Peter 5:8 tells me that my adversary/enemy walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. So, how does a lion operate? He surveys a herd of animals and looks for the weakest, the oldest, the most crippled...He uses his roar to instill fear and hesitation in the herd. It doesn't take a Seminary graduate to see that fear is the chief weapon used in addiction. Fear of the unknown.........fear of the known...........fear of detox........fear of being found out..........fear of well, to put it bluntly...everything. Fear causes us to freeze and we become easy prey for our enemy, the devil. But God gives a promise to those who have made Jesus Christ their higher Power....(that's a recovery way of saying "LORD and Savior)..... II Peter 5:10 - But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. Every one of those things mentioned in this verse are the very things we did not have when we were living in addiction. To be perfected......established.......strengthened.......and settled. These are just a few of the promises from God to us.
Think on this today.....
God on you.....
mb
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