Last night’s lesson for Celebrate Recovery was titled “Crossroads”. It is lesson 19 of 25 so we are nearing the end of the year. This lesson reminds us that at this point in our recovery we need to remember that God is providing a new road for us to travel on. This road in scripture is called the “high road”, I Corinthians 6:7. When we travel this road, we do so as a new creation.
For my first several years in CR I battled the man I was at that time trying to find that the new creation I was suppose to be. It was at this time the person teaching the lesson at the time told the story of a man saddling a dead horse, getting on him and saying getty up. This is what I had been doing. I was trying to put God’s armor on my old self thinking it would keep this old self from sinning and remembering his past. I needed to let myself see me as a new creation. This new man had a past that didn’t need to be forgotten. As a new creation my past had no bondage, instead I had freedom from it and could now use it as God nudged for His Kingdom work. Putting God’s armor on this new creation kept Satan from hindering God’s Kingdom work from being done.
Hearing this message last night on Crossroads was such a great reminder of this freedom God bestows when we accept the gifts/healing He offers to us!
This morning’s devotional time has been nothing but “the best”. The worship music playing in the background has brought me to tears over and over. As I’ve prayed over the ones from counseling who are deeply hurting, the song, “Burdens Are Lifted At Calvary” was playing and I just teared up again that Jesus is truly watching over them with the assurance that the sun will shine again in their lives. I know this is true for God is always faithful to His Word.
The song that truly hit me personally is, “I’m Just a Sinner Saved by Grace”. I wept as it was playing. I’m just so very grateful for God’s Grace bringing me from the torment of a troubled childhood to allow me to spend this time of my life using that tormented time as an instrument for Him helping others find their own freedom in Christ as was offered to me so graciously.
It is always amazing to me watching God work and experiencing Him doing so. A young man I have encouraged to see a doctor for his depression just wouldn’t consider it. It was a sign of weakness he felt and had been raised to believe this by a father who likely struggled with the same mental health issue. Last night he told me a new counselor he’s seeing told him he must find a doctor and so now he is looking for one. Praise GOD! He has struggled way too long with the effects of depression. I’m so grateful for God’s intervention.
God is amazingly good and it is a joy to get to be a small part of this. TO GOD BE THE GLORY!
This morning I was asking Jesus for help as I journaled. There are a couple of things I’m battling and I wanted Him to help. (Actually, I wanted Him to just remove them). It was then I was reminded to take a look at the tools He has already provided for me. He said He has given me tools in my toolbox that I share often with others. It is important for me to use these tools myself. He wants to help me be a good helper for myself as well as for others.
It is amazing how much help Jesus is for each one of us. I get so stuck sometimes just wanting Jesus to make life different and easier. He wants me to handle what I am to do so with help He has already given to me and then let Him take care of the rest. I never want to be a lazy christian taking Jesus work for me (and you) for granted!
Yesterday all of our local kids and grandkids were coming to celebrate my youngest grandson’s birthday and Father’s Day. My oldest daughter surprised me with a little book entitled “What I Love About You Dad”. It is 30 pages of sentence starters or questions where she handwrote personal responses to each. I teared up just reading the title. She wanted me to check it out so I only read one page of it which was the questions: What about your dad makes you laugh? I didn’t want to be all teary for the rest of the day.
This morning as I finished devotions I began to read more of the pages. WOW! It is just so endearing. I am not one who enjoys greatly gifts given to me. This time however, I treasure this one. It has such personal meaning. I can only say: THANK YOU AMY!
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to those who are a father. Hopefully yours was a good one for you. This morning’s devotional time has been overwhelmingly touching. The worship music I’ve had playing in the background has been so rich I kept having to stop and just listen while my heart rejoiced!
Yesterday I had a counseling appointment right before lunch. I had left my phone at home absentmindedly. so I missed a call from a young man I have been working with for over two years. When I got home and saw that he had called, I called back. He’s a very quiet person so when he answered he said he had been prepared to talk when he called but now he was struggling to find the words. As he pieced them together he told me he wanted to apologize for judging me and not believing what I’ve challenged him to address. He said all of that had been out of fear but God had shown him it was the right thing to do. “He was a man with his own mind and could hear God’s voice and follow it.” This is what I had encouraged him to do. He always sought other’s direction for himself and he’d be discouraged with it, blaming them. I was one of those blamed, but not any longer.
I’ll never stop being amazed watching God work in someone’s life, including my own! How privileged we are and I am!
Today my youngest grandson turns 14. Being grandpa is no longer the time of little boys and girls. In a month I will be a great grandpa, a generation past being grandpa. Wow, time just flies!
Yesterday’s post was sincerely written just because it was true for me. Little did I know that in just over an hour the young man I’d meet with was struggling just as my post had indicated I had. As he shared his struggle, I asked if I could read something to him. As I read the post, he began to cry. I told him he had 40 more years of freedom ahead of him that I didn’t just because I kept my issues in secret. I told him I was so proud of him to reach out for help long before I did.
GOD is so amazingly GOOD! What a treasure it is to let all of life’s bondage get turned into tools in God’s toolbox. I was never very good using man’s mechanical tools, but getting to use God’s tools, well, it is just the greatest thing of all!
It seems of late that God is wanting me to more fully not only understand His Love for you (me), but to also receive it as fully as He intends for it to be received. I longed for God’s Love to remove for me all the burdening torment of my past. Today I so fully get to see why the memories of my past are important as I listen to those tormented today with their own burdens. What God’s Love has done is remove all of the bondage from that past. Instead of a bondage, there is a continuous nudge to let others know they don’t have to hide their torments from someone trusted God has placed on their heart. Just as God brought His help for me, I get to be a help to others. In so doing, I see God’s Love at work and I receive a confirming joy within telling me, “See, wasn’t it worth it?!” I just tear up as I write this for YES, it was worth every ounce of it!
As I began my worship time this morning and journaling, I had to stop several times and thank Jesus for His never ending kindness and love. It just exuded forth yesterday in several of the counseling sessions giving Light to darkness that has prevailed for some folks way too long. Experiencing this, and getting to be part of it, I just can’t help but shed tears of great JOY!
As I read my devotional following this journaling, its message cinched it all. It was built from the verse Psalms 23:6: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow you all the days of your life. As I read this and the accompanying message, I was nudged to take a look at the songs we will be using tonight in Celebrate Recovery’s worship. The first one is a favorite of mine–How Can I Keep from Singing. God was telling me to bring this devotional message to tonight’s worship and add it to this song.
I lived so many years not knowing/believing this deep, deep love of God was real for me. And, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t do anything good enough to “make it happen”. Then, the time came when I began to awaken to the truth that God’s love is just what this verse says: it will accompany me all the days of my life and it has been doing just this. Man’s cruelty from abuse in childhood years was used by Satan to try and destroy my belief in God. But, God turned all of this into wonderful lessons of LOVE which can now be shared with others who presently hurt and struggle to believe.
Something I hadn’t expected from the eye surgery is its impact on light. The brilliance of light is so much brighter now. When I was young I could hardly stand the brightness of summer sun. I’d need to wear sunglasses to be out in it. Yesterday, I had this same experience. I was expecting to find my vision being clearer, that is true, but the brilliance of light is even more pronounced. Makes me think of total surrender to God’s Holy Spirit–when we are fully surrendered God’s brilliant Light shines so clearly!
As I began my devotional time this morning I was fighting some temptations–those voices in my head. I then realized I hadn’t started any worship music playing. As soon as I got that started the temptations left. My heart was fully focused on worship. It was a perfect reminder that allowing my spirit to be lifted by God’s Holy Spirit defeats any evil spirit that wants to have a moment of dominance. I love worship music. I know not everyone is wired this way, but whatever focuses you best, remember to use it as God’s Sword of the Spirit. Our surrender to His Spirit always wins our battles. We just need to surrender.
Earnie Lewis 