RECOVERY  

God works so others might live. I once heard that God doesn't waste hurts. Recovery isn't an end in itself. It is only a chapter. It may be a long or even unfinished chapter, but it is one of God's favorite chapters in our life. For this reason, I must yield to God and remain willing to be used as He directs.

Sometimes this means talking with others about our journey.  We may only get enough time to show a friend a road sign God used on my path.  At other times, it is time to bring out the home movies.  Somewhere in between a sign and a movie, people will want to hear how the change took place.

• Realize I'm not God
• Earnestly believe God exists.
• Choose to commit my life to Christ's care.
• Openly confess faults to God someone I trust.
• Voluntarily submit to changes God wants to make..
• Evaluate all my relationships.
• Reserve a daily time with God.
• Yield my self to God to be used to bring the Good News to others.

Please don't expect everyone to be as excited about the trip as you were.  Some may even resent the fact that you're doing well.  "Well, it's about time."  Ever heard that at the end of your story?  Don't let the rain keep you from showing pictures of the sun.  You have  a wonderful story to tell.

Discipline.  You knew sooner or later this would surface.  Most may not even want to consider this word in their life.  If we are to recover from the hurts, habits and hang-ups, discipline has to be part of the process.  What am I to be disciplined about?  First, we must have a daily time with God.  That daily time is where we look at what God has said (His Word, the Bible), what God is saying now (in prayer) and where He is taking me.  The daily time is our opportunity to evaluate where we are in light of God.  It's not a time to compare ourselves to others.  God alone is the standard.

This disciplined, devoted time can be brief, but in needs to happen.  Try 15 minutes a day.  That's all.  You may soon discover that this isn't enough time, but the hardest part of any discipline is getting started.  Put God in you schedule.  I prefer an early reservation with God.  Instead of checking your messages first in the morning, try checking with God first.  There are lots of tools you can use during this time, but try asking the Lord what He wants you to do.

By all means, write down what you discover during your daily time.  I like to journal in the margins of my Bible.  Perhaps a special notebook will work if you like to write a lot.  When I write things down, it is like a receipt from the store or my proof of purchase.  Sometimes I need reminders that God has been talking with me through His Word or my prayers.  A written record helps.

You don't have to have a beautiful place for

your daily time, but if God provides one, it

may be because He is wanting to show you something special.

The next reality choice is evaluate all my relationships.  All?  Yes, all!  When God wants to do a great work among His people and in my life, He uses words like "all" or "every" or "always"  or "never."  I like to think of these as "God only" words- They work best when God uses them!

My mind doesn't want to evaluate some relationships.  They hurt too much.  They haven't changed in spite of what I try to do.  It won't matter or make a difference.  Remember, God wants me to look at all my relationships, especially the ones who need restoration or restitution.  The scripture says, 'Happy are those who are merciful."(Matthew 5:7)  It also says, "Happy are those who work for peace."  (Mathew 5:9)

God wants me to offer forgiveness to those who have hurt me, or disappointed me or ignored me.  He also wants me to make restitution or amends to those I have hurt.  We may be willing to forgive those who hurt us, but what about those I have damaged, disappointed or ignored?

I have started a "Most Wanted" list of those who have offended me or who I have offended (and may it be a short list).  I will not be satisfied until I have "captured" each one of these "Most Wanted" people through restoration or restitution..  The hard part is working through those relationships where I think I didn't do anything wrong or neglectful.

Here's the greater question:  Do I want to be right or do I want the relationship?  Jesus wanted relationship.  Pray that each of us will be honest with this choice.

In a book I read written by a Puritan preacher from the 1700's, he made the comment that the greatest miracle happened when his resistant heart was changed by the Gospel of Christ.  It wasn't the mountain which might be told to move, or the sea which parted.  It was when his heart changed, forever. Reality Choice # 5:  Voluntarily submit to every change God wants to make in my life and humbly ask Him to remove any character defects. 

This morning I was reading Psalm 139:1-18.  What a beautiful reminder of how God knows our every feature.  It is always best when the created submits to the Creator.

"Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires." 

So often we short circuit God's process by submitting to part of the changes He wants us to make.  "I can't give this up."  'Would God want me to give that up?"  Perhaps, God wants us to give up those hurts, habits and hang-ups which harm us, others or His reputation.  Uh-oh.  That's everything!  The things I tend to want to cling to are those that have the greatest potential to harm God and others.  Why not start today and submit.

Humbly ask God to work in our lives to bring about the needed changes.My Father will be 90 in September.  He's the greatest example of someone who gave up a lot so I could have everything.  (Trip to Washington, D.C. 2005)

On the road to recovery?  We all are in need of recovery in one area or another.  The next choice on this road is to openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God and to someone I trust..  I am so blessed to have an accountability partner.  He is someone I can confide in and know that he won't judge me.  I set my plans before him and he reminds me of my words and the Lord's will.  Each week we meet, we pray for each other's faults, goals and family.

"Happy are the pure in heart."

The only way to be pure (and see God) is to regularly exhale and forsake those actions, thoughts or words which hurt the Lord and others AND to confess what God says about holiness (1 Peter 1.).  Each night, we have the ability to enjoy a clear conscience knowing that we have nothing between our God and others that hasn't been confessed and handled according to God's will.

Take a moment and ask God to reveal those past thoughts, words and actions which have harmed others.  Begin there in confession and you'll be on the road to recovery.

The Real Anderson Mill (down Volente Road.)

Most things we do in life have to do with control.  We control our driving.  We control our swing of the baseball bat.  We control our children.  Only when we surrender control of our life to God are we able to experience lasting freedom from the pull of habits, the effects of hang-ups or the power of hurts in our life.  Choice 2 is  to consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ's care and control.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says that when God has total control of our life we are a new person.  Give up trying to control you life.  Let God have control.

"Happy are the meek."

Earnestly believe that God exists.  This is the second choice we must make. We say we believe in God, but our actions indicate otherwise.  I need to believe that I matter to God and only God has the power to help me.  All the books in all the books stores will now provide the help I need to have freedom from my habit.

"Happy are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."  God wants us to relate to Him.  He desires to know us in significant ways. We can see God in nature.  We can see God in our surroundings, but we can only experience God through His Son, Jesus Christ.  Read Psalm 139:-1-18 to see how God designed us.  We are on the road to RECOVERY.

April 11. 2010 will start our study in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5).  Each Beatitude is the background for choices each of us have to make in order to have freedom from our hurts, hang-ups and habits.  Here is the first choice we need to make:  Realize that I'm not God.  No one can control our tendency to do wrong.  Will power alone isn't enough to control anger, over-eating, addictions or any of the baggage that entangles us in every day living.  Only the Holy Spirit can provide the lasting power to have victory.

One translation of the first Beatitude reads: "Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor."

Be sure to attend each of the 8 Sunday during our "Life's Healing Choices" study.  Don't forget to invite a friend.  They'll be glad you did.

Anderson Mill is preparing for our 8-week study on Life's Healing Choices. This is one of Saddleback Community Church's campaigns designed to help people have freedom from their hurts, hang-ups and habits.  I have the "3 H's" and I am in need of recovery. The reality of my 3 H's is that I make choices to make room for these in my life. I'm not perfect and as I learned in the first session of the preview,  I have to quit playing God.

Talk about reality.  I am confronted by several realities related to the 3 H's:

• I can no longer pretend that I can control things, especially people.
• I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.
• I have to get freedom for my pain
• .I can't change the past.