CRA Christians in Recovery (anonymous)

This reading got me thinking and a bit baffled. AA has the right sense of scripture in the saying, "A Day at a time' or "One day at a time". Maybe this saying has Bible roots as AA has some things based on the Bible.

I don't see that we need to think of waiting for any length of time as each day is a reprieve for us and each day we start out fresh. >>>>
>>>>>Matthew 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread. ....Anna and some others were waiting for 1st Advent and some people since the Ascension are waiting for 2nd Advent but individually we go about our business.

Almost certain there is a Scripture tells us to do whatever it is in front of us to do. I searched but didn't find it.

But!!!!!But!!!!...Whether or not the person that posted 'AA is Satanic' was speaking from experience or hearsay is an uncertainty. But!!!!!...Don't recall what led me to this site >>Curlie - Society: Religion and Spirituality: New Age >>and then to maybe the second link I opened at the site is a listing of books and I see that AA meeting I once attended was based on one of these books and supposedly the book is 'New Age'. Apparently not all is what it seems to be.

My recent conversations with fellow AA members here was more about getting together an AA card game 'meeting'. Years ago an AA club on the East side was also big on running card games. One guy told me he is not too interested in driving 20 miles to a 'meeting' just to lose 50 bucks. So,!!!!!....Some criticism of AA is justifiable.

I know that!!!!>>I also know that some people are oblivious to the greater world and live in their own little lala land.

MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2023 - DON’T GIVE UP – PERSEVERE
Audio for DON’T GIVE UP – PERSEVERE

When troubles arise in our lives we often feel helpless to cope with them. Instead of facing them head on we prefer to avoid them. We hide from them, pretending they don’t exist. However, troubles usually do not go away quietly and can drive us into isolation and relapse to more harmful dependencies.

Instead of hiding from our problems we need to seriously think about doing something to solve them. We can seek out someone to talk to who is willing to understand us, pray with us, and help us. God often reveals the answer to us when we take time to listen to what He has to say. As one song writer wrote, “Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer.”

This is God’s Message, the God who made earth, made it livable and lasting, known everywhere as God: ‘Call to me and I will
answer you. I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own. (Jeremiah 33:2-3 MSG)

When we ask for His help God hears us and intervenes in troubling situations on our behalf. We need to be truthful when we bring our troubles before God, admitting any part we had in the event. As we seek His forgiveness for our part, He will give us the wisdom to do the next right thing, whatever the circumstances.

God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. Call for help
when you’re in trouble—I’ll help you, and you’ll honor me. (Psalm 46:1, 50:15 MSG)

Most problems develop over time. Discovering and applying solutions to problems also takes time. We will need to persevere as we work to do things God’s way in all our affairs. As we watch God work all things together for our good, we will be forever grateful that we sought Him and were willing to do what He said.

Prayer: Gracious God, I am grateful that You never give up on me. Help me to persevere and fearlessly face
what is challenging me today. Thank You for working all things together for my good and Your glory. Amen

©2023 Partners in Hope

Thanks. Somehow I got my cell phone on theathering wich discombobulated my wifi. I was too disraught to figure it out.

I don't know how this will play out. I can't see clearly over 30 ft or cross an intersection while the light is still green. Their's other problemes too personal to share. Prayer will be appreciated. Best wishes to all. Lord bless all of you.

Bob.

I'm still alive but not doing well. I've got a hoast of medical issues. I can't recall how to post a PM, I'm going blind, can't walk without a walker, (need a wheelchair) and I'm basicly homebound, alone. I haven't given up the faith of salvation. But I sence that the candle of my life is flickering out.

Oh well, this world is only temporary. It will get better soon enough.

Love Bob.

Before we rush to judge the foundations of AA, we need to follow it to the roots of the Oxford group from which it came. Due to many reasons people have a distain for organized religion so the founders of AA tried to make it acceptable to folks of all faiths but still encourage people seeking help and recovery to come to believe that their is one that has all power.

May we find him now!

Hey purple lady. I can't figure out how to send you a PM. I'd love to.

G'night.

Welcome back, Cabrillo..

https://christianchat.com/threads/this-side-of-the-glass.182929/post-4806055

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2023 - THE BENEFIT OF DOING THINGS GOD’S WAY OVER THE LONG HAUL

Audio for THE BENEFIT OF DOING THINGS GOD’S WAY OVER THE LONG HAUL

How many times have we spoken before we thought and, as the saying goes, “put our foot in our mouth?”
For too long we’ve held narrow views of life and our place in it. God created us for community and caring
relationships. In the scriptures He has given us all the knowledge we need to live well every day.

If you listen closely to my wisdom and good sense, you will have sound
judgment, and you will always know the right thing to say. (Proverbs 5:1-2 CEV)

In Step 11 of the 12-Step program we are encouraged each day to improve our conscious contact with God,
praying only for knowledge of His will and the power to carry it out. As we encounter God’s wisdom in the
Bible and put His ways into practice, we will have the satisfaction and joy of experiencing how practical
God’s Word really is. It’s a challenge though to put God’s ways into practice in some situations that may arise.
God’s way teaches us to be generous to others, which is opposite to the self-centered messages we have heard
and told ourselves in addiction, and yet when we do things God’s way, we discover His way is better.

The Lord watches your ways. He studies all your paths. Sinners are trapped by their own evil acts.
They are held tight by the ropes of their sins. They will die because they refused to be corrected.
Their sins will capture them because they were very foolish. (Proverbs 5:21-23 NIRV)

To walk with God requires that we discipline ourselves at certain times and in certain ways.
The more often we make the choice to do things God’s way, the more often we will see that
it was exactly the right thing to do at that time. Everyone around us will benefit from our
actions and our sense of what is right and good will grow clearer. It becomes part of the
message we are to carry to others as we practice God’s principles in all our affairs.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to not only meditate and pray for the knowledge of
Your will but to have the courage to put it into practice in all my affairs. Help me to
trust Your way even when it seems inconvenient or quite different from what I have
known in the past. I choose once again to turn my will and my life over to Your care.
Please direct me in all my ways. Amen

©2023 Partners in Hope

SUNDAY, MARCH 26, 2023 - DESIRE TO CHANGE
Audio to DESIRE TO CHANGE

Whether in Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous, Tradition Three highlights
that the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking or using.

Jesus tells us: Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. God
is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. (Matthew 26:41 NIV, Philippians 2:13 NLT)

It is not too difficult for us to dislike the suffering and inconvenience we experience alongside our using and drinking. However, it really does take an act of God to remove the desire to drink or use again. God can work a miracle in us so the obsession to pick up is removed. We can expect a “daily reprieve” as we invite God to be the source of our strength to say “NO” when the desire to drink or use arises. We need God’s help to be sober today. We need our actions to be in line with God’s principles so we have the courage to do the next right.

As we add one day of sobriety to another, we will notice change around us. Our relationships will be more joyful and peaceful. As we experience success in some areas, optimism will begin to grow in us. The blur in our minds starts to clear and we find ourselves laughing and enjoying simple pleasures. Together all these things will support our desire not to drink or use.

As we make conscious contact with God a priority, He will faithfully change our desires. The more we obey what God says works, the more we experience the peace of God and a sense of well-being deep in our souls. Life with God will always be sweeter and more fulfilling than a life of drinking or using.

Find your delight in the Lord. Then he will give you everything your heart really wants. Live by the Holy Spirit’s
power. Then you will not do what your desires controlled by sin want you to do. (Psalm 37:4, Galatians 5:16 NIRV)

Prayer: Heavenly Father, Change me from the inside out. Help me to enjoy the blessings of this life but most of all to enjoy being cared for and loved by You. Help me to experience the promise that life with You is more desirable than a life of drinking or using. Amen

©2023 Partners in Hope

I'm very interested in the recovery movement. It emerged with the time during which the prohibition law was repealed, and this incident is the only time at which a constitutional amendment has ever been exactly reversed. I wonder why they did that? It can't have had anything to do with Christianity, that would be outside the pervue of the state. What was the problem, high church priests weren't getting in trouble for serving alter wine as a required sacrament at communion on Sunday, were they? I'd really be interested to know what was going on behind the closed government doors when that occurred. It seems like an unnecessary law to me. I'm sure that the 21+ maturity factor has a place, but is that so important that a national constitutional amendment is needed?

The last week or so has been a period of "dark nights of the soul"... please pray for me if you get the chance.

Praying for you Ted, for you to find peace in the storm, encouragement in the day, and comfort in this dark night of the soul. What worked for me when my depression was very deep, was reading 5 Psalms a day a day, for 2 years. At first I didn't even want to do that, I was angry at God for not healing my severe Rheumatoid Arthritis, and the empty loneliness of my life. God told me to do it, it took a while of rebellion before I started reading, but what an experience!

I met God's people, throughout history in the Psalms! I met them in joyful times, praising God; I met them in times of fear, of grief and sadness, and even when they were angry, I heard King David rail at God because of his enemies and other problems. But I also watched him rant and rave, then turn to rejoicing by the time he reached the end of the song/Psalm. God had me memorize various verses, and this is one that touched my heart & soul! It's from HCSB, Holman's translation, and it used the word "depressed" for "cast down" which is a shepherding term, that most of us don't know! Please read & meditate on this! God will meet you, when you consistently & persistently seek him, even in the darkness! I spent 2 full years with my back turned from God, but I realized he had never turned from me!

"1 As a deer longs for streams of water,
so I long for You, God.
2 I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I come and appear before God?
3 My tears have been my food day and night,
while all day long people say to me,
“Where is your God?”
4 I remember this as I pour out my heart:
how I walked with many,
leading the festive procession to the house of God,
with joyful and thankful shouts.
5 Why am I so depressed?
Why this turmoil within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him,
my Savior and my God.
6 I[a] am deeply depressed;
therefore I remember You from the land of Jordan
and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls;
all Your breakers and Your billows have swept over me.
8 The Lord will send His faithful love by day;
His song will be with me in the night—
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I will say to God, my rock,
“Why have You forgotten me?
Why must I go about in sorrow
because of the enemy’s oppression?”
10 My adversaries taunt me,
as if crushing my bones,
while all day long they say to me,
“Where is your God?”
11 Why am I so depressed?
Why this turmoil within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him,
my Savior and my God." Psalm 42

When I got through these hard years, God called me to seminary, where we studied the Bible, and learned skills to minister to God's people, even as we ministered to one another! God can and will do amazing things with you. Just dig into the Psalms, and let them penetrate your heart, mind & soul! God bless!

#ICAMETOSHARE

"I hope to always have the time to response to a sincere prayer request.
And I am here to share my prayer of hope for you to find a reprieve from whatever
disturbance that has come upon your life.
'And I have learned at our worst times, God often finds us with a 'wake up'. This I firmly believe and I am
forever grateful...believe it!
'I pray you come to know God is close by, as I am also here to hopefully share hope and encouragement anytime."
'Amen'