Recovery step 3: Brakes

We actually had some sunshine that particular morning and I was finally able to tackle a job I needed to do. It’s not that I was putting it off, but the recent plethora of cold and rainy days provided a good excuse to delay the inevitable. I am no mechanic and I have great respect for those who work on cars, especially here in PA where our roads get flooded with that metal-eating brine all winter, but I needed to do some basic car maintenance. Sometimes, however, there is a large gap between knowing what to do and making it happen. It’s almost as big a gap as the one between what should be simple and what actually is simple.

Let me give an example from a couple years ago. I’ve changed the oil in my vehicles for many years, way back to when I was sixteen. One thing I like about the cars we have now is that all of them sit high enough that I don’t even have to jack them off the ground to change the oil and filter. Being OCD like everyone says I am, I even have a chart that lists all the parts and tools I need for each of our vehicles. Anyway, I was changing the oil in all of them a couple years ago and our Jeep Wrangler was the last to be done. So far everything had gone smoothly and I was set to complete the work in record time (I often time myself to see how fast I can do it). I removed the drain plug and let the oil run out. I then reinstalled the plug. So far so good. I then removed the old filter and installed the new one. Hey, this was fantastic! All that was left was putting the new oil into the engine. That’s all I had to do and the job was done. It’s simple. My dad used to let me do that much when I was three. Come on, you just remove the filler cap on the valve cover and dump in the necessary amount of oil. This part’s as easy as getting yourself a drink of milk. At least it should be. You see, this particular oil change is a big reason I have utmost respect for anyone who works on cars for a living. Anything can and will go wrong.

I started to remove the filler cap on the valve cover and something snapped. You know that sinking feeling you get when your perfect day suddenly turns into a pile of poo? It’s an oil cap, a simple piece of round plastic with a grippy side on top and treads on the bottom. All you have to do is turn it and it comes out, right? Not today. Something inside the cap snapped and now the top turned but not the part threaded into the valve cover! Now, I’m no rocket scientist, but this was beyond comprehension. So I fiddled with the thing for about five minutes, which doesn’t seem like a long time unless you are unable to do some incredibly easy task in that period. Imagine how long five minutes would feel if you were unable to remove the cap from the milk jug as you sat at the breakfast table. All you want to do is eat your cereal, but for some inexplicable reason you are unable to manipulate the little plastic cap and remove it from the milk jug. Your five-year old is enjoying his fruity-flavored loops of sugar, but you sit dumbfounded. Needless to say my record-breaking pace was shot. That’s when I had to just step back for a moment. I literally moved away, about two feet from the fender and just stared at the stupid thing, flabbergasted and in disbelief that I couldn’t remove the cap. I really became concerned that my incompetence had been revealed in other ways I was as yet unaware of, so I checked to make sure I didn’t have my pants on upside-down or something, but they were okay.

In my pause for sanity, I had an idea. There’s more than one opening in the valve cover; I could just pull the PCV valve and dump the oil in through that opening! Hah! I’ll show you, ya crazy cap! Renewed by my brilliant problem-solving, I grabbed the PCV valve and pulled up. It broke off in my hand. The piece with the hose connection just busted right off. Worse than that, the PCV valve was still in the valve cover! My son, who had been observing this entire evolution, started to back away from the vehicle not sure if he would bust out laughing or just run. “That’s it!” I announced to the neighborhood, “it’s time for lunch!”

As we sat before the lovely lunch my wonderful wife prepared that day, we prayed as always. That day prayers were offered for me and the Jeep. I appreciated both.

After the respite of lunch, my son and I headed back to do battle. On my way through the garage I grabbed two of the most important things from my toolbox; duct tape and “the persuader.” We all know duct tape; it fixes almost anything. The other item is a big honkin’ screw driver; that cap was coming off. With the application of a few feet of tape, the PCV valve was fixed. My full attention then turned to the oil cap. I pried and I pried, and suddenly everything went into slow motion, like when you find yourself falling down the stairs. The oil cap flipped up into the air and rolled over eight times before it disappeared (it happened so slowly I counted the rotations). Then something shinny popped up and dropped right back down in the hole. NOOOOO!

I gave no thought to the cap. My immediate concern was the strange metal object plummeting down into the valve cover opening. By this time I was practically in the engine compartment, having leaped upon the motor in my attempt to catch the metal piece, whatever it was. Luckily the huge bulge of duct tape around the PVC valve softened my landing. So, with my face very near the opening in the cover I realized it wasn’t an opening at all and the shinny metal thing I saw flipping in the air was a small spring; it was laying right there in the bottom part of the oil cap. I breathed a sigh of relief. My mind then began to ponder the peculiar ways of engineers. Why would some very intelligent person so complicate a simple cap as to make it two separate pieces with a spring in the middle? My milk jug doesn’t require such a completely over-engineered device. Well, I removed the spring and I must admit I was more than a little tempted to see how far I could throw it, but I refrained from such foolishness. Then I got a pair of needle-nose pliers, and fitting the ends into the teeth of the piece of the cap remaining in the cover, I unscrewed the oil cap. Moments later the oil was in, the bottom half of the cap reinstalled and the engine was running. I set the spring and top part of the cap back in place but let’s face it; they’re really only decoration at this point.

That’s not what I wanted to talk about today. I started, intending to tell you about my most recent episode of working on this “family fun car.” It needed front brakes and I’ve been putting off the job because of the lingering cold, the incessant rain and the fact we don’t really NEED to drive it. Disk brakes are more complex than an oil change, but I’ve done them before on several different vehicles. I’ve even done drum brakes in my life and those were like a puzzle. Fresh oil and good brakes are pretty important. If you don’t change your oil you’ll eventually do some real harm to the engine. If you don’t replace your brakes periodically, you’ll eventually do some real damage to your vehicle, and probably someone else’s too. My son and I started on the driver’s side and it went pretty smoothly. I only had to take the new pads off twice to reposition or correct something I messed up, but soon it was back together and the wheel reinstalled. I know by now that I should never feel very confident when it comes to car maintenance, but I kinda did. After all, I knew how the brakes on this particular make and model went together now. Nathaniel jacked it up and took the wheel off. I then removed the bolts holding the caliper and very soon the old, worn-out pads were laying on the driveway. They had worn evenly and weren’t quite to the rivets, so I was happy. I put the new pads in the caliper but then realized there was an issue. I couldn’t get the caliper back into position. There are two pins that have to be able to slide inside these rubber sleeves and the pins were not sliding at all. I spent the next hour or so trying to free them. After failing at every attempt I started trying to remove them without mangling the rubber sleeves. I preserved the sleeves but the ends of the pins got mangled by my big pliers. So, it was back to the parts store for new pins. With a little brake grease and the new pins, the passenger side brakes were soon done and the wheel back on, job complete except for the long clean-up process.

I was an absolute mess. I was covered in grease, brake dust and grime. I mean it was on my head, my face, halfway up my arms. My work shirt and pants looked like my oil-change rags. My hands were black; I think one of my nostrils was plugged and I could only see out of one eye. Besides that, I had two broken knuckles, sore knees, a large contusion on my left thigh and a pinched nerve in my hand. But you know what, I saved a couple bucks.

So why am I telling you all of this? It’s not because I’m advertising a new series of automotive how-to videos I’m hosting on-line. It’s because I’m telling you that we need to depend fully upon Christ and the Holy Spirit for recovery. There are some minor things I can do in the area of car maintenance, but even for those I often need to look something up on-line or seek some assistance, if not just for another set of hands. Almost all the time I need parts and supplies. But for more difficult things, I take our cars to a real mechanic who knows what he is doing.

People who struggle with any kind of issues, be it anger, resentment, codependency, gossip, materialism, lust, drugs, alcohol, relationships, health, etc often attempt to take matters into their own hands. My father, who worked as an EMT and paramedic for most of his life, says that many times people ignored or hesitated calling about chest pain, assuming it was indigestion or something that would just go away. In many cases, that delay cost their life. There are some things you can do in recovery, but that is only the minor stuff. You cannot recover on your own in a way that is lasting and anything more than cross-over addiction.

If you’ve been in recovery for even a short time you know that Step 1 basically says you’ve made a mess of things and are powerless to make it any better. Life has gotten out of control, at least in some areas, and it is adversely affecting you and the people around you. You’ve tried to hide the problem(s), but that is getting harder and harder or maybe impossible. Look, not being able to hide it is actually a good thing. As long as you can hide it, it will continue and nothing will improve. People are still getting hurt, or you’re setting them up for a more severe hurt, and you are increasingly burdened with guilt and anxiety. You know you’ll eventually get caught and/or do irreparable harm to yourself or someone else. Once it is out in the open, however, you have to deal with it and other people who care can come along beside you and help. God makes clear in His Word that admitting and confessing your troubles, struggles, addictions, hurts, resentments and sins is the starting point of healing. Consider 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Psalm 32:5 adds, “I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden, I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.”

Step 2 basically reminds us that only God can bring restoration and recovery. God alone has the wisdom and power necessary for your recovery, or the recovery of someone you care about who is struggling. There are some very smart people who have plenty of ideas of how you can recover. None of those people are able to be with you all the time, to be there in the middle of the night when the urge comes and you are faced with either reaching out to someone for help or hiding and indulging yourself. None of them have the power to change your desires and thought process. Oh they can reason with you and give you every good reason to change, but they cannot get inside your head were the addiction torments you and change you, only God can bring relief like that. And God cares enough about you to do it if you yield to His Spirit and His Truth.

Step 3 is different in that the first two steps simply remind you of some facts: who you are and who God is. In Step 3 you face a decision based upon those facts. The decision is whether to actually begin to yield to God’s perfect will for you or continue to fight against Him. In fighting against Him you are technically fighting against yourself as well. Think about it, we all know the songs and had the urges to be out there on our own, the me-against-the-world mentality. Doing that brings us to the place of addiction because it is a very self-centered ideology. We pursue anything and everything we want and eventually find ourselves enslaved. Enslaved to some practice or substance like alcohol or leisure, or whatever, but more so addicted to the selfishness. That’s why we can do a little maintenance on our own, like me doing a brake job on the car. We can shift away from our practice or substance of choice, at least for awhile, but we will just shift over to something else that will also become an addiction. And, like changing the oil in the car, when we try to do recovery any way except God’s way, we’ll have to keep doing it over and over in an endless cycle of ups and downs. Thus, the addiction of living-for-self is actually a fight against ourselves as well as a fight against God’s will for us.

For victory over whatever you are struggling against, you need the professional, the Great Physician who is God. You don’t just need a simple brake job so you can stop whatever it is that’s hurting you and/or others. You need a complete inspection by your loving Heavenly Father who designed you and formed you in the womb; Psalm 139:13 says, “for You formed my inward parts, You covered me in my mother’s womb.” You need the people “Engineer and Mechanic” who knows everything there is to know about you and your situation because there is nothing hidden from Him; Hebrews 4:13 says, “there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” You need the One who has all power and authority to hold back the enemy; Ephesians 6:10-11 says, “my brethren, be strong it the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” You need the Saviour who gives you a way of escape when temptation comes; 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man, but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” You need a “mind electrician” who can rewire your thoughts and desires; Romans 12:2 says, “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

These are fundamental steps in true recovery because they teach you to trust God and depend upon Him and His Word. I can change the oil in a car, but I can’t rebuild the engine. I can change brakes on our Jeep, but I can’t manufacture the parts. You and I may change some things about ourselves, but we can’t heal ourselves or those we’ve really hurt.

God can.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Mark

Recovery Step 2: Masks

Going to the store is a strange thing these days. One-way aisles and anyone NOT wearing a mask is taken into custody. I’m just going to say it, I hate the stupid masks. I understand the theory behind them so I’ll wear it, but I hate every second of it. You can’t shake hands, try to hug somebody and you’ll get turned in to the authorities, and now you can’t even share a smile.

Ever since we started our Celebrate Recovery ministry at First Baptist, we’ve tried to help people take the “masks” off, to stop hiding behind false outward appearances. Isolation and hiding who we really are is an addiction’s playground. So today I’m going to talk about taking the masks off, not the anti-covid19 gear, but the masks of false appearances.

When I think about someone who used false appearances in Scripture, several people come to mind like Eli’s two sons, or Ananias and Sapphira. First in my mind, however, were the devil and Judas. Let’s start with Judas Iscariot.

He was, of course, one of Jesus’ twelve disciples. We know little about his background though some suggest “Iscariot” connect him with his presumed home town of Kerioth in southern Judea. If it’s not clearly identified in Scripture, however, then it doesn’t really matter. What we do know is that Judas participated as one of the disciples, just like Peter, John and the others. He went along when Jesus sent out the Twelve in Mark 6:7-12 (see also Matthew 10 and Luke 9:1-11). Thus Judas was given power to cast out demons and heal the sick while he preached repentance, just like the other eleven disciples. Judas was there when Jesus performed all the miracles. He was there when Jesus spoke in ways that amazed the masses and confounded the religious experts. Judas witnessed first hand Jesus’ compassion, mercy, power, authority, truth and Godly wisdom. Judas was still with Jesus the night of the betrayal, and Jesus washed Judas’ feet! The other disciples trusted Judas and had no concerns about him carrying the money bag, from which he stole on a regular basis, according to John 12:6.

This brings up an interesting point. I have heard/read theologians say that Jesus saw some promise in Judas and thus chose him as a disciple. However, the Bible clearly states that Jesus knew the heart, the inner motives, desires and thoughts of people. Luke 6:8 tells of Jesus healing a man on the Sabbath, saying, “but He knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Arise and stand here.’ And he arose and stood.” Jesus knew the thoughts and intents of the scribes and Pharisees who sought a reason to bring an accusation against Him. Then again in Matthew 12:22-30 Jesus heals a man who was demon-possessed and the Pharisees accused Jesus of doing so by the power of Beelzebub. It says in 12:25, “but Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.’” Jesus didn’t just know their thoughts because of what they said, He knew their motives and intents from before the foundation of the world. Oh, and how about this one in John 2:23-24 which says, “Now when He (Jesus) was in Jerusalem for the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men.” Jesus knows the heart. He knew Judas’ motives, intentions, desires and thoughts. Jesus knows your heart as well.

Judas was hiding nothing. Jesus knew beforehand that Judas would steal from the money bag and that Judas would betray Him. After all, Jesus Christ is the Word of God made into flesh (John 1:14) and when Jesus was praying with the disciples in John 17 He says, “While I was with them (the disciples) in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” Jesus, the Word, knew all about the son of perdition prophesied in Psalm 41:9 which says, “Even My own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.” But Jesus’ prayer in John 17, which is after Judas left to go betray Him, is not the first time Jesus mentioned His betrayer. Long before that, in John 6:60-71, when many other disciples, not the Twelve, were turning away from Jesus because they did not like what He was saying, records Jesus saying, “but there are some of you (the Twelve) who do not believe.” The next verse says, “for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.” Then in John 6:70 Jesus said, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” John 6:71 adds, “He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.”

Judas had the other eleven disciples fooled, but not Jesus. Even at the Passover on the night Jesus was betrayed, Jesus announced that one of them would betray Him. Jesus plainly reveals his betrayer and yet, when Judas gets up to go do the deed, the other disciples assume he is leaving to buy things needed for the feast (see John 13:1-30). Judas’ decision to betray Jesus probably didn’t come too long before that night. Even though he was a thief and deceiver all along, it wasn’t until just before that night that he set out to betray Jesus, for John 13:2 says, “And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him.” Luke 22:1-6 states that it was only in the days leading up to the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread that, “Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve. So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them.”

So here’s the thing, Judas was indwelt by Satan just days prior to the Passover in order to betray Jesus and hand Him over to the Jewish leaders who wanted Him dead. Keep in mind that Jesus’ sacrificial death on the Cross, His burial, and His glorious resurrection are the reason Jesus came in the first place, so you and I could have our sins forgiven and be given new life in Jesus Christ. Judas was susceptible to Satan’s attack and control because he had been playing the deceiver all along. Judas was “wearing a mask” so no one would see that while he did and said all the right things, on the inside he remained corrupt. That corruption made Judas an easy target for Satan’s lies and deceit. After all, Satan doesn’t come as some hideous, horrifying messenger of death, even though that is what he is. Instead, “Satan transforms himself into an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14). Just as the many false teachers and false apostles and deceitful workers try to transform themselves into Christ’s apostles (2 Corinthians 11:13). First John 2:15-18 adds, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.”

There are many who wear masks, again not the breathing protection kind of masks, but false outward appearance masks. Some are so subtle the individual doesn’t even realize it, many more have been deceived by addiction(s) that their fairly clean outward appearance is consistent with all the corruption inside. Some know full well there is great dichotomy between what’s inside and outside and they don’t care. All of those scenarios are dangerous and open us to further deception; both the deceptions that fool us and that we use to fool others.

There is only one way to know if we are deceived and/or deceivers. It is not a matter of evaluating yourself because how can that which is deceived know what the Truth is? Any truth I decide to use to help myself may actually be nothing but more deception! Look, if you were exposed to covid 19, heaven forbid, and you didn’t realize it yet, but you wear that mask over your face trusting that it would keep you safe, are you safe? Is that mask going to do anything to help you? (It may help prevent you from spreading it to someone else, maybe.) But that mask will do nothing to keep you from developing symptoms or to help you recover if you’ve already got the virus. Moreover, that mask will be an infected virus-breading ground. (So seriously, wash the thing after each use and never share them with someone else.) Likewise, if you’ve been deceived and/or are a deceiver who portrays a “good” appearance in what you say and do when someone else is around, but inside you are corrupt in your thoughts, words, and actions, the only way you will come to understand truth is not by trying to decide for yourself what is true and what isn’t. Cleaning up the outside by your own wisdom and efforts will not help cure the corruption already inside True recovery only comes by trusting everything God says in His Book of Truth, the Bible.

The Word of God, as revealed to you by the Holy Spirit of God is the only way you are going to know what Truth is, truth about yourself, your situation, and the people / world around you. Don’t’ be one of those people who believe parts of the Bible but not some other sections that don’t make sense to them. Listen, the entire Bible, every word, is inspired like the Spirit says it is in many places including 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is given by inspiration (God-breathed) and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” You need to decide if you are going to trust the Word of God as absolute Truth or if you will ignore it or believe it is only partially true, and if only partially true, how will you decide what parts are right and which aren’t? Do you not see that Judas, the betrayer of Jesus, did that very thing? He heard and saw what Jesus did, yet he determined for himself which parts he would believe and which parts he didn’t like, and that allowed him to be further deceived by Satan.

You cannot recover on your own, or by human philosophy which is foolishness to God. Recovery is only found in the Truth and Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Trust Jesus, trust the Father, trust the Holy Spirit, and trust the Bible; cling to them as the source of Truth and they will set you free. Father, Son and Spirit love you and have the power and authority to help you remove the mask and be pure inside, in your thoughts, desires, words, and actions.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Mark

Recovery Step 2: No Fresh Paint

It is a rusted out piece of junk. The thing sat in an old chicken coop for decades after the chickens were gone. The coop was to be torn down so we were going through and removing the contents. That’s when it was spotted. An old tin feeder that kind of looked like a mailbox you’d hang on the wall by your front door. There was a hinged lid on top and the bottom rounded out to a tray where the chickens ate. Soon it was in our car and headed to our house. It sat, once again forgotten, with some other “treasures” until this past week. The outdoor furniture was making its spring appearance and several of the pieces needed some fresh paint. Suddenly the old chicken feeder ended up on my work bench and in line for a paint job.

I must confess that it is kind of a cool looking thing. I cleaned it up, that is I removed much of  the dirt and cob webs and such, but I didn’t go so far as to sand and repair the metal. Instead I got out some thick metal-preserving paint and slapped on a thick coat. Painting down inside was challenging and I did what I could, but even with my OCD I didn’t get it all. I almost impressed myself though as it actually looks pretty good!

Here is what I was thinking while working on the old rusted out chicken feeder. This is exactly what many people try to do in recovery. In some cases you have the addict him or herself who, no longer in denial, takes steps to clean themselves up. They go to meetings, try to fill their time and thoughts with other things, maybe get a sponsor or even check into a rehab. In other cases you have a friend or loved one who tries to clean the addict up. They attempt to limit the addict’s access to the object of addiction, they talk and talk and talk to the addict about stopping and changing habits and friends, they drop the addict off at meetings or maybe even force them into rehab.

The problem is that way too often all that we’re really doing is trying to apply a fresh coat of paint to the outside to make things look better, when the work that’s really needed is on the inside. Slapping some fresh paint on the outside can be messy, but it is much easier than getting into the deep crevices and hard to reach places on the inside. Of course, if you really want to be made new, if recovery is to be complete, then you must work on the inside. That chicken feeder with the fresh paint will look good for awhile, but inside, in the places I couldn’t or wouldn’t take the time and effort to reach, will continue to rust and decay. That corruption will continue to spread, right up under that fresh paint, eating away at the metal. One day some time from now, it may be a year or even several years, I’m going to give the thing more than just a glancing look. I’ll examine it and realize it is rusting away before my eyes. Left to its own, it will eventually just fall apart right there were I put it. Oh, I might slap another coat of paint on to extend its existence a few more years, but like a cancer, that rust will eventually destroy it.

Recovery is not about appearances. It isn’t about cleaning up one problem by switching over to a new one. It is not about continually applying new coats of fresh paint over rusted corrosion. Recovery is about truth, healing, and lasting change. It is about dealing with the root problem(s) down in the crevices and hard to reach places, to bring healing instead of just a covering. Any medical professional knows that healing a deep wound means working from the inside out; you can’t cover such a wound with a bandage and leave the inside to fester and rot.

That’s why Step 1 and 2 are so important. You cannot fix those deep wounds by yourself. You’ve tried, I am sure, just like the rest of us, and you find yourself still struggling after all your attempts. You cannot heal yourself. Healing takes truth and you probably don’t even know what the truth is, at least not all of it. Seriously, addictions are built upon deceit and lies. You have to cover things, the façade gives you access to your addiction. This has gone on so long you can’t even tell the truth from the lies anymore. Maybe you’re in disagreement with this, because maybe you’re still in denial. Healing requires truth and as addicts, we don’t know much about truth. Nor can we know truth about our situation because we don’t actually know what is happening in anyone else’s mind. Oh, we think we know what the truth is. We convince ourselves that we know what that person did and why they did it, or why they said it. We know their motivation and we know all the complexities of how this mess came about! But that is a lie because we do not know. There is someone who knows and that is why He must lead you in your recovery. He is God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Principle 1 / Step 1 say that we need to realize that we are not God and that we are powerless to do the right thing.

Principle 2 / Step 2 introduces us to the One who does have the power to make us new and who cares about us enough to do so, if we trust Him and cooperate.

Maybe you are someone who realizes that you struggle with some addiction(s). Maybe you are someone who feels helpless as you watch someone you care about struggle with addiction(s). Either way, your only hope is the God who loves you and loves the people you care about also.

The Bible contains the accounts of many people who met and trusted God and were made new. There are also accounts of many who met God and did not trust Him, who then continued down the path of self-destruction. Now, we often focus on the ones who trusted God, but for this post I want to consider one who decided to trust in himself.

You may not have heard of him, most have not, but you may know his father’s name. His name was Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat. Do either of those names sound familiar? Perhaps Jehoshaphat does from the phrase “jumpin’ Jehoshaphat.” By the way, I’ve tried over the years to find a connection between the Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and that phrase. So far I have found no satisfactory link. Anyway, Jehoshaphat did “what was right in the sight of the Lord” (2 Chronicles 20:32). He knew, loved and followed the Lord God. Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram, however, “did evil in the sight of the Lord” (2 Chronicles 21:6). One of the first things Jehoram did as king was kill his six brothers and some other people as well. He also set up idols throughout Judah and led the people to worship false gods instead of the One True God. Jehoram was a murderer, idolater and he led people away from God.

The prophet Elijah sent the word of the Lord to Jehoram in a letter. That letter started with, “Thus says the Lord God of your father David.” It rebuked Jehoram because he, “made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the harlot like the harlotry of the house of Ahab, and also have killed your brothers, those of your father’s household” (2 Chronicles 21:12-13).

Keep in mind that Jehoram grew up in his father’s house where God was known, worshipped, and loved. Jehoram knew about God and had witnessed God’s work in his father’s life. He, however, forsook faith in God and did things his own way, becoming a murderous idolater who corrupted others. He was like the deep rusted corrosion in that chicken feeder, corrupting not only at himself, but also the people around him.

Thus, when God pronounced judgment upon Jehoram, it wasn’t out of the blue. It’s not like God just showed up one day and brought the hammer down on someone who had no idea what he was doing. On the contrary, Jehoram knew about God and God patiently gave him time to repent of his evil and yield to His mercy, forgiveness and redemption. He was thirty-two when he became king and he ruled for another eight years. God graciously gave this guy forty years, and for forty years Jehoram refused, rejected, and rebelled against the God who cared about him. Along the way he killed his own brothers and led other people into evil as well. You can understand why this patient and longsuffering God eventually had to put a stop to the evil. Moreover, God warned him ahead of time and he still refused to yield to God’s grace.

Jehoram couldn’t change himself; he couldn’t stop his addictive habits on his own and God didn’t expect him to do it on his own. What Jehoram did do was refuse God’s mercy and help.

God is the expert at human refurbishment. He is the Master at removing the deepest corruption and making all things new. What makes Him the only One able to help you recover is that nothing is hidden from Him; He knows the absolute truth of every situation. He knows your heart, your intentions desires, thoughts, words and deeds. He also knows all of that about everyone else too. He knows what they did to you and why. He knows what she said to you and exactly what she meant by it. He knows what that guy did behind your back that you don’t even know about. Not only does He know the perfect truth of everything, He cares about you. In fact, He loves you with a perfect love, demonstrated by the fact that His Son, Jesus Christ, died to pay the penalty for your sin and rebellion. By the way, God loves those other people too, yes, even them, her and that guy. In the process of redeeming and changing you, He fixes relationships.

Maybe you are struggling with some addiction(s) or maybe you are watching someone you love destroy themselves with addiction(s) and hurt others in the process. There is hope. Hope is not found in trying harder. Hope is found in trusting, following and loving God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit who do not just put on another layer of fresh paint. They make even the deepest parts new. Trust Him.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Mark

Recovery Step 1: All Things New

It’s hard to watch someone self-destruct. You can see what’s coming as they progress further down the path of one or multiple addictions. Of course you try to intervene, but you can’t make it stop. You can’t change someone’s heart. You can patiently and lovingly confront the person who is on the slippery slope with hard evidence and doses of reality. You can plead with them. You can try to physically keep them from the idol they are worshipping. In desperation some friends and family members try “tough love” of some sort which may include separation or turning the person over to the authorities or admitting them to a rehab. Some seeking to help have tried all of those things only to find they didn’t work, or didn’t work for long. Not knowing what else to do, they wait for the addict to hit bottom hoping that will open the addicts eyes, but hitting bottom doesn’t guarantee they will seek real recovery either. All of these things may be part of what is necessary, but all of these things combined still don’t have the power to change someone else’s thoughts, desires and methods of dealing with life. These cannot overcome addictions.

There are many songs out there in a variety of genres that make running off into addiction seem like a fun and exciting thing to do. I’m sure you can think of a few. It doesn’t matter if you listen to rock, country, blues or something else; most genres have songs like that. Many movies, TV shows and books do the same thing. These forms of entertainment are popular because they appeal to something in us. If we’re honest, we have to admit that we tend to glamorize rebellion to some extent, or at least we used to do so. What we fight against is that deeply rooted desire to “cut loose,” to escape reality and responsibility at least temporarily, to live on the wild side if just for a short while, to reward ourselves through an indulgent activity or fantasy, basically to be a little bit of a rebel. It is a spark that can ignite the self-consuming fire of addiction, an inferno that can also damage or destroy things and people we care about.

We all have it in us. From Adam and Eve to you and me, there is self-serving desire that is used against us. Through it we are tempted from many directions and some of those temptations begin right in our own minds. Now, even if you’ve overcome some temptations such that they aren’t temptations any longer, that does not make you immune to relapse or cross-over addiction, nor does it make you an expert that can change someone else. The root problem is deeply imbedded in human nature; that’s why some level of selfishness and rebellion are universal. You cannot change that in yourself, nor can you change someone else’s desires, motivations, or resistance to temptation. You can’t make someone stop self-destructing and start living in a healthy manor.

Even if the person does come to realize they are in trouble, if they finally begin to see the path of destruction on which they are traveling, that doesn’t mean they are making a hard right turn onto the path of recovery. That doesn’t mean you can finally step in and fix them either. Every time someone new walks into our Celebrate Recovery meeting, or a church gathering for that matter, I know that all my life experience with addiction and recovery as well as all the theology I learned from seminary do not give me the power or ability to rescue someone from that deep down rebellious heart that leads to addiction and idolatry. What my experience and theology do for me is remind me of how easy it is to become addicted idolaters and how easy it is to relapse even after a great deal of progress has been made; they teach me that the only way to overcome the human characteristic of destructive self-seeking is to cling to the Saviour Jesus and humbly yield to the Holy Spirit.

It is self-seeking that leads us to escape trouble, find relief or release, exercise some perceived power, or enjoy some indulgence for a time. I can’t change that characteristic in myself and I certainly cannot change it in someone else, not with personal examples, hard evidence, pleading, punishing, covering, hiding, heaping guilt, manipulation or separation. Only God has the power to change the human heart.

Only the sacrificial Blood of Jesus Christ has the power over sin, death, selfishness, addiction, idolatry and self-destruction. Only He can set someone free and that is accomplished by His grace. None of us deserve to be saved, because we’ve all rebelled against God the Father, but He extends grace to those who humble themselves and accept the forgiveness available though Jesus’ sacrificial death, burial and glorious resurrection.

Jesus breaks the power of the temptations and addictions that so easily defeat us because He changes our heart and mind; He changes our desires, our understanding, our way of seeing life situations, and our way of seeing ourselves and others. He changes our rebellious heart into a joyful, satisfied heart. Through faith in Jesus, we receive the Holy Spirit who is our ever-present help. He indwells us, comforts us, encourages us, and guides us. We are always given a way of escape when temptation comes and given the power to take that way of escape. When we cooperate with Him, He makes us able to stand against the forces of evil that we battle against. Those forces of evil may be in a bottle, a syringe, a computer screen, a dark alley, or a corner office with lots of windows. Those forces of evil may come at us through the words or influence of someone we know, or someone we just met. They may put together an elaborate scheme to deceive us, or suddenly grab us out of nowhere. That is why we need to cling to Jesus and the Spirit constantly because They are the only ones who are with us constantly and always know what is going on around us as well as what is in our hearts and minds.

How do we cling to Jesus?

First, you have to know that you cannot save yourself from any addiction or idolatry because your heart is characteristically rebellious toward God and you have sinned against Him in countless ways. This is Step 1 of the 12 Steps, isn’t it? Read Romans 3:9-20 which includes this truth, “there is none righteous, no not one…there is none who does good, no, not one.”

Second, you have to know Him. He is God the Son who came for the purpose of dying to pay the price for your sin and rebellion, who rose again three days later so that you may have new life in Him. This is Step 2. Read 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 which includes this truth, “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day.”

Third, you need to put your faith in Him. You can’t save yourself; you can’t recover on your own (you’ll just switch to some other addictive practice). Through Jesus alone you can be forgiven by God, accepted by God and united to God. This is Step 3. Read Ephesians 1:1-14 which includes this truth, “in Him (Jesus) we have redemption through His Blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace which He made abound toward us in all wisdom and understanding.”

Forth, you need to cooperate with Jesus and the Holy Spirit as They change your heart and mind, removing the old lies, rebellion, addiction and idolatry and replace it with truth, love, wisdom and peace. This is Step 4. Read 1 Corinthians 2 which includes this truth, “God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.” Also, read 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 which includes this truth, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

You can’t recover on your own and be made new. You can’t make anyone else recover or be made new. Only God can make all things, including you, new. He is “the only Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6). Turn to Christ and trust Him.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Mark