The purpose of the Celebrate Recovery Ministry at First Baptist is to change the course of our lives, from following selfish ambitions and personal desires which end up causing us so much grief, to knowing and following God's perfect and Christ-centered plan and purpose for our lives which will by necessity lead us out of bondage to our old, painful resentments, hurts, addictions, and habits. Our healing is to be for His glory, not our own satisfaction.


We are once again holding in-person meetings!


Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Step 4 Inventory Prep

Introduction
I have had some addictions and some idols that I’ve worshipped. My desire is to tear them down, forsake the worship of them, and worship God alone. When you consider the Bible’s teaching you’ve got to understand that victory over hurts, habits, addictions, and idols is completely dependent upon a relationship with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is only through His grace, mercy, power, wisdom and endurance that lasting victory comes. Also understand that your relationship with God is inseparably connected to your relationship with others who also have a relationship with God; through faith in Him we are placed into the Body of Christ, the Church, with a particular role and part in that Body. We need each other. It is commonly said in any recovery that we cannot do this alone. That is what Step one clearly states. More importantly, God’s Word says the same thing.

That is the biggest reason we have Celebrate Recovery here at First Baptist. Your relationship with God and my relationship with Him moves us to follow His leading out of the hurts and habits, compels us to forsake the addictions, resentments, and idols and replaces those worthless and destructive things with a deep desire to know, love and serve Him as part of the Body.

I’m glad you’re here reading this post and hope you’ll continue, finding peace and hope along the way. Recovery is not a switch that can be turned on and off, it is a process of learning to yield to the loving God who wants something far better for you than the pain and isolation of addiction; He wants you to know Him and the blessings He lavishes upon His faithful children.

Tonight we begin working toward the start of Step 4, spiritual inventory. If you’ve been with us before during this Step you know that I believe this Step is one to look forward to doing. I encourage you to put away any difficulties you’ve ever had or heard of relating to Step 4 and consider for a moment that it may be the most freeing thing you’ve ever done.

Spiritual Inventory Prep
Have you ever crammed for a test? I’ve done that on several occasions but I learned something be doing so. What I learned was not the material I studied for the exam, but I learned how to get a good grade without learning anything about the subject! If you just want a passing grade just to move on with no more understanding about the subject, then cram. However, if you want to really learn something, you need to study so that you remember, understand and incorporate what you are learning into your way of thinking.

You cannot cram for Step 4’s Spiritual Inventory. Well, you can but nothing will change about how you think or what you do; you’re addictive patterns will continue. If you take Step 4 lightly or you ignore it completely, you will continue down the path of addiction with greater commitment to it believing that Step 4 doesn’t work. In actuality, you failed Inventory it didn’t fail you. If you don’t take your recovery seriously and commit to cooperating with the Lord, you are blinding yourself to truth and binding yourself to slavery.

Consider Isaiah 29:13-16
“The Lord said, ‘Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men, therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among this people, a marvelous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden. Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord, and their works are in the dark; they say, “Who sees us?” and, “Who knows us?” Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; for shall the thing made say of him who made it, “He did not make me”? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding?”’”

As we head into Step 4, I will remind you often of Steps 1-3. Step one is understanding that I cannot deal with my hurt or habit on my own. Step two is understanding that God cares about me and He has the power and desire to help me deal with my hurts and habits, to change me. Step three is choosing to commit all of my life and will to Christ’s care and control. Only with this understanding and decision can we head into Step 4 and expect something good to happen. Step 4 is a searching and fearless examination of myself, led by the Holy Spirit. The leading of the Spirit is critical because as an addict, no, as a human being, I tend to greatly exaggerate myself and shift blame for my character and situations to anyone and anything else. The Holy Spirit gives us truth and if there’s one thing I need about myself it is truth.

Think of Step 4 as a road map, or GPS. In order to get to your destination you have to first know where you are starting and then you follow the necessary path. If you don’t know where you are to start or anywhere along the way, you are lost! It’s the same with recovery, you have to first know where you are. You need the truth about yourself and your situation. I assure you that without the guidance of all-knowing God, you do not have a true understanding of yourself. You either falsely elevate your self-understanding (called pride) or you falsely diminish yourself (called abasement). You can become so prideful that you destroy yourself, believing you are invincible, and destroying your relationships also. Conversely, self-abasement can lead to self-destruction also, believing you are worthless and hopeless; this will destroy your relationships too. What you and I need is truth, and only God knows the totally and absolute Truth about you, your situation and everyone else also. He knows everything you and others do, say and think.

That’s why you need to do Step 4’s Inventory as a Spirit-led inventory, a Spiritual Inventory. So how do we start? First, you need know the truth about your relationship with the Holy Spirit. The only way to have that relationship is through faith in Jesus Christ as your Saviour, Redeemer and Lord. Jesus died on the Cross to pay the penalty for the sin you and I commit. That payment is made in our behalf only when you and I believe that we cannot pay it ourselves (Step 1), that God loved us enough to make Redemption available (Step 2), and when you and I commit ourselves to loving Jesus and living for Him (Step 3). With that understanding and commitment, God gives us His Holy Spirit who immediately begins to give us truth about ourselves and situations. Now, He doesn’t change everything at once, it is a process.

Thus, in preparing for Step 4, I urge you to read First John (not the Gospel of John but the short letter between 2 Peter and 2 John). Read it several times over the coming week. I also encourage you to do as 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “pray without ceasing.” Pray often, asking God to help you and reveal truth to you. If you don’t know how to pray, there is no “magic” prayer. Just talk to Him; you can use Matthew 6:9-13 as a pattern. The pattern in that prayer is Adoration of God, Confession of sin to God, giving Thanks to God, making requests/Supplications (ACTS). One other thing, spend as much time as possible with other members of the Body of Christ; I know that is challenging right now with the covid19 shutdowns, but at least use your phone and reach out to other believers. May the Lord watch over you and reveal truth to you.

Grace & Peace,
Pastor Mark

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