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
Another home run! Love it!!
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