This Ain't No Game Living Free #3 A Blog by Scott

What happens when we go where we are not welcome? Simply put we are asked in no uncertain terms to leave.  It becomes evident when we have strayed from our fenced in lives and head into territory that is claimed by Satan himself that he will pay attention and rise up against us.  The last several weeks have been the hardest but most rewarding of my life.  Starting Living Free at our church during the training process basically felt at times like a social club of sorts.  Yes we all had a common mission and goal to serve but the truth is during our training period we were serving ourselves. Its not that its bad to focus inward before you minister outward but it just doesn’t feel real.  Brothers and Sisters it got real today. 

My family almost died tonight coming home from Living Free.  I was so excited to talk about my group and how we were connecting as a family.  I was so passionate in telling everyone in the car that my group is awesome and I know God is doing amazing things.  That is when "It" happened my little car encountered a turn that I was not ready for because I was on cloud 9 and not paying attention.  I went through a ditch hit a pole kept going did a hairpin turn in a field with weeds not less than 8 feet high came back out the same ditch and back onto the road.  IT DID NO DAMAGE.  I had a trunk full of food and supplies from group IT DID NOT SPILL OR UPSET ANYTHING.  God completely protected us from harm. We sat in shock and after investigating this miracle we as a family gave God  a prayer of thanksgiving.  To him be all Glory for this Miracle.

This “Ain’t no game” and I see now two things.

 #1- People are praying for us and God is protecting us

 #2- God is bigger and has more power than Satan and HE is protecting us. 

We in the ministry of helping others should never forget that this is WAR and we the people who chose to fight this “Holy War” will NOT QUIT, NOT SURRENDER, AND NOT LAY DOWN.  We are going to take back souls from Satan and they will impact their own lives, their family legacy, and their worlds. 

It is an honor to serve God in Living Free and I know we are protected and we will take back what Satan is trying so desperately to steal. 

“Gods Got this”

Love and Respect

Scott

Celebrate Recovery Lesson 1 DENIAL

Lesson 1 DENIAL

Principle 1: Realize I'm not God. I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and that my life is unmanageable.

"Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor." (Matthew 5:3)


Step 1:We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, that our lives had become unmanageable.

"I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out." (Romans 7:18)

What are you holding on to? Are we racked with guilt or shame? Do we not realize that these are the feelings that will keep us trapped by our past. We will remain unable to forgive ourselves and remain where we are instead of making positive steps forward. What is the answer? The Bible tells us what we should do when there are things that slow us down or keep us stagnant:


"Since we have such a huge crowd of men of faith watching us from the grandstands, let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back, and especially those sins that wrap themselves so tightly around our feet and trip us up, and let us run with patience the particular race that God has set before us." (Hebrews 12:1)

2 Points about the verse: 
1.) God has a particular race, a unique plan, for each of us. A plan for good, not a life full of dependencies, addictions, and obsessions. 


2.) We need to be willing to get rid of all the unnecessary baggage, the past failures, in our lives that keep us stuck

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past" (Isaiah 43:18)

"The Lord is my Helper and I am not afraid of anything that mere men can do to me." (Hebrews 13:6)


"Where God's love is, there is no fear, because God's perfect love drives out fear" (1 John 4:18)

ARE YOU WEARING A MASK OF DENIAL?Before you can make progress in your recovery, you need to face your denial. As soon as you remove your mask, your recovery begins -- or begins again!

WHAT IS DENIAL?Denial is defines as a "false system of beliefs that are not based on reality" and a "self-protecting behavior that keeps us from honestly facing the truth."

EFFECTS OF DENIAL

Disables our feelings

Energy lost

Negates growth

Isolates us from God

Alienates us from relationships

Lengthens the pain


Disables our feelings When we repress we freeze our emotions. Understanding and feeling our feelings is freedom True test of freedom is not what am I free to do, but what am I free not to do???

2 Peter 2:19:  “They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity--for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.“


Energy lost A side effect of our denial is anxiety, which causes us to waste energy running from our past and worrying about and dreading the future. Change can only occur today

Psalms 146:7-8 “He frees the prisoners, He lifts the burdens from those bent down beneath their loads.”


Negates growth We are as sick as our secrets and we cannot grow in recovery until we are ready to step out of denial into the truth

Psalms 107:13-14 “They cried to the Lord in their troubles, and he rescued them! He led them from their darkness and shadow of death and snapped their chains.”


Isolates us from God God’s light shines on the truth, denial keeps us in the dark

1 John 1:5-7:  “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”


Alienates us from relationships Denial tells us we are getting away with it. We think no one knows, but do they?????? What is the answer?

Ephesians 4:25:  “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body and when we lie to each other we are hurting ourselves.”


Lengthens the pain We have the false belief that denial protects us from the pain. In reality, denial allows our pain to fester and grow and turn into guilt and shame.

Jeremiah 30:17:  “But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,' declares the Lord, 'because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.'

"Know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32)

STEP OUT OF YOUR DENIAL SO YOU CAN STEP INTO JESUS' UNCONDITIONAL LOVE AND GRACE. THAT IS HOW YOU CAN BEGIN YOUR HEALING JOURNEY OF RECOVERY.

QUESTIONS TO ASK OUR SELF:

1.) Am I going to let my past failures prevent me from taking this journey?

2.) Am I afraid to change? Or, what are my fears of the future?