How's your swing?

BETA
May 31st
Chapter 11 - Goals and Desires
Walking by faith is a bit like playing golf. Suppose a six-year-old boy has his first set of golf clubs for his birthday. Each time the little fellow tees up his ball and swings away with all his might, but the farthest he can hit the ball is 60 or 70 yards. Although he would probably spray the ball all over the course, let’s say he is typically 15 degrees off target. Given the length of his drive, the boy is probably still in the fairway.

As the boy grows into young adulthood (and into a bigger set of clubs), he’s able to drive the ball 150 yards. Now if his drive is still 15 degrees off target, his ball is probably in the rough. Accuracy is even more important for golfers who can drive a gold ball 300 yards off the tee. The same 15-degree deviation that allowed the little boy to remain in the fairway will send the young mans longer drives soaring out of bounds.

Our Christian walk is the result of what we believe. If our faith is off, our walk will be off. If our walk is off, we need to take a good look at what we believe. For example, suppose the young golfer becomes a Christian at age 10. When he starts his walk, he’s 15 degrees off, and he continues in this way throughout his life. Life eventually gets rougher, and as a grown man he finds himself completely out of bounds. He had always thought he had a good understanding of what constituted success, fulfillment and satisfaction, but now he discovers that what he had always believed about life wasn’t quite true. This is often called midlife crises.
Walking by faith simply means functioning in daily life o the basis of what we believe. In fact, we are already walking by faith - every person alive is. The difference is in what (or whom) we believe. If what we are doing is no longer bearing any fruit, we need to change what we believe, because our misbehavior is the result of what we have chosen to believe.

CELEBRATE RECOVERY
Principle 8 - Yield myself to be used by God to bring this good news to others,
both by my example and by my words.Step 12: Having had a spiritual experience as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and practice these principles in all our affairs.Scripture: Galatians 6:1 “If someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.”

7 Steps

May 24
BETA

SEVEN STEPS TO FREEDOM IN CHRIST

Steps4-7
Step 4 – Rebellion versus submission
Step 5 – Pride versus humility
Step 6 – Bondage versus freedom
Step 7 – Curses versus blessings

The Steps to Freedom provide an opportunity for you to have an encounter with God. They are a means of resolving personal and spiritual conflicts. Going through Steps to Freedom is a time of confessing sin and choosing to submit every area of your life to Christ. The goal is to be free of all those things that keep you from having peace, joy, or love in your life and ultimately hold you back in your Christian growth and service.

How do you know if you are living free in Christ? Freedom in Christ is having the desire and ability to know, love, worship and obey God. It is the joyful liberty of knowing God’s truth and walking according to God’s truth in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is not a perfect life, for that is impossible this side of heaven. But it is a growing abundant life in Christ. (John 10:10).

If you have received Christ as your Savior. He has already set you free. When He died on the cross He secured your victory over sin and death. Your eternal life is not at stake; you are safe and secure in Christ. The question is: Are you living in Christ’s freedom from day to day: Galatians 5:1 says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoked of slavery.” It is your responsibility to do what is needed to walk in your freedom in Christ.


CELEBRATE RECOVERY
Principle 7 - Reserve a daily time with God for self-examination, Bible reading, and prayer in order to know God and His work for my life and gain the power to do it. Step 10: We continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it. (I Corinthians 10:12)Step 11: We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and power to carry it out. (Colossians 3:16)

Seven Steps to Freedom

May 17th
BETA
SEVEN STEPS TO FREEDOM IN CHRIST

The Steps to Freedom provide an opportunity for you to have an encounter with God. They are a means of resolving personal and spiritual conflicts. Going through Steps to Freedom is a time of confessing sin and choosing to submit every area of your life to Christ. The goal is to be free of all those things that keep you from having peace, joy, or love in your life and ultimately hold you back in your Christian growth and service.

How do you know if you are living free in Christ? Freedom in Christ is having the desire and ability to know, love, worship and obey God. It is the joyful liberty of knowing God’s truth and walking according to God’s truth in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is not a perfect life, for that is impossible this side of heaven. But it is a growing abundant life in Christ. (John 10:10).

If you have received Christ as your Savior. He has already set you free. When He died on the cross He secured your victory over sin and death. Your eternal life is not at stake; you are safe and secure in Christ. The question is: Are you living in Christ’s freedom from day to day: Galatians 5:1 says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoked of slavery.” It is your responsibility to do what is needed to walk in your freedom in Christ.

Steps 1, 2 & 3
Step 1 – Counterfeit versus real
Step 2 – Deception versus truth
Step 3 – Bitterness versus forgiveness


CELEBRATE RECOVERY
Principle 6 - Evaluate all my relationships; offer forgiveness to those who have hurt me and make amends for harm I’ve done to others when possible, without expecting any reward.Step 8: We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all. (Luke 6:31) Step 9: We made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. (Matthew 5: 23-24)“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the alter and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the alter. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” Matthew 5: 7 & 9

Forgiving from the heart

May 10th
BETA
Chapter 9 – Illustration:

There was a woman whose husband had left her for another woman-her best friend. During the 10 years since this had happened, the woman still held on to her bitterness and anger toward the happy couple. She resented that the couple papered to be getting on with their life together very well, living in a nice house and taking expensive vacations while she struggled to make ends meet. To top it off, neither her, ex-husband or ex-friend showed any remorse for what they had done, or made any attempt at asking her for forgiveness.

One Sunday after listening to the message on forgiveness, the woman approached the pastor and exclaimed, “Forgive them?! You want me to just forgive those two for ruining my life?”
The pastor quietly replied, “I see a hurting person with one arm thrust in the air with a closed fist, but the strong arm of God has a firm grasp around your wrist. Although your hand is not hanging on to God, His is hanging on to you. Your other arm is dragging you down because you are holding on to the past. Why don’t you consider letting go of the weight of the past and instead grab hold of God with all your might?”

The woman was sure the pastor didn’t understand the depth of her pain. “But you don’t understand how badly they hurt me,” she protested. “What I understand is that they are still hurting you” the pastor answered, “and forgiveness if God’s way of stopping the pain. When you let go of the past, it no longer has a hold on you and you can reestablish communion with your heavenly Father who loves you, it is not easy to let go of our pain-and that’s why it cannot be done without the help of Jesus Christ.”


CELEBRATE RECOVERY
Principle 5 - Voluntarily submit to any and all changes God wants to make in my life.
Step 6: We are entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. (James 4:10)Step 7: We humbly asked him to remove all our shortcomings. I John 1:9)Scripture: James 4:10 “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” I John 1:9“ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”