RECOVERY- continued

The fifth step to recovery is: Voluntarily submit to every change God wants to make in my life and humbly ask Him to remove my character defects. "Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to His service and pleasing to Him...and let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of mind." (Romans 12: 1-2 GNB) Where do my character defects come from? There are 3 places: 1-My Chromosomes, 2-My Circumstances, 3-My Choices. It is very hard to change them because I have had them for so long; because I identify with them; because they have a payoff; and because satan discourages me. These are the reasons we need God's help. How do I cooperate with God's change process? There are 7 parts to our cooperation with God.

1. Focus on changing one defect at a time.
2. Focus on victory one day at a time.
3. Focus on God's power not on willpower.
4. Focus on what I want, not what I don't want.
5. Focus on doing good, not feeling good.
6. Focus on people who help me, not hinder me.
7. Focus on progress, not perfection.

All seven of these are necessary for us to be able to submit to God's change process. There is one thing that is necessary for us to submit to God. We must accept Jesus as our personal Saviour, then we must repent of our sins and lastly we must be baptized by immersion, thereby showing God that we are sincere in our hearts and want Him as our one and only God.
Look for the next installment of RECOVERY. There are only three(3) left and I will post them as I finish studying each one.
May God bless you!!

Point Man

Bible study group

Well here I am again. The Christian Church at Cogan Station, my church affiliation, is studying the 12 steps to recovery and applying God's Word to it. Recovery as applied to our whole life from all the hurts and hangups that we all have (Not just addictions such as alcohol and pornography, etc.). The 1st step is: Recognize that I am not God and admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and that my life is unmanigable. "Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor." (Matthew 5:3 TEV) The 2nd step is: Ernestly believe that God exists, that I matter to Him, and that He has the power to help me recover. "...anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6B NIV) God's love is not conditional!! The 3rd step is: Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ's care and control. "Come to me all you who are weary and overburdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me...For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30 Phillips) The 4th step is: Openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone that I trust. "You will never succeed in life if you try to hide your sins. Confess them and give them up; then God will show mercy to you." (Proverbs 28:13 TEV)

These are the first 4 steps to recovery. If you have any questions, e-mail me at: pointman.montour@gmail.com There is a lot more to this than what is written here. If you are interested in learning more and the next eight steps, CCCS has two Sunday morning services: 8:30 and 10:45. All are welcome to attend to worship and learn about God's Word. Also, we have Friday night recovery services. 6pm-food & fellowship-7pm-service starts. Again, all are welcome.

Stay tuned for the next installment (steps).
In His service,
Point Man