If we strive courageously to stand in the battle surely we would feel the favorable assistance of God. For he who gives us the opportunity to fight, so that we might see the victory, is ready to help those that fight boldly, and who trust in his grace. Thomas A Kempis .
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The Way Of Healing- from the Wild At Heart Field ManualThe way in which God heals our wound is a deeply personal process. For one it happens in a dramatic moment, for another, it takes place over time.Even after we've experienced some real healing, God will often take us back again, a year or two later, for a deeper work of healing. And so what is offered here is not a formula, but a way towards healing- a way that has helped many others. Wild at Heart Field Manual pp.148 .
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Shriveling to wither; make or become helpless or useless.
Jesus went to church and there was a man there with a shriveled right hand. The religious people there were trying to find something to accuse Jesus of and they waited to see if he would heal, that is do work, on the Holy day. That is the back story to this story There was a guy in church with a shriveled right hand. In those days if you were deformed in some way it was believed it was because of your sin or someone elses sin or that you were cursed. This was his right hand, the hand everyone used for eating and touching and blessing. The hand of your strength. The other hand was used for personal hygiene. This guy was despite his shame at being deformed and limited in his contact with others, in church.[ Would he have been in our church? That is a question for another time.] I think he may have hidden his hand in his robes as he went about his days. Trying to hide his shame and curse. But there he was in church and so was Jesus. Then Jesus says to him ‘Stand up here in front of everyone” “yeah right I spend my time avoiding standing up in front.” But he came up frontThen Jesus says “stretch out your hand.” “Yeah right I hide this hand in my robes and you want me to stretch it out in front of everyone.” But he does and is healed. Suppose he didn’t come up front but left the building? Would Jesus have healed him? Or suppose he got up front there and didn’t stretch out his hand would he have been healed?Don’t really know do we?But God really wants to get the credit for what he does in people’s lives. This guy might have missed a healing had he not been willing to step up and stretch out. So it is with you and me. We are all shriveled in some way. Whether it is our anger or bitterness or resentment or the need to log on to the computer when no one else is home, or pounding down that bag of Doritos, or being hurt and lonely when it’s dark and quiet. Do you still get that nagging tug in your belly when you think of how he or she hurt you years ago? All these and more are ways in which we are shriveled. Some by our own doing, some by the actions of others, and some because we live in a sinful fallen world. All these and more are reasons we hide and in our hiding, from ourselves,from others and from God we may miss an opportunity to be healed. Celebrate Recovery, in God’s lovingkindness, is simply a tool where we can identify our shriveled places, where we can stop hiding and at some point stretch forth our hurt and allow God to heal it. You see he still likes to get the credit for what he does in our lives. And we want to give him the credit for the healing he does in ours. .
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.. DAD'S DRUM TRIBUTE When my son was in the lower grades of grammer school he took drum lessons for a year. As my birthday came up that year I would hear him practicing more often but gave it little mind. At the time of the great birthday celebration he somewhat solemnly brought up his snare drum and a music stand and proceeded to play the classic happy birthday for me. I was humbled and honored. He was a bit embarrassed. Yet the fact that he would perform in such a way in an effort to bless me was so powerful to my dad heart. I asked for his handwritten sheet music and framed it and it graces my wall today years later.When we gather in the many ways we do to honor our Father, be it in song or service or sacrifice, will he be so pleased with what we have given him that he will ‘frame the moment’ and when we get there will he show it to us hanging on his wall? .
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Music behind the glass I work with developmentally disabled adults. We weekly stop by a church to sing or watch worship videos. A couple of my ladies love music but Rosie does the most.One day we were in the sanctuary of the church and upstairs some folks were practicing songs for an upcoming program. From the main room we could hear them but not well. Rosie insisted it was the radio. We climbed the stairs to get a better listen and the singers were in an inner office separated from us by a full length glass door. Rosie stood outside this door watching and listening to the couple practice, her nose almost pressed to the glass. It was louder up there. After a few minutes one of the singers opened the door to let Rosie in and the sound that flooded out was amazing and palpable. She was enraptured. She stepped in and joined them singing and everyone was blessed.-- You may be like Rosie when it comes to CR. People tell you about it and you hear things from a distance but can’t be quite sure what’s going on.-- You might then climb the stairs to peer into the happening but there is still that barrier between you and the fullness of what is going on. -- You might need to open that door.I can’t guarantee amazing, palpable rapture. In fact that won’t happen. I can assure you though if you get through that door and work the program the separation begins to go away, you will join others who have learned a new song, and blessing awaits you and those around you. .
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Theodore roosevelt quote:
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. Psalm 142
A maskil of David. When he was in the cave. A prayer.
1 I cry aloud to the LORD;
I lift up my voice to the LORD for mercy.
2 I pour out my complaint before him;
before him I tell my trouble.
3 When my spirit grows faint within me,
it is you who know my way.
In the path where I walk
men have hidden a snare for me.
4 Look to my right and see;
no one is concerned for me.
I have no refuge;
no one cares for my life.
5 I cry to you, O LORD;
I say, "You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living."
6 Listen to my cry,
for I am in desperate need;
rescue me from those who pursue me,
for they are too strong for me.
7 Set me free from my prison,
that I may praise your name.
Then the righteous will gather about me
because of your goodness to me .
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The voices in my head
My son races motocross and by necessity I used to have to leave my house at 4:30 am, drive an hour, set up, return to pick him up and then drive back to the track. It made for a long day. One race morning as I was motoring through the dark I began to grumble. “This stinks, Why do I have to do all this?” That was the first thought. Then I heard myself begin to go down a long list of what stinks about the situation and it ended in how much I really hate the whole scene. That thought snapped my back into reality. I love racing!. Just about everything about it. The time I spend with my son, the success he has had so far, the people we have met and formed relationship with. For the most part it has been great.Where then did that long stinking list come from? I am convinced it came from the father of lies or at least one of his minions. I was at a weak moment feeling bad for myself and the enemy jumped right in and tried to wreck our day. And you know, it sounded just like me!
2 Corinthians 10:5 says
5"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
Now I wish I could say that scripture jumped right into my mind but it didn’t. What did happen is I recognized the lie for what it was. I took it captive and threw it out. I continued on my way thanking God for his goodness to me and that we can even be involved in racing and enjoy all it means to us.So? If you progress through CR you will experience many times when the voice in your head is speaking things contrary to truth and contrary to the Word of God. Learn to recognize who is speaking. Practice makes better and having someone to bounce things off of helps a lot. Begin to practice 2 Corinthians 10:5.