Christian Recovery

‘Christian Recovery, give us this day’

preface

‘Christian Recovery, give us this day’ is a bold name for a book, having the latter part copied straight from the Lord’s prayer. It does, however, make very clear that the book promotes one of Christianity’s fundamental doctrines, which is the principle of ‘one day at a time’. The title recognizes that having a Spiritual life based on a daily concept originates from the Scriptures. Having faith in Jesus while living a spiritual life for just ‘one day’ run alongside one another. They are inseparable.

The term ‘one day at a time’ dilutes amongst the pages of our good book the Bible from beginning to end. The daily concept resonates throughout like a Spirit all of its own. ‘Give us this day’ and ‘our daily bread’ as suggested in the Lord’s prayer, implements a major tenant of how Christianity has been sustained throughout the generations. In Genesis also, the Bible’s first book, creation is measured in days from 1 to 7.  Light itself is called ‘day’.

‘God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day’. (Genesis 1: 5)

Within each day the varying forms of life were manifested by Gods’ creative power and ends with the same term ‘And there was evening, and there was morning, the second day’.  This concept continues until the seventh day where God rested to admire His good works.  There are further Biblical days that are relevant throughout the Bible. In Preparation Day for example, God allows the people to gather just enough bread (manna) for each day. (Exodus 16: 4-5) On the sixth day however, God tells them to gather twice as much in preparation for the seventh day, on which they were instructed to rest. The day before a Sabbath is therefore called Preparation Day.  A great example of what we can ‘prepare today’ that would help us with our tomorrows.

What is in store for you regarding your true potential and the opportunities that arise are governed by what you do today. The term ‘tomorrow’ is something that is distant from our newfound spiritual world, a distant place we are no longer in fear of, a place that never really arrives. When the clock strikes midnight, it is today again!  Jesus tells us;

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own”. (Matthew 6: 34)

Asking God to remove all your maladjustments before the day is out and making restitution to whoever is paramount not only to all kinds of recovery, but to maintain our Christian growth too. Redemption is a spiritual feeling that allows you to walk toward wherever it is you are heading with purpose and fortitude. No more searching in on your own thoughts, histories and resentments.  Jesus tells us that we must redeem and forgive.

“But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment”. (Mathew 5: 22)

“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift”. (Mathew 5: 23-24)

Finding truth in Scripture annihilates our hand to mouth existence, which is paramount to our new daily way of living. Freeing ourselves is an explosion that breaks down all our old ways of how we used to live. The barriers that entangled us will soon be no more. God makes that happen.  Once the liberation offered by Jesus has taken hold, once you have released your inventory to the spirit of truth, we then build futures and friendships together while we read, study and meditate on the Scriptures every day of our new lives.

I sought the Lord, and He answered me
and delivered me from my fears.
(Psalm 34: 4)

To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4: 22-24)

What is ‘sin’
In 2007 the word ‘sin’ was taken out of the Junior Oxford English Dictionary due to its lack of use.  Christians complained, stating that Jesus died for our sins, which means this decision to rebuke this small 3 letter word counters the fact that Jesus died for us, making His efforts futile.  Although the word sin is important in the Christian dialogue, the Bible tells us that Jesus died for our iniquity, depravity, debauchery, evil, wickedness, indulgences and by revoking God’s law, which are all sin. Jesus explains;

He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” (Mark 7: 20-23)

Many of us applied these heinous crimes against God with impunity regardless of the terminology used we flung ourselves at the bar with ease.  To be sure, in all the following Biblical quotes therefore, the word ‘sin’ on many accounts has been changed to ‘alcohol’ ‘obsession’ ‘drugs’ ‘addiction’ and certain other words that assimilate our afflictions, or sins if you prefer. The word sin can therefore be translated to capture a deeper meaning of what the word actually means.

In the Preface of the NIV we are told that the goal of the translators is to enable English speaking people to read God’s eternal word, and continues to explain;

“The work of translating The Bible is never finished. As good as they are, English translations must be regularly updated so that they will continue to communicate accurately the meaning of God’s word”. (NIV Preface pX1V)

When you read Saint Paul’s quotes within this book for example, you’ll see a more personalized wording that the addict can identify with, rather than a three-letter word we know as ‘sin’.  Sin is simply a violation of divine law, in whatever form that appears. It often refers to actions, thoughts and behaviours that go against God’s commandments. When an addict returns to their mind-altering substance that had almost destroyed them, rest assured there is certainly no room in their thinking for God. I am hoping to create a more personalized letter from God to the addict and those who suffer from all kinds of self-delusion.

This book also tackles morality and atheism head on without reservations. Morality interchanges within a society that may not succumb to the Christian faith, which creates problems for the individual who is searching spiritual enlightenment. A so called greater good and national pride enter into our thinking when Christian morality leaves the building. The Book of James takes the moral argument to extremes suggesting we should “get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you”. (James 1: 21). The word referred to here is the Word of God.

Atheism and morality alike are both limited. Moralism, if you like, is also strongly linked to pride, which comes before a fall. “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16: 18).  Atheism, too, has no agenda, anchor, narrative or rules that can help those who are careworn. Atheism is a direct assault on faith, so much so that the term anti-Christ could be used to affirm recent accounts of how the Bible, Jesus and the Christian faith have been ridiculed, belittled and attacked by famous atheists. On YouTube we can see the Bible being paraded on a stage by a famous comedian who suggested ‘Darwin is watertight’ and continued to mock and scold the Biblical stories of talking serpents and the age of the earth. To oppose Christianity further, the atheist advocate science as man’s great achievement, evoking the idea that we need any kind of Spiritual leadership. Make your choice says the atheist, science or faith?  Principal Christian concepts on the other hand suggest that God created an orderly, finely tuned universe and that humans were made in His image and character, which suggests creativity is one of the basic principles of humanity. The creative notion God planted within us, which makes us like Him, and provides a strong theological basis for empirical investigation and science.  God creates, therefore so do we. To ask how, why, what and when are the fundamentals of freedom, which is bound up in Christ. To be sure, this book is inspired by Scripture, where there is no error, and does not incorporate that science and theology are locked-in a never-ending battle of the super intellectuals, which causes division. Scientists may review, research, discuss and even conclude their opinions on addiction, but the answers are shortcoming and limited. Annulment with a substance of some sort is their primary answer. The answer that this book suggests however, is in Jesus and His word, and also with the doctor who promotes Christian fundamentals where the addict can gather in groups to discuss their inner most fears and trepidations. We do oppose the doctor who annuls the patient with mind altering drugs. Having witnessed this firsthand, be rest assured that the mental health expert cannot forgive in the same way Jesus can, and that those annulling drugs simply get in the way of spiritual wellness. Jesus can forgive where the scientist cannot forgive equals you can get well under the realm of faith, which is the bottom line Amen.

In ‘The Fear Energy’ chapter we see that fear is an external force that resides in us all. Fear moves in and takes over. Jesus counters fear with direct orders telling the fear itself, like He would a person, to leave those that it inhabits. Jesus also says ‘fear not’ and ‘have faith’.  Fear, like a bad person, is challenged and sent packing on a constant basis throughout the Bible. There are many books out there that look at how we change our minds from one mentality to another, from self to God, or in chains to freedom or from poor to rich. Very few books, however, suggest that a speedy irreversible change can take place where one set of self-styled words are replaced by another set of God words and how this change makes such a vast difference in a person’s life. Words placed in the correct order help us make up rules, laws and Spiritual entities. To take this one step further, the right words offer Truth, Spirit, Faith and above all Love, which takes us even further into the universal spirit of Jesus and away from the mundane rules, laws and psychologies that fail to see the spiritual depths needed to maintain recovery. After all, Jesus was ‘The word made flesh’ (John1: 14). When under the realms of the Spirit, we find that the law becomes natural where we, for example, drive without always being in a hurry, cross the road at the green signal and queue wherever in peace. The law naturalizes itself in calmness while we search for the super-natural spirit. The search for the super-natural may take time, but the immediate decision can happen in the briefest of moments where the time it takes to change can hardly be measured. When we take Steps 1 to 5 change happens in that moment, and we move on in God’s path and away from our own. We learn with peace of mind and give thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ, and we continue growth in Step 6.

The 6 Step programme from within this book is saturated with Scripture, which is where the steps originate from. The idea of admitting powerlessness or weakness is another premise of Christianity. There are many stories where weak people became strong, where nobody became somebody, once they found their faith. With Christ we achieve a lasting recovery where we are cured of our ailments and addictions. The Scriptures provide us with a spiritual, structured path for self-examination, accountability and continues to guide us to serve Jesus Christ as we go forward and grow in His word Amen.