Friday, February 16, 2007

Lesson 1 - DENIAL (Principle 1, Step 1)




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."

Step 1:

We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, that ourlives 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)

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?

FAILURES FROM THE PAST

"Since we have such a huge crowd of men oof 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 Godhas 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).


FEARS OF THE FUTURE

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

"Where God'slove is, there is no fear, because God'sperfect 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
"God is light, in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in 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." (1 John 1: 5-7)
"Know the truth,and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32)
TEP OUT OF YOUR DENIAL SO YOU CAN STEP INTO JESUS' UNCONDITIONAL LOVE AND GRACE AND BEGIN YOUR HEALING JOURNEY OF RECOVERY.

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