Are you READY?

Tonight at Celebrate Recovery was one of those nights, where you go in expecting a good word from God, but come out changed. The Holy Spirit moves and you can see every person in the room being affected in one way or another. Some express it openly, with tears, raising their hands, whatever, but other people you can almost see they are resisting the fact that they are being moved, and trying to make sure people don't notice. I'm guilty of that, a lot of times at Church, because showing emotion at any time for me has never been something I've really been keen on doing. But tonight that all changed...

What God did tonight, I don't believe stops at 8:00 a Faith Christian, nor do I believe the message was solely for those that were there tonight. I believe that there is someone, maybe several someone's that need to hear this, and so i've decided to share the message, and hopefully the Holy Spirit will move in you like He did in me.

For those that aren't familiar with what CR even is, in a nutshell its a Christian recovery program that is for people with hurts, habits or hang-ups. It is not limited to only drugs and alcohol, but is recovery from a broader prospective. Yes there are drug and alcohol recovery groups, but CR is also for the emotionally scarred, those going through a divorce, etc etc. It is based on 8 recovery principles, and tonight's principle, was "Voluntarily submit to every change God wants to make in my life, and humbly ask him to remove my character defects."

"Really thats great for those addicts! Drug addicts, Alcoholics, whatever, but I'm good with God, thanks!" I'm pretty sure we are all guilty of that type of thinking of some sort, however there is not a person alive that God is finished with. We all have things we need to work on, some of us are more aware of than others, but how do we go about the change exactly? The answer is we need to get READY.

READY is probably my favorite acronym within the Celebrate Recovery principles, because it sums up so much in just a small word, it is a process, one we could all benefit from.

R ---- in READY starts with us releasing all control. Releasing control to God doesn't mean just letting God in here and there in some areas of our lives, but we have to give it all up, our jobs, or finances, our children, our situations. We tend to think we know better than God. I am 100 percent guilty of it, probably more than most people. I'll pray "God I let you have control" but become frustrated when things don't go the way I planned, or want them too, or there is a trial. Yep, I can do better than God...that attitude has absolutely gotten me nowhere.

Psalm 143:10 says Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing. What I like about this is the beginning. Teach me your way, other translations use the phrasing "help me". Releasing control is scary, and we may not know exactly how to do it, but God is there, patiently waiting to teach us, to help us. God's got it anyway, why waste away our minutes trying to control something we are incapable of controlling, our lives.

E---- "Easy does it" Thats it, easy does it, give it all to God. Not just your problems, and not just when you are having problems, and not when you feel like it, Commit everything to God. Easy does it, in a nutshell is emphasizing the R. Psalm 37:5 says to commit EVERYTHING you do to the Lord, trust him and He will help you. Now is the time, commit everything you do to the Lord, whether it be your job or taking out the trash, and you will start to see how the Lord can work in your life.

A --- Accept the change. We can become comfortable in our shortcomings. I personally hide behind cynicism. I am great of poking fun of myself, it is a skill I have learned over the years, because if I can get to myself before anyone does, than it becomes funny and no one will notice the reality. That is not a healthy way of living, however, because in that, i'm speaking the negative in my life, and the more negativity I speak in my life, the more beaten down I become. That was my personal commitment tonight was to start being more positive and speaking more positive things. Truth is, I have been viewing God in a cynical, negative light without even knowing it. I haven't deemed myself worthy of His grace and His love. That is the reality of the situation, and it Hit me tonight. its the whole reason I like to control my life, because deep down, i've always felt like God would probably fail me in the end, especially since I am such a "failure" at life. The truth is, God loves me, God wants good things for me, and God wants me to be happy, and His love is unfailing, and He feels the same way about every single person on this earth. Eph 2:10 says we are God's masterpiece, and he doesn't want to chisel away at us because He hates us, its because He loves us soo much, too much to leave us where we are.

D -- DO REPLACE. The thing about empty space, is that it is still space. When we have a void, whether it be a negative or a positive one, it needs to be filled, and when we take out a negative part of our lives, we must fill it with something positive, or you will see the negativity start to seep in. When I find myself thinking or speaking something "negative" or "cynical" my commitment to God and to those that hold me accountable is to replace the thought, or the verbal statement that might come out of my mouth with something positive. We can't just toss out something and expect it to go away. We must find positive things to replace the things God is working on us with. Jesus even addresses it in Matthew 12:

43 “When an evil[a] spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order. 45 Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation.”

Replace your negative traits, habits, and thoughts with positive ones, focused on God.

The final letter in this acronym is Y---- Yield. We must yield to the growth. "Ok God, I am ready." God is not just going to take some massive magic wand and heal us, and turn us into perfect people. There is no such thing, but we have to yield to the changes God wants to make, and when we fail, which we do, get back up and say ok God, you said this was a process, begin in me again. Create in me a clean heart.

1 John 3:9 says "Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life[a] is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God."

We are children of God. We are called to a standard of holiness, and we are called to allow God to constantly work in us. We do this by staying in God's word. Read your Bibles guys, spend time with God. Guard your hearts, and minds as well. James 4:8 says Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.

There is an old saying that says "The spirit and the flesh are like two fighting dogs, the one that is going to win is going to be the one you feed the most." I made a commitment tonight to give up control of my life. I had taken back control of my life, and through that I have been feeling stressed out. impatient, basically, crazy. Am I going to wake up feeling like a kid that belongs in a Brady Bunch happy video tomorrow? Probably not, but its now that I exercise my faith, I trust God no matter what I may feel or see with my own eyes in my present circumstance.

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Tonight, I begin to exercise my faith and i would encourage you to do the same. Whatever God is convicting you of, let Him work in you. I ask you...

are you READY?

It just never gets old.

Its 11:47 on Saturday night, my Husband is in bed, my daughter is asleep, and I played a little Wii Punch out...still can't beat the stupid Macho Man, and I put the game up. God was ready to speak to me and I could hear it

Honestly folks, like a lot of you,  I have found myself many times feeling like I am living the movie "Office Space" I have an awesome job, don't get me wrong, but I never thought the financial industry would be where I would ever be. When I first started I was pumped (mostly for the salary) and I was kicking booty...they put me full time within a couple months, and now, 2 years later I find myself slacking off terribly, staying on facebook all day, making mistakes, and wishing I was somewhere else all the time.

Satan.

I have let satan get into my head and he's using my job as a downer ya know? As I have begun to progress into grad school, praying about the fact that I want to be an addiction counselor, I wonder sometimes, where is my life going God? Am I going to stay at Security State Bank for 40 more years? Or do you have something bigger planned? I always thought God had something bigger planned for me...but in true Chelsi nature, I want God to want for me what Chelsi wants for me, which is not necessarily surrender.  God chose to deal with me tonight on that. 

When reading God brought me to 2 places:

Ecc 9:10-Whatever you do, do with all your might for there is no activity, or planning or wisdom or knowledge to Sheol, or the (underworld afterlife we like to call hell)

Give everything 100 percent Chelsi. Thats what God is telling me. We don't do that, we may give 1110 percent to our jobs, and 1 percent to our families. But in giving 100 percent to God we are giving 100 percent to every aspect in our lives. When we are Godly wives, mothers and husbands, fathers, our children and spouses are influenced by God working through you. Your attitude is different, working with others is different. When God is burning inside you the fire spreads and it becomes out of control. 

God has provided me with this job in this horrible economy, a job in finance at that. I should look at that as a gift from God, not an interruption to my TV schedule. I don't give 100 percent when i'm there which means i'm not giving God 100%. God wants it all or nothing. 

Revelation says in Chapter 3, know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!¹⁶So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

God wants us to give our lives 100 percent in everything we do, whether it be work, look it as an opportunity, whether it be school, know that God is preparing you for something bigger, and be happy about life. Its too short...don't wait...Give it all to God.

Signed Sealed Delivered

Today I was pondering God, His wholeness, His presence, and His spirit. We tend to recognize God in the good times, the little things, a rainbow, the smell of rain right before it comes down, freshley cut grass, snow, even in April :-/ etc etc. We praise him when we are saved, when we are in Church, around other Christians, etc. God seems to be everywhere, but no matter what, we tend to go through some pretty dark times, and thats when people tend to question WHERE IS GOD?

We've all been in some pretty low places. Personally, I have been in some valleys that are so deep, there seems to be no sun.(thanks Audio Adrenaline) One thing about God I have learned is that its never HIM that puts us in our situations, whether it be financial, addiction, family related, etc. People tend to ask, why does God let this happen? Let me tell you something guys, its never God, God gave us free will and its what we do with it that messes everything up.

If you don't know the story about little Sandra Cantu, the little girl that was kidnapped, raped, and brutally murdered by her playmates, mom, Melissa Huckaby, yes I said mom. She was stuffed in a suitcase after all those brutal things that happened to her and thrown in a pond. Its gross, its ...i dont even know a word that is sick enough to describe this lady's actions. People blame God, but God gave that woman free will just like the rest of us, and thats what she chose to do with it. Its hard to stomach, but we take heed that God is a perfect judge, and he will judge her for her actions. The point i'm trying to make is that we are going to go through extreme hard times, whether it be things to this degree, financial, a divorce, abuse, alcoholism, etc, but what we can't do is get angry and blame God. When we are dealing with this God is always right there with us. He delivers us, and He has a perfect plan.

Isiah 43:1-3 states:

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord you God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

God is faithful, and God loves His children. He will never leave you, and never let you go through something that you can't handle. It isn't gonna be easy, its not like God is just going to wave a magic wand and make you feel better, but we can take comfort in knowing He is there, and he is always faithful. Whether you are going through a hard breakup, struggling with addiction, have lost a loved one, living less than paycheck to paycheck, don't blame God, lean on God. He is with you every step of the way. Stay faithful, He is the great deliverer, just ask Job.

I wanna change...but i'm in too deep!?!

People cope with things in different ways. As a huge fan of the show intervention, we see the tragedy of people who turn to things from heroin to alcohol to inhaling canned air to escape the world. When I watch these people, and see their pain, I just want to tell them that they are good enough to be set apart, to sell out to Christ, because he is waiting for them to come to Him, and Christ is faithful and is never going to leave. 

To someone struggling with any kind of sin, addiction, turmoil, anything...you are not alone. There is not a person on this earth that doesn't go through what you are going through. I have 4 things to say to you:

1. We are ALL born with sinful tendencies. 

 

Eph 2:1-3 says: As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ²in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature^{a]" style="line-height: 0.5em; ">[a]} and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 

There is not a one of us who hasn't lived a life without who aren't sinners.  However, 

2. God set us free from sinful nature:

Romans 7:23-8:2 states

²³but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. ²⁴What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? ²⁵Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!  So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin

 ¹Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,^{a]" style="line-height: 0.5em; ">[a]} ²because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

3. God WILL give you new desires

Eph 4:22-24 says that "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."

4. God will help you withstand temptation

This is probably the most important part. 1 Cor 10:13 says that God isn't gonna give us anything we can't handle. There are always gonna be temptations, Satan lurks, trying to make us fall but the Bible says o temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

So there it is, right there from God. What are we waiting for? There is no more time for excuses, there is a loving good God who wants you to put off your old self and turn to Him. No matter what we may be struggling with...God is faithful, God is true, God is love, and he will never fail you.

Keep on Keepin On..

Being sold out for Christ is not easy. What I have found that the deeper I get in the Word, the closer we get to God, when we get comfortable is when I have found Satan sneaks up on us and BAM we slip and fall. Its gonna happen, we can be strolling along on our spiritual walk, and there's that small crack in the side walk, that small patch of ice that causes us to slip and fall, and bam... there we are...on the ground trying to figure out how to get up.

I have been dealing with this a lot lately. Jesus demands perfection, yet it is impossible because we are human, that however doesn't mean we shouldn't try. My problem has been when I fail, I let the guilt of my failure get in the way of my closeness with God. 

Its funny isn't it? We ask for forgiveness for our sin,  God forgives it, our sin has been paid for..and yet Satan is still getting something out of you by playing the guilt card. I struggle with not feeling deserving of the blessings and things that God has given me, yet God tells me, Chels, you are forgiven...keep on keepin on. John 1:9 says: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. So  whatever your patch of ice is,  get up, ask for forgiveness, be genuine, and don't give up, keep on keepin on. God loves you..

Self Worth vs God's Worth

MESSAGE FROM REBECCA: SELF-WORTH VS. GOD-WORTH

PLEASE SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS!We Want to Hear from YOU! Email Us @ rebeccastjames@rsjames.com

REBECCA’S MESSAGE:

LIVE IN GOD’S ECONOMY…YOU’RE PRICELESS!We live in a culture that speaks the sermon of selfishness all the time. It places so much emphasis on self-help, self-worth, self-this, self-that. Because many people spend much of their time trying to please others, they’re uncomfortable in their own skin and don’t know who they are. Unfortunately, they derive their sense of worth based on what they do or don’t do for others. It’s all based on a false and conditional love. We can get so wrapped up in our selfishness that we can’t see beyond ourselves to find our worth in God—who we are in Him.Several years ago I embarked on a five-week long life-changing experience in Switzerland. I needed spiritual, emotional, and physical recuperation, and I found it at L’Abri (which means shelter), a community study center where Christians and non-Christians can seek honest answers about God and His purposes for their lives. It was there that the Lord spoke to me of my God-worth to the point that it was replacing my self-worth. Before this experience I don’t think I had ever really discovered the sense of wholeness in God that I felt there.One of the things I had to confront in my life was the issue of perfectionism. When you are a perfectionist you tend to either push yourself all the time to be better, or you are in failure mode and about to give up, believing that you’ll never succeed. My tendency was to live with a sense that God was disappointed in me—that I was not good enough. Through study and prayer and time alone with Him, the Lord assured me that I am loved and secure. I know that I’m His princess, accepted and cherished.If you’ve read The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien, or have seen the movies, you’re familiar with the creature Gollum and his obsession with “my precious,” the ring. He was willing to do anything to keep it, and then went to great lengths in an attempt to reclaim it. Ultimately, his selfish fascination with the treasure cost him his life. Unlike Gollum, God’s love for us is purely selfless because He was willing to give up what’s most important to Him—His only Son—to redeem you. He cherishes you as His precious creation. The apostle Paul put it this way:“Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him” (Romans 5:6-8, The Message).How much time do you spend in the morning each morning thinking about how others will perceive you based on what you look like today? How could you spend some of that time contemplating your worth in God’s eyes? Look in the mirror and realize how precious you are to Him. RebeccaStart every day with a special message, like the one above, from Rebecca—it’s an excerpt from her latest book, “Pure” which has just made the Top 10 Christian books nationally—join the journey with her of 90 days of purity in body, mind, and spirit!

Grow Up!

Have you thought about what it means to be a grown up? What makes someone mature, is it a particular number, such as being 18 to 21 years old? In my case turning 21 certainly did not grow me up. Is it getting married? Having children? Maybe, but not likely.

What is the difference between growing up and growing older? More importantly as Christians, how do we “grow up” in Christ? I like the msg translation of Eph 4:15 which says “God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love - like Christ in everything. Ephesians 4:15 (MSG)A lot of us get saved at a young age, and a lot of us come to know Christ later in life. Sadly the situation I see around me is that people take refuge in the fact they are saved and continue to go on with their daily lives. We are all sinners, me included, however, I feel that that does not satisfy God. We need to make the choice to be disciples of Christ from the moment we are saved. We are to learn to be Christ like in every inch of our Christian walk. That is the difference between growing older and growing up as far as Christians are concerned.

One great example of growing up and choosing discipleship was Matthew. This guy was a tax collector..in a booth…and Jesus said “come with me” Matthew left right there. Left his booth, his belongings, the life he knew to follow Christ. Guys that has to be us, God yearns for us to grow up, to become close to him.

How do we do that? Isn’t life dull when we give up all the luxuries of a secular life? I’m here to tell you that when you die to self is when you really start to live. Great, but how do we even come close to the standard of becoming Christ like?

We begin by making the conscious decision to do it. Renew your mind, get rid of everything that may distract you from becoming close to God. Phil 2:5 “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” I thought giving up things like Nip Tuck and Budlight would be hard, as well as some musical choices I liked to crank up in my car, however once I made the conscious decision to pursue Christ, none of that mattered anymore. 5 minutes into watching Nip Tuck I felt…an uncomfortable conviction, it was fabulous. Its not all sunshine all the time, but its something you have to discipline yourself to do.

Stay in fellowship with God. I have a journal, I do a bible study every night, and track my prayer requests. Some of you, this may not work for, but small things like listening to Christian music, watching a good spiritual movie, etc, praying to God on your way to work, its all fellowship and you will find you begin to thirst for it. That’s when the Holy Spirit takes over and begins to transform you and your life will never be the same. Its amazing.

To become like Christ we must learn humility, love, and forgiveness. Christ washed feet! The Son of God taking himself down to the lowest level possible, washing the feet of those who should be serving him! We must love, even our enemies, and forgive those who have hurt us, because we ultimately put Christ on the cross for our sins, yet he was willing to pay the price. We are no better than the next person, and forgiveness isn’t pleasant all the time, but it is necessary if we want to grow. Remember 70 times 7 and how Christ took the flack for all our screw ups.

Guys make the conscious to get to know God. Lets get out there and tell others because we might be the only chance at hearing the good news people get. Lets get out of the bars and into the sanctuary. Its time guys, the time is now…