He that hath ears to hear, let him hear!!!!
Bible Study
Ephesians 1 Part 1
1:1-5
1:1-5
- Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
Blessed here means “worthy of praise.” When God blesses man, He confers benefits upon him; when man blesses God, as Paul does here, he attributes praise to Him. Who hath blessed us (or, “because He has blessed us”): The apostle, then, praises God because He has bestowed all spiritual blessings on His people. When did He do this? Probably in eternity past. Where are these blessings located? In heavenly places, that is, in heaven. As the Christian’s citizenship, high priest, hope, and inheritance are all “in heaven,” as his treasure and affection are to be “in heaven,” so also the Christian’s blessings are “in heaven.” These spiritual benefits were granted to the believer and are retained in heaven for him, being progressively dispersed to him on earth in accord with his need and Christian growth. In Christ, or, “by Christ,” that is, the Father has conferred these blessings on the church, but He did not act alone; He hath blessed us in Christ. This verse, therefore, makes five points:
(1) What has God done? He has blessed us.
(2) With what? With every spiritual blessing.
(3) When? In eternity past.
(4) Where are these blessings? In heaven.
(5) How did God do this? By Christ.
- According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
(The connecting thought linking verses 3 and 4 is this: Just as (According as) God has blessed believers with every spiritual blessing “in Christ” , so in like manner it was in [or by] him that he hath chosen us. God never intended to bless man apart from Christ. All God does for man He does through His Son. Beginning here and continuing through verse 14, Paul begins to elaborate on the very general “God . . . hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings”. He specifically identifies nine of these spiritual blessings.
God has:
(1) chosen believers
(2) adopted them into His family
(3) bestowed His grace on them
(4) redeemed them
(5) given them wisdom and insight into His future plan believers
(6) will share in universal reconciliation
(7) have been made God’s treasure
(8) have been granted the Holy Spirit
(9) are assured of salvation “He hath chosen us” in selecting believers for salvation; God has graciously shaped their lives and destinies in accord with His will and to their advantage. Before him means in His sight. Christians should be, in God’s opinion, holy and without blame.
- Having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
(The last two words of verse 4 (in love) may well belong to verse 5; the link between verb forms in these two verses is expressed in this rendering: “He chose us . . . in that He lovingly predestined us.” So the divine choice of verse 4 is further defined by the divine predestination of verse 5. Predestinated means “marked out in advance,” “determined or appointed beforehand.” Prior to creation God appointed those who would believe unto [or, for] the adoption of children; that is, He appointed them to be His sons. This divine appointment was according to [because of] the good pleasure of his will; it was due not to anything good in ourselves, but due solely to His kindness. These verses stress the divine sovereignty in salvation. Verses 12 and 13, which mention our trust and belief in Christ, emphasize the human responsibility in the process.)
Predestination
The verb predestinate literally means “to mark off or choose before.” God chooses those He knows will participate in His plan of salvation and extends it to all who respond in faith. The doctrine of predestination in Scripture relates to the foreknowledge of God. Illustration: Predestination is especially noticeable in the conversion of the apostle Paul. Since he was a blasphemer and persecutor of the church, some Christians had a difficult time believing Paul could be saved even after he so testified. Still, knowing what was ahead and how Paul would respond, God chose him as Apostle to the Gentiles. Application: When we understand that God has chosen and predestined us, we should also realize we have been ordained to good works, to bear fruit, and to become like Jesus.
Adoption
Five times the apostle Paul uses the word adoption to describe an important aspect of the salvation experience. Under Roman law, adoption was a common means of appointing an heir. It legally transferred a person from the natural father’s authority to the authority of the adoptive father. Paul uses this term to describe the believer’s position with God. This is the means whereby the Christian becomes a son of God, and therefore an heir with Christ. Illustration: When Abraham was without a son, he apparently considered adopting Eliezer his servant as the heir of his household. Application: Because the Christian is an adopted son of God, he can enjoy an intimacy with his heavenly Father.
Read more Bible http://www.bookbindery.c
Bible Reference https://www.biblegateway.com/
My Prayer for the Day
"Heavenly Father, in Jesus name-Thank You for choosing me, adopting me, bestowing Your grace upon me, redeeming me through sobriety, for giving me wisdom and insight I never knew possible, for granting me the Holy Spirit, for saving me and giving me eternal life. You are my best friend, my Father and my Lord and Savior. There is no-thing, no worldly anything that can beat that! Thanks be to God!! In Jesus name-Amen"
Todays Action
- Today I will glorify God for getting me sober-never taking credit for nor apologizing for being God relient.
( We trust infinite God rather than our finite selves. We are in the world to play the role He assigns. Just to the extent that we do as we think He would have us, and humbly rely on Him, does He enable us to match calamity with serenity.
We never apologize to anyone for depending upon our Creator. We can laugh at those who think spirituality the way of weakness. Paradoxically, it is the way of strength. The verdict of the ages is that faith means courage. All men of faith have courage. They trust their God. We never apologize for God. Instead we let Him demonstrate, through us, what He can do. We ask Him to remove our fear and direct our attention to what He would have us be. At once, we commence to outgrow fear. BB-pg 68)
- Today I will allow God to work through me to show others what AA looks like by commencing to outgrow fear and evolve into a women of courage, strength, and dignity.
- Today I will stop whatever I am doing, at least three times throughout the day, and give thanks to Him for saving me alcohol. If I can eat three times I day, I can surly give thanks to the only Power that could, would and did!
11th STEP
"As we go through the day we pause, when agitated or doubtful, and ask for the right thought or action. We constantly remind ourselves we are no longer running the show, humbly saying to ourselves many times each day 'Thy will be done.' "
(p. 87-8 BB)
God, I'm agitated and doubtful right now. Help me to stop and remember that I've made a decision to let You be my God. Give me the right thoughts and actions. God save me from fear, anger, worry, self-pity or foolish decisions that Your will not mine be done. AMEN
(see above)
(Prayer of St Francis of Assisi) —"Lord, make me a channel of thy peace - that where there is hatred, I may bring love - that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness - that where there is discord, I may bring harmony - that where there is error, I may bring truth - that where there is doubt, I may bring faith - that where there is despair, I may bring hope - that where there are shadows, I may bring light - that where there is sadness, I may bring joy. Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted - to understand, than to be understood - to love, than to be loved. For it is by self-forgetting that one finds. It is by forgiving that one is forgiven. It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life. Amen."
(p. 99 12&12)
Page of prayers http://silkworth.net/p
Podcast of he Day
Chuck C – “A New Pair of Glasses” Part 1
https://www.recoveryaudio.org/aa-speaker-tapes/chuck-c-a-new-pair-of-glasses-part-1
Listen to more AA Podcast:
Big Book
How It Works...continued
"Remember that we deal with alcohol—cunning, baffling, powerful! Without help it is too much for us. But there is One who has all power—that One is God. May you find Him now!
Half measures availed us nothing. We stood at the turning point. We asked His protection and care with complete abandon.
Here are the steps we took, which are suggested as a program of recovery:
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol— that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Many of us exclaimed, “What an order! I can’t go through with it.’’ Do not be discouraged. No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints. The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.
Our description of the alcoholic, the chapter to the agnostic, and our personal adventures before and after make clear three pertinent ideas:
(a) That we were alcoholic and could not manage our own lives.
(b) That probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism.
(c) That God could and would if He were sought."
"Remember that we deal with alcohol—cunning, baffling, powerful! Without help it is too much for us. But there is One who has all power—that One is God. May you find Him now!
Half measures availed us nothing. We stood at the turning point. We asked His protection and care with complete abandon.
Here are the steps we took, which are suggested as a program of recovery:
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol— that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Many of us exclaimed, “What an order! I can’t go through with it.’’ Do not be discouraged. No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints. The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.
Our description of the alcoholic, the chapter to the agnostic, and our personal adventures before and after make clear three pertinent ideas:
(a) That we were alcoholic and could not manage our own lives.
(b) That probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism.
(c) That God could and would if He were sought."
Hil's Blah
a, b and c....Steps 1,2, and 3.
Half measures availed nothing! Thinking we can do only theses first 3 Steps and then go to meetings and have a solid foundation for recovery- is NOT the way.
As Peter M. says...."instead of 90 meetings in 90 days, how about you have completed all 12 Steps and are sponsoring 5 people in 90 days!" That's how they did it when we were at 75% recovered rate.
Fear based slogans, half in half out, therapy sessions in our meetings are killing people. It's our responsibility to carry the message and teach what was giving to us via the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous by someone who was doing their 12th Step. This is the way to permanent sobriety. We must fully commit to this. Once we fully commit to this and then by helping others we can then fully commit to our relationships, our families, our jobs and our word....
When I began to trust my sponsor, that it worked for her, then I started to trust God, then myself, then others. The only reason we have "trust issues" is because we do not trust ourselves to do the right thing. We always manage to mess stuff up and then we blame God or everyone else. Keeping commitments and following through was huge for me in the beginning. I never completed anything and resented all my commitments! LOL...
Just by making coffee at my home group each week, started to build the momentum for selfless service. I was accountable to them to make the stupid coffee. I of course threw a fit once early on because someone got there earlier and started the coffee even though it was my job (I am laughing about how stupid this is-but very real to the old self centered person I was) and I said to the women "Umm, why am I coming early then if you are gonna go ahead and make the coffee???" What a BRAT! Yuck! I am so grateful that it wouldn't even dawn on me to behave like that anymore.
Gina was her name btw....she use to be homeless, drank a gallon of vodka a day...shopping cart and everything. She was almost beating to death on the streets....maybe one of the kindest and gentlest souls I have ever met. She was so tiny and frale. That I could snap at her for doing me a favor and starting the coffee for me shows just how I was. The world wouldn't see what I said as that big deal. But when you enter into the sunlight of the Spirit, you can't get away with this anymore. It no longer fits. Subtle shifts like this early on...into actually getting physically ill if angered. Becoming allergic to anger and hate turns into wherever God decides to take you. It's an amazing walk we are asked to take. We must never deny anyone of this chance by denying them our guidance.
As Peter M. says...."instead of 90 meetings in 90 days, how about you have completed all 12 Steps and are sponsoring 5 people in 90 days!" That's how they did it when we were at 75% recovered rate.
Fear based slogans, half in half out, therapy sessions in our meetings are killing people. It's our responsibility to carry the message and teach what was giving to us via the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous by someone who was doing their 12th Step. This is the way to permanent sobriety. We must fully commit to this. Once we fully commit to this and then by helping others we can then fully commit to our relationships, our families, our jobs and our word....
When I began to trust my sponsor, that it worked for her, then I started to trust God, then myself, then others. The only reason we have "trust issues" is because we do not trust ourselves to do the right thing. We always manage to mess stuff up and then we blame God or everyone else. Keeping commitments and following through was huge for me in the beginning. I never completed anything and resented all my commitments! LOL...
Just by making coffee at my home group each week, started to build the momentum for selfless service. I was accountable to them to make the stupid coffee. I of course threw a fit once early on because someone got there earlier and started the coffee even though it was my job (I am laughing about how stupid this is-but very real to the old self centered person I was) and I said to the women "Umm, why am I coming early then if you are gonna go ahead and make the coffee???" What a BRAT! Yuck! I am so grateful that it wouldn't even dawn on me to behave like that anymore.
Gina was her name btw....she use to be homeless, drank a gallon of vodka a day...shopping cart and everything. She was almost beating to death on the streets....maybe one of the kindest and gentlest souls I have ever met. She was so tiny and frale. That I could snap at her for doing me a favor and starting the coffee for me shows just how I was. The world wouldn't see what I said as that big deal. But when you enter into the sunlight of the Spirit, you can't get away with this anymore. It no longer fits. Subtle shifts like this early on...into actually getting physically ill if angered. Becoming allergic to anger and hate turns into wherever God decides to take you. It's an amazing walk we are asked to take. We must never deny anyone of this chance by denying them our guidance.