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Growing Daily in God and Sobriety!

He that hath ears to hear, let him hear!!!!
Bible Study
Sermon on the Mount-Part 11
Matthew 6:14-21

  • For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

(How can we not forgive others of their trespasses against us if God has forgiven us of what we have done to them, Him and ourselves. He won't forgive us unless we forgive them. That's a pretty big incentive! Lead us not into temptation is a plea for the providential help of God in our daily confrontation with the temptation of sin. God does not tempt us to do evil, but we are tempted of our own lusts (James 1:13, 14). However, God does test us in order to give us the opportunity to prove our faithfulness to Him. He never desires to lead us into evil itself. Therefore if we resist the Devil, we are promised that he will flee from us. The prayer closes with a doxology of praise: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen, which is a liturgical ending similar to 1 Chronicles 29:11. Though omitted in some manuscripts, these words constitute a fitting and climactic affirmation of faith.)

  • Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

(When ye fast is a reference both to fasting prescribed under the Mosaic Law in connection with the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:29) and the voluntary fast of that day. The Pharisees added two fast days, Monday and Thursday of each week, as a case of public display and piety. The Pharisees regarded the practice of fasting as meritorious (cf. Taanith, 8:3) and appeared in the synagogues negligently attired. Their sad disfigurement of face and the wearing of mourning garb gave them an opportunity to exhibit their superior ascetic sanctity before the people. The phrase disfigure their faces (Gr. aphanizō) literally denotes covering their faces and is a figurative expression for mournful gestures and neglected appearance of those wanting to call attention to themselves.)

  • But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

(This passage is not to be taken as a command against fasting but rather against the misuse of the spiritual exercise of fasting. Fasting that requires spectators is mere acting. Though Jesus Himself instituted no fast for His disciples, voluntary fasting does appear in the early churches (cf. Acts 13:2). The injunction to anoint thine head relates to the ancient custom of anointing one’s head when going to a feast. In other words, Jesus was saying that when we fast we are to do so secretly to the Lord, while outwardly maintaining the appearance of joy and triumph, which is the end result of true fasting.)

  • Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

(The attention of the believer is directed toward treasures in heaven. The term treasures implies the addition or accumulation of things. The two kinds of treasures are conditioned by their place (either on earth or in heaven). The concept of laying up treasures in heaven is not pictured as one of meritorious benefits but rather of rewards for faithful service, as is illustrated elsewhere in the teaching of Jesus.)


My Prayer for the Day
"Heavenly Father, in Jesus name....Thank You for today's scriptures that teaches me that I shouldn't think that it's an option to forgive others-that it's mandatory in order for my Father to forgive me. For teaching me that seeking attention for my glorification and service to You as a way to appear superior and to generate pity is hypocritical. For teaching me that if I am fasting to not go around announcing it and looking sickly. That the accumulation of "things" and hording them should never come before my primary purpose of serving You, growing in You and my faith in You, and being of service to others. In Jesus name-Amen"

Today's Action

  • Today I will ask myself if I really need what I am about to buy. Is this to "fill" something or is the truly necessary
  • Today I will go through my crap that I can't take with me and get rid of what I don't absolutely need
  • Today I will apply the fasting teaching to any kind of attention I am attempting to seek. If I do a good deed I will tell no one. If I start to feel myself started to generate drama to get attention (we like attention-bad or good) I will find a way to be of selfless service to them or to someone else. Replacing this habit with a good habit.
  • Today I will make a outstanding amends. I will forgive them even if they are at fault as we are taught in AA.


Examples of Good Deeds/Random Acts of Kindness/Thoughtful Gestures

  • Listen to others, don't just wait till they are done so that you can speak
  • Listen to children-Seriously, they have some amazing stuff to say. Don't just brush them off because they are little. They are still closely connected to our Father. This also goes for the newcomer who is freshly recovered...they are very connected to God. Do not dismiss ANY of their spiritual experiences-ever...also God uses others to speak to you...Are you humble enough to hear?!?
  • Let the person who seems rushed cut in front of you
  • Hold your tongue – Pause before speaking or writing when you are mad, agitated or doubtful
  • Be empathetic – Really try to put yourself in the other person’s shoes
  • Be thoughtful – Did your co-worker have a bad day today? Bring her a coffee tomorrow morning.
  • Hold the door open for someone
  • Turn off your phone when you are with family so that you can be fully present
  • Be encouraging-don't stomp on peoples ideas or add ways to make them better
  • Let people merge-in during traffic
  • Say “Thank you”, a lot – Everyone works hard. Thanks are especially important to the postal worker, the government employee, the DMW clerk, the bus driver, the grocery store cashiers (especially when you bring up all that produce and they have to look-up every single code) and baggers
  • Call your parents/children and tell them you love them
  • Let your partner watch their show – And don’t roll your eyes or huff and puff about it
  • Rub your husbands feet or back and don't expect anything back
  • Don’t be annoying – Make a conscious effort to avoid doing the things you know annoy your spouse or children
  • Give money, food, bible, big books , warm clothes, shoes, and boots to the homeless
  • Help someone whose car has broken down
  • Walk the cart back to the front of the store
  • Pray to a person who has made a difference in your life
  • Be patient and tolerant of others....after all, the dumb crap we have said and done...how can we not be!!??
  • Find goodness in the person you don’t like and pray for them
  • Don’t nag – It's so stupid and sitcom like. Treat your husband with respect.
  • Make peace with your past mistakes (4th Step). Use that knowledge to help others who might be going through the same thing (12th Step).
  • Stop putting yourself down! Be hard on yourself and disciplined by practicing the opposite of your defects but self deprecation and swimming in guilt because you are "use to it-doesn't serve God!
  • Already sweeping leaves or shoveling the snow off your sidewalk? – Do your neighbors sidewalk too.
  • Do nice things and don’t tell anyone about it
  • Notice a kid being well-behaved? – Tell their parents how good they are while the kid is standing there. It will encourage the kid to continue being good, and will make the parents feel good.
  • Compliment people in front of others (if it's a real compliment...no fake people pleasing ones!) – For some reason compliments hold more weight when they’re done in front of others.
  • Don’t complain-Complaining is dumping on people
  • Recognize the good in others-Say it to those you really don't want to!
  • Come to the rescue of someone in need-not financially-but with your time
  • Share of your time – Even if you don’t really want to
  • Do the task no one else wants to do and think of it as a honor that you get to do it!
  • Don’t leave others waiting for you – Be on time and accountable
  • Leave kind and loving note on the dashboard for your husband to find in the morning before work.
  • Tell your husband how handsome he is and don't expect a complement back-seriously, let it go if don't return complement!
  • Tell your husbands friends, parents or children how talented they are is at something
  • Tip generously 
  • Say “Hi” to strangers
  • Smile at people
  • Help lost people – See tourists wandering around lost? Help them out. Be their new local friend. Someone did this for us once and we were so, so thankful.
  • Offer a ride to someone who is car-less
  • Help your child who has children by offering to babysit
  • Thank your spouse or co-workers for doing a good job, for getting extra supplies, for thinking ahead, for being easy to work with
I think we can manage do at least one of these things daily!
(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)


Podcast of he Day


Big Book
We the Agnostics...Cont
"Besides a seeming inability to accept much on faith, we often found ourselves handicapped by obstinacy, sensitiveness, and unreasoning prejudice. Many of us have been so touchy that even casual reference to spiritual things made us bristle with antagonism. This sort of thinking had to be abandoned. Though some of us resisted, we found no great difficulty in casting aside such feelings. Faced with alcoholic destruction, we soon became as open minded on spiritual matters as we had tried to be on other questions. In this respect alcohol was a great persuader. It finally beat us into a state of reasonableness. Sometimes this was a tedious process; we hope no one else will be prejudiced for as long as some of us were. The reader may still ask why he should believe in a Power greater than himself. We think there are good reasons. Let us have a look at some of them. The practical individual of today is a stickler for facts and results. Nevertheless, the twentieth century readily accepts theories of all kinds, provided they are firmly grounded in fact. We have numerous theories, for example, about electricity. Everybody believes them without a murmur of doubt. Why this ready acceptance? Simply because it is impossible to explain what we see, feel, direct, and use, without a reason- able assumption as a starting point. Everybody nowadays, believes in scores of assumptions for which there is good evidence, but no perfect visual proof. And does not science demonstrate that visual proof is the weakest proof? It is being constantly revealed, as mankind studies the material world, that outward appearances are not inward reality at all. To illustrate: The prosaic steel girder is a mass of electrons whirling around each other at incredible speed. These tiny bodies are governed by precise laws, and these laws hold true throughout the material world. Science tells us so. We have no reason to doubt it. When, however, the perfectly logical assumption is suggested that underneath the material world and life as we see it, there is an All Powerful, Guiding, Creative Intelligence, right there our perverse streak comes to the surface and we laboriously set out to convince our- selves it isn’t so. We read wordy books and indulge in windy arguments, thinking we believe this universe needs no God to explain it. Were our contentions true, it would follow that life originated out of nothing, means nothing, and proceeds nowhere. Instead of regarding ourselves as intelligent agents, spearheads of God’s ever advancing Creation, we agnostics and atheists chose to believe that our human intelligence was the last word, the alpha and the omega, the beginning and end of all. Rather vain of us, wasn’t it?"

Hil's Blah

Bill and Dr. Bob on God:
"If you are frightened of the word God then I feel sorry for you."-Dr. Bob, 
( Dr. Bob- a man of science, both him and Bill W. were NOT religious men) If that word or the idea of God keeps you from getting a life, a real life, not one where you are sick and full of shame, but one of joy and freedom then that's even more tragic then where you will end up. If you are like me,  you didn't question the men you slept with, you had faith they wouldn't kill you...you had faith in booze, faith in drugs, faith in love....you had faith in you...They failed, you failed... Why not give God a chance?)
Have You Experimented? "Since open-mindedness and experimentation are supposed to be the indispensable attributes of our 'scientific' civilization, it seems strange that so many scientists are reluctant to try out personally the hypothesis that God came first and man afterward. They prefer to believe that man is the chance product of evolution; that God, the Creator, does not exist. "I can only report that I have experimented with both concepts and that, in my case, the God concept has proved to be a better basis for living than the man-centered one. "Nevertheless, I would be the first to defend your right to think as you will. I simply ask this question: 'in your own life, have you ever really tried to think and act as though there might be a God?  -Bill Wilson