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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 12
Matthew 6:22-32

  • The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
(The light of the body is associated with the eye. The concept here is based on the ancient idea that the eyes were the windows through which light entered the body. If the eyes were in good condition the body could receive such light. Jesus, using this language metaphorically, affirms that if a man’s spiritual sight is healthy and his affections directed toward heavenly treasure, his whole personality will be without blemish. The phrase if . . . thine eye be single indicates devotion to one purpose. The “single eye” refers to a single, fixed vision or goal. The phrase if thine eye be evil refers to either disease or deception of vision. The “evil eye” is not something mysterious or devilish, but rather a deceptive vision that causes the viewer to mistake the identity of an object. The mistake in this context is the darkening of the mind and thus how great is that darkness!)

  • No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
(This kind of spiritual double vision causes one to believe he can serve two masters. Total loyalty to God cannot be divided between Him and loyalty to one’s material possessions. A master (Gr. kurios) is a lord or an owner. That God claims total lordship over His own is obvious in this passage. Therefore, Jesus rightly proclaimed, Ye cannot serve God and mammon. The term mammon is derived from the Aramaic term for possessions or wealth. Jesus is not condemning money or possessions in and of themselves, but the improper attitude of enslavement toward wealth.)

  • Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
(Jesus now deals with the equally dangerous tendency of those who have few possessions: worry! Take no thought (Gr. mē merimnaō) means “Do not be anxious.” This word means to be so disturbed about material needs that we distrust God and are distracted from faithfully doing His will. Anxious care is the direct opposite of faith. Therefore, even the poor are not to worry needlessly about what they should eat, drink, or wear. The question Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? indicates that inner mental stability must come from the spirit of a man and not from outward physical provisions. To set one’s heart on material possessions or to worry about the lack of them is to live in perpetual insecurity and to deprive oneself of the spiritual blessings of God.)

  • Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
(Jesus illustrates His point by referring to objects in nature that were immediately at hand, the birds of the air and the flowers of the field. The key point of this passage is found in the phrases Are ye not much better than they? (v. 26) and shall he not much more clothe you? (v. 30). The Bible clearly teaches that God is the Creator and sustainer of nature. Worry and anxiety are related to the length of one’s life in the phrase add one cubit unto his stature. A cubit is a measurement of 18 inches. However, this reference is probably not to one’s actual height but to the length of his life. The term stature (Gr. hēlikia) may mean “age.” Thus the idea seems to be that a man cannot add the smallest measure to the span of his life by worrying. This state of anxiety is related to having little faith (v. 30). Faith is total confidence in the provision of God.


My Prayer for the Day
"Heavenly Father, in Jesus name...Thank you Father for teaching me through your word, that worry and anxiety is lack of faith in You. That You provide all things for in nature food, shelter and clothes...of course that I will always be provided for me when I have faith. I can personally bare witness to this. Thank you Father for removing my lifelong struggle with fear and anxiety and restoring me to sanity. Thank You for always providing for me. Thank You also for teaching me that I cannot serve two masters. That when I am in fear over money, my boyfriend leaving me, my boyfriend not changing into who I want him to be, being without stuff, not having enough stuff, others people's perception of me-that they become my higher power. Father I humbly ask for you to strengthen my faith so that I may have a healthy, normal and stable grasp on the reality of these "things"  and other human beings-never to replace You with them. Things and people are NOT meant to be used and abused by our lack of faith in You. That these people and things once dependant on them, then become our higher power instead of a asset or blessing. In Jesus name-Amen"

Today's Action
  • Today I will humbly ask God to strengthen my faith and trust in Him
  • Today I will count how many times I attempted to serve two masters
  • Today I will take stock of what is necessary in my life and what I could let go of if I am faced with financial hardship 
  • Today I will make a list of needs vs wants 
Do I really need cable TV?
Do I really need my cell phone? 
Do I really need that much data on my cell phone?
Do I really need the new fancy phone...and why? Could I be just as happy with a flip phone or a landline?
Do I really need a brand new car? Could I humbly myself enough to have a used car with no car payments...or would I worry about what others would think?
Do I really need to have designer clothes or would I be ok with second hand clothing?
All this "stuff" and keeping up with the Jones....takes away from my relationship with God. Especially social media, cell phones and TV. I walk around and see everybody's head down looking at their phones. I never see children outside playing. We are becoming zombie robots! I think we all need to attempt to cut back on the noise...this helps with quitting the chatter in the head! 

3rd STEP
"God, I offer myself to Thee—to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life. May I do Thy will always!" (p. 63 BB) God, Take my will and my life. Guide me in my recovery. Show me how to live. AMEN 
(the step on p. 59 BB)


Podcast of he Day
Peter M. 4th Session Winter Series 2018 12 Step House


Big Book
We the Agnostics...Cont

"We, who have traveled this dubious path, beg you to lay aside prejudice, even against organized religion. We have learned that whatever the human frailties of various faiths may be, those faiths have given purpose and direction to millions. People of faith have a logical idea of what life is all about. Actually, we used to have no reasonable conception whatever. We used to amuse ourselves by cynically dissecting spiritual beliefs and practices when we might have observed that many spiritually-minded persons of all races, colors, and creeds were demonstrating a degree of stability, happiness and usefulness which we should have sought ourselves.

Instead, we looked at the human defects of these people, and sometimes used their shortcomings as a basis of wholesale condemnation. We talked of intolerance, while we were intolerant ourselves. We missed the reality and the beauty of the forest because we were diverted by the ugliness of some of its trees. We never gave the spiritual side of life a fair hearing.

In our personal stories you will find a wide variation in the way each teller approaches and conceives of the Power which is greater than himself. Whether we agree with a particular approach or conception seems to make little difference. Experience has taught us that these are matters about which, for our purpose, we need not be worried. They are questions for each individual to settle for himself.

On one proposition, however, these men and women are strikingly agreed. Every one of them has gained access to, and believes in, a Power greater than himself. This Power has in each case accom- plished the miraculous, the humanly impossible. As a celebrated American statesman put it, “Let’s look at the record.’’

Here are thousands of men and women, worldly in- deed. They flatly declare that since they have come to believe in a Power greater than themselves, to take a certain attitude toward that Power, and to do certain simple things, there has been a revolutionary change in their way of living and thinking. In the face of collapse and despair, in the face of the total failure of their human resources, they found that a new power, peace, happiness, and sense of direction flowed into them. This happened soon after they wholeheartedly met a few simple requirements. Once confused and baffled by the seeming futility of existence, they show the underlying reasons why they were making heavy going of life. Leaving aside the drink question, they tell why living was so unsatisfactory. They show how the change came over them. When many hundreds of people are able to say that the consciousness of the Presence of God is today the most important fact of their lives, they present a powerful reason why one should have faith.