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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 14
Matthew 7:7-14

  • Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
(The three imperatives ask, seek, and knock are in the present tense of the original language, suggesting both perseverance and frequent prayer. Fervent and continual prayer is to be made on behalf of those for whom we are concerned. God promises to answer all genuine prayer. Everything we need for spiritual success has been promised to us. God leaves us no excuse for failure.
Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?)
  • If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
(Jesus illustrated His point by comparing the willingness of a human father to give his child a gift with our heavenly Father who will gladly give us what we need. The term evil is used here of man’s sinful nature. Even sinful men are kind to their children; therefore, how much more shall your heavenly Father delight to answer your prayers. Hence, rather than judging others, we are to treat them as we would like to be treated. The statement in verse 12, Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them, is the biblical injunction often called the “Golden Rule.” This is the law and the prophets indicates that the statement made here by Jesus is not intended to be novel, but rather a summarization of the second table of the law.
  • Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
(The closing section of the Sermon on the Mount presents two choices to the listener. These are presented in a series of contrasts: two ways two trees; two professions; and two foundations. This was a common method of teaching in both Jewish and Greco-Roman thought. Enter ye in at the strait gate (narrow) means that one must come through the narrow gate in order to reach the path that leads to eternal life. Though many are on the broad . . . way, that leadeth to destruction (eternal separation from God), the gate that leads to life is so narrow that few there be that find it. Christ Himself is both the gate and the way (cf. John 14:6), and God enables men to find that gate (cf. John 6:44).

Prayer
Both Jesus (Luke 18:1) and Paul (1 Tim. 2:1) emphasized the importance of prayer, noting that people ought always to pray. Prayer includes asking and getting answers from God. But it is more than just asking; it is confession, adoration, thanksgiving, and fellowship with God. By its nature, prayer is talking with God. It is the basis of the successful Christian life, and is so important that not praying is considered a sin (1 Sam. 12:23). When we pray, we should follow the model prayer Jesus gave His disciples and address it to our heavenly Father—beginning with adoration, including thanksgiving and confession of sins, making reconciliation with others, praying for our needs and the needs of others, and concluding in Jesus’ name (6:9–15; John 14:14). Illustration: Jesus pointed out that God heard the prayer of a humble publican rather than that of a proud Pharisee (Luke 18:14). Application: God will answer our prayer when we obey Him (1 John 3:22), confess sin (Ps. 66:18), abide in Christ (John 15:7), ask according to the will of God (1 John 5:14), ask in faith (Mark 11:24), have pure motives (James 4:3), and live peaceably with our mate (1 Pet. 3:7). (First Reference, Gen. 3:8–13; Primary Reference, Matt. 7:7; cf. 1 John 5:14, 15.)


My Prayer for the Day
"Heavenly Father-Thank You for teaching us today that if we genuinely ask, seek, and then knock-all will be given. That I must first become willing to believe. If I am not even willing I can never become genuine. Then when I became genuine and truly believe onto you, will I then receive. Thank You for the wide open gate of AA that lead me to the path. As this path gets all the more narrow (and it is) I can't ever even put into words how grateful I am to be on it. I know that You enabled me to find it through the gift of desperation. I know that You keep me on it by strengthening my faith, giving me courage, wisdom and protection to keep trudging the road to happy destanies-because I ask. My job is to chop wood and carry water, bring as many of your sheep home to you, and in return you always make sure I'm provided for, that my prayers are answered, and that I have peace and serenity while I am here. My soul is whole-Thanks be to God! In Jesus name-Amen"

Today's Action
  • Today/This weekend I will rework my Steps
  • Today I will grow in my faith by asking Him to strenghten it and asking Him to guide me toward the truth
  • Today I will grow in my sobriety by committing to reading more books about AA history to keep the truth alive to help others


Book List
AA Comes of Age
Pass It On
Dr. Bob and the Good Old Timers
For Sinners Only (by A.J. Russell)
On the Tail of a Comet (by Garth Lean)
Akron Genesis of Alcoholics Anonymous (by Dick B.)
The Oxford Group & Alcoholics Anonymous (by Dick B.)

7th STEP
"I humbly offered myself to God, as I then understood Him, to do with me as He would. I placed myself unreservedly under His care and direction. I admitted for the first time that of myself I was nothing; that without Him I was lost. I ruthlessly faced my sins and became willing to have my new-found Friend take them away, root and branch."
(p. 13)

"My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows. Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen." 
(p. 76 BB)

Podcast of he Day
Sandy B: 3 Laughs a Minute, Great for Newcomers & Sponsors Alike
Listen to more AA Podcast:


Big Book
We the Agnostics...Cont 
"When we saw others solve their problems by a simple reliance upon the Spirit of the Universe, we had to stop doubting the power of God. Our ideas did not work. But the God idea did.
The Wright brothers’ almost childish faith that they could build a machine which would fly was the main- spring of their accomplishment. Without that, nothing could have happened. We agnostics and atheists were sticking to the idea that self-sufficiency would solve our problems. When others showed us that “God-sufficiency’’ worked with them, we began to feel like those who had insisted the Wrights would never fly.

Logic is great stuff. We liked it. We still like it. It is not by chance we were given the power to reason, to examine the evidence of our senses, and to draw conclusions. That is one of man’s magnificent at- tributes. We agnostically inclined would not feel satisfied with a proposal which does not lend itself to reasonable approach and interpretation. Hence we are at pains to tell why we think our present faith is reasonable, why we think it more sane and logical to believe than not to believe, why we say our former thinking was soft and mushy when we threw up our hands in doubt and said, “We don’t know.’’

When we became alcoholics, crushed by a self- imposed crisis we could not postpone or evade, we had to fearlessly face the proposition that either God is everything or else He is nothing. God either is, or He isn’t. What was our choice to be?

Arrived at this point, we were squarely confronted with the question of faith. We couldn’t duck the issue. Some of us had already walked far over the Bridge of Reason toward the desired shore of faith. The outlines and the promise of the New Land had brought lustre to tired eyes and fresh courage to flagging spirits. Friendly hands had stretched out in welcome. We were grateful that Reason had brought us so far. But somehow, we couldn’t quite step ashore. Perhaps we had been leaning too heavily on Reason that last mile and we did not like to lose our support.

That was natural, but let us think a little more closely. Without knowing it, had we not been brought to where we stood by a certain kind of faith? For did we not believe in our own reasoning? Did we not have confidence in our ability to think? What was that but a sort of faith? Yes, we had been faithful, abjectly faithful to the God of Reason. So, in one way or another, we discovered that faith had been involved all the time!



And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 18:3