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Growing in God and Sobriety!

He that hath ears to hear, let him hear!!!!
Bible Study
Sermon on the Mount-Part 15 End
Matthew 7:7-15-29

  • Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
(The warning Beware of false prophets fits appropriately with the concept of the two ways. Since many are being led in the wrong way, they are obviously being led by the wrong people. False prophets were prevalent in the Old Testament, whereas God’s true prophets were often in the minority. False prophets appear in sheep’s clothing but are in reality ravening wolves. This is a perfect description of those preachers who have denied or distorted the truth of the gospel. They look like lambs but act like wolves. Their description is similar to that of the great False Prophet in Revelation 13:11.)


  • Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
(A true test of a prophet was the conformity of his doctrine to the Scriptures (cf. 1 Cor. 14:37; Deut. 13:1–5). Their fruits refers not only to actions of their lives, but also to the doctrines they proclaim. The two trees are contrasted in relation to the fruit they produce. Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit consistently, while a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit continually. Therefore, the normal and consistent production of fruit, whether good or evil, in a person’s life will bear evidence whether or not that life is of God. Verse 19 illustrates the unfruitful life of the unregenerate who is cast into the fire, a picture of eternal punishment in hell.)

  • Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
( Not everyone professing Christ is genuinely saved. Even the outward verbal acknowledgment of His lordship is in itself not enough to save the unbeliever apart from true repentance and faith. A genuinely saved person is one that doeth the will of my Father, the Greek present tense suggesting that he is continually living in obedience to the will of God as the normal course of his life.)

  • Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

(In drawing His concluding illustration of the two foundations, Jesus begins with the word therefore. On the basis of all that He has taught and illustrated, He concluded that all who both hear and do His sayings shall be saved. As a great Master Counselor, Jesus reminded His listener that hearing this message alone will not change his life. He must both hear and do what Jesus has said. The elements of the closing illustration are drawn from the simplicity of nature itself, the rock, the rain, and the winds. The man whose house collapsed was at fault, not because he failed to labor, but because he did not lay the proper foundation. The shifting sand represents human opinion and the doctrines of men as opposed to “these sayings”)
  • And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:

(The entire Sermon on the Mount is addressed to believers and presupposes faith in Jesus as Messiah. The works done by the believer are not based on himself but on the “rock” , who ultimately is Christ Himself (1 Cor. 10:4). He is the personal embodiment of all His teachings. Thus, when He finished the discourse, the people were astonished. Amazement engulfed the audience.
  • For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
(The outstanding feature of His teaching was His authority, meaning the divine approval and authoritative constraint with which He delivered His message. Such straightforward preaching, based on the depth of one’s own life, was in direct contrast to that of the scribes, who were the copyists of the Law and the theologians of their day. They had to rely on tradition for their authority, whereas Christ was His own authority.)
My Prayer for the Day
"Heavenly Father, in Christ Jesus-Thank You for this very straight forward and authoritative sermon you have left to us. I am deeply troubled Father (I have been for a few days) that I didn't receive your words, your teachings, anything remotely like this as a child. I feel robbed and angered and remorseful that my foundation to grow into adulthood was built on sand. Most of us had zero spiritual foundation Father. It's so frustrating Father to convey this and to live it among people who won't see. I was was one of them!  How does ANYONE, including myself, expect anything solid, healthy and good when they built upon lies and not knowing you?  Our parents, schools, teachers, friends, jobs, doctors, government, money, they are god, then when the hurt harm or fail us we blame you! Please forgive me...I did this too many time to count.

Father please help me to have accountability for my choices and actions and to accept the repercussions of these choices and actions like a grown women. To stop the blaming and the looping that my ancestors created by their choices that society deemed acceptable. Generations building "families" making babies for fun, based on a structure that is not of God but instead on a society that hates men, hates family, hates dignity, hates respect, hates discipline, hates consequences, hates personally responsibility- but LOVES self help, actually anything self, instant gratification and glorifies and awards all the things that is wrong with the world.on a box that sits in  our homes that we put our furniture around so that we can fill our heads and soul with grossness and call it entertainment-it's a freaking free for all down here and we wonder why our souls, minds, and bodies are sick!. 

Father I have a huge resentment of myself for letting this world and family tell me it was ok to do the things I did-I couldn't stand myself for it, I drank more and more because of it. I did more vile behavior while I was drunk. My mind was warped. I used people and things to fill the gaping hole in my stomach...My soul was eaten away by my behavior....Then what?! What the hell do people do that don't have AA? My God I am so grateful for this program that reverses the damage-literally. My Soul is clean....I mean, what more is there then that? Seriously? What on this planet can top being right by your Father? What can top being sober, knowing You personally, and not going to hell?? A new car? Over 100 likes on my facebook photo? A bigger house? More friends? More cheap Chinese plastic crap? People thinking I am awesome because I look like I have it all? Are these people I obsessed over and what they thought of me going to be there when I die and I face You? Will you deny me because I would have put all that that useless crap before you? NO! You won't deny me! You do know me! I know you! What peace knowing that my soul is finally safe with You.....

Thank You Father for the clarity that comes with this! Thank You for doing for me what I could have NEVER done for myself! Thank You for saving my soul from fire! Thank you for blessing me with the ears to really hear, and the eyes to truly see what is real and what is false. What is important and what is not. 

Everyday I will pray to get closer to you...not for the whys, hows and whats, like before-but to know you and your will for me. All that other stuff was a deterrent, a distraction by my ego. I Thank You Father for doing for me what my parents couldn't. I thank you for disciplining me to a spiritual life. I Thank You for not allowing me to take to low road anymore or to take anyone else down with me. Thank You for plucking me out of a drunken stupor-out of self destruction, out of a slow suicide, out of the new age, out of darkness into the light...What I give back is reverence, worship, glorification, fidelity, self discipline, pure love, and my soul...I fully surrender to You Father and I commit fully to do things your way, the right way! In Christ Jesus name-Amen"


Today's Action
  • Today I will deny myself the luxury of a resentment by continued work on my 4th Step 
  • Today I will forgive myself, with the help of Jesus, for being deceived and convinced that what I was doing to my life, soul and body, and what I was doing to other peoples life, souls, and bodies was justified because perhaps they were doing it on Sex and the City, or my mom and friends behaved that way and the political and social agenda said it was totally too. I will forgive those who unknowingly put a stumbling block between me and the word of God.
  • Today I will commit fully to a life of spiritual and physical growth through self discipline
  • Today I will stop trying to impress the world and start proving myself worthy of my God given sobriety and a life
  • Today I will stop diluting the truth of the Bible and AA

Today I challenge everyone to go a month without turning the TV on and see what happens to you! You don't know the level of toxicity we have been inundated with until you watch it after that month is over. You will recoil-I assure you. Instead, use that time to get to know the only one that can save you....

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
John 14:6  


Podcast of he Day
10th of 10 Sessions Al-Anon Speaker Bo T.
Many of us are Al-Anon and Alcoholic....I started to go to al-anon with Brian son when he relapsed. It's helpful to those who have been directly hit by what we dish out! I strongly suggest suggesting family to them. Thier program is based off ours. They get to the root of their own issues. We can all use the 12 Steps!
Listen to more AA Podcast:


Big Book
We the Agnostics...Cont 

"We found, too, that we had been worshippers. What a state of mental goose-flesh that used to bring on! Had we not variously worshipped people, sentiment, things, money, and ourselves? And then, with a better motive, had we not worshipfully beheld the sunset, the sea, or a flower? Who of us had not loved something or somebody? How much did these feelings, these loves, these worships, have to do with pure reason? Little or nothing, we saw at last. Were not these things the tissue out of which our lives were constructed? Did not these feelings, after all, determine the course of our existence? It was impossible to say we had no capacity for faith, or love, or worship. In one form or another we had been living by faith and little else.

Imagine life without faith! Were nothing left but pure reason, it wouldn’t be life. But we believed in life—of course we did. We could not prove life in the sense that you can prove a straight line is the shortest distance between two points, yet, there it was. Could we still say the whole thing was nothing but a mass of electrons, created out of nothing, meaning nothing, whirling on to a destiny of nothingness? Of course we couldn’t. The electrons themselves seemed more intelligent than that. At least, so the chemist said.

Hence, we saw that reason isn’t everything. Neither is reason, as most of us use it, entirely dependable, though it emanate from our best minds. What about people who proved that man could never fly?

Yet we had been seeing another kind of flight, a spiritual liberation from this world, people who rose above their problems. They said God made these things possible, and we only smiled. We had seen spiritual release, but liked to tell ourselves it wasn’t true.

Actually we were fooling ourselves, for deep down in every man, woman, and child, is the fundamental idea of God. It may be obscured by calamity, by pomp, by worship of other things, but in some form or other it is there. For faith in a Power greater than ourselves, and miraculous demonstrations of that power in human lives, are facts as old as man himself.

We finally saw that faith in some kind of God was a part of our make-up, just as much as the feeling we have for a friend. Sometimes we had to search fear- lessly, but He was there. He was as much a fact as we were. We found the Great Reality deep down within us. In the last analysis it is only there that He may be found. It was so with us.

We can only clear the ground a bit. If our testimony helps sweep away prejudice, enables you to think honestly, encourages you to search diligently within yourself, then, if you wish, you can join us on the Broad Highway. With this attitude you cannot fail. The consciousness of your belief is sure to come to you.

In this book you will read the experience of a man who thought he was an atheist. His story is so interest- ing that some of it should be told now. His change of heart was dramatic, convincing, and moving.

Hil's Blah
Worshiping feelings and emotions too. We also get addicted to the adrenaline and dopamine these feelings and emotions generate which keeps us looping longer-like alcohol did. We like the effect produced by alcohol and adrenaline-but we don't like the repercussions. What do we replace it with-God. Period. No I like the effect produced by God and the repercussions are not harmful.
No DRUG can top the feeling you get from the Holy Spirit for a job well done....When I am on fire with The Holy Spirit, I know I'm doing something right!