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Growing Daily in God and Sobriety!


He that hath ears to hear, let him hear!!!!

Opening Prayer
Father-Today I humbly pray for Your mercy on my soul and on the souls of my family. We really messed our lives up through addition of many forms. Please grant continued grace to those who are willing to change. In Jesus name-Amen"
Bible Study
1 Corinthians Part 7
3:14-23


  • If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
(Reward (lit., “wages,): Of course, even the “wages” mentioned here are entirely a gift of grace)

  •  If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
(Saved: Such a one does not suffer the loss of his salvation, but the loss of reward. The stress in this entire passage is not on a person’s relationship to Christ, but on service to Christ.)

  • Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
(Temple of God: The temple here is the local church, not the individual believer.)

  • If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
(Destroy is a stronger expression than “suffer loss” Paul seems to have in mind unsaved people who may or may not be in the assembly, but who are in fact false believers. The prospect for such a one is fearful.)

  • Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are your's; Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are your's;  And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.
(For all things are yours: The one who belongs to Christ is a child of God, and his Father will do anything for him. The absurdity of their division over allegiances to any of these men is that God gave them “all” to the Corinthians.)

Todays Action

  • Today I will not seek anyone outside of Jesus to validate me.
  • Today I will practice being content with what I've been blessed with (it takes practice because contentment doesn't come natural to us! practicing contentment through gratitude, service to others, accepting every situation as Gods will even if we don't like, accepting others and their limitations by seeing them to as a damaged child, pray that they find Jesus)
  • Today I will not get sucked into the defects of others. I will not personalize their anger-instead I will pray for them and all those who think bad of me.

Podcast of the Day
Re-post of "what's the problem" and "what's the solution" 
The ones I re post we very important to my recovery. When I "get it" about certain things, defects, or whatever, it was a huge victory over my ego. I would sometimes drop to my knees in gratitude for being able to comprehend what was going on.


Big Book
Into Action...Cont

 "Almost invariably they got drunk. Having persevered with the rest of the program, they wondered why they fell. We think the reason is that they never completed their housecleaning. They took inventory all right, but hung on to some of the worst items in stock. They only thought they had lost their egoism and fear; they only thought they had humbled themselves. But they had not learned enough of humility, fearlessness and honesty, in the sense we find it necessary, until they told someone else all their life story.

 More than most people, the alcoholic leads a double life. He is very much the actor. To the outer world he presents his stage character. This is the one he likes his fellows to see. He wants to enjoy a certain reputation, but knows in his heart he doesn’t deserve it.

 The inconsistency is made worse by the things he does on his sprees. Coming to his senses, he is revolted at certain episodes he vaguely remembers. These memories are a nightmare. He trembles to think someone might have observed him. As fast as he can, he pushes these memories far inside himself. He hopes they will never see the light of day. He is under constant fear and tension—that makes for more drinking.

 Psychologists are inclined to agree with us. We have spent thousands of dollars for examinations. We know but few instances where we have given these doctors a fair break. We have seldom told them the whole truth nor have we followed their advice. Unwilling to be honest with these sympathetic men, we were honest with no one else. Small wonder many in the medical profession have a low opinion of alcoholics and their chance for recovery!

 We must be entirely honest with somebody if we expect to live long or happily in this world. Rightly and naturally, we think well before we choose the person or persons with whom to take this intimate and confidential step. Those of us belonging to a religious denomination which requires confession must, and of course, will want to go to the properly appointed authority whose duty it is to receive it. Though we have no religious connection, we may still do well to talk with someone ordained by an established religion. We often find such a person quick to see and understand our problem. Of course, we sometimes encounter people who do not understand alcoholics."


Staples

"I'm trying to do the Steps" -"Trying" is not Doing. "Trying" is an excuse the ego uses to keep us in bondage to the many obsessions of the mind. This mind wants you dead but will settle for you drunk and miserable. 

Back to Basics
If you would like to know more about what is really wrong with you and how to RECOVER then watch this, all the Steps, take notes and get out your Big Book and a highlighter. If you just want to linger in the program, go to meetings, and listen to a bunch of rehab psychobabble from a therapist that does not understand our mind and get paid for your pain, treated or not, you will never benefit from the fourth dimension of sobriety. You won't understand what it feels like to be FREE from the bondage of alcohol and your thinking mind that wants you dead but will settle for you drunk. Only an alcoholic knows what it’s like to be an alcoholic which is why God choose the broken to work with the broken! 
Steps 1,2,3

Steps 4&5

Steps 6,7,8 &9

Steps 10,11 &12

Peter M. AA Speaker
This man saved my life. When I was going to meetings, lingering in steps for months and months without guidance I found this podcast AA Big Book Thumpers. I learned the Solution. I learned HOW to do the work. I didn't get that from meetings.
Peter M Steps Series 

Joe Elliot, of (Joe and Charlie) Steps
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4 & 5
Step 6&7
Step 8, 9
Step 10
Step 11 & 12

Joe and Charlie Big Book Study
disk 1
disk 2
disk 3
disk 4


Websites I use to Grow

Joe & Charlie Through The Big Book
Joe and Charlie Podcast Version




WHEN I AM DISTURBED BY THE CONDUCT (SYMPTOMS) OF OTHERS
"This is a sick man. How can I be helpful to him? God save me from being angry. Thy will be done."
(p. 67 BB)
God help me to show this person the same tolerance, pity and patience that I would Cheerfully grant a sick friend. This is a sick person, how can I be helpful to him? God save me from being angry. Thy will be done.
(see above and p. 141 of 12&12)

WHEN I AM AFRAID
"We ask Him to remove our fear and direct our attention to what He would have us be."
(p. 68 BB)
God, relieve me of this fear and direct my attention to what you would have me be. AMEN


WHEN I AM AWARE OF MY OWN DEFECTS AND SEEKING GOD'S HELP TO CHANGE
"We asked God to mold our ideals and help us to live up to them. . . we ask God what we should do about each specific matter."
(p. 69 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


SUGGESTIONS ABOUT PRAYER AND MEDITATION FROM BB
(1) Make no requests in prayer for yourself only.
(2) Never pray for your own selfish ends.
(3) Select and memorize a few set prayers that emphasize the principles of the Steps.
(4) Ask a priest, minister or rabbi about helpful books and prayers that emphasize the principles of the Steps.
(5) Be quick to see where religious people are right.
(6) Make use of what religious people have to offer.
(p. 87 BB)


NIGHT PRAYER
God forgive me where I have been resentful, selfish, dishonest or afraid today. Help me to not keep anything to myself but to discuss it all openly with another person - show me where I owe an apology and help me make it. Help me to be kind and loving to all people. Use me in the mainstream of life God. Remove worry, remorse or morbid (sick) reflections that I may be of usefulness to others. AMEN
(p. 86 BB)

MORNING PRAYER
God direct my thinking today so that it be divorced of self pity, dishonesty, self-will, self-seeking and fear. God inspire my thinking, decisions and intuitions. Help me to relax and take it easy. Free me from doubt and indecision. Guide me through this day and show me my next step. God give me what I need to take care of any problems. I ask all these things that I may be of maximum service to you and my fellow man in the name of the Steps I pray. AMEN
(p. 86 BB)



AA MORNINGS
  • On awakening let us think about the twenty-four hours ahead. We consider our plans for the day. Before we begin, we ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives. Under these conditions we can employ our mental faculties with assurance, for after all God gave us brains to use. Our thought-life will be placed on a much higher plane when our thinking is cleared of wrong motives.

  • In thinking about our day we may face indecision. We may not be able to determine which course to take. Here we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision. We are often surprised how the right answers come after we have tried this for a while.

  • What used to be the hunch or the occasional inspiration gradually becomes a working part of the mind. Being still inexperienced and having just made conscious contact with God, it is not probable that we are going to be inspired at all times. We might pay for this presumption in all sorts of absurd actions and ideas. Nevertheless, we find that our thinking will, as time passes, be more and more on the plane of inspiration. We come to rely upon it.

  • 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.” We are then in much less danger of excitement, fear, anger, worry, self-pity, or foolish decisions. We become much more efficient. We do not tire so easily, for we are not burning up energy foolishly as we did when we were trying to arrange life to suit ourselves.

  • Be kind to others. Smile. Open doors. Drive without freaking out and just be grateful that you are not in jail or dead….You have a second chance. There is nothing you have done that God can’t and won’t forgive...If there is a name for it, it’s been done before so just get to work.

We alcoholics are undisciplined and create drama. So we let God guide us in the simple way we have just outlined. But this is not all. There is action and more action. 
“Faith without works is dead.”
(from "Alcoholics Anonymous pg. 86-88)


AA NIGHTS
When we retire at night, we constructively review our day.
  • Were we resentful, selfish, dishonest or afraid?
  • Do we owe an apology?
  • Have we kept something to ourselves which should be discussed with another person at once?
  • Were we kind and loving toward all?
  • What could we have done better?
  • Were we thinking of ourselves most of the time? Or were we thinking of what we could do for others, of what we could pack into the stream of life?
But we must be careful not to drift into worry, remorse or morbid reflection, for that would diminish our usefulness to others. After making our review we ask God's forgiveness and inquire what corrective measures should be taken.
(from "Alcoholics Anonymous pg. 86)

The Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change; 
courage to change the things I can; 
and wisdom to know the difference

The Set Aside Prayer
God,
Please help me set aside
everything I think I know
about myself, my disease,
the 12 steps, and especially You;
So I may have an open mind
and a new experience
of all these things.
Please let me see the truth.




It works - it really does!