Worry and the Myth of Moderation - Purity 1252

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning! Today's photo of tire ruts filled with water reflecting the fading light of the day from the sky above in a field of green comes to us from yours truly as I stopped my car on the way to my countryside home last Saturday to capture the beauty of this simple scene as the sun had already faded beyond the horizon. Well, it's Friday, thank God, and what a difference a week can make, as winter has firmly established itself in upstate New York, changing what were somewhat squishy fields of green into frozen tundra as far as the eye can see. But even though I guess I dreaded this change in one sense, hoping against hope that winter would somehow pass us by, the arrival of it is something of a relief, because I no longer have to fear whether or not it's going to come, because it's here. Sometimes a lot of our suffering comes from the anticipation or worry over things that may or may not come to pass. Worrying over it doesn't give you any peace, and when the worst-case scenario plays out in reality, we discover that we can handle it, if for no other reason than we don't have a choice. It is what it is. It is what it is, as they say. And it will do us no good in denying it. And we can reestablish peace a lot sooner from accepting circumstances for what they are and in crafting a response for what has happened, rather than starting to worry about the next terrible thing that is to come. Bad things happen. Life happens. Things break and fall apart, and sometimes the consequences of our unwise choices catch up to us, causing us to realize the error of our ways. When that happens, we realize we have to change how we operate, or we continue to reap the harvest of doing the same things over and over again. A saying in recovery circles is that insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results. While I don't honestly think those caught in vicious cycles expect different results, they may irrationally hope that they won't suffer like they have in the past. That irrational hope and failure to change keeps the cycle, the vicious cycles, alive. We believe that we can learn from our mistakes and make minor changes like switching our brand of addiction or decreasing the amount of the poison or frequency of taking it, and it will solve our problem. The addict believes that moderation is the key to happiness despite the overwhelming evidence in their lives that clearly points out that for them it's a myth because they are powerless to practice it. They have tried and failed over and over again, but still think that one day they can be a quote-unquote social drinker or just have a few of their substance of choice and be quote-unquote fine. The problem is that for them, that's a lie. They don't do it. They can't do it. And they, they fail to realize that freedom isn't found through moderation of the bondage they are in. Freedom comes from eliminating it. I am currently reading Dr. Neil Anderson's Discipleship Counseling, and he states, in every legitimate recovery program, the first step is to stop living a lie and choose the truth. We cannot instantly change long-established flesh patterns or defense mechanisms that have been become a habitual part of our daily life, but we can, with God's guidance, identify them and make a decision to confess them as wrong in order to find healthier ways of living. We just went over Celebrate Recovery's Denial lesson this week at Celebrate Freedom, and it was a tough message for some of the participants to hear because they were convicted in their hearts that they have been fooling themselves, that they could have it all. That they could keep their addictions and enjoy a simple and wholesome life. The two contradict each other, and in order to be free, they have to stop living the lie and start believing the truth. The lie is, "My addiction is fine, doesn't hurt anyone but me, and I am in control." The truth is, "I can't do a little bit of this. I have to stop this altogether in order to be free." It causes me and my loved ones pain. A Christian isn't supposed to live this way. God has helped others to be free, and he can help me too. When we reject that lie and accept that truth, there is hope. And even though things were one way for a very long time, a new life can begin now. Freedom and victory can come. One day at a time and progressively increase with each step you take into the new life that the Lord has given you. It starts with a choice to stop what you are doing and deciding to ask God to help you, and then deciding to walk with him each and every day until your bondages are a thing of the past and a new life of peace, love, and joy is your new normal. This miracle happens every day. I'm living it, and I'm here to tell you that you can live it too. So stop dreading the change, surrender to the Lord, and walk into it. Although a new life may be scary to contemplate, it's better than kidding yourself and suffering in the same old ways over and over again. So keep walking and talking with God. He will help you to become the person you were created to be. And when you get there, you will rejoice. Today's Bible verse comes from us— it comes to us from The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's meditation verse comes from the section on communication, gossip, and lying. And today's verse is Psalm 141, verse 3. And the Word of God says, set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth Keep watch over the door of my lips. Today's verse is the second of two passages of scripture that fall under the first point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on communication, gossip, and lying. And that first point, again, is the psalmist has given us a model prayer for good speech. Today's verse asks the Lord to shut our mouths, and can I tell you, that would be a good thing sometimes. If you don't say anything, you can't say anything you will regret. In the moment, we can say insulting things, hurtful things, stupid things, unkind things, and thoughtless things. So, pray this prayer for the Lord to help you set a guard over your mouth and to keep a watch over your lips, because the enemy loves to shoot flaming arrows into our minds and would love for some of his evil thoughts to spill out of our mouths. That's why we have to take every thought captive. Some of them might not be our own, or they might not be so wise to disclose verbally. So take a pause, take a breath, and think before you speak, because the things we say can cause damage to ourselves and to others. And the loving thing would be to remain silent rather than cause discord with the people in our lives. As much as it depends on us, we are to be the peacemakers in life. So do your part to keep the peace by monitoring what you say and keeping your verbal trouble to yourself. As always, I invite all to go to mtforchrist.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from According to Your Word. Morning and Evening Through the New Testament by Stephen F. Alford. And that's, uh, they're a collection of devotional journals from 1940 and '41. And, uh, this resource basically prompts you to read a chapter of the New Testament every day. And today the chapter is Matthew 12. And, um, uh, the highlight is on Matthew 12:34, which says Or, "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." And Stephen F. Alford writes, "It is interesting to note how many times the Lord charged those upon whom He had performed some miracle of healing not to publish the fact abroad. But in most cases, if not in all, it seems that the persons concerned could not control themselves. One reads over and over again that they proclaimed the news freely." It was a case of, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Similarly, it is only when grace does a real work in the heart, only when the heart is full of the Holy Spirit, only when Christ is all in all, that the mouth will speak. And, uh, Alford ends with a prayer: Lord, I will testify of your goodness and grace out of the abundance of my heart. And so there, Alford is pointing to, well, you should speak about the Lord right there. You know, when the heart is full of the Holy Spirit, only when Christ is all in all, you know, that's the Lord and Savior of your life, then your mouth will speak of the goodness of God and encourage people to put their faith in Jesus. It's funny that, you know, like I said, I don't line these messages up, but sometimes the Holy Spirit, I think, does because, you know, sort of, you know, there's some real, real, real verses about speaking, you know, being careful what we say. And then the devotion here points to us in speaking about the Lord in a positive way, you know. To be obedient to God, but to, uh, when your heart's full of his goodness, to share it, uh, you know, to not remain silent. At least that's my take on it. Um, go to mtforchrist.org and read the devotional for yourself and see what you think. Uh, anyway, um, today is Friday. I'm rejoicing this morning even though, uh, it's cold outside, uh, because by the end, you know, God willing, the end of the workday, I'll be heading up to Easton to see my wife, Tammy Lynn, for the weekend. So, you know, it's marriage— one marriage, two households type of life here for me, but it's a good one because I see my wife every day. We study the Bible together and we keep the Lord at the center of our marriage and appreciate one another as much as we can. Probably, well, in part because we're physically separated from one another, you know, 5 days of the week. Until our lives settle a bit and we can bring everything together into one home, this is the way it is. But it's good because I can, I really appreciate the time I have with her. So that's my encouragement. For you married people out there to appreciate your spouse, even though they might drive you crazy, and to try to put the Lord in the middle of your marriage. They say that CAKE is the secret to a good relationship, and that's C, curiosity. You know, hey, how are you doing? Why do you— you know, I'm curious, how are you feeling? Why is it you do that? How can I— and then, you know, take an interest is what they're telling you. And then A is appreciation. You know, I really appreciate the things you do for me. I appreciate the way you take care of our family and you love me. And then K is kindness. You know, do an act of kindness for your spouse. And E is eye contact. You know, when we're not looking each other in the eye, we're separated from one another. So we want to look each other in the eye and let each other know we see you, we hear you. And we love you. So that's my relationship advice that I learned from, I think, Building Bounds from Dr. Neil— no, Dr. Marcus Warner. I think that was in that book, but they do Joy-Filled Marriages, him and Chris Corsi. So I know it's in that book. So if you want to try to fix your marriage and put joy in it, Chris Corsi and Dr. Marcus Warner wrote The joy, you know, I think it's the 4 Secrets to a Joy-Filled Marriage. And it just happens to be parallel to, you know, how do you have joy in your life, you know, to spend time in quieting and appreciation and following the Lord, basically, you know. Anyway, it is Friday. I want to pray and get on the road and rock and roll my way through the workday. And, you know, into the weekend. So let's do this. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Uh, we thank you so much for all that you do for us, Lord, for the new life you've given us and the miracle that we have, um, and life set free from addiction and bondage and, and bad relationships and all kinds of mess, uh, mental negatives and negative mental states and all kinds of things that we're free of now. And, uh, we, we just thank you, uh, Lord. And we pray for anyone who's listening, that they would be set free and that they would appreciate the people in their lives and, uh, appreciate you the most, uh, Lord. So we just pray for you to have a deep relationship with them, uh, reveal yourself to them and come alongside them in their prayer request and their walk of faith, because they need you and I need you, Lord. So we pray for you to go before us today, open our eyes to the things you want us to see and lead us in the way we should go, because all we want to do is represent you in your kingdom and, uh, enjoy you fully. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you. We pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.