Choice #1- Choosing reality & admitting your need

Realize I am not God. I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to to do the wrong thing and that my life is unmanageable.

• I cannot do it all
• I cannot do any of it alone
• I am powerless to control

Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man but in the end it leads to death.

John Baker states in Life's Healing Choices that this verse lets us know we cannot trust our human nature to lead us out of our problems. Left on its own our sin nature will tend to do wrong desire to be God and try to play God.

Paul states exactly how I feel in Romans 7:15-17:

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.

Romans 7:21-23

So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.

Even David felt it too in Psalms 32:3

When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long

The book illustrates this frustration very well on page 19 John Baker writes:

He speaks of the game Wacka Wacka at Chuck E Cheese's, pictured here is a similar game Whac a Mole. You use a big mallet to beat down these little moles that keep popping up. But when you whack one, 3 more pop up. you whack those 5 more pop up. The machine is a parable of life. We whack down one conflict and another pops up. It is frustrating because we cannot get them all knocked down at the same time.
We walk around pretending we are God and have it all under control, but if we were really in control why don't we just unplug the machine!

On Saturday Night Live Chevy Chase would come on and say, " Hi I'm Chevy Chase and you are not." Can you imagine God to say " Hi I am God and you are not." Life's Healing Choices agreeing with God that He is god and we are not leads us into our first healing choice.

Matthew 5:3 Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor.

Admitting your need is what being "spiritually poor is all about.

Psalm 32:4-5 (TLB) My strength evaporated like water on a sunny day until I finally admitted all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide them.

Wisdom in Proverbs 28:13 (TEV)

You will never succeed in life if you try to hide your sins. Confess them and Give up; the God will show mercy to you.

We need to be honest & open about our weaknesses, faults and failures. Our problems are cured through admitting our weakness & a having a humble heart.

2 Corinthians 12:10 (MSG) I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become!

The Bible clearly passes the message that in admitting my weakness I will find strength.

• I admit that I am powerless to change my past
• I admit that I am powerless to control other people
• I admit that I am powerless to cope with my harmful habits, behaviors and actions

James 4:6

God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble

Having a humble heart:

• What needs changing in your life?
• What hurt hangup, or habit have you been trying to ignore?

Choosing to admit that you cannot do it alone and that you need God is the first & hardest choice.

I have a problem, I need help. I am depressed, I am full of anxiety, hurt, resentment, my anger is out of control, I am codependent and I have a lack of boundaries. God, I am tired of living this way and using the coping strategies that I am currently using. I am without the ability to forgive, let go, and be happy on my own. I am powerless to manage all this and my life on my own.

I am on the road to healing!

Life's healing choices states that admitting my hurts, habits and hang-ups is just the beginning.

To implement this choice and the other 7 choices I need to:

1. Pray about it
2. Write about it
3. Share about it

The above steps is where the change happens. These interactive steps are my pathway to healing.

I am making the choice to complete them!

God's Promises

Isaiah 57:18-19 I have seen what they do, but I will heal them anyway! I will lead them and help them. I will comfort those who mourn, bringing words of praise to their lips. May they have abundant peace, both near and far,”says the Lord, who heals them.

The 5 Promises God extends:

1. If you are hurt, God says, "I will heal you."
   
2. If you are confused or lost, God says' "I will lead you."
3. If you feel helpless, God says, "I will help you."
4. If you feel alone, God says' " I will comfort you."
   
5. If you feel anxious and afraid, God says, "I will offer peace to you."

Trusting in His promises, we find hope for a better future - a life of freedom, peace and happiness.

* This was found on page 2 of John Baker's book Life's Healing Choices

A CR Introduction of Myself

Hi, my name is ______________ ( for blogging purposes I am not sharing this). I am a believer in Jesus Christ and I am in recovery for depression, anxiety, issues with anger, struggles with boundaries and codependency.

Experincing Anxiety

This morning I woke up with a tremendous amount of anxiety. Todays schedule begins with rushing the children off to school and then head over to the attorney's office. Our attorney is taking on a case for something I experienced last year. I believe I have been wronged and a large non profit needs to be corrected for their doing. I do not want to share these things however I will state that I almost lost my life.

It is important that I go and discuss what happened. It is important that I go so changes can be made in my life. It is important to share my story. Its just that it brings up so much that I experienced. It brings up so much pain that I encountered - physically, mentally and emotionally.

The Bible tells me this about Anxiety:

^27-29"Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.

^30-33"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

³⁴"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. (Matthew 6:28-34, The Message)


^16-19 Who stood up for me against the wicked?
Who took my side against evil workers?
If God hadn't been there for me,
I never would have made it.
The minute I said, "I'm slipping, I'm falling,"
your love, God, took hold and held me fast.
When I was upset and beside myself,
you calmed me down and cheered me up. (Psalm 94:18-19, The Message)

^6-7Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. (Philippians 4:6, The Message)

Today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday. ~Author Unknown

Celebrate Recovery

Are life's struggles weighing you down?
Are your past failures holding you back?
What are you running from?

Wether it is drug abuse, addiction, alcoholism, depression, unworthiness, perfectionism, people pleasing, insecurity, sexual addiction, lies, abuse, eating disorders, cancer, loss, anger, anxiety, divorce, materialism ...

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO RUN OR HIDE ANYMORE!!!!

Break Free from the chains!

You Are Not Alone!



Grace, Forgiveness, Love, Mercy, Healing, Hope, Freedom, Joy, Support

Celebrate Recovery - a safe place to recover from life's Habits, Hurts and Hang- Ups through a Christ- Centered 12 step recovery program. Click here to find a group near you.

Current life's struggles are weighing me down, past failures are holding me back. I am running from depression, unworthiness, perfectionism, people pleasing, insecurity, lies, abuse, loss, anger, anxiety, divorce, materialism and various other skeletons in my closet.

But I do not want to run anymore because I am starting to fall. I am a mom, a wife, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a friend ... I cannot fall anymore! Above all else I am a Christian. I am ready for these chains to be broken.

I am beginning my celebration of recovery. I am attending Celebrate Recovery this week for the first time. As a writer I began this blog to share my process with you. I pray that others will follow in support and I pray that others will come to find that they are ready for their chains to be broken too!

Feel free to pray, comment, subscribe and e-mail (mycelebrationofrecovery@yahoo.com)