Well sadly it appears that Blogger was not able to recover my previous post from their recent crash; sad to see that work and journal entry just gone. Hmm...I guess it shows the reliability of the good old pen and paper, but then again if that would be the case I would not be able to share my experience strength and hope with the rest of the world! Not that the world is really following the blog anyways! But for those who are I am thankful and will continue on.
I am always amazed at the transformation that comes through Christ by working the 12 steps of Celebrate Recovery. I believe that the AA steps can be just as powerful as long as the PC name of "Higher Power" is the only true higher power Christ; without Christ the steps of any kind of recovery group are simply a moral and cognitive reconfiguration. Which can keep people sober I assume, however it lacks the all important freedom of shame, guilt and oppression that so heavily burdens us from past sin. This freedom can only come from Christ, in the fifth step we release all the garbage of the past to Christ who then casts these things as far as the East is from the West, it is a complete release of sins in which millions over the last two thousand years have experienced. In the process of bearing our heart and soul to our true Counselor and Redeemer that we are made aware of his ever present love which is accompanied by his cleansing flow of grace and mercy. I have experienced this amazing spiritual experience and would equate it to a heart enema! I believe that this is the spiritual experience that the twelfth step explains in which we are born again to share this experience with others!
Everytime I look at society and even the whole world I realize just how much the rest of the world needs and cries out for this same experience! This is where the 12th step comes in, I cannot change the whole world by myself. However, God has given me a sphere of influence in which I do have an affect and therefore he does also through me. If I share my experience with others and I am obedient to practicing the principles laid out in the scriptures in all my affairs this has an impact on everyone around me. Maybe through me another hardened heart is opened to the truth of Christ and a life is transformed, well the sphere of influence just got a little bigger and it is through this process that the world is changed. Thankfully, in reading the Scriptures this morning I was able to see where I have been falling short of living the 12th step in many areas of my life. Some character defects and sins have been revealed which I have had to repent of and give over to Christ. One of the main things that I learned is that in my sphere of influence my wife and children are the ones who are closest to the core.
