Carried By His Wings© -- Sexual Purity Recovery

Wings Devotional Recovery ... July 19, 2010

The Month of July brings us to Step Seven ... Half a year has gone by!!!

Where are you on your Recovery Journey??? …

STEP SEVEN  Involves the transformation or purification of our character.

We humbly ask GOD to remove our shortcomings.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” -- I John 1:9

JUST FOR TODAY! – Step Seven -- Humility

"Since this Step so specifically concerns itself with humility, we should pause here to consider what humility is and what the practice of it can mean to us.  "Indeed, the attainment of greater humility is the foundation principle of each of AA’s Twelve Steps.  For without some degree of humility, no alcoholic can stay sober at all.  Nearly all AA’s have found, too, that unless they develop much more of this precious quality than may be required just for sobriety, they still haven’t much chance of becoming truly happy.  Without it, they cannot live to much useful purpose, or, in adversity, be able to summon the faith that can meet any emergency."

© 1952, AAWS, Inc.; Printed 2005;  Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pg. 70 Alcoholics Anonymous, AA, and the Big Book are registered trademarks of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services. Just For Today is neither endorsed by, approved by, associated, nor affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., or The AA Grapevine, Inc.

Wings Devotional© Daily Meditation Translation

is property of Wings Of Eagles Recovery©

Just for Today -- A Daily Devotional

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How many times have we used words like

"I am not worthy to..."

"I just can't seem to get it",

"I have done so many wrong things",

"I am trying but I can't...".

All of those statements use too many "I" statements, because the truth is in recovery we can't do anything.  It must be God leading and walking with us, and our obedience to His plan in our lives.

When we can realize that, when we become humble, when we can get beyond ourselves and start realizing we are but a small speck of a sandy beach.

That does not mean that God cannot hear us, see us, love us or care for us.  It just means that we are not putting ourselves and our lives in the center of the Universe expecting the world to spin around us.

Humility a foundation for sure - when we lose more of us, we retain more of God.  Even Jesus became humble when He being God, put all of that aside and came to earth to be the propitiation for our sins.  He humbled Himself.

So all we ask in recovery and working Step Seven is to become humble to the point of asking God for His help and being humble enough to receive it which leads us to a willingness to change and recover and yes obtaining true happiness and peace in the Lord.

1   Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.

2   For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward,

3   how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,

4   God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?

5   For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels.

6   But one testified in a certain place, saying:
 “What is man that You are mindful of him,
Or the son of man that You take care of him?

7   You have made him a little lower than the angels;
You have crowned him with glory and honor,
And set him over the works of Your hands.

8   You have put all things in subjection under his feet.”
For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him.  But now we do not yet see all things put under him.

9   But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.

-- Hebrews 2:1-9

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STEP SEVEN: Involves the transformation or purification of our character.

I humbly ask GOD to remove my shortcomings.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” -- I John 1:9

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” -- Matthew 7:7-8

Early Version of the Seventh Step Prayer

Dear God,

I am coming to You on my knees in all humility to humbly ask You to forgive all my past wrongs and to remove all my defects of character.

I want to start a new life today, and

I ask You to help me do so and to keep helping if I keep asking.

In Step Three, I turned my will and my life over to Your care.

Thank You for taking complete control of my life, and thank You for this opportunity to wipe my slate clean and start my life anew.

In Steps Four, Five and Six I have completed my moral inventory and admitted to myself and another person the exact nature of my wrongs.

I now admit these wrongs to You, God.

I am entirely ready to ask and pray now that You please remove from me every single defect of character.

Specifically, I ask You to remove the following shortcomings listed in my Fourth Step moral inventory:

(Read aloud here those defects from your list.)

Thank You, God, for this opportunity for a new beginning in my life and a chance to be a part of the solutions in life instead of the problems. Please grant me wisdom, knowledge and strength as I go out from here to do Your work and live the Victorious Life You designed for me.

Thank You, God, for the steps which will make Your plan for my life clear to me.

Thank You and praise Your name.

Amen.

Now we must humbly ask that our defects be removed, those that we admitted to in Step Five. 

Both on Knees:

Lord, here is your child, _Name__, (s/he) is coming to you in all humility to humbly ask your forgiveness, believing that anything (s/he) asks in prayer, (s/he) humbly shall receive. 

Repeat After Me:

I __Name__, humbly ask you oh Lord, to remove my shortcomings and forgive me of my sins and ask in all humility that you will remove my defects because I am one of your children and I truly believe.  My Defects are: (Read the List Admitted To)

Thank you Jesus, Thank You Jesus, Thank you Jesus, Amen, Amen, Amen. 

My creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. 

I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows.  Grant me strength, as I go out from here to do your bidding.  Praise God, thank you Jesus, Praise God, thank you Jesus, Praise God, thank you Jesus!

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The Man in the Glass

Author Unknown

When you get what you want in your struggles for self

And the world makes you king for a day,

Just go to a mirror and look at yourself

And see what that man has to say.

For it isn't your father or mother or wife

Whose judgment upon you must pass,

The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life

Is the one staring back from the glass.

Some people might think you're a straight-shooting chum

And call you a wonderful guy.

But the man in the glass says you're only a bum

If you can't look him straight in the eye.

He's the fellow to please, never mind all the rest

For he's with you clear to the end

And you've passed your most dangerous test

If the guy in the glass is your friend.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years

And get pats on the back as you pass

But your final reward will be heartache and tears

If you've cheated the man in the glass.

The Story goes that this poem was scrawled on the walls of death row in an American prison.  With these type of affirmations firmly in our minds, we can assure ourselves that it doesn’t matter how many mistakes we make along the way – we will never really fail.  For a of us, “People Pleasing” and “Peer Group Pressure” were a couple of reasons that began our Journey On the Highway To Hell in the first place. 

If we outwardly appear to be “wonderful”, yet our hearts become full of resentment, bitterness and hatred;

Hatred will act as a cancer and destroy whatever we have built.

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TO "LET GO"

To "let go" does not mean to stop caring,
it means I can't do it for someone else.

To "let go" is not to cut myself off,
it's the realization I can't control another.

To "let go" is not to enable,
but to allow learning from natural consequences.

To "let go" is to admit powerlessness,
which means the outcome is not in my hands.

To "let go" is not to try to change or blame another,
it’s to make the most of myself.

To "let go" is not to care for, but care about.

To "let go" is not to fix, but to be supportive.

To "let go" is not to judge, but to allow another to be a human being.

To "let go" is not to be in the middle arranging all the outcomes,
but to allow others to affect their own destinies.

To "let go" is not to be protective,
it's to permit another to face reality.

To "let go" is not to deny, but to accept.

To "let go" is not to adjust everything to my desires
but to take each day as it comes, and cherish myself in it.

To "let go" is not to regret the past,
but to grow and live for the future.

To "let go" is to fear less and love more..."

            author unknown

GOALS FOR STEP FOUR

· Describe a moral inventory.

· Write an inventory of dishonesty and resentment.

· Write and inventory of self-pity and false pride.

· Write and inventory of criticism and destructive anger.

· Write and inventory of fear and impatience.

·  When writing your, inventory give specific examples for each behavior and attitude.

· Search the Bible for how God views each behavior and how we are to counteract the behavior through the examples in the Bible.

· Record insights and Scripture references. Remember be honest. God created you as you are and loves you unconditionally.

· Remember that prayer before I begin invites the LORD into this process with me and will help me to see what areas GOD needs to cleanse in me.  Use my sponsor's support, s/he is praying for me as I go through this process.

· Not to be discouraged, when it gets tough. Even when I feel like walking away from the process, persevere, in the end, you are healed.

Remember you are loved!

STEP FOUR: Involves Self-Examination.

STEP FOUR: I Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of myself.

"Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord". -- Lamentations 3:40

Fourth Step Prayer:

Dear God,

It is I who has made my life a mess.
I have done it, but I cannot undo it.

My mistakes are mine & I will begin a
searching & fearless moral inventory.

I will write down my wrongs,
but I will also include that which is good.

I pray for the strength to complete the task.

Amen

RECOVERY MEDITATIONS

To help you understand what the Scriptures say about the personal inventorying of our lives,

·  Numbers 23:18-24

·  Deuteronomy 30:15-20

·  Psalm 61:1-8

·  Proverbs 5:3-6

·  Proverbs 16:2,3

·  Isaiah 54:4-8

·  Matthew 11:27-30

·  Matthew 23:23-28

·  Luke 12:1-6

·  Romans 13:11-14

·  Acts 17:23-28

·  I Corinthians 4:19, 20

·  Galatians 6:3-5

·   James 4:7-10

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When Things Are Tough

These times are hard but challenge and adversity can push people toward their own greatness.  It can launch you on a deeper personal journey toward happiness, fulfillment, and a life of meaning.  As you look at ways to gather strength and improve self-esteem, remember it is not so much about what you have, but who you are:

Broke Is Not Broken

Being broke is not the same thing as being broken, losing money is not the same as being lost, and finding your balance is not something you can do on a balance sheet.

Having Less Doesn’t Mean You Are Less

Don’t confuse having less with being less, having more with being more, or what you have with who you are.

Savor Life and Slow Down

          When you are in a hurry, go slowly.  The faster you go in life the sooner it is a blur.

Prayer Creates a New Path

          Prayer creates a path where there is none and turns your stumbling blocks into building blocks.

Courage Is Not Absence of Fear

Put your faith, and not your fears, in charge.  Courage isn’t the absence of fears but how you wrestle with them.

Embrace the Future

If you are busy hugging the past, you can’t embrace the future.  Don’t let the past kidnap your future.

Change Is the Only Constant

This too shall pass.  Change is the only constant.  In order to take a breath, you must release your breath.

Make a Difference

Do what you can, but never forget that letting go is very different from giving up.  Of all the things you can make in life, remember that you make all the difference in your life.

Embrace Happiness

Tough times do not require you to be tough on yourself.  Find the courage to embrace happiness.

You Are Great

          Things don’t have to be good for you to be great.

Prayer of commitment to GOD:

Dear Jesus,

Thank YOU for making me and loving me,

even when I ignored you and gone my own way. 

I realize I need You in my life

and I’m sorry for my past behavior. 

I ask You to forgive me. 

As much as I know how, I want to follow You from now on.

Please come into my life and

make me a new person inside. 

I accept Your gift of salvation. 

Please help me to grow now as a Christian.

Amen.

* As you make your requests known to the Lord, include:

·        greater personal discipline,

·        worldwide persecuted Christians,

·        Hedge of protection to our children

·        Blessings to our spouses

·        Godly men in Government

·        Rest and Peace to our pastors

·        Your activities for the day.

Love One Another

Stand Together

Fight this war, no matter the cost

Pray for our children

Turn our hearts toward heaven

Seek to be one nation under God.

God Bless and Guide You in your Christian Walk Today

“The Lord bless you and keep you,
the Lord make his face shine upon you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”
-- Numbers 6:24-27

You can help when no one else can."
  -- c. 2001, Alcoholics Anonymous, page 89
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