WILLINGNESS TO LET GOD CHANGE ME

AFTER DISCOVERING MY SINFUL HABITS AND ATTITUDES AND CONFESSING THEM, I AM NOW WILLING TO LET GOD CHANGE ME.

Welcome to Living Life Recovery and the end of the first week of the Step 6 series for 2021. Through this series, it is my hope people will listen to the weekly podcast and visit the website each day. The purpose of the series is to give people some Biblical understanding of the Twelve Steps of Living Life Recovery. Steps based on the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous but worded differently because early in my recovery I did not feel The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous went far enough. I had to reword the based on the Twelve Steps I received from The Holy Spirit back in 2005.

Step six in my experience has one purpose. It is for us to be willing to allow God to make the changes He knows are necessary in our character in order for us to be used by Him to help others still suffering from the negative effect of their own addictions and compulsions or the addictions and compulsion’s of a family member or friend.

I do apologise tonight was meant to be a video but I am not feeling like setting up a camera and sitting in front of it (big week back at work after being on leave) That being said feel free to listen to the podcast attached if you prefer listening more than reading.

The Twelve Steps are a process. Numbered one to twelve for a reason and this step requires prior to completing it you have completed the steps before it. Especially Steps four and five.

DISCOVERING MY SINFUL HABITS
Step 4: In order to help me change, I will investigate and record with God’s help – my sinful habits and attitudes.

CONFESSING MY SINFUL HABITS AND ATTITUDES
Step 5: On completion of my list of sinful habits, I will confess them to God and to someone that I trust. 

I read this quote this week which I think fits in with our subject today:

I knew Jesus, He was very precious to my soul, but I found.
something in me that would not keep patient, sweet, and
kind. I did what I could to keep it down, but it was there. I
sought Jesus to do something and when I gave Him my will
 He came to my heart and took all that would not be patient
and He shut that door.

Step Three says ‘I am making a decision to let God help me change and commit to working with him to do so.’
Again willingness to let God help and proof that we can’t do this successfully in our own strength.

Willingness means to consent or be ready to do something. In the Bible, willingness means to be obedient and be prepared to pray, to study God’s Word, and to do what He commands.

Some of the other words associated with willingness are:

• Desire
  Hard choice! The desire to break camp here and be with Christ is powerful.   Philippians 1:23
  
  • A desire to give up what I am used to and follow whatever God has planned for me. And, it is a hard choice. When you have lived your life depending on yourself because it was falling apart in every relationship you were in. A hard choice to say to God “Here You go! I have tried on my own and it didn’t work so now I am putting my trust in YOU!O sr lw
    
• Dedication
  The Lord says, “I will teach you and guide you in the way you should live. I will watch over you and be your guide.
  Psalms 32:8
  
  • Dedication to living the way God wants you to live, knowing that He has His eye on everything you do.
    
• Decisiveness
  “If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body.  Matthew 6:25
  
  • Putting in the work to discover God’s will for our lives and apply it will result in life getting better. I can tell you that from experience and can also confirm He will look after you. He has not brought you this far to drop you.

•    Determination
   Let us run with determination the race that lies before us.  Hebrews 12:1
  • Recovery is a jog, not a sprint. But it’s a jog we need to run expecting to reach the end. We need to be prepared for whatever God has planned for our lives. After thirty-two years of being in Bible-based recovery, I can testify my life today is nothing like I expected it to be. It’s so much better and yours can be too.
    

Another word associated with willingness is EAGERNESS.
– God wants us to be enthusiastic about recovery. To step up and be counted when it comes to helping others. He wants us to willingly get involved in service wherever He has placed us and toe be ‘Different and make a difference.’

Matthew 26:41 Says “Stay alert; be in prayer so you don’t wander into temptation without even knowing you’re in danger. There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God. But there’s another part that’s as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire.”  

THREE CHARACTERS WE NEED TO ADOPT IN OUR WILLINGNESS TOL LET GOD CHANGE US.

• Dedication to spiritual growth
  There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.  Philippians 1:6
  
• Embracing the present
  Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns.  Philippians 4:6
  
• Get ready for what is coming
  The God who gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never heard of, in order to give you a taste of the hard life, to test you so that you would be prepared to live well in the days ahead of you. Deuteronomy 8:16

Be ready, Be prepared and be Willing:

Step Seven says Through acknowledgment of God’s supreme power, I humbly ask Him to help me change my sinful habits and attitudes. When we get there we need to be ready, prepared, and willing for the changes He is going to make in and through our lives but we are not there yet.

Join me tomorrow as we continue our series on step six.