Christian Reflection and Prayer

I am a recovering alcoholic.  I have been
recovering since 1978.  I was one of those
happy drunks, this of course only fortified
my conviction to drink.  If I was happy, if
I made everyone happy, it was ok to drink.
Of course I was never taking into account
that drinking was taking over my life.  I
could do nothing, I could not even function
normally without being drunk.  Everybody
loves a happy drunk, but I didn't love myself.
Only when I turned my life over to Jesus, my
supreme being, did I begin to recover.  I received
no help, no encouragement, no assistance
at all from the church, only the head of the
church Jesus Christ.
We as a nation spend over 500 billion dollars,
that's right 500 billion dollars on addiction.
The emergency rooms of our hospitals, the
morgue's of our cities, are filled with the
bodies of drunk drivers, and overdose
victims.  Close to 25% of all Medicare,
and Medicaid expenses come from
substance abuse.
We are in a war and we are loosing the
battles.  Among all of this, Where is the
church?  If, as a church, we want to see
God at work in our communities, I think we
need to examine and help these lives that are
being lost to self-destruction. 
It is fine for a church to hold pot luck dinners,
present Christmas Pagaents, and have Wednesday
night prayer services. What is not fine, is for a
church, the body of Christ, to be apathetic and
unconcerned about the individual lives of our
community.   
If, we as a church, are to serve God, then we are
to serve His people. 
We need to see and help those lives that are being
disturbed by the epidemic of addiction.  The bottom
line has been reached and our cities and towns are
spinning wildly into self-destruction. It's time to stop
building walls around our individual lives.  We must
respond to the call as a faith community.  We must
respond as a "church" of God.  It's time to launch
"recovery ministries" in our churches.  It's time to
open all aspects of our church life to addicts who are
seeking recovery.  It's time to make a difference, one
day at
a time, one life at a time, in a whole society
that is caught in the "down fall" of addiction,.
WE NEED TO GET INVOLVED NOW!  If we are
are truly the body of Christ, then we are to be
INVOLVED NOW!  THERE IS SOMEONE IN
NEED.......DO SOMETHING!

"Help me to perform whatever miracles you want of me today."

Prayer to Overcome Addictions

Dear God,
I come to You as I come to no one else.
I am so sorry. I have tried to throw away my life, my body, my soul—through addiction.
But recognition of my addiction has never given me power to control it.
You know this. You never blame me. You know the truth.
Addiction is an attractor field in which minds and bodies become mired to escape emotional pain.
But there is another, better way to escape pain.
Pain is transcended through an authentic calling from You.
Therefore, I surrender myself, now, to You.
I demand, now, in this moment, Father, that You call me—that You call me loudly.
You raise me up out of addiction and into a higher level attractor field.
And as You raise me, so do You raise Humanity out of addiction and into a higher level attractor field.
Together we rise, as one force in You, one at a time and together.
Because the world needs us. We rise or we fall, together.
For You need me. I am Your Thoughts, Your Voice, Your Hands.
I rejoice in awe over my inherent holiness: I am where You reside.
By Your grace, as I read this, my mind is aligned with Yours.
By Your grace, the power of my mind is multiplied exponentially by all who read this.
Aligned with You, we are more powerful than any evil—
or any substance—can ever be.
Together WE form a conduit of love that reaches into my need for addiction and I am healed.
By healing myself, I now heal Humanity's need for addiction.
Joy fills my soul. My gratitude is infinite.

Thank You.

Scripture:

All the believers were united in heart
and mind. And they felt that what they
owned was not their own, so they
shared everything they had. The
apostles testified powerfully to the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and
God's great blessing was upon them all.
Acts 4:32, NLT

Reflection:
.
What do "things", mean to you.
Are "things", important to you.
Is it important to own what you possess.
I think to most people ownership is very
important. But today's scripture
verse gives us a very different slant.
None of these Christians felt that what
they possessed was their own, and
so they were able to give and share,
actually eliminating poverty among
them. This is important, THEY WOULD
NOT LET A BROTHER OR SISTER SUFFER
WHEN OTHERS HAD PLENTY.
This question begs an answer, "How do
you feel about your possessions? It seems
to me that we, all of us, need to adopt a new
attitude given to us by the scriptures. That
attitude is THAT EVERYTHING, YES
EVERYTHING, WE HAVE COMES FROM
GOD, AND WE ARE ONLY SHARING WHAT
IS ALREADY HIS.
With that attitude I know what "things" are
in my life.

Prayer:

Oh God thank You for sharing with me Your
grace. And especially, Oh God, for sharing
Your Son with me. Oh Lord let it be that
the only "thing" I possess, is the power of
the Holy Spirit!

Scripture:

18"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
Luke 4:18-19 (New International Version)

(Please take time and read this,
and when your finished please,
please say a Prayer of Thanksgiving.)

Louise Redden, a poorly dressed lady
with a look of defeat on her face, walked
into a grocery store. She approached
the owner of the store in a most humble
manner and asked if he would let her
charge a few groceries.

She softly explained that her husband
was very ill and unable to work, they
had seven children and they needed food.

John Longhouse, the grocer, scoffed at
her and requested that she leave his
store at once.

Visualizing the family needs, she said:
'Please, sir! I will bring you the money
just as soon as I can.'

John told her he could not give her
credit, since she did not have a charge
account at his store.

Standing beside the counter was a
customer who overheard the conversation
between the two. The customer walked
forward and told the grocer that he would
stand good for whatever she needed for
her family. The grocer said in a very
reluctant voice, 'Do you have a grocery list?'

Louise replied, 'Yes sir.' 'O.K' he said,
'put your grocery list on the scales and
whatever your grocery list weighs, I will
give you that amount in groceries.'

Louise hesitated a moment with a bowed
head, then she reached into her purse
and took out a piece of paper and scribbled
something on it. She then laid the piece
of paper on the scale carefully with her
head still bowed.

The eyes of the grocer and the customer
showed amazement when the scales went
down and stayed down.

The grocer, staring at the scales, turned
slowly to the customer and said begrudgingly,
'I can't believe it.'

The customer smiled and the grocer
started putting the groceries on the other
side of the scales. The scale did not
balance so he continued to put more and
more groceries on them until the scales
would hold no more.

The grocer stood there in utter disgust.
Finally, he grabbed the piece of paper
from the scales and looked at it with
greater amazement.

It was not a grocery list, it was a prayer,
which said:

'Dear Lord, you know my needs and
I am leaving this in your hands.'

The grocer gave her the groceries that
he had Gathered and stood in stunned
silence.

Louise thanked him and left the store.
The other customer handed a fifty-dollar
bill to the grocer and said; 'It was worth
every penny of it. 'ONLY GOD KNOWS
HOW MUCH A PRAYER WEIGHS'

THE POWER: When you read this,
say a prayer. That's all you have to do.

Just stop right now, and say a prayer
of thanks for your own good fortune. ..

So dear heart, trust God to heal the sick,
provide food for the hungry, clothes and
shelter for those that don't have as we do.

AMEN & AMEN