We've been talking about finding our freedom in Christ. We've outlined steps involved in walking in the victory provided by our Savior.
1) daily admit our need; 2) daily seek God; 3) daily surrender to Christ's control; 4) daily come clean with God; 5) daily cooperate with God's work to change my life; 6) choose to forgive others and make amends when necessary. All believers are to be involved in recovery, learning how to live the new life we have in Christ.
But today I want to talk about how you maintain your recovery? How do you not lose the progress you are making in your Christian life?
Growth isn't smooth. It's often two steps forward and one step back. It You can have problems and fall back into self-defeating patterns. That's relapse. The Bible term is backsliding (Jeremiah 3:12). The alcoholic goes back to drinking. The overeater gains the weight back. The gambler goes back to the casino. The workaholic fills up his schedule again. We tend to repeat the patterns of our past. It's very easy to slip back. It's easy to slip back into old hurts, old habits and old hang-ups. Let's look at what causes us to relapse or backslide; and how we can avoid it.
1. What causes us to relapse? Relapse follows a predictable pattern.
A. Commitment gives way to comfort. You're working the steps we've been talking about and are experiencing freedom through Christ. You're having victory over habits that had overtaken you, hang-ups that had overshadowed you, and hurts that had overwhelmed you.
B. Comfort leads to complacency. You start thinking, "I'm doing pretty good. Life is going pretty smooth. I don't need to go to Bible study. I don't need to go to CR this week. I can miss worship this week. I don't need to read my Bible and pray everyday."
C. Complacency leads to confusion. You think, "Maybe it wasn't really so bad after all, the problem really wasn't that bad, I can handle it myself." You start forgetting how bad it was when you weren't walking in freedom and you're tempted to go back to your old ways.
D. Confusion leads to compromise. You return to the risky situations that got you in trouble in the first place, the places of temptation. Like the gambler who says, "Let's go to Vegas, we'll just see the shows."
E. Compromise leads to catastrophe. You go back to living in bondage again; and give into that old habit, hurt, hatred, or hang-up.
We find ourselves living like a person who doesn't even know Jesus.
2. How do we prevent a relapse?
This brings us to the second "R" in "Recovery."
Reserve a daily time with God for self-examination, Bible reading and prayer in order to know God and His will for my life and gain the power to do it. (READ TEXT)
Jesus says it is human nature to have a relapse, to go back to things that mess us up even though we know they mess us up. It's human nature to let past problems revisit us, old hurts, and hang-ups come back to haunt us. So He said, you need to have some safeguards. And that's what this step is about. There are three safeguards that help you maintain your recovery and continue to walk in the freedom we have in Christ.
A. Examination - I need to invite God to examine my heart and show me where I am going wrong and lead me in the way that is right.
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. " - Psalm 139:23-24 (NLT)
Do a heart check.
H - Am I hurting?
E - Am I exhausted?
A - Am I angry?
R - Do I resent anybody?
T - Am I tense? Anxious? Fearful?
How often should I do a HEART check? Well, it's kind of like how you might go about cleaning your house:
1) Moment by moment. Some of you are neat-nicks. You are constant cleaners, you live with a dust buster strapped in your holster. You walk around behind the kids, picking up after them, like those waiters at restaurants who take your plate before you've finished your meal.
At anytime of the day, when God shows you something, you can deal with it. We need to learn "spiritual breathing." Spiritual breathing happens when you blow it, and you immediately confess the sin, blow it out and breathe in God's love, saying "I receive Your forgiveness." You need to learn to do that on a moment by moment basis. You can do spiritual breathing a thousand times a day as the need be. Keep short accounts with God. Don't let those sins stockpile.
How often do you take out the garbage? If you just let it pile up and up, pretty soon your house starts stinking. You have to take it out when it needs taking out. We need to do the same with our spiritual garbage.
2) Daily. Others of you clean house daily. You look around the house and do a daily clean up, so that things won't get the better of you.
Likewise, each day find a quiet spot and ask God to examine your life, confess your failures, and celebrate your victories.
3) Annually. Others of you clean house once a year, whether it needs it or not. Kind of like spring cleaning.
Go away for a day and take some time off to really look at your life. Look at my life, see if it's in order, and prioritize the things.
B. Meditation - Slow down long enough to hear God. This is the secret of spiritual strength and Satan fights nothing harder than our making sure we get time alone with God. He has three tools he uses: noise, crowds and hurry. Those three things can keep us from hearing God.
The key to growth is to have roots down deep in God's word and the way you do that is you to meditate on God's Word, thinking about what you read in the Bible what God is saying to you through His Word.
"Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither - whatever they do prospers." - Psalm 1:1-3 (NIV)
Notice what we are told here about the believer who daily meditates on God's Word.
1) The truth of the Word keeps him from the lies of the world.
"Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night."
2) The presence of the Spirit gives him the power of God's strength.
Water often symbolizes the Holy Spirit. The person who meditates on God's Word, plants himself in dependence on the Holy Spirit, who then uses God's Word to work in them to make their life . . .
A) Fruitful - ". . . which yields its fruit in season . . ."
No matter what season of life you are in, God will use you. Your life will have purpose.
B) Fresh - ". . . whose leaf does not wither . . ." An evergreen tree!
When the heat's on you won't wither away and when the drought comes you won't dry up and blow away. You don't have a relapse. Your life will show perseverance.
C) Favored - ". . . whatever they do prospers."
Meditating on God's Word helps you know the right thing to do and succeed in life. You "Knowing God's will and being in the center of it" (George W. Truett). Your life will please God.
If you know how to worry you know how to meditate. Worry is just negative meditation. You take a negative thought and think on it over and over and over. That's worry. Instead, take a verse of the Bible and think on it over and over and over - that's meditation. So if you know how to worry, you know how to meditate.
C. Prayer.
"To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing." - Martin Luther
"This, then, is how you should pray: Notice it says this is 'how' you should pray, not 'what' you should pray. It's a model. It is not a ritual to be prayed. Note how the recovery steps are covered in this prayer. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, that's steps one and two - Admitting my need and seeking God; your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven, that's step five - cooperating with God's work to change my life. Give us today our daily bread, that's step three - daily surrendering to Christ's control. And forgive us our debts, that's step four - daily coming clean with God; as we also have forgiven our debtors, that's step six - choose to forgive others and make amends when necessary. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one, that's this step." - Matthew 6:9-13 (NIV)
Conclusion: What if I have relapsed? What should I do? The good news is that God pursues His children and calls them back to Himself.
"Return, backsliding Israel," says the LORD . . . "For I am merciful," says the LORD - Jeremiah 3:12 (NKJV)
