Everyone has three different characters:
1. The one we exhibit
2. The one we think we have.
3. The one we truly have.
Ps 139:23-24 – Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Isa 1:18 – Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

I. RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHERS
Mt 6:12-13 – 12Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.[a]‘
Mt 6:43-47 – 43″You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[h] and hate your enemy.’ 44But I tell you: Love your enemies[i] and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?
- Who has hurt you? How did they specifically hurt you?
- Who are you holding a grudge against? (Seeking revenge?)
- Who are you jealous of? Why?
- Who have you hurt? How did you hurt them?
- Who have you been critical of or gossiped about? Why?
- How have you attempted to place the blame on someone else?
- What new healthy relationships have you developed since you have been in recovery?

II. PRIORITIES IN LIFE
Mt 6:33 – But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
1 Cor 10:31 – So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
- What areas of your life have you been able to turn over to your Higher Power, Jesus Christ?
- In what areas of your life are you still not putting God first? Why not?
- What in your past is keeping you from seeking and following God’s will for your life?
- Number the following list in order of your personal priorities.
____ career
____ family
____ church
____ Christ
____ friendships
____ money
____ ministry
- What are your personal goals for the next ninety days? (Keep it simple!)
III. ATTITUDE
Eph 4:31 – 31Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.
Rom 12:18 – If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
Phil 2:3 – Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
- What areas in your life are you thankful for?
- In the past, what things have you been ungrateful over?
- What causes you to lose your temper?
- To whom have you been sarcastic to in the past? (Give examples)
- What in your past are you still worried about?
- How has your attitude improved since you have been in recovery?

IV. INTEGRITY
Col 3:9 – Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices
2 Cor 5:17 – Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

- In the past, how have you exaggerated to make yourself look good?
- Does your walk as a Christian match your talk? Are your actions the same at recovery meetings, church, home and work?
- In what areas of your past have you used false humility to impress someone?
- Have any of your past business dealings been dishonest? Have you ever stolen things?

But when I can stand toe-to-toe with other coworkers, who honor the same God as I do, it really is one of those special moments you remember. Being able to lift our praises and our prayers to the Lord, in the middle of a work day, humbles me yet encourages me beyond words. I don’t know about you, but it’s sometimes overwhelming to hear every voice raised to God and every voice blessing His name.

Thanks to all who were there and God bless you.

Steve

In time of…

Helplessness -
Philippians 2:13 – for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

Dwelling on the past –
2 Corinthians 5:17 – Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Wanting –
Philippians 4:19 – And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Loneliness –
Matthew 28:20 – and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Oppression, Trouble –
Psalm 9:9 – The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.

Fear, Doubt –
Joshua 1:9 – Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.

Melancholy, Apathy –
Psalm 118:24 – This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Worry –
1 Peter 5:7 – Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Principle 4: Openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone I trust.

Step 4: We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

Lam 3:40 – Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD.

I. The Person

Person or object you resent or fear…resentment is mostly unexpressed anger and fear. All of them.

II. The Cause

“hurt people hurt people”
Isa 41:10 – So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand

III. The Effect

How the specified hurt affected your life both in the past and in the present

IV. The Damage

Social – broken relationships, slander, or gossip?
Security – has your physical safety been threatened? Financial loss?
Sexual – abusive relationship? Intimacy or trust been damaged or broken?

Eze 34:16 – I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, … I will shepherd the flock with justice.
V. My Part – Lam 3:40 – Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD.

Ps 129:23 – Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts
Caveat for abuse victims: Rewritten Step 4 – Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves, realizing all wrongs can be forgiven. Renounce the lie that the abuse was our fault.
Wrap Up –
1. Memorize Isa 1:18 – “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
2. Balance the Scale Verses
3. Keep your inventory balanced. List the good and the bad.
4. Continue to develop your support team.
5. Pray continuously.

By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

Whereas, the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing the Supreme Authority and just Government of Almighty God, in all the affairs of men and of nations, has, by a resolution, requested the President to designate and set apart a day for National prayer and humiliation.

And whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.

And, insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment, inflicted upon us, for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole People? We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!

It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.

Now, therefore, in compliance with the request, and fully concurring in the views of the Senate, I do, by this my proclamation, designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th. day of April, 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting and prayer. And I do hereby request all the People to abstain, on that day, from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to unite, at their several places of public worship and their respective homes, in keeping the day holy to the Lord, and devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion.

All this being done, in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope authorized by the Divine teachings, that the united cry of the Nation will be heard on high, and answered with blessings, no less than the pardon of our national sins, and the restoration of our now divided and suffering Country, to its former happy condition of unity and peace.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty seventh.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln
William H. Seward, Secretary of State.

Principle 4: Openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone I trust.

Step 4: We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

Lam 3:40 – Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD.

We need 3 relationships – Jesus Christ, church family (recovery group), and sponsor.

An inventory without a sponsor is like peeling an onion to find the core—you’re left with peelings and tears.

Moral inventory – getting rid of “truth” decay
Pr 15:14 – The discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly.
1. Why do I need a sponsor and/or an accountability partner?
2. What are the qualities of a sponsor?
3. What does a sponsor do?
4. How do I find a sponsor and/or an accountability partner?
5. What is the difference between a sponsor and an accountability partner?
Why do I need a Sponsor and/ or an Accountability Partner?
a. Biblical
Ecc 4:9-12 – 9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: 10 If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! 11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? 12 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Pr 27:17 – As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another
One another – used over fifty times in the NT
b. Key part of recovery program (4 key aspects)
1. Maintaining an honest view of reality as you work each step
2. Make attendance at recovery group a priority in your schedule
3. Maintain relationship with Christ – prayer, meditation, and study of His Word.
4. Get involved in service.
c. Best guard against relapse
Ecc 7:5 – It is better to heed a wise man’s rebuke than to listen to the song of fools

What are the qualities of a sponsor?

Pr 20:5 – The purposes of a man’s heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out.

1. Does the walk match the talk?
2. A growing relationship with Christ?
3. An expressed desire to help others on the road to recovery?
4. Compassion, care, hope, but not pity?
5. A good listener?
6. Strong enough to confront your denial or procrastination?
7. Offer suggestions?
8. Can they share their own current struggles with others?

What is the role of a sponsor?

1. Can discuss issues in detail that are too personal or would take too much time in a meeting. The sponsor’s role is to model Christ’s forgiveness, grace and give a sense of perspective.
2. Available in times of crisis.
3. Serves as a sounding board by providing an objective point of view.
4. There to encourage you to work the principles at your own speed.
5. Attempts to model the lifestyle that results from working the principles
6. A sponsor can resign or be fired.

How do I find a sponsor/accountability partner.

1. Member of the same sex.
2. Can you relate to their story.
3. Invest some time in fellowship.
4. Do not take a “no” as a personal rejection.
5. Ask God to lead you to the sponsor of His choosing.

Sponsor – has completed the four Celebrate Recovery participant’s guides and has worked through the eight principles and the 12 steps.

Accountability partner can be at the same level – can have a “team” approach – Sponsor is the “coach”

Principle 4: Openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone I trust.

“Happy are the pure in heart” (Mt 5:8)

Step 4: We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

“Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.” Lam 3:40

The word moral means honest

Make time
Open
Rely
Analyze
List

MAKE TIME – Schedule an appointment with yourself
Job 33:33 – be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”
Ps 25:14 – The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them.
Ps 33:18 – But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love
Pr 1:7 – The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline

OPEN – “open wide” your heart and mind to allow the feelings that the pain of the past has blocked or caused you to deny. Denial may have protected you from your feelings and repressed your pain for a while. But now it has blocked and prevented your recovery from your hurts, hang ups, and habits. You need to “open wide” to see real truth.
Job 7:11 – “Therefore I will not keep silent; I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
Questions: What do I feel guilty about? Difference between guilt(conviction) and condemnation – Rom 8:1
What do I resent? Burying our hurts… if left to decay lead to anger, frustration and depression
What are my fears?
Josh 1:9 – Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go
2 Tim 1:7 – For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
Am I trapped in self-pity, alibis, and/or dishonest thinking? The truth does not change; your feelings do

RELY – Rely on Jesus to give you the courage and strength this step requires. When your knees are knocking from fear, it might help to kneel on them.
Isa 40:29 – He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak
2 Cor 11:10 – That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Ps 31:23-24 – 23 Love the LORD, all his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful, but the proud he pays back in full. 24 Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.
Courage is not the absence of fear but conquering it

ANALYZE – you must look through the denial of the past into the truth of the present—your true feelings, motives, thoughts,– your “dark side”
Pr 20:27 – The lamp of the LORD searches the spirit of a man it searches out his inmost being.
Isa 1:18 – “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

LIST – written list of the past – both good and bad; face to face with the reality of your character defects.
A black and white discovery of who you truly are way down deep.
Lam 3:40 – Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD

Not just negative—honestly focus on the pros and cons of your past
Strong need for an accountability partner

Principle 3: Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ’s care and control.
Step 3: We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God.

Accept
Commit
Turn it over
It’s only the beginning
One day at a time
Next step

ACCEPT – The first step – Accept Jesus Christ as your Higher Power and Savior!

This is a once in a lifetime decision:
Rom 10:9 – That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Heb 13:5b – “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
Rom 8:1 – Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

COMMIT – Willpower becomes the willingness to accept God’s power to guide your life. Tension between all about me and all about God.
2 Tim 1:7 – For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
1 Jn 4:4 – You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
Ps 143:10 – Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.

TURN IT OVER – “Let go and let God”
Pr 3:6 – in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
In everything you do…not just some things
Mt 11:28-30 – “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Eph 6:13 – Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

IT’S ONLY THE BEGINNING – The miracle doesn’t happen overnight
Phil 1:6 – being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Recovery is not a 3 principle program – it’s just the beginning of a new life lived….

ONE DAY AT A TIME – if we remain stuck in the yesterday or constantly worry about tomorrow; we will waste the precious time of the present. It is only in the present that change and growth can occur. We can’t change yesterday and we can only pray about tomorrow.
Mt 6:34 – Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own
2 Pet 3:8-9 – But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

NEXT STEP – to ask Jesus Christ into your life – a daily rededication
“a spiritual base”

2 Cor 13:5 – Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?

Believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for me and showed he was God by coming back to life – 1 Cor 15:2-4

Accept God’s forgiveness for my sins – Rom 3:22

Switch to God’s plan for my life – Rom 12:2

Express my desire for Christ to be the director of my life – Rom 10:9

Principle 3: Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ’s care and control.
Step 3: We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God.

Rom 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual[a] act of worship.

We must first commit and surrender our lives to the true Higher Power, Jesus Christ, and then we are able to turn over our wills to Him. When you choose to live this principle, you consciously choose to commit all your life and will to Christ’s care and control.

Trust
Understand
Repent
New Life

Trust
We trust our lives to complete strangers every day. We trust that oncoming cars will stop at intersections. We trust the food at restaurants, etc.
In Principle 3, we make the one-time decision to turn your life over to the care of God. It’s your choice, not chance, that determines your destiny. And that decision only requires trust, putting your faith into action! What is faith? Taking God at His word.
Romans 10:9 – That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Our salvation depends upon God’s love for us, not our love for Him.

Understand
Relying solely upon our own understanding got most of us into recovery in the first place! After you make the decision to ask Jesus into your life, you need to begin to seek His will for your life in all your decisions. You need to get to know and understand Him and what He wants for your life. Example: Being a student of your husband/wife
Pr 3:5,6 – 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Our understanding is earthbound, but God sees forever. He directs us step by step, not day by day, or year by year.
1 Cor 13:12 – Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

Repent
Repentance is how you begin to enjoy the freedom of your loving relationship with God. True repentance affects our whole person and changes our entire view of life. Repentance is to take God’s point of view on our lives instead of our own. To truly repent you need to do 2 things: 1) turn away from your sins; 2) turn toward God.

Eze 18:30-31 -… Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. 31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit…
Rom 12:2 – 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will
2 Cor 7:10 – Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

Repentance is not self-loathing, it is God loving. We don’t come to Celebrate Recovery to be punished but to be loved by God through the support of our brothers and sisters.
When you turn to Him, you receive a New Life.

New Life
“Life is a hereditary disease” “Life is a sentence that we have to serve for being born” “Life is a predicament that precedes death”
When you accept Christ into your life, you will receive a new loving nature dwelling within you from Christ. God has declared you not guilty and you no longer have to live under the power of sin.
2 Cor 5:17 – Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
The new you says,
Mk 8:35 -For whoever wants to save his life[a] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it
Lk 6:38 – Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you
Mt 5, 6, 7 Sermon on the Mount
Eph 1:13 – And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit
The rest of the principle, however, turning your will over to Him, requires daily recommitment! You can begin by going to your Bible regularly, opening it prayerfully, reading it expectantly, and living it joyfully.
Turning your life over to Christ
Is a once in a lifetime commitment!
Turning your will over to Christ
Requires a daily recommitment!