Recovery Thought of the Day - June 1st

Good Morning CR Family,

Please see the Recovery Thought of the Day below from Dana C:

CR Monday: Paradoxical Truths

As we engage in recovery, we sometimes get confused about what God may be doing in our lives. As Christ followers, we don’t always know how he is working in us, in fact most of the time I don’t know, but that is where faith comes in as we continue the journey. The mystery of God is real. It’s not my job to figure it out, it’s my job to believe and trust in Him.

This is where the paradox of recovery reveals itself to us. Or should I say how God reveals himself to us. There are four paradoxes in recovery that I learned about many years ago through my AA sponsor. The paradoxes seem counter-intuitive on the surface but as we experience them through Celebrate Recovery, we see the message of Jesus intersecting in our lives in the most amazing ways.

• We suffer to get well. We come to recovery in turmoil and pain. As we work the12 Steps we continue to encounter pain, but it is necessary as we let go of the past and look forward to a better today and future. Pain is necessary but misery is optional. Psalm 6:2-3 “Pity me, O Lord, for I am weak. Heal me, for my body is sick, and I am upset and disturbed. My mind is filled with apprehension and with gloom.”
• We surrender to win. As we turn our life and will over to God, we ask him to be in charge, relying on his grace to move us forward. Philippians 2:13 “For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”
• We die to live. We have to let go of the past and our old ways of thinking to let the new come in. John 12: 24-25 “Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never more than a grain of wheat. But if it’s is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal.”
• We give it away to keep it. By the time we arrive at Step 12 we realize that many people have helped us on the road to recovery and we need to pass that on to others; sharing our experience, strength and hope. Carry the Good news of how Jesus has saved you and transformed you. Galatians 6: 1-2 “If a Christian is overcome by some sin… humbly help him back onto the right path, remembering that the next time it might be one of you who is in the wrong. Share each other’s troubles and problems, and so obey our Lords command.”

I am reminded how my definition of recovery has changed over the years. In CR I have come to realize that recovery is my daily walk with Jesus, letting him teach me and guide me. Recovery for me is Salvation.

Dana Cramer, Celebrate Recovery/Crossroads

Announcements:

1. If you are in need of prayer, please send your prayer requests to CelebrateRecoveryatCrossroads@gmail.com and we will forward those on to our celebrate recovery prayer team. The Crossroads Church Prayer team would also love to pray for you, so when you send your E-mail, please note if you are okay with us forwarding your prayer request to the church.
2. Fridays at 6:30pm, We are hosting "CR Friday Night Live."   To subscribe to our youtube channel  please click on the following link and select the subscribe button.  CR Youtube Channel Link .  There will be a song or two of worship and then a short recovery based dialog between a couple of CR members.  This will be streamed on youtube. 
3. Fridays we will be hosting on-line open share group meetings at 7:30pm.  There will be one mixed issues group for men and one mixed issues group for women. Men's Open Share Group Sign-Up Link / Women's Open Share Group Sign-Up Link.  These meetings will take place using the Zoom App.  In order to participate you will need a tablet, smart-phone or computer with camera.  In order to ensure confidentiality of these meetings everyone who participates will need to find a private room to set up, have their camera on, so others can see that there is no one else in the room and they will also need to wear a pair of headphones so that they are the only ones that can hear.  This is a free app and you can download it on google play, apple app store or through your web-browser on your computer. For help on how to join a Zoom meeting please click on the the following link, which will take you to their support web-site Zoom Set-Up Help

Blessings,
James U.