Celebrate Recovery Weekly Encouragement 5-10-23

Romans 8:38-39 – A Hope For The Addicted

I wonder if perhaps at the core of addiction we feel that we are unworthy of God’s love, and we either don’t understand or have lost faith in His power. Perhaps we never understood our true identity, or have forgotten it, and we feel lost in the storm. Caught in this struggle, we fight feelings of inadequacy, doubt, pain and worthlessness. We continually chase after our addiction, hoping that it will assuage our fears and pain. Believing that somehow we can overcome on our own, or that we’ll only give in “one last time-then I’m done for good”, we are often unable to fight the urges. In the following moments of self-loathing and defeat, we set up a firmer foundation to return to the addiction to fight the pain. And so the spiral goes, and with each turn the Enemy has us believing a LIE.
We must remember some important verses, a few among many, when we consider this topic.
“..for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39
 God knows your struggle and He loves you anyway. He always has. There is nothing that can separate you from the love of God if you will seek Him. Please don’t give up.
If you, or anyone you know, are struggling with addictions, please do the following:

Tell someone: We are never more vulnerable to the influence of darkness than when we are alone. Don’t be afraid to tell someone you can trust about your struggle.
Get help: Whatever your struggle, there IS a way to fight it. You need help to truly heal; don’t hesitate to get the support you need to recover.
Pray continually: Prayer can lift you out of darkness and into an abundant life. God is mighty to save you and He can and will help you rebuild if you will seek Him.
Help others: There is no greater way to encourage yourself, to get perspective and to open up your heart in humility, than helping those in need.
Every leader at Celebrate Recovery is committed to working with YOU!
You cannot do life alone.

No doubt each one has good qualities and bad. Tonight we are going to look at some of the bad, some of our character shortcomings and sins that can block us from receiving all the joy that God has intended. We will work on four areas of our character tonight and four more at our next session. This exercise will help you get started on your inventory as you search your heart!
Relationships with Others
In Matthew 6:12 –14 (TLB) Jesus tells us to pray, “Forgive us our sins, just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us. Don’t bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the Evil One.” Ask yourself the following questions regarding your relationships with others:
 Who has hurt you?
 Against whom have you been holding a grudge?

Hello forever family! We are getting ready for an evening filled with hope! Come and enjoy a BBQ chicken dinner with all the fixings.
When you purchase your tickets you will automatically receive a raffle ticket. We will be raffling off some great gifts. We are also having TWO silent auctions that will be running at the same time! One will be for special desserts and the other will be all sorts of stuff donated by our local businesses.
Bret and Pauline Gordon will be sharing what God has done in their lives thru the Celebrate Recovery program. Bret is the West Coast Regional Director for Celebrate Recover on the Inside. He and Pauline are also the ministry leaders at New hope Celebrate Recovery in Clovis.
It is very simple to get your tickets for this event, just scan the QR code located beneath this post! We hope to see you there!

Brian Willems CADC 1
Ministry Leader
Celebrate Recovery
New Life Community Dinuba
110 N. Nichols
Dinuba CA 93618
Office 559-591-1176
Cell 949-294-8852