The God Idea

When we saw others solve the problems by simple reliance upon a Spirit of the Universe, we had to stop doubting the power of God. Our ideas did not work. But the God idea did.

Like a blind man gradually being restored to sight, I slowly groped my way to the Third Step. Having realized that only a Power greater than myself could rescue me from the hopeless abyss I was in, I knew that this was a Power that I had to grasp, and that it would be my anchor in the midst of the sea of woes. Even though my faith at the time was miniscule, it was big enough to make me see that it was time for me to discard my reliance on my prideful ego and replace it with a steady strength that could only come from a Power far greater than myself.

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Family Influence

Bible reading: Nehemiah 9:34 – 38

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. Lamentations 3:40

Principle 4 –  Openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone I trust. (Steps  4 and 5)

“Happy are the pure in heart.”

Our family of origin has had an influence on who we are today. Some of us want to pretend that our families were, or are, nearly perfect. Others of us may tend to avoid responsibility for our actions by blaming our families. Whatever the case, when we think about our own lives, we also need to deal with our families and the effects they have had on who we are today.

We’re told that the returned Jewish exiles “took turns confessing their own sins and those of their ancestors” (Nehemiah 9:3). They blame their ancestors for the captivity in the difficult situation they were  . They said, “they [our ancestors] refused to turn from their wickedness. So, now we are slaves here in the land of plenty that you gave to our ancestors!… And we serve them [conquering kings] at their pleasure and are in great misery” (Nehemiah 9:35 – 37).

It’s all right to admit the truth about what brought us into bondage. This might very well involve the wrongs committed by our parents and family. It’s all right to express our anger and regret over what’s been done to us. We have a right to hold others accountable and grieve over the negative effects they had on our lives. That is part of the real picture. It’s not all right to use this as an excuse for our wrong choices or for staying in bondage. They may be partly responsible for bringing us to this place. We’re responsible for moving on to a better place for ourselves and our children.

Past generations help create our present circumstances; our confessions can free us for a better future.

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The Keystone

He is the father, we are his children. Most good ideas are simple, and this concept was the keystone of the new and triumphant arch through which we passed to freedom.

A keystone is the wedge shaped piece at the highest part of an arch that locks the other pieces in place. The “other pieces” are steps one, two, and four through 12. In one sense this sounds like step three is the most important step, that the other 11 depend on the third for support. In reality however, step three is just one of the 12. It is the keystone, but without 11 other stones to build the base and arms, keystone or not, there will be no arch. Through daily working of all 12 steps, I find that triumphant arch waiting for me to pass through to another day of freedom.

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A World Of The Spirit

We have entered the world of the Spirit. Our next function is to grow in understanding and effectiveness. This is not an overnight matter. It should continue for our lifetime.

The word “entered” and the phrase “entered into the world of the Spirit” are very significant they imply action, the beginning, getting into, a prerequisite to maintaining my spiritual growth, the “Spirit” being the immaterial part of me. Barriers to my spiritual growth our self-centeredness and the materialistic focus on worldly things. Spirituality means devotion to spiritual instead of worldly things, it means obedience to God’s will for me. I understand spiritual things to be: unconditional love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control and humility. Anytime I allow selfishness, dishonesty, resentments and fear to be a part of me, I block Spiritual things. As I maintain my sobriety, growing spiritually becomes a lifelong process. My goal is spiritual growth, accepting that I’ll never have spiritual perfection.

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Confession

Bible reading: Nehemiah 9:1 – 3

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. Lamentations 3:40

Principle 4 –  Openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone I trust. (Steps  4 and 5)

“Happy are the pure in heart.”

The heart of our moral inventory will probably deal with our destructive habits, defects of character, the wrongs we’ve done, the consequences that we now live with, and the hurt we’ve caused others. It’s like sifting through all the garbage. This part is painful, but a necessary part of throwing away those rotten habits and behaviors that are spoiling the rest of our lives.

The returned Jewish exiles are described as “confessing their own sins” (Nehemiah 9:3); this phrase speaks volumes. The word confessing means “to bemoan something by wringing of the hands” and also “to throw away”. The word sins means “offenses and their occasions”; it can also refer to habitual sinfulness and the consequences of such behavior.

This can serve as a model for us to follow. We can list the occasions of our offenses, our destructive habits, and the consequences were brought into our lives and the lives of others. Let’s also look at what was done within the process of “confessing their own sins”. They owned each part; they bemoaned each part; and then they threw it all away. Their inventory was a time of cleaning out the garbage. After this they were better able to make a new start.

In dealing with the garbage in our lives we can “own” it by taking personal responsibility for our choices and actions. We can "bemoan” it by allowing ourselves to grieve. We can “throw it away” by leaving it behind and turning towards the future.

Our time of confession should be a time of celebration.

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God's Standard

Bible Reading:  James 1:21-25

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. Lamentations 3:40

Principle 4 –  Openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone I trust. (Steps  4 and 5)

“Happy are the pure in heart.”

When making an inventory, some kind of list is usually used to help take stock of what’s on hand. If we lived our lives with dysfunctional influences, our idea of what “normal” probably won’t be a very good measuring stick for evaluating our lives. We’ll need another standard to help us take account of where we are.

The Jewish exiles who returned to Jerusalem had grown up in captivity. They started their inventory by finding a new standard. “The laws of God were read aloud to them for two or three hours, and for several more hours they took turns confessing their own sins" (Nehemiah 9:3).

The apostle Paul ridiculed the idea that we could measure our lives by the people around us. He said this of the Corinthian believers: “Their trouble is that they are only comparing themselves with each other, and measuring themselves against their own little ideas. What stupidity!… Our goal is to measure up to God’s plan for us" (2 Corinthians 10:12 – 13).

James wrote, “Humbly be glad for the wonderful message we have received, for it is able to save our souls… But if anyone keeps looking steadily into God’s law for free men, he will not only remember it, but he will do what it says, and God will greatly bless him in everything he does" (James 1:21 – 25).

In doing our moral inventory, we will get better results if we use God’s Word as a measuring stick. This should give the perspective we need as we seek to sort out our lives.

Our recovery involves coming to terms with ourselves as we really are.

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A Days Plan

On awakening, let us think about the twenty-four hours ahead.  We consider our plans for the day.  Before we begin, we ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives.

Every day I ask God to kindle within me the fire of His love, so that love, burning bright and clear, will illuminate my thinking and permit me to better do His will.  Throughout the day, as I allow outside circumstances to dampen my spirits, I ask God to sear my consciousness with the awareness that I can start my day over any time I choose; a hundred times if necessary.

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