103 Jeremiah 17:7,8 Leap of Faith
JMD Devotional 103 Jeremiah 17:7,8 Leap of Faith
[Most] blessed is the man who believes in, trusts in, and relies on the Lord, and whose hope and confidence the Lord is. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters that spreads out its roots by the river; and it shall not see and fear when heat comes; but its leaf shall be green. It shall not be anxious and full of care in the year of drought, nor shall it cease yielding fruit.
Critics accuse devout Christians of being a brain-washed people exercising blind faith. Christian Faith is centered on unseen realities, but it has never been baseless. Jesus appealed to the skeptical men of His day to regard the miracles He performed as God's authentication of His ministry and its claims. The Apostles boldly proclaimed the Resurrection before a hostile society who had every opportunity to refute it; but could not. Paul made bold intellectual arguments asserting that the natural world is replete with the evidences of an All-Mighty God. Over the following centuries countless followers suffered martyrdom rather than renounce their Lord before Roman Emperors. A mere 'hail Caesar' would have saved their lives, but they held a truth passed down person-to-person that was more real than a painful death, and more precious than their very lives. Many critics, bent on destroying our religion became converts through merely reading the Bible, because the truth rings true! Throughout history we have the testimony of countless lives that have been transformed by simply believing in a higher power and asking for His help. Alcoholics Anonymous and other recovery counseling ministries have been preeminently successful in using this leap of faith in God to transform the most retched of lives into reformed men and women. Trusting in, clinging to and relying upon a 'Higher Power' somehow gave them the power to be 'reborn.'
The 12 Suggested Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol--that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. (Copyright Alcoholics Anonymous)
Dear God,
I praise You and thank You that I know you by so many names, much more descriptive and appropriate than "Higher Power"; but thank You for receiving broken and hurting addicts in their ignorance when they turn to You. May no one who trusts in You ever be ashamed; may those You have touched bring You glory in their radical transformation. May our faith continue so that we can more perfectly and consistently display your regenerative power in every area of our lives; until complete perfection comes in Christ.
Amen
All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)
If you know of someone who would like to subscribe to
my daily devotional, please forward.
jamesdinsmore_32907@yahoo.com
Short, concise, thought-provoking.
More features:
My Poetry
http://saintjamespoetry.blog.com/
(Some) of my Devotionals
http://recoverydevotional.blogspot.com/
[Most] blessed is the man who believes in, trusts in, and relies on the Lord, and whose hope and confidence the Lord is. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters that spreads out its roots by the river; and it shall not see and fear when heat comes; but its leaf shall be green. It shall not be anxious and full of care in the year of drought, nor shall it cease yielding fruit.
Critics accuse devout Christians of being a brain-washed people exercising blind faith. Christian Faith is centered on unseen realities, but it has never been baseless. Jesus appealed to the skeptical men of His day to regard the miracles He performed as God's authentication of His ministry and its claims. The Apostles boldly proclaimed the Resurrection before a hostile society who had every opportunity to refute it; but could not. Paul made bold intellectual arguments asserting that the natural world is replete with the evidences of an All-Mighty God. Over the following centuries countless followers suffered martyrdom rather than renounce their Lord before Roman Emperors. A mere 'hail Caesar' would have saved their lives, but they held a truth passed down person-to-person that was more real than a painful death, and more precious than their very lives. Many critics, bent on destroying our religion became converts through merely reading the Bible, because the truth rings true! Throughout history we have the testimony of countless lives that have been transformed by simply believing in a higher power and asking for His help. Alcoholics Anonymous and other recovery counseling ministries have been preeminently successful in using this leap of faith in God to transform the most retched of lives into reformed men and women. Trusting in, clinging to and relying upon a 'Higher Power' somehow gave them the power to be 'reborn.'
The 12 Suggested Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol--that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. (Copyright Alcoholics Anonymous)
Dear God,
I praise You and thank You that I know you by so many names, much more descriptive and appropriate than "Higher Power"; but thank You for receiving broken and hurting addicts in their ignorance when they turn to You. May no one who trusts in You ever be ashamed; may those You have touched bring You glory in their radical transformation. May our faith continue so that we can more perfectly and consistently display your regenerative power in every area of our lives; until complete perfection comes in Christ.
Amen
All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)
If you know of someone who would like to subscribe to
my daily devotional, please forward.
jamesdinsmore_32907@yahoo.com
Short, concise, thought-provoking.
More features:
My Poetry
http://saintjamespoetry.blog.com/
(Some) of my Devotionals
http://recoverydevotional.blogspot.com/
posted by James M. Dinsmore at 9:09 AM
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