Here's my latest profound thought for y'all.... Don't let sin in. Where? Your life. ANY where. Wow. Awesome, huh? Too simple? I'm sure some of you are sayin' "Duh!" Well, until I finally "understood" this, it almost sent me flying off the sobriety wagon, just shortly after I got on it. There seem to be a million ideas in my head of things that I want to write for you, in hopes that some of you may find a similarity or three in your own walk down the road of Life, and thereby be forewarned, without experiencing the pain and trials I did. So, as I thought more about some of the experiences that I had along the way back to God, I recalled my first year of being sober, and some of the stupid things I did to try to prove to myself how strong I was with my sobriety. This story is where it all started, where I got that "AH HA!" moment. As you read on, I ask you to reflect on your own lives and of your struggles. Where are you taunting sin in your life? How is it getting in? Are you putting yourself into unnecessary situations in life that can get out of control and cause major problems and heartache? Thankfully, my sobriety was only challenged in the following story, but there's another lesson, or two, that I still had to learn before we get to the end of this post. Let's continue...
First, let me throw out a bible verse to work from. As I've said in other posts, I've read the new Testament cover to cover a few times in the last 5 years, and some books from it dozens of times.(Yes, I also read the Old Testament, but not as much as I should. I'm workin' on that.) But, it seems like almost every time I read from the New Testament, I find a verse, or sometimes even whole paragraphs, that I didn't recall reading before. Here's one I just recently read: 1 Corinthians 10:21 "You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons, too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons." Wow. I sure wish I'd noticed this one a long time ago. Here's why...
I'd been out of rehab for just shy of a year in the late Spring of '09. The local chapter of a motorcycle riding club that I had joined was hosting the annual state rally that year. I decided to go. I had made some good friends in this group over the last few months. They all knew I didn't drink anymore, and why, and some of them pledged their support in helping my sobriety, so that I could get rid of the "loner" lifestyle I had forced upon myself over the last few years. Well, it's a good thing I had these friends, because when darkness fell at the hotel, beer and liquor of all kinds appeared from everywhere. There were even keg "stations" in the courtyard around the pool! But, instead of losing control, I sat back and watched everyone get sloshed. And I took pictures. Lots of pictures. As I watched all of this unfold in front of my recently-sobered eyes, I began to finally see some of what my friends had seen during my drinking days. I laughed. It was still funny, at the time. I made it through that first night and rode back home, sober. I knew better than to stay at the hotel overnight. I was smart. Or so I thought. Then Day two came.
When I got back to the hotel about 10:00 the next morning, the pool courtyard was a mess. A few bikers were still sittin' in the same chairs from when I left the night before. Others were staggering around extremely hung-over, and some were in hiding, embarrassed about their antics of the night before. And some were already drinking again. Let me stop here and ask you,,, Does anybody see a problem with a raw-emotional, recovering alcoholic being here, yet?
The bike games of the day were fun, and the basic rules of no riding and drinking were adhered to, except for a few parking lot rides. No one got hurt, thankfully. As night fell, the drinking began, in earnest, to catch up with some of the others who'd been trying to empty the kegs while everyone else rode. By the time we got to the awards presentations and auction, problems and attitudes began to rise. Then came the bright idea to go into the hotel bar for karaoke night. I had become close to a fellow club member throughout that weekend who was a fellow former Marine. So, he said he'd keep an eye on me in the club. Folks, I'm not sure I've ever seen this many stark raving wild drunks in a little 20x40' bar since my days overseas in the Corps. And, as usually happens, when you mix bikers, a bar, and alcohol, trouble ain't far behind. And so, an hour or so into the "festivities", another biker, not from our organization, decided to take a swing at our state 1st officer. Somebody later described it as a "sea of dew-rags and leather" headed towards the bar to help out our 1st officer.(A dew-rag is a bandanna style piece of cloth worn under the helmet to soak up sweat, or cause a bad hair day, dependin' on who u ask.) The next thing I knew, I was jumping over tables and crawling over people, trying to wade into the front of the excitement at the bar. Fortunately it was over quickly, and about a dozen of us "escorted" the hothead and his two friends out of the bar. There was more shouting and threats for a while, before I decided I'd had enough of this "fun" for the second night, so I got on my bike and headed home, instead of to a hospital or jail. I didn't stop and think until after I got home, how close either or both possibilities could have been....
I am telling this, rather mild ending, of a story, to make a point. I didn't actually begin to learn this point until a week later, when I decided to look at all the pictures I took from the two nights of "biker revelry." As I flipped from pic to pic, I began to see the other side of this "fun" they thought they were having. I saw husbands and wives mad at each other. I saw friends that were normally happy, relaxed people, had turned into howling wildmen, each with that distinctive hammered-drunk, crazed look in their eye. I saw people that were sick from drinking; some were even passed out on the lawn in the courtyard. For the first time, I saw what my friends had seen in me. It was then and there that I decided to learn how to give counsel to alcoholics and addicts. But, I learned something about myself too, that I'm trying to pass on to you. I began to understand that I couldn't continue to put myself in those situations. Now, I didn't catch this all at once.(I'm stubborn. Remember?) I tried to continue hanging out with a few old friends who still smoked weed, some drank, some friends who either didn't believe in God, or didn't believe that He could help them. I also rode with another large crew that had a few hard partying members. I even held a couple of mini-rallies at our home, where a few people drank quite a bit too much. Over the next year, I began to see the temptation creeping back into my life. And I hated it. I hated it because I didn't want to lose to this disease of addiction. I hated it because I didn't want to lose my friends. But, I knew that I had to make the gut-wrenching decision to walk away from many of them. At the time, I hated it most because of the temptation. I thought I could do this by myself, that I had enough control to have my old friends and just keep hanging out together. I knew that God wouldn't have wanted me just hanging around them, IF I'd have bothered to ask Him, but I was still trying to do things My way. On MY terms. I was still trying to get God onto MY road through Life. I still thought that I was supposed to lead. I was the pilot. God was my co-pilot. How'd that work for me??? Not too good....
Here comes the tough part of my lesson. As Christians, we can't half-do two things and expect to succeed. We can't drink from the cup of the Lord AND the cup of demons, too. Remember that I asked you to think about instances in your life that could be similar? Found anything yet? Now, I'm not calling my friends demons, and don't imply that yours are either. But, they have chosen a road that doesn't include them being led by the Word of God. I know someone's thinking right now,"But Jesus sat with drunks and prostitutes and tax collectors and all kinds of sinners." Yep. you're right. But, he wasn't just "hanging out." He was ministering the Word to them. HIS Word. I tried to do the same to My friends, too. Of course, I was nowhere near as successful as Jesus. But, a few of them have turned towards God. I have to admit though, that they didn't do it immediately after I spoke with any of them. What helped change them was, over time, to see how immensely God changed my life. And, do you know that not a one of them, following God or not, is mad at me for walking away? Think about this for a minute. I didn't go runnin' in and shame them. I didn't scream about them being thrown into lakes of fire. Some folks think I might should have. Nope. I showed them what Jesus's love had done to me and for me. But, once I had given them the opportunity to see and hear about my new life with Jesus, and I had witnessed to as many as possible, I knew that my "hanging out" days with them had come to a close. I had to take care of me. Any more time than I'd given, was just "tempting sin." I would have let sin back in.
Some of this post may seem like I'm being judgmental of my old friends. I'd like to assure you, and any of them who may read this to recall, that I told them that they were always welcome to come by my house and talk. I've invited many of them to church. They all have my cell number and know that if they ever called me needing help, I would do my very best to help them in every way possible. I still love every single one of them. But, as Christians, in order to walk on God's road with Him leading, there are certain places that we cannot go, not going in His name. There are certain things we cannot do. And, there are certain parts of ourselves that we can't be again. That is the old person that we once were. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says" Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone. The new has come." As I've said before, being a Christian isn't easy. We aren't always "high on God." But, as we learn His word and how to apply it, it prepares us for those tough valleys that every one of us walks through. There are days that I don't feel God around me. It is an awful, lonely feeling. That's where studying the Word comes in and strengthens us, and directs us, helping us to mature as Christians. By having a daily devotional with God, we begin to learn how to handle these situations. We learn when it's time to walk away, and we learn How to do it. The apostle Paul wrote about how come folks needed to be excommunicated from one of the churches he was trying to raise up. A little later, he also spoke about conditions to letting them back in. It's hard to know when to do things sometimes. So, besides you reading your bible, here's another reason to having fellowship with other Christians, for attending church regularly, and getting to know your preacher. Pastoral counseling can help you with these decisions, too. But, I always look to the written word of God for answers first. Once I've read it often enough, I know where to begin searching for answers to my problems in life. See?? It's simple, huh.... ;)
Let's close with a prayer. " Heavenly Father, we thank you for making our spirits new through you. We thank you for your Holy Spirit that comforts us and guides us in our new life. We thank you for sending us your son, Jesus Christ, to cleanse us of sin and bring us salvation and the promise of eternal life Lord, please teach us to see where we may still be letting sin into our lives. Then strengthen us, Lord, so that we may endure and defeat the pressure and temptations of this unholy world we live in. Teach us, Lord, to live in your world, in your kingdom. Father, keep us from being judgmental. Help us to live with love in our heart. Help us to freely give to others, the love that you give to us. Give us the courage to walk boldly as Christians, leaving the arrogance and cynicism of our old selves dead, and just a memory of what we shouldn't be. Thank you, Lord, for the peace you bring to our hearts and souls. We give thanks and praise and all the glory to you, for making us into new creations. And we pray this prayer of love and gratitude in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
My prayers are with all of you who are struggling. Again, I appreciate all the kind emails and comments about this blog. Please pray for me, that I continue to hear and follow the direction that God is leading me. Please pray for this ministry, that we can spread God's word to all who have lost hope, to all who are suffering, and to all who have never heard His word.
Praise Jesus!
Peace to all of you,
Bro. Jay
2 Corinthians 5:11-21 New International Version (NIV)
The Ministry of Reconciliation
11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. 12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. 13 If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
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