Hey everyone. So after Summer Camp, I realised how many people have unspoken addictions. Weather it be an eating disorder, alcohol, pornography, pain killers, self-mutilation (cutting) drugs, whatever the addiction in your life may be. I'm starting this blog to help you heal with hope-heal with the help of Jesus. I'm going to start by posting the Christian 12 Steps to recovery. These same 12 steps have helped me through so much numerous times...and I hope that they can help you through whatever you might be facing right now. Weather its the wrong voice inside of you telling you that you are fat, when you are really too thin, or if that voice is telling you that you NEED another beer...or another round of pot...that voice is the voice of Satan. So here are the 12 Steps. I hope this helps you start your Road to Recovery.

1) We admitted we were powerless over our addictions ... that our lives had become unmanageable. 

 "I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out." (Romans 7:18)  

2) Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity (God, our Father, Healer and Savior). 

"... my grace is sufficient for you, for my POWER is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9) 

3) Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of GOD as we understood Him.

"... If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." (Luke 9:23) (direct words of Christ)

4) 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) 

5) Admitted to GOD, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. 

"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed." (James 5:16)  

6) Were entirely ready to have GOD remove all these defects of character.

"If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land." (Isaiah 1:19)  

7) Humbly asked Him to remove all our shortcomings.

"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up." (James 4:10)

8) Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all. 

"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift." (Matthew 5:23, 24) (direct words of Christ)

9) Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. 

Give and it shall be given you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Luke 6:38) (Direct words of Christ)

10) Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, and promptly admitted it to God, ourselves, and another human. 

"For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith GOD has given you." (Romans 12:3)

11) Sought through prayer and meditation on the Scriptures to improve our conscious contact with GOD as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will, 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 other addicts, and practice these principles in all our affairs.

"Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:1-2)

Other good verses and scriptures to remember in times of healing:
 

Luke 1:37 "For NOTHING is impossible with God."

John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in ME you may have peace. In this world you will have troubles. But take heart! For I have overcome the world."

Romans 12:21 "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

Psalm 16:2 "You are my Lord; apart from You I have no good thing."

Romans 13: 11-14 "11And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature."

John 8:32 "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will sey you free."

Nahum 1: 7 "7 The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him,"

Isiaih 53:5 "5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,  he was crushed for our sins; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,  and by his wounds we are healed."

Isiaih 53:6 "6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the sins of us all."

1 Corinthians 10:13 "No temptation has come upon you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can handle. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so you can stand up under it."

So now, I challenge you. I challenge you to pray and ask God for forgiveness. I challenge you to take those things going on in your life out of the dark, and into the open where others can pray for you and help you through this. The only one who can truely heal you is God the Father.

I'd also encourage you to read "When The Going Gets Tough : Finding Hope & Joy In Our Trials" by Joe Stowell. This 32-page booklet has really helped me. It is part of the discovery series with RBC ministries. To get your copy of this you can write to PO Box 2222, Grand Rapids, MI 49501-2222, or visit www.rbc.org and contact them from there. I really encourage you to read this book. It helped me through so much, here are a few of my favorite quotes from the book:

-A trial is a test that reveals something for a specific reason

-Even more unsettling, it forces us to start seeing ourselves for what we really are

-Trouble reveals that, and it turns the agenda twoard the things in our lives that need to be changed so that we can grow to be more like Him

-Apart from the help of God, all of us are prone to express our fallenness in many kinds of damaging ways

I think i'll leave you today with this verse- Galatians 6:8 "The one who sows to please his sinful nature will reap destruction."

"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." (Psalm 19:14) 

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly..." (Col. 3:16)

"...for it God Who works in you to will and act according to His good purpose.. (Phil. 2:13)