Restoration Project, Lesson, Wednesday 6/14/2023, How to Succeed in Recovery – Part 1

 Opening Prayer:  ___________________________ , Meeting Guidelines:  read, Weekly Update – How Is everyone doing?  How was your week?

·         What is everyone’s level of peace - Scale of 1 to 10, any major challenges, gratitude, praises?

Last week we talked about anxiety, fear and worry and focused on what we can do to move start to move beyond our fears.  We discussed some actions we could take to begin to replace fear with love including

·         Instead of just sitting and worrying, do something about it!

·         Stay connected with the people in your life.

·         Don’t just retreat inside your own fears…help someone else!

·         Finally, pray for others.

As you went about your week this week was there anything that happened since last Wednesday that caused you to think of our discussion that you would like to share?  Group discussion.

Was there anything you did (proactively) in response to our discussion?  Group discussion.

Lesson:  How to Succeed in Recovery – Part 1

7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.  James 4: 7 – 10 NIV

Do you struggle with which direction in life to go? Has your dependence or addiction caused you so much internal strife that you have experienced physical and emotional damage? Have you struggled with relapses? It is James' intent in this passage to show us the direction by imperatively grabbing us with ten commands that are essential to honoring God and relating to people. These commands call us to direct, hands-on action without delay. We are to humble ourselves before God and, at the same time, resist the devil, as we cannot serve both. When we draw near to God, the devil is pushed further away. If we draw near to the devil, then God is pushed further away. The signpost is clear where we are to go; the direction we choose is up to us.

You must commit yourself to obey God and His precepts so you do not go back to your old ways that caused you dysfunction! This passage asks us the crucial question: are we resisting God or resisting the devil? How we respond to recovery, life, and other people will be rooted in how we respond to God. Do we fight Him or do we glorify Him? How do we know? The answer is in how we are with our attitudes and mindsets; are we humble or proud? If we are proud, we are serving the devil, even though we may think we are serving ourselves. If we are humble, then we are serving our Lord. Then we can have the assurance that He is with you, that He can and will transform you, and that you can do this. This strikes at the root of our mindset and motivation in life.

Obedience is submitting to what God requires of us. This call of our Lord will help motivate us to keep seeking Him and leaning in to Him, regardless of the circumstances, so we will be able to keep His precepts and be loyal to His call and our recovery. It is also recognizing authority and direction from others, such as the pastor and counselor, so winning situations can result.

Let’s break down this passage in James 4.

• Submit means to obey! It is our surrender to God in His will. We are urgently called to accept the absolute authority of God. We are under His authority whether or not we acknowledge Him, so we might as well acquiesce. It does no good to fight God. 

• Resist the devil. This means to flee the devil's kingdom, his values, and his wisdom and embrace God's kingdom, values, and wisdom. This has more to do with moral values than spiritual warfare. Your devil is the devil and the battle that you have. It is the bottle or the needle or the pill or the smoke or the extra piece of pie, or… The great news is that the devil does not have equal authority or power as the popular "Ying/Yang" philosophy states; rather, he only has the power we give to Him, while God has absolute power. The devil is not invincible; he is easily thwarted when we don God's armor, so we can disregard his temptations and flee from him. We evade the lusts of our heart and world by running from it, not toward it (Eph. 6:11-18)!

                    11Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s                                     schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against                     the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil                     in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of                         evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to                     stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the                                 breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that                         comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with                         which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of                             salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.  Ephesians 6:11-18 NIV

• Question:  If God asked you if you were resisting Him or resisting the devil, what would you say? How does this affect your recovery?  Group Discussion

• The knowledge of who we are in Christ will be the driving force of how we are with others (Galatians 2:20-21; Philippians 3:10)!

20I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”  Galatians 2:20-21 NIV

I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death…  Philippians 3:10 NIV

• We are best able to function in life by concentrating our efforts of growing in our relationship with Christ into a daily love endeavor (Hebrews 10:19-25).

19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.  Hebrews 10:19-25 NIV

• Draw near to God means purification, developing your personal relationship with God through the disciplines of the faith (Ex. 30:18-20; Matt. 7:7; Rev. 3:20). We are responsible for our spiritual growth. God provides the plan, Christ is the way, and the Spirit is the guidance; however, we provide the will of our hearts from our humbleness, and further exhibit it with our hands and feet. The focus is on trust and obedience.

18“Make a bronze basin, with its bronze stand, for washing. Place it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it. 19Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet with water from it. 20Whenever they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die.  Exodus 30:18-20a NIV

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”  Matthew 7:7 NIV

20Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.  Revelation 3:20 NIV

• Question:  What does it mean to you to Draw near to God?  How do you practically work this in your day and week?  What does it look like in your day-to-day life?  Group Discussion
• Question:  How does being humble before God help us resist the devil at the same time?  Group Discussion

• Cleanse your hands refers to Psalm 24:4, "clean hands and a pure heart." Our inner purity guards us against moral defilement. This is illustrated by how a priest cleaned his hands and feet at the bronze basin before he approached God at the Tabernacle/Temple. They had an elaborate ritual that cleansed them from the dirt of the land and the dirt of the heart (Psalm 24:4; Matt. 5:8; Eph. 6:11-18).

4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.  Psalm 24:4 NIV

8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.  Matthew 5:8 NIV

11Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.  Ephesians 6:11-18 NIV

• Purify your heart. This means that submission to God produces humbleness which then produces right attitudes and motives.
• Question:  How do we think humbleness produces right attitudes and motives in us?    Group Discussion

• Double minded. This is a harsh diatribe that describes a hypocrite. James is directly calling his people, "you sinners!" Greek philosophers, as well as many Jewish teachers, detested hypocrisy and considered it the most heinous sin. James, as did his brother, Jesus, in Matthew 23, makes the point that the people are being "two faced," insincere, and treacherous. Our behaviors must show our beliefs, and the commitment not to go back to our old ways.

Hope is the effect of obedience and trust in our Lord (Heb. 6:18). If you have no hope, then you have no vision and purpose, no trust in the One who loves.

                        18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged.   Hebrews 6:18 NIV

How do I maintain my direction in life, so I am pleasing Him and seeking His purpose in my recovery? The answer lies in the direction in which we are heading. When we draw to God, we undertake His precepts and apply them to life. God is consistent; when we seek Him, we find that He has already sought us and will continue to reveal Himself and the depths of His love to us all our days on earth as well as throughout eternity. The key to this is our willingness to confess our sin and move toward Him and away from false and deceitful ways.

James is also plainly telling us that God hates pride and God hates worldliness! God loves humility and He loves you. What did our Lord exercise while He walked this earth? Humility! He is God incarnate, Lord of the universe. Born as a baby, he lived in the lower social order of human life in devotion and meekness, serving as our ultimate example. He did not have to live that way. He could easily have lived as the greatest king in the most lavish lifestyle imaginable, yet He chose humility because it was the best way; it was His way.

As you go about your week, remember this is a spiritual battle we are fighting!  Remember the enemy is cunning and baffling.  This life with God is an ongoing battle waged each day for each of us to either live for God or live for something else.  The something else in my experience – never satisfies.  It often fails us.  It ultimately leaves us wanting for more.  The “more” we are created to want is God.  He is the bread that satisfies.  Jesus said it himself. 

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.  John 6:35 NIV

I pray that you experience the richness of a relationship with God in an increasing measure this week.  I encourage you to spend quiet time with God.  He is waiting for you.  He looks forward to spending time with you.  He cherishes you.

Prayer requests?