On The 12 Steps Philosophy

         If there is one thing Satan probably loves to see it is when folks think they are healing themselves - even better if they give credit for help to their “higher power”. Here’s a news flash folks – Satan is a higher power. Only GOD the Creator is The Higher Power. The Highest Power! Either you acknowledge GOD the Creator or you are fatally doomed to die with your “higher power”.

It doesn’t matter how “good” you have done since you joined ALANON or any other NON - if you are giving credit or allegiance to the wrong “power”, any power other than GOD, you are gaining a life and losing your soul. Ever heard of doing the right thing for the wrong reason? You haven’t hurt the ones around you near as much as you have hurt GOD – and He created you! He suffered and died on a cross for you!

However, for those that feel they need the structure of 12 Steps, or who have an addictive personality, try the following:

 

12 Steps to Do

1.   Believe in GOD the Creator. Your Creator.

Genesis 1:1 - In the beginning God created the heaven

and the earth.

2.   Treat Him as your GOD. Just believing He is real is not enough.

James 2:19 - Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

3.   Put your faith and trust in Jesus only. GOD offers us salvation through Jesus Christ.

John 3:16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

4.   Demonstrate your faith in Jesus by being baptized.

Mark 16:16 - He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be damned.

5.   Admit your faith in Jesus to others.

Romans 10:9 - That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

6.   Do what Jesus asks of you.

John 14:15 - If ye love me, keep my commandments.

7.   Love GOD above all else and all others.

Mark 12:29/30 - And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

8.   Love your neighbor.

Mark 12:31 - And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

9.   Study His Word. Don’t just read the Bible – study.

2 Timothy 2:15 - Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

10.                   Use the Entire Bible. Keep things in context.

Isaiah 28:10 - For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

11.                   Live your faith. Actions speak louder than words.

James 2:24 -Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

12.                   Help others with Steps 1 thru 11!

Mark 16:15 - And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

These twelve steps are just a beginning. The following may help in the rest of the journey. Become “addicted” to hearing and sharing the Word.

Romans 10:17 - So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God

You learned to crawl before you walked and walk before you ran. So it is in:

1)   Your study of the Word

2:2 - As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

2)   Your living the Word 

2Peter 1:5/8 - And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In Brotherly Love,

Wayne

thepathtolight.com

Historical Note: The Serenity Prayer is the common name for an originally untitled prayer credited (@1937) to American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr. Here is the best-known short form:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

And here is the original:

God, give me grace to accept with serenity

the things that cannot be changed,

Courage to change the things

which should be changed,

and the Wisdom to distinguish

the one from the other.

Living one day at a time,

Enjoying one moment at a time,

Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,

Taking, as Jesus did,

This sinful world as it is,

Not as I would have it,

Trusting that You will make all things right,

If I surrender to Your will,

So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,

And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.

 

 

Do You Know What Makes a Reindeer Cry?

 

          It is seeing the lonely, heartbroken spouses and children of inmates at Christmastime. Can you imagine the frustrating sense of abandonment a child must feel – not understanding why a parent stays gone so long? Angel Tree is a nationwide program that helps alleviate that feeling by sharing gifts and the Gospel with these broken families.

          You can help bring a smile and a sense of hope to one of the 1.7 million children who have a parent they won’t be able to see this Christmas. A parent who, like all of us, is human and made a mistake. A mistake an innocent child is suffering for.

          We all know Christmas shouldn’t be just about Christmas presents. That’s why the Angel Tree program is so important. It helps spread the Gospel too. It helps children to know they aren’t forgotten – that they are loved and worthy of being loved.

As the Bible tells us, (James 1:27 KJV) “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world”.  When a parent is incarcerated it often means a family living as though they were fatherless and widowed. You can make a difference. You can change the world one child, one family, at a time.

How important is this? Consider what Jesus Himself told us (Mark 9:37 KJV), “Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me”. Your help will not only bless and enrich the lives of these children; it will bless and enrich your own.

And there is more, Angel Tree is a program administered by Prison Fellowship. Prison Fellowship takes the Gospel into 288 prisons, jails and detention centers throughout the United States. This is vital since, each year, about 700,000 prisoners are released. Although almost 95% of all inmates will eventually be released there is great chance they will return. There is a 66% recidivism rate. Prison Fellowship is working to break the cycle – for the inmates and their children. You can make a difference in the life of a child and your community.

You can aid a child or an inmate – or both. Jesus also told us (Matthew 25:39/40 KJV), “Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me”. You have a very special opportunity to do just that.

What’s more you know you can count on Angel Tree, and its parent organization, Prison Fellowship – which is a Better Business Bureau Accredited Charity, a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, and a GuideStar participant.

What could be more important than serving the Gospel to a lonely, heartbroken, soul hungry child? What a wonderful way for you to obey and serve Jesus. See for yourself how successful these guys are - read some of the Angel Tree stories.

Please, search your heart, share the Gospel, and put a smile and more in the heart of a child. Who wants to see a child or a reindeer cry? Won’t you donate today? Thank You, God will bless you for your charity.

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity (1 Corinthians 13:13 KJV).

 

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