RPA

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

^1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

“It is making me crazy” “I desperately want to recover! I even DO "recover" for a little while and then BANG, I am right back to same old mistakes, the same old addiction.”

This little snippet is from a long talk I had with good friend following FREEDOM last night.

Clearly she has been struggling. I know she has. I have even witnessed the battle first hand. She suffers deeply from I call RECOVERY PERFORMANCE ANXIETY.

RECOVERY PERFORMANCE ANXIETY or RPA is an affliction that many folks deal with not just the recovering. Don’t believe me?

The apostle Paul had his bouts with it.

Romans 7:18-20

…the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.

Paul had a bad case of RPA don't you think? Remember he had his "come to Jesus" moment LITERALLY and yet stilled battled with days and moments of "poor performance".

The truth is NONE of us can perform WELL enough to earn the favor of GOD; none but Jesus. And it was HIS PERFORMANCE that truly mattered and matters for us! For it is through HIS LIFE, HIS DEATH, and NOW HIS ETERNAL PRESENCE that we can live FREE from the bondage of RPA!

Oh we can strive and sweat, take precautions and prepare, but the raw fact is we are ALL sinners and fall miserably short of the GLORY of GOD and if our performance was the measure of our redemption, we would never measure up.

WE don’t, as Paul observed, “have what it takes.” But THANKS to JESUS, we don’t have to.

Remember friends, GOD'S love for us does not depend on how good we are. We sometimes feel and believe that our behavior positively or negatively impacts His affection for us. But Scripture tells us that the Lord's love is constant; it never varies.

Hebrews 13:8

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Hebrews 13:5

God assured us, “I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you,”

This is why it is so important to be on the lookout for RPA and nip it in it tracks with the TRUTH; the TRUTH that confirms GOD'S unconditional acceptance of us and HIS all sufficient love for us!

We must believe and know we are FREE from RPA thanks to JESUS!

Romans 7:25-8:2

...I thank God I can be free through Jesus Christ our Lord!

8 Now, because of this, those who belong to Christ will not suffer the punishment of sin. 2 The power of the Holy Spirit has made me free from the power of sin and death. This power is mine because I belong to Christ Jesus.

I love you all!

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney