ON TRACK

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?

ARE YOU SEEKING?

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.

I had the chance to “go back” to treatment yesterday.

Now before you jump to any conclusions, I was a visitor at TREATMENT yesterday. I had the opportunity to address a group at Turning Point, Miami Valley’s Behavioral Health arm. My dear friend, and to be quite honest, one of those people who saved my life, Scott Coffman asked me to come and share.

Scott is the director of this program and continues to play an immeasurable role in my on-going recovery.

Yet after Scott and I finished our time of sharing we took some questions and one of them brought me to today’s DISPATCH. The question was in effect…

“Do you ever get “done” with recovery, how do you stay on track?”

Truth is the only graduation or“being done” I know of for the recovering and the believer is when they cover us with dirt as my dear buddy Tom Thompson often says.

Therefore we must, as the Word says, be prepared to fight the good fight of faith each and every day.

1 Timothy 6:12
Fight the good fight of faith, grabbing hold of the life that continues forever.

I was reminded by the question that we must fix our thoughts on Jesus DAILY. We must equip our minds and Spirits DAILY for its challenges.

I even reiterated to them that the old cliché “one day at a time” is rock solid in its truth.

Matthew 6:34
So don’t worry about tomorrow. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Tomorrow will have its own worries.

Daily reinforcement of FAITH and FOCUS is so important to the walk of the recovering and the walk of the believer! There are so many distractions to get us off track and to divert our attention. For the recovering there are so many temptations and lures that come in the form of past relationships, old feelings, new stressors that serve to overwhelm us and fatigue us.

We must DAILY guard against falling off track!

How?

It is imperative to stay connected to and focused on Jesus Christ each and every day. For me, I need to do it first thing each day as well as be constantly reinforcing my attention on Him throughout the day.

I know I am easily distracted.

Yesterday’s discussion reminded me of a sermon I heard years ago about “Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing”. You now see it on bumper stickers and office trinkets, but it is PERFECT advice for keeping us on track!

Keep the main thing the main thing and that main thing is JESUS.

Hebrews 3:1

¹ Christian brothers, you have been chosen and set apart by God. So let us think about Jesus. He is the One God sent and He is the Religious Leader of our Christian faith.

In other words, don’t ever get complacent or think you have arrived or “finished” this race; don’t ever lose sight of WHO is responsible for your recovery and your life, JESUS.

If you do, then you will stay on track. And if you feel yourself slipping of the rail or you begin to feel that you have “arrived” or that you are“there”, remember this verse from Paul.

Philippians 3:12 (MSG)

^12-14I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.

“If your attention is centered on Christ and the promises He provides in His Word, then you will experience a residing peace that lingers deep inside….” Stanley

And you will stay on track.

I love you all.

Have a blessed day.

Freedom Church