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God to the rescue

My dear brothers and sisters, if someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back, you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back from wandering will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins. James 5:19-20

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

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There is a beautiful humility that becomes a person who has admitted the helplessness and unmanageability of their own life, and has turned their will and their life over to God. They are obviously not God, but God is in the room. It’s over. The fight is over. It’s God to the rescue.

The truth is humble and it’s simple. The lies and their backup are complicated. It’s hard to carry on a false story. If you’re working hard on it, it’s probably wrong. If your theology is complicated, it’s probably wrong. The truth is simple. Like my friend Dan said on BlogTalkRadio last night, it’s a relief. Truth is a relief. Coming to God is a relief. AA is a relief. Nothing to manipulate any more. Nothing to judge. Nothing to juggle. The jig is up.

So you finally come to God and say, “Okay God, I’m over it. I’ve messed it up pretty bad; now it’s your turn.” And that’s when He goes to work to remove all those defects of character, that is, if you are ready for Him to.

Remember Eustace? In C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, Eustace was the one who turned into a scaly, fire-breathing, ugly dragon — the outer manifestation of his inner self — and everyone was scared of him because they didn’t know that it was Eustace inside that dragon, until he finally gave up and started crying big dragon tears and God began to remove the scales one by one — that painful tearing away — but Eustace came back — a humble, beaten, but relieved Eustace. He was ready.

Are you ready? You’ll know its God because it’s the simple answer. We give up; He shows up (of course He’s been there all along). It’s God to the rescue.

11 responses to “God to the rescue”

  1. Jesus Aguilar

    This sharing is inspiring and it may work for people from the top.
    This is how has work for me: – After taken my fifth step, my sponsor indicated – go and lock up yourself and stay quiet for an hour. Look at what you just did, go over and make sure that nothing is hidden that you need to talk to me about. After that we kneel down and recited the seventh step prayer. God is going to help you to remove the defect of characters that are blocking you from God and the people about God. If you steal things, stop stealing, if you lie, stop lying, if you are promiscuous, stop. God will bless you for doing it with peace and joy. Understand that God is not your worker, that you can say take this away from me. We are the workers and we ask God for help with our work and He tends the hand and lead us not into temptation. The work is ours, it is time to apply our energy towards decency, obedience, faithfulness, and brotherly kindness. Steps six and seven are not for lent and then forget about, they for the rest of our lives. Consider that the root is ego and ego is embedded in our innermost being and is constantly directing. It is only by the grace of God that we can live under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and not the ego
    I am an alcoholic Jesus A.

    Reply
    1. Mark D Seguin

      Big thx brother Jesus thorough enjoyed reading your post – and got a lot out of it too-God’s speed to u & yours today 🙂

      Reply
  2. Mark D Seguin

    I am ready, I think, yet there are still times I enjoy getting a bit upset when something, because I am one handed falls in the kitchen or wherever… Letting out a few cuze words helps me find relief…
    PS I am open 4 suggestions…

    Reply
    1. Jesus Aguilar

      Mark my brother in Christ. You do not have to answer this, unless you are like me. With the disease of the “ism”
      English is my second language, aha! and Spanish my first. We have the same foul language on both and I was raised on the streets of Mexico and the fields of fut-ball soccer and you can imagine, very colorful language that I practiced until the age of 54.
      At this age, God intervened in my life and transformed me to what I am today, lifted the obsession of drinking and taken drugs, but left me with all my defects of character, that little by little I have been able to unlearned, Oh! boy for the last 28 years I have been practicing (tongue restriction) pause, invoke the Holy Spirit before pronounce a word, it works, it really works with many different things, like lying, judging, protecting, this last one is the worst, because I am not letting my brother go through his own experience, therefore I stall his growth. Yes once in a while especially if I am alone, I go off, then I say Lord forgive me but that felt really good. Ja ja ja
      Practice, practice, practice and give it all to God. To God be the glory
      Hope this can hellp

      Reply
      1. Mark D Seguin

        Thx my brother – in the Lord, maybe if I stated it once more you’ll empathize (understand) a bit better. I’ve had two strokes & been in a coma for 2 & one half moths, so I can get little bit frustrated when I drop & often spill things & make a mess that are not fun to clean up. Being one handed and my right side doesn’t respond all that well…

        It would help if you could maybe consider trying one arm behind your back and tie a board to your right leg so it no longer bends easily and do that for one day, week or month and than try tell me: “Practice, practice, practice and give it all to God. To God be the glory”

        When you could have just as easily said you love & care about me as a bother in the :Lord. God’s sped & I love you Jesus for trying…. <3

        Reply
        1. Jesus Aguilar

          Mark, right on this moment when I finish typing will go in my knees and lift you in prayer to our LORD and SAVIOR to fill you with love and comfort. What the eyes do not see the heart does not know. But know my heart feels for you. Please forgive me and let me be a source of comfort in your life. Distraction from your burden, I am offering to help you to carry it. Thank you LORD for putting Mark in my life and if it is any way that I can help, please write and let me know. Love you with the love of CHRIST in my heart.

          Reply
  3. Gary

    Amen !! John. He Is ALWAY there, here and everywhere…

    Reply
  4. peter leenheer

    Mark, I have tremendous sympathy for you and your condition. You have given us the details of that a number of times and my heart goes out to you. I hesitate to write to you because of your inner rage due to your physical disability. When I state my point of view, please accept it in love and take some time to think about it before you get mad at me. My prayer is that you will begin to be free from this frustration of your condition.

    I understand your anger as best I can. I was an angry man for many years, for different reasons than yours but it resulted in the same foul language and resentment and also felt I had some right to use such language because of my frustrating circumstances. I played golf. Golf is a game in which you can blame no one but yourself. You took the shot, it is now in the water instead of the fairway or green, you can’t blame team members…there aren’t any. My temper was an embarrassment to the men I played with and I also became the entertainment. One time I overheard them discussing my throwing of clubs, my flowery, creative swearing, and the stupidity of what I did. They did not see me, but I heard them. It was then I decided to change. I have since thanked God for this, and celebrate it’s recovery.

    So my question to you Mark is this, “Do you want to get rid of that rage or not?” If so I will tell you what I think. You might say why not tell me now. I thought of that but I need to know if you are willing to receive it. You did not receive Mr. Aguilar’s advice, you dismissed it out right. I also know how angry you are inside and how easy you are offended. I don’t want to lose you as part of the Catch community. So do you want me to write you what appears to be the truth or not? Your choice. I am not itching to do this, I am asking your permission…..What is your choice? (perhaps you want me to send you a personal email not a cyberspace one for all to see if so I need your email address. Send it to John and he will send it to me. Again your choice.)

    Love,

    Peter

    Reply
    1. Jesus Aguilar

      Peter. this is Jesus Aguilar. Thank you for your heart felt message to our brother Mark, and asking his permission is remarkable sign of care and love. Hope and pray that Mark does not feel alone. We are all brothers in the LORD some of us have afflictions that others do not but together we can deal with them. Blessings my brother

      Reply
      1. Mark D Seguin

        I deeply thank you brother’s Peter & Jesus…

        Jesus before you could even ask me to forgive u, in my heart and before I hit enter to post my remarks to u yesterday, I did.

        Now brother Peter could you maybe please consider this simply suggestion. Now, I could be wrong, I often am..But no one but God knows knows how you or I feel, so this to me and me alone is complete bologna! When u wrote: “I also know how angry you are inside and how easy you are offended.”

        You started off GREAT! By talking about the frustrating game of Golf – which before my stokes, yet after my time in coma – I used to jokingly tell my engineering buddies, that I play military golf. Meaning right, left, right, LOL And sure enough about every 7 to 9 holes I’d get a great drive or jus hit the ball right where I wanted to play the next shot.

        I thank-u for the offer Peter, yet because of going through a “ruff patch” as the Irish Golfers & poet William Bulter Yeats would often say, I’d rather not read your advice, right now because of this ruff patch in my Business, but let me please ask you to put it on hold 4 now, OK my brother & friend in the Lord…

        Reply
  5. peter leenheer

    As I said Mark it is your choice. The advice I would give is up to you to do with as you want. It is just a message not a command or anything else. Yes, you also are my brother and friend in the Lord. You have been and are a wonderfully loyal Catch reader.

    So if I have in any way offended you Mark please forgive me, that was not my intent at all.

    Once again LOVE,
    Peter

    Reply

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