Christianity Oasis Forum

[vahn]

Those were the words I "heard" surfing the forums early morning 3 days ago , early as in 3:30-4:00 AM , having to "get up" @ 5:30 .
My first , immediate reaction was of course to look away from the monitor to find the "source" , (maybe someone came in the room without me noticing [hoping] ) , nope , "ok , you're too tired" .
By noon Tue . was convinced I heard it , just because of the fact that all 3 of my caseloads here at my "new" job (same job diff institute) asked me if I were to write down to them what we had discussed , my explanations and suggestions .
After lunch , I was on my knees , "OK Pops , what's up ?" By mid-afternoon I felt being drained (mentally - emotionally) . Yes , I started to get scared ! By the time I got to my computer I was literally shaking .

Ok , write what ? What's left to write ? I mean after all , I did write a letter to my daughter wishing her happy holidays and B-day , a friend earlier had expressed their concerns of my non-participation here @ the Oasis and I did respond , what now ?
Looking at the notes I had taken while in session with my caseloads , all three were laid at such a position , like playing cards fan , and in all , in the visible margin I see my notation saying "the nature of our disease" ! Bingo ! . Close the door , back on my knees , "Thank you , now what ! "

Three days later , I am on my computer and I still haven't a clue where to start , (isn't it obvious ? look how long it took me just to get to this point , Hah ! )

You know , whenever someone asks for help , especially when it comes to recovery , the immediate response is usually " give them the solution " , this is what you need to do , if you do this or if you do that ..... we talk to the new guy , who is still shaking and baking from the standpoint of the length of recovery time we have acquired - 1yr , 5yr , 10 ..... - and this guy in front of us is going but..but..but , my girlfriend , wife , job , neighbor , car , and we automatically go into well do with your girlfriend this , your wife that , and your job otherwise ...

Earlier this morning , I paged the same three guys to my office , and to each one I asked why did you want me to write down our session , and all three's response was the same , almost to a tee , you didn't give a hoot about my problems you seemed to stick to the cause of the problem rather than the problem itself . And I went "I did ?"

My dear alkies and dope fiends , our "problems" are NOT our wives , friends , neighbors and them , or even ourselves for that matter , we are NOT our disease , nor does the "enemy" have anything to do with it , addiction is NOT a SIN .
What we suffer from is a spiritual malady , what that means is that we hunger for the Spirit , we thirst for the Spirit , we are spiritually malnourished ! Out of which all sorts of false emotions stem from , fear , anger , sadness , mental disillusion , the list goes on ad infinitum ...
We straighten out spiritually FIRST , and then and only then is when we straighten out mentally and physically , ie; -"them"- !
We need to explain that to our brothers and sisters who are willing to help out with the addiction aspect of our spiritual failures , we need to educate them about that , so the may be better equipped and be more effective in their quest to carry the Word to the still confused .

Here ! I wrote it !

[deetu]

vahn

Unfortunately, most people today don't know the Holy Spirit. I was raised praying to the Father, Son and Holy (I wouldn't say Holy Ghost because it scared me) but never knew that the Holy Spirit should be in me until I was saved. Now I can understand things that I thought weren't real.

[realtmg]

Was I that friend?

[vahn]

First and foremost , my utmost gratitude goes to Christ our Lord Jesus and His/our Father for providing me with all of you brothers and sisters for me to write to .

Hey Real , I always knew you were smart-er than I thought , but a GENIUS ?!?!
Iron sharpens Iron my dear brother .

Smiley , ty , your writing of

us trying to "fix" the problems we and our friends have.

Hit right home , see , for the past two days or so I had been "working" on this guy who came in contact w/me through the Hotline (AA) , and in fact I have still not slept for more than an hour at a time , without H-line connecting him to me again and again , to the point where I got on the dispatch/operator's case about it , for , of all six of of us available , I just continually get this "shmuck" ! Well , her answer was , "He calls in with diff. names all the time and he specifically asks for you" . Well , hearing that , was I ready for his call this time !
See , he knows of my friendship with his girlfriend (she's AA) and his all too obsession is NOT recovery from booze but rather "fixing" the relation through sobriety , you know the old game right ? "but I'm trying .... yada yada "
Yes , most of us (including me , in the past) "Think" and actually believe in , that when the relation , or a given troublesome situation is fixed first then we can recover more "easily" hmm !(and when you call them mental defective they get mad hmm ) .
Here's the question I asked this guy , and the calls stopped . "Suppose I call her up and play mediator and convince her her to take you back , the way you are now , and she says yes , and she drops everything , appt ., job , car , bank account and all , and says here I am , ready to love you forever !! , what's next ? " . I heard a click , and am still waiting for his next call .

You are correct D

Unfortunately, most people today don't know the Holy Spirit.

But most people don't have addictions either . Here's what drugs/alcohol did for me .
First , there was a wide open gap in the pit of my stomach/soul , and no matter what I tried to fill it with it always slipped right through it and didn't last long , but when alcohol entered the picture , I went aha ! there it is ! , and in time I simply became addicted to the "effect" that it produced (temporary relief , till the next time) but ... See , that "gap" problem was never got solved !
IT IS THE FILLING OF THAT GAP IS WHERE OUR PROBLEM LIES , AND THAT GAP IS GOD'S , NO ONE AND NOTHING ELSE COULD OCCUPY OR FILL THAT PLACE !!!

[deetu]

AMEN TO THAT!!

[realtmg]

But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. (Acts 26:16)

God was working in my life long before I began working with Him. The Lord knew me before time began, and He knew what He wanted to do with my life (Jer. 1:5; Ps. 139:13). Before the apostle Paul's conversion experience on the road to Damascus, Jesus already knew Paul and had a specific assignment for him. But Jesus only revealed this assignment after Paul's conversion (Acts 9:15). So misguided was Paul that in his sincere efforts to serve God, he had actually been waging war against Christians! Although God knew what He wanted for Paul, He waited to reveal it to him until He gained his attention and became his Lord.

Our Lord does not come to us to discover what we would like to accomplish for Him. He encounters us in order to reveal His activity and invite us to become involved in His work. An encounter with God requires us to adjust ourselves to the activity of God that has been revealed. God never communicates with us merely to give us a warm devotional thought for that day. He never speaks to us simply to increase our biblical knowledge. Our Lord has far more significant things to reveal to us than that! When God shows us what He is doing, He invites us to join Him in the work He is doing.

Are you prepared to meet God today? Don't seek to hear from God unless you are ready to ask, as Paul did, What shall I do Lord?

[morningrain]

My thought is, we're all a work in progress.

[Dora]

Awww Amen! So much to glean from this thread. Thank you all.

[Dora]

This past week not a day has gone by that I've not been trying to figure a way to get what I want through out the day and into the night, my addiction, so to help ease the pain, help me deal with the stress, and put a smile on my face and bring back my laugh.

The thought of a slow steady drip directly into my veins has come to mind a few times. Insanity I know! I learned that at AA last night. And I'll get my sanity back if I continue the steps.

Reading this post I realized what I really need is a slow steady intravenous dripping of the Holy Spirit into my blood where it can filtrate every portion of my being.

Funny how a message can mean one thing to one person and something so different to another. I absolutely love how God has created us so differently that we receive this way. It's like dancing. Each have our own unique moves and style.

luv ya all, bunches

What an awesome way to begin the morning! Thank you Holy Spirit.

[realtmg]

Pine,
Satan hits us where we are the weakest. If we Choose to take a drink, drug, or look at porn, then we carry this guilt of being ashamed of our actions and feel that God has distant Himself from us.
Never in my life has a drink made things better or go away. It only compounded my problem and issues.
I try not to entertain any thought that has to do with this. If I do, it usually leads to action.
There are many people who suffer from addictions. Only a few overcome.
I personally have had many slips in my lifetime, but I always brushed off my knees and tried to get on the right path again when I goy over the shakes and hangovers.

Thanks for your honesty and sharing with us.
Helping others helps ourselves.


Luv ya


Real

[Dora]

So true Real! Thanks for the reminder. I have been allowing these thoughts to play out. Trying to find a way to get my way. Trying to convenience myself I don't have a problem. I need to not allow them to even begin to enter my thoughts. It's so hard not to, when you want what you want and you want it now and nothing seems important enough to stop you from getting it.

I keep praising God that each day my mind is clearer. I see things I didn't see before. So much time wasted. But then it's not wasted if I learned from it.

love you all