Everything Changes, Except..

By Eric Hutchinson, Fellowship Bible Church Rogers Celebrate Recovery Training Coach, 11/4/20

I love this time of year so much! The leaves are changing colors, temperatures are near perfect, and the holidays are just around the corner.  Have you ever noticed, there is a general rule of life that everything changes?  Time moves on, causing people and things to age.  I remember when time moved slowly, and I thought I had forever to live.  Now, my hair is falling out, I have wrinkles, and my body won’t let me do things that I once could.  My kids are growing up, my house needs repairing, my car is gaining mileage, and houses are being built on my street as I write this devotional.  The world is becoming more populated, our culture more diverse, and what I used to call normal has changed, and now a “new normal” has been created.  Everything seems to be in a constant state of change. 

I remember so vividly getting a call from my parents at 4:00 am one morning and telling me that my brother had taken his own life.  I was going through a divorce at the time and this was one more brick being laid on my already broken back.  Is there anything constant?  Can I rely on anything to be the same and give me some kind of solid foundation? 

Well, you probably know where I am going with this.  Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, is constant.  He has always been, and he will always be.  He is the Great I AM.  He is the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.  NOTHING escapes His vision, and nothing catches Him by surprise. 

Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”  Isaiah 40:8 says, “The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.” 

If your foundation has been shaken by an earthquake from the enemy, listen to these words of Jesus:

“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.  Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock.  But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on the sand.  When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.” Matthew 7:24-27 NLT

That was me many years ago.  Life beat on me, and my foundation was not built on Christ.  It was built on the sands of Eric.  I thought I was invincible, untouchable, and unshakeable.  My life crashed, and great was the crash.  Then, I came to Celebrate Recovery and God moved my build site.  He restored my soul and created a new life in freedom.  Praise God!  I hope your foundation is strong, and that you are clinging to the only constant we have in this life and the next.  That constant, that solid rock foundation is none other than our higher power Jesus Christ. 

If you feel shaken by the enemy, turn your eyes back to Jesus, and hang on to His promises.  He will never leave you, nor forsake you. (Joshua 1:5, Deuteronomy 31:6 & 8, Hebrews 13:5).  My God bless you and keep you this week!

Click HERE to listen to "Steadfast Love" by Fellowship Worship


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

12 Days Of CR Christmas

Image
One of our great leader Monica rewrote the lyrics to this old Christmas song to tie into the 12 steps. We had a lot of fun singing it and love that it keeps the focus on the 12 steps thru Christmas. Great job Monica! On the first day of Christmas, my Savior gave to me, the notion it’s not about me; On the second day of Christmas, my Savior gave to me, my sanity, and the notion it’s not about me. On the third day of Christmas, my Savior gave to me, the will to be faithful, my sanity, and the notion it’s not about me. On the fourth day of Christmas, my Savior gave to me, my inventory, will to be faithful, my sanity, and the notion it’s not about me. On the fifth day of Christmas, my Savior gave to me, the chance to come clean! my Inventory, faithfulness, my sanity, and the notion it’s not about me On the sixth day of Christmas, my Savior gave to me, desire to be humble, the chance to come clean! my Inventory, faithfulness, my sanity, and the notion it’s not about me. On the
Read more

Why do we introduce ourselves?

One of the things that might confuse a newcomer coming into this great ministry is the way we introduce our self and do so every time we meet in a Step Group and/or Open discussion group. The question that often comes up is; “Why in the world would we have to introduce our self every time we come together? I mean, we all know each other don’t we? We all know what the other is struggling with right? So why should I have to state my main issue I am dealing with? These are all logical questions and I think the below content from Tina at Saddleback might help shed some light on this. As you may already know, in our small groups we ask our Leaders to introduce themselves with this statement: “Hi my name is _______; I am a believer who struggles with________.” We ask our leaders to keep it short; to stick to one or two primary areas of recovery. We ask them not to state a host of recovery issues and character defects, etc… especially because we do not run recovery specific groups for cha
Read more

Verbal Reality--Why you can't believe an addict and what you can do as a co-dependent

I recently came across the below article when websurfing for information about verbal reality, a concept a friend introduced me to last year during a time I was trying to figure out is someone was telling me the truth or not. The below article is specifically for Porn addiction, and comes from a very good website, but I've found it true with all addictive behaviors. If you've never heard of Verbal Reality, and you question whether or not your spouse is being honest, this is a good way to help you sort it out, and a great tool for your recovery. ______ Consider This. (from http://www.pornaddicthubby.com/Help-For-The-Addict.html) Addicts of any kind live in a "verbal reality." This means if they say it, it is true and if they say it passionately enough even they believe it is really true. Men who have an addiction to porn live in a verbal reality. A sex addict believes what he is saying while he is saying it. Your most helpful tool in dealing with verbal reality is look
Read more