Life Recovery - Christ the King Lutheran Church

05/30/2024

Hello recovery fam! Don’t forget to bring your friends to the big BBQ tonight. Bring a salad or dessert if you can. Afterwards there will be an amazing message by Dr. Larry Gibbon. See you at 5:30!

12/15/2023

https://mailchi.mp/ctkcda/weekly-update-for-december-15-2023

Lord Jesus Christ, thank you that you are constantly at work protecting your people. We pray for the protection of our armed forces as they serve our country around the world right now, especially...

10/20/2023

Leaving It Up to God

If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your heavenly Father give
good gifts to those who ask him.
MATTHEW 7:11

THE MISPERCEPTION THAT GOD IS RELUCTANT to give us what we desire is too costly an error for the person in recovery to consider. In seeking sobriety, we're desperate enough to know how much we need a miracle from God.
A good father always gives good gifts to his children. Jesus tells us how much more our heavenly Father will give us good things if we but ask him, trust him as we would a good father, and believe. For those of us who know addiction, surely a joyful life of sobriety is our number one request-and God will answer that prayer.

10/19/2023

Are We Neglecting Our Salvation?

What makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great
salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself
and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak?
HEBREWS 2:3

TO NEGLECT OUR SALVATION IS TO neglect recovery. How do we neglect salvation and recovery? By not making them our number one priority. Anything we put ahead of our relationship to Christ, anything we prefer over sobriety, short-circuits our recovery. According to Merriam-Webster, the opposite of neglect is cherish. If cherish isn't how we consider our salva­tion and our recovery, it's time to rehearse again the tragedy of addiction and the benefits of sobriety.

10/18/2023

Choose Wisely

God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ,
not to pour out his anger on us.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:9

POSE THIS QUESTION TO YOURSELF: What does God want for me? Be specific. Don't just say, "Sobriety." Think about it before you answer. Then make a mental or written list of God's desired provision for you. When you're done, ask yourself: What does Satan want for me? Again, make a mental or written list of what you know to be Satan's desired end for you. What has been his desired end in some of your addicted friends? Now compare the lists.
Reflect on the lists you've created. You get to choose which list you prefer. Base your every decision on the choice you make. Choose wisely.

10/17/2023

Come Closer

So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee
from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you.
JAMES 4:7-8

FACE IT-RECOVERY FOR THE CHRISTIAN is a miracle. We simply could not recover on our own. God's love for us is shown in his presence during our recovery. He's the author of the miracle happening now in our lives. We must remember when we pray for a miracle, God shows up. And that's the miracle we really want. All else, including our recovery, springs from God's presence.
As you walk the path of recovery, know that you don't have to walk it alone. Draw near, then, to God, and he will draw near to you.

10/16/2023

The Evil behind the Mask of Light

Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
2 CORINTHIANS 11:14

NEVER ALLOW YOUR MIND TO SUBMIT to the overtures of the enemy. Taking his bait will result in a return to the slavery from which you have been set free. And we know by now the bait he uses. We've seen it before-and so often, it's dressed up in glitz, so as to appear as light, not the darkness it is. The temptation is to remember the high, to crave it afresh, to think of it as light and desirable. A sign of growth in recovery is the ability to see the evil behind the mask of light and to instantly reject the invitation to indulge.

10/15/2023

Nothing Is Wasted

After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples,
"Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted:'
JOHN 6:12

OF ALL GOD'S GREAT ATTRIBUTES, surely one of them is his unwilling­ness to waste anything. We are often reminded of our wasted time in the throes of addiction, but God, in his great economy, will not see those years go to waste. If we will listen and watch, God will teach us to look beyond our past and trust him to make a future out of it. This is our God-the God who wastes nothing.

10/14/2023

The Hand of God

[Jesus said,] "My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,
and no one is able to sn**ch them out of the Father's hand!'
JOHN 10::29 1 ESV

HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT OF YOURSELF as a gift to Christ from God the Father? John tells us that we have been given to Christ by our heav­enly Father, who is greater than all our adversaries and addictions. Even more, we are so secure in Christ, no one-not even the enemy of our souls and the source of our addiction-can sn**ch us from God's firm hand.

10/13/2023

The Hidden Life

You died to this life, and your real life
is hidden with Christ in God.
COLOSSIANS 3:3

WE KNOW THAT, AS BELIEVERS, we are "in Christ." That's our source of victory. But do we understand that we are "hidden" in Christ? Hidden from the world's temptations, from our corrupt old nature, from the enemy's tactics against us. We are hidden precisely because we're also "dead," having died to all that would corrupt us. What joy to know we are dead, yet we live. What happiness to know we're hidden in Christ yet in full view of others as a trophy of God's recovering work.

10/12/2023

The Perfecting Nature of

God's Work in Us
You are to be perfect,
even as your Father in heaven is perfect.
MATTHEW 5:48

GOD DOESN'T DO THINGS HALFWAY. His goal is complete recovery. However, he's in no hurry to complete his work. Every believer, even one without a history of addiction, is in some sort of recovery. We all learn, observe, make mistakes, and grow. All through the process, God is at work. Even today, though you may or may not see it openly, God has his hand on you, guiding you along your recovery journey.

10/11/2023

Testimony Time

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you
will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere-in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
ACTS 1:8

IN OUR POST-ADDICTION LIVES, WE CAN'T KEEP our way of recovery to ourselves. Just as a court will have witnesses testify as to what happened in the matter at hand, we are compelled by concern for those coming behind us to tell them of our own recovery experience.
Though it's unwise to do so early in recovery, it would be beneficial at some point to write out your "testimony" for the sake of others. Be willing to share your experience-even your lapses and what may have caused them. God will give you the right words, just as he's given you the very experience you will testify about.