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September 4 – A Life Under Construction · The Daily Ripples Podcast

• 0:03
  Welcome back, everybody, to the Daily Ripples podcast.
• 0:07
  Today is Friday, September the 4th.
• 0:10
  Our daily devotional is titled A Life Under Construction, but before we begin, as we did yesterday, remind everybody that you can read any of these devotionals at dailyripples.com.
• 0:21
  You can also send us complaints or accolades to wave at dailyripples.com. And I am Pastor Mike, finally.
• 0:31
  I have with us, Corey.
• 0:32
  And now that all of that business is out of the way, Corey, how about we actually start?
• 0:35
  Are you ready?
• 0:37
  Okay, good.
• 0:37
  Thank you.
• 0:37
  The stone.
• 0:39
  Recovery is not a single moment of change, but a lifelong work of rebuilding with God.
• 0:45
  Ripple one, practical.
• 0:47
  Today, I will be patient with the process of growth.
• 0:50
  God is not asking for instant perfection, only faithful progress.
• 0:54
  Each right choice becomes another stone in the foundation of the life he is building.
• 0:59
  I'm sure Corey's going to love the stones here in a minute.
• 1:02
  Ripple 2 is spiritual.
• 1:04
  As I continue to follow Christ, the Holy Spirit quietly reveals what was once broken, often in ways I cannot yet see.
• 1:13
  The Father provides the strength I do not possess and the grace I do not deserve.
• 1:16
  Day by day, he is making me into someone I can never become on my own.
• 1:21
  You know, Corey.
• 1:24
  We know, and we've talked about this here on various times.
• 1:28
  You know, we talk about the, you know, the cornerstone, the foundation stone, the keystone, all those things found in the in the book, you know?
• 1:34
  But did you know that we are actually living stones?
• 1:39
  Because scripture tells us that we are living stones.
• 1:43
  That comes in.
• 1:44
  I'm in the chapter 1st Peter, chapter 2, verse 5, says you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifice is acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
• 2:00
  So in other words, God is building us, molding us as living stones, building us into basically what he would have us to be.
• 2:09
  And, you know, for me, with, with, you know, my higher power, God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, you know, Jesus taught us what the most important rules or commandments are in this life of faith. And there were only 2 of them.
• 2:23
  And one of them was to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.
• 2:28
  Do you know what the 2nd one was, Corey?
• 2:30
  What? To love your neighbor as yourself?
• 2:33
  That's a big task.
• 2:35
  That is a big task, but those are the 2 most important ones that Jesus said to honor and to serve God properly and faithfully.
• 2:43
  And so, you know, for me, it is, as the stone says, this life of recovery is not a single moment of change, but a lifelong work of rebuilding.
• 2:53
  And so what that means is that I have to be patient with that process of growth as that practical thing says, that and it relates to, again, you know, in the program, we always say it's about progress over perfection, or some people always say that anyway.
• 3:07
  And sometimes that becomes an excuse for not doing anything, but we don't have to get into all that.
• 3:12
  But as long as I'm making progress, then I can say that I am, you know, faithfully serving my higher power.
• 3:19
  But anyway, what have you got for us to kick us off?
• 3:22
  What are your initial thoughts on this one for today, Corey?
• 3:25
  I know that... No, I'll tell you about last word.
• 3:30
  Uh-oh.
• 3:31
  Last week, um, me and baby fell asleep on the couch.
• 3:35
  I did some alarm.
• 3:37
  So I woke up at 6 rather than four.
• 3:41
  And I only have 30 minutes to do my time.
• 3:45
  I did my stuff, my reading and my writing overtaking a shower.
• 3:50
  Yeah, it's crazy because, you know, but I did shower the night before.
• 3:54
  so we're good in the clear.
• 3:55
  And then the next day, baby slept on phone.
• 4:00
  So we're just going to completely point the finger at baby, rather than my poor planning and me taking responsibility for any of my problems.
• 4:11
  And she can't really argue too much.
• 4:13
  Not yet.
• 4:15
  Not yet.
• 4:15
  Although this is being recorded, you know, as they say live on the internet.
• 4:19
  And so when she's older, maybe she'll find this, and then she'll blame you.
• 4:22
  No, sureper.
• 4:23
  Right.
• 4:24
  Right.
• 4:26
  So, but uh, we'll still be bigger than her, then.
• 4:30
  But I say that to say this, you know, both mornings always spent 30 minutes doing my thing.
• 4:35
  I was in a rush.
• 4:37
  And both those days.
• 4:40
  I was tired.
• 4:42
  I was worn out at night. And so I think about this deal and where it starts in this structure.
• 4:48
  And, you know, it talks a lot about, uh, different buildings and things and, um, you know, different ways in the, in the book about, you know, I think, you know, well, Bill Wilson, you know, it was cool because the, uh, And Bill Wilson, in the beginning of, before he ever took a drink, someone told him that it was really hard to make a boomerang.
• 5:15
  Nobody had ever made a boomerang in this country.
• 5:18
  And so he took apart his grandfather's headboard and made a boomerang.
• 5:23
  So, you know, what that tells me, though, um, and kind of like what Bill Wilson also did when he saw that there was a problem.
• 5:32
  So what he did early on is he would go to these companies and go figure out the problem they have.
• 5:40
  So you can speculate on it.
• 5:41
  You know, I had a solution to help on that, and then speculate on that.
• 5:45
  Yeah, yeah. So found a problem, found a solution.
• 5:49
  And I think, you know, that's a really cool deal because, you know, you kind of looked at it as like, you know, building things.
• 5:53
  You know, corner, stone, keystone, all this stuff.
• 5:57
  And, um, yeah, I was trying to find there.
• 6:01
  I was over here flipping through the book trying to find something, but oh, here it is.
• 6:06
  Um... It says on page 123.
• 6:12
  It says, but the head of the household has spent years in pulling down the structures of business, romance, friendships, health.
• 6:21
  These things are now ruined or damaged.
• 6:24
  It will take time to clear away the wreck.
• 6:27
  Though old buildings will eventually be replaced by finer ones, the new structures will take years to complete.
• 6:33
  And so when I think about, like, you know, what you're talking about, these structures and this stuff, and, you know, I think about today on a smaller, you know, I would say the foundation, and but the foundation of my day as well.
• 6:45
  In the foundation of my day, for me, starts on my knees, on awakening.
• 6:51
  And, you know, I ask God to direct my thinking, especially being take away from self-pity, selfishness, dishonesty, and that's that kind of behavior.
• 6:58
  And when I start my day on that basis, man.
• 7:01
  I do every day.
• 7:03
  Um, and, you know, monks and, you know, people that do uh, the, some Buddhisms and stuff, there's some, they talk a lot about, about not getting as much time to sleep.
• 7:15
  versus meditation.
• 7:17
  So if I was to lose a one hour sleep and game one hour meditation, I would actually gain 2 hours of energy.
• 7:26
  So when I spend my time early and, you know, meditation isn't, you don't have to be, you know, with your legs over your head, you know, smelling what's coming out of that side of you, you don't have to sit there like that.
• 7:38
  You can just sit quiet. It's salt.
• 7:41
  And sitting quiet and thought is scary to a lot of people in the rooms we hang out in.
• 7:45
  Oh yeah, because we don't like our thoughts and where they...
• 7:48
  Yeah.
• 7:48
  That too.
• 7:50
  The shame, the guilt, all that good stuff, yeah.
• 7:53
  And so like, but it's okay.
• 7:56
  That's okay to be sitting in that.
• 7:58
  But, you know, if you're ever if anybody's ever wondering what's blocking them.
• 8:02
  And I think it kind of read that in the thing to some degree, if I'm ever wondering what's blocking me, why don't I get quiet and ask God what's blocking me.
• 8:11
  And then I go face and rectify those errors and to turn those accounts into good things, right?
• 8:18
  Because when I do that, I, we talked about it on that earlier day, right?
• 8:23
  The great reality deep down within the, well, that sells right there too.
• 8:26
  If I could just scoot it, like, get it out of the way.
• 8:29
  Push it away, yeah.
• 8:30
  You know, not push away.
• 8:31
  Well, that's a bad way.
• 8:32
  clear away that wreckage with somebody else and not push it back down because that's what I've always done.
• 8:37
  Well, I'm thinking more in terms of pushing it into a trash can.
• 8:41
  Get rid of it.
• 8:41
  Yeah.
• 8:42
  But, you know, and that's it, right?
• 8:44
  And I, I don't, sorry, I was taking so long to phone that piece.
• 8:48
  No, you're on good.
• 8:49
  Well, because you brought it back around to, you said, why don't I just ask God for help, right?
• 8:55
  And man, that's something that why does it take us so long to learn that lesson in life, right?
• 9:02
  To to seek the right source for the answers that we need. Because, I mean, we don't do this thing.
• 9:08
  I mean, this one's called a life under construction and it talks about continuing to grow, continuing to change.
• 9:14
  And that can seem kind of daunting, but the hope that comes out of it is knowing that that's not something that I do on my own, you know, and that's what the spiritual ripple talks about, is that, you know, the father gives me the strength and the grace, you know, the strength I don't have, the grace I don't I don't deserve.
• 9:31
  And scripture affirms that for us too.
• 9:34
  In Philippians, uh, chapter one, verse 6, it tells us that he who began a good work and you will carry it on to completion.
• 9:40
  So in other words, that's the hope God started this good work in me. Once I finally got to rock bottom enough where I could turn up and look at him and hear and ask him for his guidance and direction.
• 9:52
  And so if I was asking God, please help me.
• 9:54
  you know, at my lowest, at my rock bottom for my alcoholism or in the midst of whatever, you know, if people listening or not, alcoholics or addicts, and I know there are some.
• 10:03
  But in the midst of whatever your your greatest, you know, struggle, trial, or sin is, if I can talk to God then and want to listen for what God is directing me to do, why can't I do that on the smaller problems that come up?
• 10:16
  You know, why do I have to wait for it to be such a major big thing to drop to my knees and ask God for help?
• 10:22
  You know?
• 10:22
  Like, why can't I get into the practice?
• 10:25
  And that's where I think this program gives us the tools, you know, to do that by encouraging and giving us a program of daily prayer, giving us even the example prayers to pray, you know, for when we don't know what to pray.
• 10:38
  We just repeat what others have done.
• 10:39
  And then hopefully we get the fruits of the spirit that others have received as well.
• 10:43
  And so it just, it really, you know, kind of kind of brings the point home, you know, for me of, um, that I'm just thankful that I don't have to do it myself, that it's not, it's not just me doing it, that it's God working through me.
• 10:58
  Yeah.
• 10:59
  Yeah, why don't we do the things, the small things, right?
• 11:03
  Just the big things when I'm in the dirt, you're on the ditch.
• 11:06
  Well, that too, but it's this, is discipline.
• 11:09
  Oh, yeah.
• 11:10
  I've been really working at this a little bit lately of, you know, when I when I stub my finger, when it's a small, like whatever, man, like, stepping my finger in my life, whatever that looks like, just small shirt.
• 11:22
  Sure. Yeah, because it says, well, page 84.
• 11:24
  1st thing I do, you know, ask God to remove this at once.
• 11:27
  Not, you know, and at once is a very sudden thing.
• 11:31
  So I bet, you know, practicing these disciplines.
• 11:35
  And like, you know, because they are, you know, knowing what the disciplines are. If you know what they are and you don't practice them, I feel like there's more harm in that than not knowing.
• 11:44
  Yeah. So because after you know, you know.
• 11:46
  Is that why in AA they'll tell you that they ruin people's drinking?
• 11:50
  after they've come in?
• 11:51
  Absolutely.
• 11:52
  And but you, you know, it is, because you know, and you watch it, and I've watched it, and I'm drinking, and I'm, you know, seeing it in real time, blotting out the consciousness of our intolerable situation, the best we can, came to a position, you know, that's on page 25, right?
• 12:08
  You know, either we set spiritual help or we do that.
• 12:10
  And I'll tell the people that are listening to this and I've said it before you, you can drink past that.
• 12:16
  It's possible because I'm doing it.
• 12:19
  People do it all the time.
• 12:21
  mean, that's why relapse is a thing.
• 12:22
  Right.
• 12:23
  And, yeah, well, because, yeah, that's the other piece too, because once you felt this God consciousness, and you felt this freedom, that this, that, you know, God offers to everybody.
• 12:33
  They're not even just in this day, that God offers everybody this love.
• 12:38
  And then you want to go this other way.
• 12:40
  And I went the other way, and it's hard. And, oh, I was thinking about this too, because in the 3rd step prayer, said, God offered myself to D, to build with me, to do with me, thou wilt relieve me of the bondage of self that I may better do thy will.
• 12:57
  Take away my difficulties.
• 13:00
  What, so I can be cooler now?
• 13:03
  So victory over them might be a witness of those I would help, of that power that I love that way I like.
• 13:09
  May I do thy will always.
• 13:10
  Well, at the top of that page, on page 63, that's where that's located is, says we had a new employer, being all powerful.
• 13:19
  He provided what we needed if we kept close to him and performed his work well.
• 13:26
  Well, what did I need, Pastor Mike?
• 13:28
  I'll tell you what I need her.
• 13:29
  So on page 85, the bottom paragraph, and I like this, says, If we have carefully followed directions, we had begun to sense the flow of his spirit into us.
• 13:42
  To some extent, we have become god conscience.
• 13:46
  We have begun to develop this violent 6th sense.
• 13:49
  Vital is life and death, right?
• 13:52
  So when I think about what I needed, I was I needed that 6th sense of God.
• 13:57
  I needed that God consciousness to be vitals because to live.
• 14:01
  And I think that's an important thing because I got, I've kind of looked at it in different directions of that sentence on paper top of 63 to bought, you know, I've just connected this recently to that's where I'm at today.
• 14:13
  You know, in a structural sense, though, you know, when I'm taking someone through the book, I say, you know, well, you know, what's his, because it says if we kept close and performed his work well.
• 14:23
  And I asked them, I'm like, well, what do you think the work is?
• 14:26
  I don't know.
• 14:27
  And I'll be like, well, we're on step three.
• 14:29
  I'm guessing step 4 is the work.
• 14:31
  So it's keep on moving.
• 14:33
  Get ready.
• 14:34
  Yeah, you know what I mean?
• 14:34
  Because it is, and, you know, and, you know, helping others is they'll, my, you know, someone said that earlier today, and they're like, you know, man, early on, it is important, you know, for anybody, you know, to go help somebody, you know, if you're in something, just go call the persons, the 1st person that comes to mind, and don't tell them about your miserable day, and ask them how their day is.
• 14:58
  That's all I got, baby.
• 15:00
  Well, I was thinking back to, you had, I don't remember if it was on one of our episodes this week or whether it was just you and I talking this week, a little bit, but you had brought up the fact that, you know, so far, and now we've done 4 episodes in September, and we haven't been specifically talking about amends yet.
• 15:18
  You know, and it's because these, um, you know, daily ripples are the stone, obviously comes, it's distilled down from the daily reflections, right?
• 15:28
  So it's kind of an intense summary of that.
• 15:30
  And I think it's these 4 days have been preparing us mentally, like, because we got to have the the foundation, all the stones in place.
• 15:40
  You know, we got to be focused on, you know, doing this like one of one of the days we talked about that it's growth over time and all these things.
• 15:48
  And it's part of the same reason why making amends is step nine is because you need to have done some work and God needs to have done some work in us before we get there.
• 15:57
  Did you make any men's last month?
• 15:58
  They're making amends last month.
• 16:00
  Oh gosh, I'm certain that I did.
• 16:02
  Not, not the least of which being to, uh, you know, my wife, you know, the, the, you know, my 4th 5th step, you know, originally going through the steps of men's.
• 16:12
  I can now say with my head held high that, you know, I have made the specific and direct amends that I needed to make, you know, from doing that work.
• 16:21
  One of them took over 10 years to get around to it, you know?
• 16:24
  Um, and and that was God still working on me and in me to get to that point.
• 16:29
  But, um, I'll say, I've made all the amends that I know of that I need to make up to this point, you know, as of today.
• 16:37
  But I still, you know, when I mess up, all right, so even a small example, right?
• 16:44
  Um, You and I joke around a lot.
• 16:48
  We talk and text back and forth a lot kind of thing. And, you know, I made a joke and I made a funny little, you know, video audio thing or whatever, you know, from some of the stuff that we've talked about on this podcast.
• 17:01
  Making fun of me.
• 17:03
  Making fun of you.
• 17:04
  Yes, making fun of you.
• 17:04
  And he's pastor, by the way.
• 17:06
  But hey, you know, I've been made fun of.
• 17:09
  I mean, you told me a minute ago that I couldn't rap.
• 17:11
  So, uh, the, uh, but yeah, so pick picking at you, picking at you.
• 17:16
  Good naturedly.
• 17:17
  But then, you know, so I sent it over and I, you know, I was like, okay, Corey's going to, he's going to laugh at this and you don't think it's funny.
• 17:23
  And then it was like radio silence, like crickets.
• 17:25
  And it's because I'm sure you were just busy or whatever.
• 17:28
  so you never specifically responded to it.
• 17:31
  So I get in my head and I'm like, oh, I have offended him and that was the last thing that I wanted to do.
• 17:36
  And so here I go through.
• 17:38
  And if anyone is listening to this today, it would have been on last Friday's episode, but I went and I went and re-edited that thing, it took it out because I felt so bad.
• 17:49
  And then whenever I finally talked to you about it, I can't remember if I specifically said that I apologized for it or not, but I cleaned it up before it ever went out there, you know, because I can get into my head.
• 18:01
  But my point is, today I'm constantly, because I've worked through these steps and I've read all this stuff and I know what unresolved resentments and amends can do within me, that if I realize or even think that I owe an amend to somebody, like, I'm going to try to fix it as soon as I can, you know, even over something that, you know, small, um, about, you know, uh, well, I'm not going to say what it's about now because it doesn't even matter, but it was, it was, it was funny to me at the time.
• 18:28
  I think it was funny too, that I didn't even see it.
• 18:30
  So that was the that was the best funny too.
• 18:34
  Well, that is a good place for us to end our week.
• 18:38
  We have gone long and we are going to close out with our prayer for September 4th.
• 18:43
  Oh, I was all saying all that to say, Corey.
• 18:45
  Tomorrow, September 5th on Saturday, your solo episode is finally going to be about.
• 18:49
  I mean, I'll say good.
• 18:49
  So good luck.
• 18:50
  Father God.
• 18:52
  Thank you for patiently rebuilding my life through your Holy Spirit.
• 18:56
  Give me the strength to keep following you one day at a time.
• 18:59
  Shape me through the example of Jesus.
• 19:01
  Amen.
• 19:02
  Amen.