Latest / The Daily Ripples Podcast / October 21 – Bringing It into the Light

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October 21 – Bringing It into the Light · The Daily Ripples Podcast

• 0:04
  Hey guys, this is the Daily Ripples, and today is October 21st.
• 0:09
  Bring it into the light.
• 0:11
  The stone.
• 0:12
  Growth begins when I bring my life into God's light instead of hiding in the shadows.
• 0:17
  Ripple one practical today.
• 0:19
  Today, I'll be honest about both of my both my strengths and my struggles.
• 0:22
  I do not have to pretend I am perfect, nor do I have to believe, have to believe I am hopeless.
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  What I bring into the light can be healed.
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  strengthened and allowed to grow.
• 0:34
  Ripple too spiritual.
• 0:36
  As I follow Christ, who is the light of the world, the Holy Spirit gently reveals, but the good, the Father is growing in me and the place is still needing his grace.
• 0:45
  Nothing healthy grows in darkness.
• 0:48
  As I walk in his light, I discover the freedom to become the person he is creating me to be.
• 0:55
  You know, I mean, like, this is all like, you know, the growing and this and this and I think, like, you know, but at the...
• 1:03
  There's something about in the Bible talking about the seed that doesn't, you know where I'm talking about, the seed that doesn't, it's not in the best place, but when it's in a good place to be... Talking about the sower, the parable of sower and the seed scattered on the path, on the rocky path, and then on the good soil, on the shallow earth, and talks about, you know, that on the path gets snatched up quickly and taken away that passage.
• 1:30
  Yeah, and like, so if I'll come into a line, just like with what you were saying, right?
• 1:35
  And like the seed's always been there.
• 1:37
  Yeah, but it's always, but for a long time, it was there on this gravel road.
• 1:42
  Right.
• 1:42
  And take root.
• 1:44
  Right.
• 1:45
  And then it becomes on soil. And, you know, and that goes back into a couple days ago where, you know, God comes into weakness, right?
• 1:53
  Right?
• 1:54
  It becomes into place where it could be, you know, in soil and grow and that, and you know, I think, you know, when I come into alignment of that and come into that, God is everything, right?
• 2:04
  That's how that goes.
• 2:06
  You know, I think, you know, when it over here in page 64, the big book, it says, though our decision was vital and crucial.
• 2:18
  It could have little permanent effect, unless followed by strenuous effort to face and be read of the things that ourselves would have been blocking us.
• 2:26
  And, you know, a couple pages over.
• 2:28
  It tells me what's blocking me is the spirit of the sunlight, right?
• 2:32
  So that light.
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  And so where all this stuff is blocking me.
• 2:36
  And so my decision, though vital and crucial, could do nothing.
• 2:40
  It does, like, I've made a lot of decisions, and you've heard me talk about this, and I'm not going to talk about it that way, but the decision mean just not doing this anymore.
• 2:50
  I'm not gonna leave my town on the floor.
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  You know, that could have little permanent effect unless followed by strenuous effort.
• 2:59
  To face and get rid of what's blocking me from doing that?
• 3:02
  What's blocking me from doing that?
• 3:04
  Well, it's probably my poor behavior.
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  It's probably me not paying attention to detail.
• 3:09
  Man, my old sponsor
• 3:11
  You used to tell me he's like, Corey, you need to pay attention to the details.
• 3:14
  Details are important.
• 3:16
  You have a sponsor today.
• 3:17
  Very big on details.
• 3:19
  Words are like, you know, words are important.
• 3:22
  When I come into, you know, battle with him, which I come into battle with my sponsor a lot, and it's not about like, you know, life, it's about words and philosophies of the Bible and God, and this and the big book, and, you know, he'll come in, like, I'll have a good thing, this thing of building up, you know, this way, this way.
• 3:41
  And, you know, it'll just be just like this one word, and he's already prepared with it too, and it just, it's just, it's like, you know, it's like walking in and just immediately, just this foot comes out and just trips me up, and I, and then I'm shot down, but like sometimes I can do the same with him.
• 3:59
  But he's he's in the upper hand right now and, you know, I'm, I'm, but I'm not too far behind.
• 4:06
  We'll get there one day.
• 4:07
  um
• 4:10
  But, you know, so when I think about this, you know?
• 4:13
  But with, you know, when I do bring things to light.
• 4:16
  They're hiding in the shadows and I don't, I'm not arguing anymore.
• 4:20
  I'm not fighting it.
• 4:21
  No, she's fighting anything or anyone.
• 4:23
  And I need to practice that more because, man, I do like to go to battle.
• 4:27
  Yeah.
• 4:28
  And, you know, like we were talking about when I walk in, walked in, you know, I could throw grenade for no reason. And, but I need an excuse why.
• 4:37
  Yeah.
• 4:38
  And if I just bring it to light, my problems, and they'll say, hey, this is me.
• 4:42
  It's not this, it's not this.
• 4:45
  It's not because I got bad sleep last night because that's one thing I like to do where I like to blame the baby where I had to blame this or I had a, oh, man, I said it 2 hours ago.
• 4:55
  Man, it's been a long week.
• 4:57
  No, it hasn't.
• 4:59
  perfectly for...
• 5:01
  same length as every other week.
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  Every week, every day, every day's been perfectly placed and, you know, there's no, like sometimes there's no, there's no excuse.
• 5:11
  just me create... Behaving poorly.
• 5:15
  And I have to bring that into light.
• 5:16
  And if I don't say that, I have an excuse.
• 5:18
  I just blocking my ego from Rue.
• 5:21
  I think about it in terms of, uh, It says in the Practical Ripple, you know, I don't have to pretend that I'm perfect, nor do I have to believe I am hopeless. And I was thinking about, as I was reflecting on this one for today, you know, the, there's a scripture in Romans 12, verse 3, says, by the grace given me, I say to every one of you, do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment in accordance with the
• 5:52
  God has distributed to each of you.
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  So is Paul asking for sober judgment about ourselves, you know, an honest view that realizes that we're neither perfect nor hopeless, you know, which is the same thing that the practical thing is talking about.
• 6:03
  I see that a lot and what it made me think of was what I want to see and hear from other people in the program when I walk into the room of recovery or even what I want to see at a church, you know, when I walk into a new church.
• 6:15
  I'm not going to be drawn to the people that think that they have it all together and have the whole thing licked.
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  You know, the people that whose pride makes them operate as though they have nothing else to learn.
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  They figured it all out, you know, that they're there to share their knowledge with others kind of thing.
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  I'm not usually drawn to those people.
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  I'm usually drawn more to the people that are struggling the same way that I'm struggling.
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  You know, the people who can honestly admit that they're struggling.
• 6:39
  Now, I'm not drawn on the flip side to like it was talking about, nor do I have to believe that I am hopeless.
• 6:44
  You know, we all know those, you know, Debbie Downers that you come across sometimes, you know, and that every time you speak to them, some new problem is weighing down on them, they never seem to have any joy or happiness.
• 6:56
  And those seasons come to all of us, those seasons of despair, you know, you might say.
• 7:01
  But when I'm staying connected to my higher power, and when I'm living into my purpose and my calling that he has on my life, those seasons don't last very long.
• 7:10
  You know, they don't, uh, they don't take root.
• 7:13
  You know, I have to be, use your seed analogy that you started with, which seeds am I allowing to take root in my life?
• 7:19
  You know, because there's more than one source sowing seeds at us all the time, right?
• 7:24
  I mean, there's the seeds from the father that are being thrown to bear fruit, but then there's also, you know, the parable about, um, you know, the chaff or the weeds growing up with the wheat, and that happens, you know, with people, and it happens within our own lives as well.
• 7:37
  And I can't always distinguish between that chaff and those wheat stalks that are coming up, you know, in my life or in my mind.
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  I have to allow God to reveal to me, which is which, so I can prune the things that need to be pruned and foster and feed and fertilize those things that need to grow.
• 7:54
  And another thought that I had about this one was, and it's kind of funny where it actually shows up in the Bible, but you know, uh, the famous version, one of the most famous verses in the Bible is John 316, you know, for God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, the whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.
• 8:14
  And a lot of people don't realize the context of that verse.
• 8:18
  It was said to Nicodemus, who came to him in the middle of the night to ask him questions about his mission and his ministry, and it's where Jesus was talking about being born of water and the spirit ahead of that.
• 8:32
  He gives him that verse.
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  But then the ironic thing is, you know, Nicodemus is coming in the middle of the night because he doesn't want his other Pharisee buddies to know that he's going to ask Jesus these questions, right?
• 8:42
  So he's trying to come in the middle of the night.
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  And in the midst of that, you see in John 3 and 21, just a few verses later, Jesus tells him, but whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
• 8:58
  So that's almost like Jesus give him a little dig, you know, to Nicodemus.
• 9:02
  Like, you show up in the middle of the night asking these things, but if you really want to live this life of faith, you bring it into the light and make it a part of who you are every day. And so that's what, you know, I try to do is to, um, not to do it as though the light is shining brighter on me than in others, you know, unless I'm standing at the pulpit on a Sunday and the spotlight shining on my bald head.
• 9:21
  That happens.
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  But anyway, other than that, you know, the light shining on me is not any brighter than anybody else out there.
• 9:27
  You know, that same light that shines on me that forgives me, that offers me God's love and grace is also being offered to everybody else that I encounter.
• 9:35
  You know, I was think I mentioned to you this gob and listened to, and he said something to the effect of like, yeah, a lot of people think a radical.
• 9:47
  Though I'm not radical.
• 9:49
  I just read a lot.
• 9:50
  And, you know, I find that more and more today in my life.
• 9:55
  Oh, because I'm not, like, I don't find myself.
• 9:59
  I find myself in some areas and groups.
• 10:01
  Um, I have very uh, stern and, you know, structured thoughts comparatively, but it's not that, I don't believe I'm any different.
• 10:12
  I just read a lot.
• 10:14
  Yeah. And like, you know, I try to practice what I read to my best ability at that time.
• 10:20
  But I've also fallen a lot.
• 10:22
  You know what I mean?
• 10:23
  Oh yeah, you learned from a space, you know?
• 10:25
  It's like, I'm like, I was talking to my friend of mine today, I said, man, like, you know, I've been in times of complete, utter defeat, you know, even sober.
• 10:37
  Yeah.
• 10:38
  And like, today I would prefer if I stay structured in a manner that, like, I'm going to come into that sometimes, but I, like, know what to do when things crop up and when, when I get agitated, when, like, you know, what, and what I'm actually doing this for, and I'm not doing it for me.
• 10:55
  I'm doing it to help somebody else.
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  And when I come into that love position, right?
• 11:00
  It's so much different.
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  It's a different way to view it and it's a different way to be.
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  And I like how.
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  You know, I've heard in different rooms.
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  It's like, you know, we're only as sick as our secrets.
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  Well, that's true.
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  And I am as sick as my secrets because I'm keeping them secret.
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  But what's cool is if I, because I don't believe, you know, I could be wrong, is if I come into this thing and like, because I have had different things, you know, that are just like eat me up inside.
• 11:29
  But I do believe it's easier for me to let that stuff out. If of being of use to God.
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  If in my my position is maybe I can help somebody like this.
• 11:41
  And the big book aligns with that, I believe it's a 124.
• 11:47
  Uh, it is.
• 11:53
  Man, yeah.
• 11:54
  And for those listening where we record these, Corey and I obviously are sitting here with big books and Bibles out and at times we have this little pause break to look up something that's pinged on us.
• 12:06
  It's page 133.
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  It says, God didn't do it.
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  Avoid the deliberate manufacturer of misery.
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  But if trouble comes, cheerfully capitalize it as an opportunity to demonstrate his omniposence.
• 12:17
  And, you know, but, you know, the 3rd step prayer is aligned to that as well, because it says, We're leaving the bondage of sound that I better do thy well, take away my difficulties, so that victory over them would bear witness to those I could help.
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  So take away my difficulties to help others.
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  So we're all that.
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  And then it says, and the 7th step, take away my defects that come in between you and me helping others too.
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  So nothing has to do with me being this ultimate human, because I think a different.
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  My ego tells me I'm different as the book tells me I'm different, but really I'm just a human today.
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  I got human problems just like everybody else.
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  And how am I come into contact with that?
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  You know, it says, and I'm sorry to go on the train, but it's okay.
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  But, you know, it says that this stuff blocks me from the spirit of the sunlight.
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  And it also tells me the resentment is the number one offender.
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  Other people get resentful and hateful.
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  My mother's a great example, and she loves to build stuff up, and she loves to be the brainstorm, right?
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  She loves that stuff, man.
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  And but I don't get that opport- that don't get that dubious luxury.
• 13:27
  Right.
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  It takes me to sit in the palm game, right?
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  Bing, bing, bing, and self-delusion, and me being selfish, self-centered, and that self-delusion makes me run Ryan.
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  though I usually don't think so, right?
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  Because I'm not going to think of running right because I think I'm living in God's grace.
• 13:43
  No, I'm not.
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  living in Corey's grace.
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  And I'm beating people up.
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  Not really.
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  But like, you know, I'm treating people and being selfish and I can't even see it.
• 13:53
  So that takes me into the dream.
• 13:55
  Well, I was thinking back to what you were saying about, you know, people who read a lot and have a lot of knowledge, you know, and there's a whole thing about, you know, people can be extremely book smart, but if they don't apply it to their live, then they sometimes don't have a lot of common sense.
• 14:09
  And the real thing is applying the knowledge that you learn.
• 14:12
  And I kind of relate it to,
• 14:14
  I think it was, it was either earlier in this episode or yesterday as you were talking about, you know, making the decision, you know, not to leave the towel on the floor.
• 14:22
  Right. And it's like that decision only takes you so far.
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  The decision itself doesn't actually bend over and pick that tile up off the floor and put it in the laundry.
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  That requires action and more action.
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  And that's why, as the Bible tells us time and time again, faith without works is dead.
• 14:37
  Father God, bring every part of my life into your light, through your Holy Spirit, help me walk in honesty, hope, and growing faith.
• 14:47
  Shape me through the example of Jesus.
• 14:48
  Amen.
• 14:49
  Amen.