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15: Recovery · Finding God at Work

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  (Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Hi, I'm Chris.
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  This is Finding God at Work.
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  Just a reminder that Finding God at Work
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  isn't just a podcast, it's also an online
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  course.
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  Check it out at findinggodatwork.org.
• 0:27
  Our current series is wholehearted, becoming healthier Christians
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  at work.
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  We ended our last episode on the real
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  downer of Dallas Willard's description of addiction as
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  being imprisoned by desire and our need for
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  freedom.
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  So I wanted to share a freedom story.
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  This is from Ryan N.
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  He's sharing anonymously, as sometimes is done in
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  different recovery groups.
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  So I'll just read this from a blog
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  post he gave on the Heroes in Recovery
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  website.
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  And just a heads up, Ryan uses a
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  swear word in here, and I'm just going
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  to read it the way he did it.
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  So if any parents are listening to this
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  with kids, maybe fast forward this little part
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  of the story.
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  But I actually think it's an appropriate deployment
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  of the swear word, because it's about damnation
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  and how that is where we had when
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  we're in really destructive cycles.
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  Okay, so let me read what Ryan shares.
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  On the morning of December 9, 2015, after
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  a long night of drinking and smoking weed
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  with coworkers, I said, enough is enough.
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  It's a morning I'll never forget, because I
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  called my mom and told her I was
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  done drinking.
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  We talked for a little and she told
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  me I'm proud of you.
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  She had heard me say I was done
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  drinking before, but that time felt different.
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  Ironically, my dad called two hours later and
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  we talked for a bit.
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  I was hesitant to tell him that I
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  was done drinking, because I didn't want to
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  get too far ahead of myself.
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  But I did at the end of our
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  phone call.
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  He said the words too, I'm proud of
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  you.
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  Everyone knows you want to make your parents
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  proud.
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  And damn, was that a forever moment for
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  me.
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  I have always wanted way more out of
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  life than what most others want out of
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  their lives.
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  And for me, being completely sober is part
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  of getting the most out of life.
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  I love Ryan's vulnerability.
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  Vulnerability is a big part of recovery, which
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  we'll talk about in just a moment.
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  But also, do you see the elements of
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  what we've already talked about related to addiction
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  in his story?
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  He said enough is enough.
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  He had to make a resolute decision.
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  He had to exercise his will in order
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  to say, I need to make a change.
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  Right.
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  But then what did he do?
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  He engaged relationships.
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  He started looking for what are healthy ways
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  for me to connect.
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  He says, everyone knows you want to make
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  your parents proud.
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  He's speaking to a good social need of
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  the human person.
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  And he's saying, okay, I'm going to engage
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  that in a healthy way, calling my mom,
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  talking with my dad.
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  And thankfully, they were able to provide a
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  healthy response of telling him that they were
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  proud of him in that moment.
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  Obviously, not every family relationship would that be
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  what you would receive from your parents.
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  But someone is out there who can say,
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  I'm proud of you to you if you're
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  in this process of recovery.
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  And then also just that that final little
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  note where he says, I have always wanted
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  way more out of my life than what
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  most others want out of their lives.
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  He's driven by desire.
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  He's driven by a desire for life.
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  He's like this, this, this addiction, this cycle
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  of marijuana and alcohol and other things.
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  It's, it's not giving me life and I
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  want life.
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  And so I'm going to go find where
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  life really is.
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  This is beautiful.
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  This is a beautiful story.
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  Now I intentionally chose a story.
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  As far as I know, Ryan at this
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  point in the story was not a committed
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  follower of Jesus.
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  In his blog post, he didn't recount any
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  sort of conversion experience, which might be kind
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  of odd, like the more stereotypical thing for
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  someone like me who's teaching from the Bible
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  to do would be like, here's a story
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  of somebody who found Jesus and then recovered
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  from their addiction.
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  So why do I share a different story?
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  A couple reasons.
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  One is that I think it's really important
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  for us as followers of Jesus to see
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  how broad common grace is.
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  So common grace is this idea that God
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  has a very special kind of grace in
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  Jesus Christ.
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  That's the grace that saves us when we
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  put our faith in Jesus, when we're baptized,
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  when we begin following him, we come into
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  the kingdom of God, we become alive to
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  God.
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  But he also has a lot of grace
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  that's just in common.
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  It's for everybody.
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  So like when Jesus says, God sends his
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  reign on both the righteous and the unrighteous,
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  he's talking about God's character and how God
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  loves and does good for everybody, regardless of
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  whether they acknowledge him.
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  That's common grace, the gift of God, the
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  goodness of God for everybody.
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  And part of that is recovery can be
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  a real experience for people, even if they
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  don't come to specific faith in Jesus Christ.
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  And so that's important for us to acknowledge
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  how broad common grace is, that even the
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  process of addiction recovery is available outside of
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  specific conscious faith in Jesus.
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  But I also want to emphasize it because
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  out of all people, Christians have the most
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  reason to embrace a recovery mindset, right?
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  So in this story, Ryan was embracing a
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  recovery mindset.
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  He's like, I want to find out where
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  life really is.
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  The claim of the Bible is, well, ultimately
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  where life really is, is in God.
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  Ryan didn't get to that point necessarily in
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  this part of his story.
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  But those of us who believe that there's
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  a good God who gives life, those of
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  us who are Christians who believe that life
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  is revealed in Jesus Christ, we have the
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  most reason out of all people to embrace
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  a recovery mindset.
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  Because we believe there is a source of
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  life out there that is worth engaging in
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  the process of recovery to reach.
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  It is worth it to abandon these things
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  that do not give life because real life
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  really is out there.
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  Okay, so what do I mean by recovery
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  mindset?
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  Ryan's story is an example of somebody engaged
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  in recovery.
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  I want to give just a simple phrase
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  that I think gives a recovery mindset.
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  Admitting and committing to radical change.
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  Admitting and committing to radical change.
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  So four words there.
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  Okay, so first admitting.
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  This in a 12-step program, the first
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  step is to acknowledge how deep the problem
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  is, to admit it.
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  And so I want to go to a
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  scripture passage that's going to kind of help
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  us walk through what is this process of
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  admitting and change look like.
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  This is Psalm 51, not in the context
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  of addiction, but in the context of very
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  serious sin.
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  David, the writer of the psalm, had committed
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  murder, had committed adultery, he had abused his
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  power politically, a lot of bad things, and
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  he comes to a place of very genuine
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  contrition and believing he needs help, and he
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  needs to acknowledge just how bad everything he's
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  done is.
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  He's not going to tell himself that story
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  of, I'll quit tomorrow anymore.
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  He's going to say it how it is.
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  So this is in verse three.
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  Hear how David is admitting.
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  For I know my transgressions and my sin
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  is ever before me.
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  Against you, you only have I sinned and
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  done what is evil in your sight, so
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  that you may be justified in your words
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  and blameless in your judgment.
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  David's looking at God and saying, I have
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  done wrong, and if you judge me and
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  say that I've done wrong, you're right, you're
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  justified, I'm not going to pretend otherwise.
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  This is incredibly antithetical to almost everything that's
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  built up in our American culture.
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  People are terrible at admitting that they're wrong.
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  Have you ever read an apology from a
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  public figure?
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  So often, it's not an apology at all.
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  People just do not have it in them
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  to say, I was wrong.
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  They just don't have everything against us, just
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  rebels against that.
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  I think there's a lot in our culture
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  that reinforces that, like a sense of, I
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  am the ultimate authority, I'm not responsible to
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  anyone else, I choose my own way.
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  Versus in this picture that we're given in
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  Scripture, God is the ultimate authority.
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  God will judge.
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  That's very clear in the Bible, and so
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  when we do something wrong, we are accountable
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  to Him.
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  Part of recovery, the first part of recovery,
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  is admitting how bad the problem is, taking
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  responsibility, saying, this is beyond me, I need
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  help, this is wrong, I'm admitting it.
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  Admitting how destructive my disorder is.
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  That's the first step.
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  Then, committing.
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  This is what Ryan did.
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  He exercised his will.
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  He said, enough is enough.
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  You engage your will, you commit to radical
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  change.
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  We'll get onto radical and change in a
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  second here, but just first this part of
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  committing, of engaging the will.
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  We see this in Psalm 51.
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  This is starting in verse 12.
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  Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
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  and uphold me with a willing spirit.
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  Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and
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  sinners will return to you.
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  Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, O
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  God of my salvation, and my tongue will
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  sing aloud of your righteousness.
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  O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth
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  will declare your praise.
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  For you will not delight in sacrifice, or
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  I would give it.
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  You will not be pleased with a burnt
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  offering.
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  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
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  a broken and contrite heart, O God.
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  You will not despise.
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  Do you hear how David's saying, I'm going
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  to do whatever it takes.
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  If it took sacrifice, that's what I would
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  give.
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  But I know that it actually takes a
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  broken spirit.
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  His spirit is broken.
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  He's admitting it, and now he's committing.
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  He says, restore to me the joy of
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  your salvation, and uphold me with a willing
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  spirit.
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  He's saying, I need help to keep choosing
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  this, but I am choosing this.
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  Then he says, then I will teach transgressors
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  your ways, and sinners will return to you.
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  There's a long-term process that he's stepping
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  into resolutely and saying, this is the way
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  for me.
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  He is committing.
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  Okay, now then what is he committing to?
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  He's committing to radical change.
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  Now use that word radical intentionally, not just
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  to have it be like a big, beefy
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  exclamation point word, but the word radical in
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  English actually means root.
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  It's a root change.
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  How do we change what's at the source,
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  at the root of this problem?
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  How do we dig those roots up and
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  plant something different in their place?
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  Well, this is what David gets at in
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  the center of the Psalm.
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  This idea that the change needs to go
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  to the core of who we are.
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  So this is verses seven through 11.
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  Purge me with hyssop and I shall be
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  clean.
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  Wash me and I shall be whiter than
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  snow.
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  Let me hear joy and gladness.
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  Let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
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  Hide your face from my sins and blot
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  out my iniquities.
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  Create in me a clean heart, O God,
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  and renew a right spirit within me.
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  Cast me not away from your presence and
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  take not your Holy Spirit from me.
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  At the center of this passage, he says,
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  create in me a clean heart, O God,
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  and renew a right spirit within me.
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  He's saying, I need to change from the
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  inside out.
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  This is not ultimately about changing behavior, although
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  behavior will change.
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  It's ultimately about changing who we are as
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  human beings from the inside out.
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  And then how does that change occur?
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  Well, it occurs by the presence of God,
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  right?
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  Right after that clean heart and right spirit,
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  David says, cast me not away from your
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  presence and take not your Holy Spirit from
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  me.
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  We need God to dwell in us, in
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  our bodies, in our whole beings, by his
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  Holy Spirit.
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  And when he does, when we dwell in
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  his presence like that in union with him
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  through Jesus Christ, it becomes possible for that
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  change to really be radical, becomes possible for
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  the change to be thorough, long, progressive, and
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  real.
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  And we see this in the teaching of
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  Jesus as well.
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  So flipping ahead to the New Testament, John
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  chapter seven, starting in verse 37.
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  This is one of Jesus's key descriptions about
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  himself.
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  On the last day of the feast, the
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  great day, Jesus stood up and cried out,
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  if anyone thirsts, let him come to me
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  and drink.
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  Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has
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  said, out of his heart will flow rivers
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  of living water.
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  Now this he said about the spirit, whom
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  those who believed in him were to receive.
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  So again, just like David said, it's about
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  God's presence.
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  It's about the Holy Spirit not being taken
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  from us.
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  Jesus says, whoever believes in me, out of
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  his heart will flow rivers of living water.
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  And that means the spirit.
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  God gets into our heart level, puts his
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  spirit there, and transforms us so that living
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  water flows out of us.
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  So we're capable of living with him, being
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  alive, and feeling alive.
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  Now, feeling alive, that goes up and down.
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  Sometimes we don't feel alive.
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  That's a different talk.
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  But that true transformation is real.
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  We need the presence of God more than
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  we need anything else.
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  And when we come to the place of
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  realizing that we need the presence of God
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  more than we need anything else, then the
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  power of addiction is broken.
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  Then we are no longer dominated by desire.
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  Again, this is just another way, kind of
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  stepping back to our theological anthropology, soul as
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  receiver.
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  You are designed to receive the presence of
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  God in your deepest being.
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  You have a soul.
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  It needs God.
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  You have a body.
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  It needs God.
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  You have a mind.
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  It needs God.
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  Your whole being is meant to be suffused
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  with the presence of God inside all the
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  way out.
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  Another way of thinking about this.
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  When you have a life source that's really
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  good, less attractive life sources are not a
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  problem.
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  And this is something, like even with our
• 14:34
  hydration example on Drinking Mountain Dew, people talk
• 14:36
  about this.
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  You stop drinking soda pop and you start
• 14:38
  drinking water and you start eating healthy.
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  And then eventually it gets to the point
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  where you look at the soda pop and
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  you're like, why did I ever drink that?
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  That's not even attractive because you've actually found
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  a way to meet the drives in your
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  body more substantively.
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  And so the power of the false God,
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  so to speak, the power of the object
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  of addiction is completely broken because you have
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  what you need already.
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  You're already good to go.
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  So I'm paraphrasing Dallas Willard here.
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  He, in that same talk we referenced in
• 15:05
  our last episode, he said that to get
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  free from addiction, you have to become the
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  kind of person who sees the object of
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  addiction as unattractive.
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  So what does that mean?
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  Well, let me read a little bit more
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  from Dallas here.
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  Many Christians think it's impossible for sin to
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  become unattractive.
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  They've tried to overcome sin by sheer force
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  of their will and can't.
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  Willpower is not enough.
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  It never is.
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  The only function of your will is to
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  bring you to the point of trusting God,
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  relying on Him and living there.
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  So there are some addiction recovery programs out
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  there, even Christian ones, that are so focused
• 15:43
  on behavior, so focused on like, what would
• 15:45
  Jesus do?
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  Just choose to do the right thing.
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  They put the whole weight of recovery on
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  somebody's will.
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  That will never work because our will is
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  not strong enough.
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  The point of exercising our will, of making
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  that resolute commitment to radical change, is to
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  enter the presence of God and let His
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  life rework us in terms of our emotional
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  needs, our biological needs, all of our needs,
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  so that then sin looks unattractive.
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  The booze, the pornography, the heroin, whatever it
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  is, you look at it, and you're like,
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  why did I ever want that?
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  Because I have what I need in the
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  presence of God.
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  Rivers of living water are flowing out of
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  me.
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  So what does this look like in practical
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  terms?
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  If you're in the throes of something right
• 16:30
  now and you really feel like you need
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  help, there are great resources out there to
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  help you get help.
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  If you're not sure where to start, you
• 16:37
  can reach out to me.
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  I can point you to different resources that
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  are available online or elsewhere.
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  If you're part of a faith community, I
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  would encourage you to reach out and do
• 16:46
  a next step there.
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  And so I think for all of us,
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  whether we're in the throes of an addiction
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  or we just know, hey, sometimes I have
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  bad habits that need some work.
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  We can follow this process of admitting and
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  committing to radical change.
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  Or we could say admitting and committing to
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  receiving life.
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  Radical change, receiving life.
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  God is the true, deep, beautiful life source
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  that we're looking for.
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  So in practical terms, we just need to
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  take our next step.
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  So maybe your next step is just admitting.
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  Again, whether it's a profound addiction or just
• 17:19
  a bad habit, do you need to admit
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  that you have a problem?
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  Are you scrolling too much on Instagram or
• 17:24
  Reddit?
• 17:25
  Are you shopping too much?
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  Are you eating too much?
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  Are you eating too little?
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  That's kind of an inverse addiction.
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  Can you admit that to someone safe in
• 17:34
  your life?
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  This is the classic Christian discipline of confession.
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  So if you can find a leader in
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  your faith community who's a person of integrity,
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  they could be a great person to confess
• 17:44
  to, to just admit, like, yeah, I have
• 17:46
  this problem, I need some help.
• 17:47
  Or it could be a friend, a counselor,
• 17:50
  a therapist, somebody can hear you and can
• 17:54
  listen well to that confession.
• 17:57
  Okay, so that's our first step is admitting.
• 17:59
  Maybe you're already there.
• 17:59
  Maybe you've already admitted you have a problem.
• 18:01
  Maybe you've been in the process of recovery
• 18:02
  for some time.
• 18:04
  Are you committing, right?
• 18:05
  Are you doing that step of committing to
• 18:07
  radical change?
• 18:09
  One way of seeing this is, are you
• 18:11
  willing to rearrange your life around recovery?
• 18:15
  Are you willing to invest time, effort, even
• 18:16
  money in your recovery process?
• 18:18
  If not, you probably haven't made that commitment.
• 18:21
  You're probably not taking it seriously.
• 18:23
  Especially if you do have what's truly an
• 18:25
  addiction, you need to rearrange your life around
• 18:27
  recovery.
• 18:28
  You need to make recovery your priority so
• 18:30
  that you don't fall into even deeper destruction
• 18:33
  because just like addiction is pervasive, it requires
• 18:37
  rearranging your whole life around recovery to get
• 18:39
  out of it.
• 18:40
  So if you haven't done that, you need
• 18:42
  to commit to change.
• 18:44
  Okay, then third thing, maybe you've already done
• 18:48
  that.
• 18:48
  You're like, no, no, Chris, I hear you,
• 18:50
  right?
• 18:50
  I'm in a 12-step group.
• 18:52
  I'm in a small group.
• 18:53
  I'm talking with my pastor.
• 18:54
  I'm praying with my buddies.
• 18:55
  I'm committed.
• 18:55
  I'm rearranging my life.
• 18:56
  I got it.
• 18:57
  Okay, then we're at the step of radical
• 18:59
  change, receiving life.
• 19:01
  Keep doing what you're doing one step at
• 19:04
  a time, welcoming God and the roots of
• 19:06
  your desires and needs.
• 19:09
  And this is always going to be a
• 19:10
  progressive and gradual process for all of us.
• 19:13
  Relapse is part of recovery.
• 19:15
  It's not a failure if you go back
• 19:16
  to that behavior.
• 19:18
  It's something that allows you to move forward
• 19:21
  and to learn more about yourself by God's
• 19:23
  grace over time.
• 19:25
  And the way that we welcome the presence
• 19:26
  of God are all the things we've talked
• 19:28
  about in this episode and other episodes, dwelling
• 19:31
  in Scripture, exercising your will and prayer, being
• 19:34
  vulnerable in community, just dwelling in the presence
• 19:37
  of God.
• 19:39
  And one other practice that some faith communities
• 19:42
  have access to is healing prayer.
• 19:45
  And if you're not familiar with this practice
• 19:48
  of healing prayer, you could learn a little
• 19:50
  bit about it online on the website of
• 19:52
  Christian Healing Ministries.
• 19:54
  So that's christianhealingmin.org, christianhealingmin.org.
• 20:01
  There's a couple named Francis and Judith McNutt
• 20:03
  who founded that ministry and have been leaders
• 20:06
  in a renewal of healing prayer in a
• 20:08
  way that I think is grounded in Scripture
• 20:09
  and faithful to Jesus.
• 20:11
  But you could ask your pastor or a
• 20:13
  different leader at your church if you're part
• 20:14
  of a community like that, hey, is healing
• 20:16
  prayer something that we do here?
• 20:18
  Is that something I could get involved in?
• 20:20
  Because that's one particular way that God helps
• 20:23
  deepen our experience of his love and the
• 20:27
  deepest levels of our being so we can
• 20:29
  receive life as we enter more deeply into
• 20:32
  radical change.
• 20:35
  Okay, one final quote from Dallas Willard.
• 20:37
  Thanks for indulging me.
• 20:39
  His kind of gloss on these rivers of
• 20:42
  living water that Jesus describes.
• 20:44
  Dallas describes it like this.
• 20:47
  An inexhaustible source of satisfaction that will set
• 20:51
  you free from domination by desire.
• 20:55
  That's what Jesus offers us, an inexhaustible source
• 20:58
  of satisfaction that will set you free from
• 21:01
  domination by desire.
• 21:04
  It's really there.
• 21:05
  It's really real.
• 21:07
  It's on offer.
• 21:09
  All you have to do is admit and
• 21:11
  commit to radical change and receive that life
• 21:15
  from Jesus.
• 21:18
  Lord Jesus, thank you that you do invite
• 21:20
  us into the process of recovery, that it's
• 21:22
  real, that we can say yes to it.
• 21:24
  Give us all courage to take our next
• 21:26
  step in recovery, whatever it is, give us
• 21:30
  courage to say the truth about our own
• 21:33
  behavior, more importantly about our own soul, about
• 21:36
  the state of who we are and how
• 21:38
  we are.
• 21:39
  Let us receive your life in the deepest
• 21:42
  reaches of our being.
• 21:44
  Jesus, do your work in us as we
• 21:45
  do our work with you.
• 21:52
  Thanks for listening.
• 21:54
  Finding God at Work is a production of
• 21:55
  Mission Central, a ministry based in Aurora, Illinois
• 21:58
  dedicated to forming Christians for mission in everyday
• 22:01
  life.
• 22:02
  You can subscribe to the podcast wherever you
• 22:04
  listen to this episode to get 10 minutes
• 22:06
  of teaching on faith and work every Tuesday
• 22:08
  and Thursday.
• 22:09
  To get resources to go deeper with each
• 22:11
  podcast series, read our blog, then get info
• 22:13
  about upcoming courses on faith in the workplace.
• 22:16
  Go to our website, missioncentral.church.