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October 1 – Staying Spiritually Awake · The Daily Ripples Podcast

• 0:03
  October 1st, staying spiritually awake.
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  The stone, spiritual growth continues only as long as I continue to pursue it.
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  Ripple one practical.
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  Today I will not mistake comfort for completion. When life is going well, I still need prayer, honest self-examination and faithful action.
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  Daily attention to my spiritual life keep small problems from becoming larger ones.
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  Ripple 2 spiritual.
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  As I continue to follow Christ each day, the Holy Spirit gently reveals attitudes and habits that need attention before they take root.
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  The Father's grace invites me to keep growing, reminding me that a humble heart is always ready to learn.
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  Good morning everyone.
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  Today's topic, apparently, is continuing to grow spiritually as long as I continue to work towards that goal.
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  And for me, what that's going to do is obviously, well, I say, obviously, for me, it's going to take me into steps 10 and 11, and that's really how I live my life today as opposed to how I used to live my life, even up to about 4 years ago where, uh, just, you know, kind of, uh, would have given this a cursory nod, um, to say, oh, yeah, those are good practices, and we should really try to do the best we can at those
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  .
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  But really what the truth has been for me is it is indeed the design for living that works with me and for me, as long as I continue to practice it.
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  And I have practiced it, practiced it without missing a day for several years now.
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  And so I'm going to start in, uh, in the big book, and I'm going to talk through the process of 10 and 11 and how I see these things as, uh, I heard it called, um, earlier in the week, an Infinity loop.
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  It's basically like a rinse on repeat.
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  And so the way I kind of see that is it starts on page 84.
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  And it says, we have entered into the world of the spirit.
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  Our next function is to grow in understanding and effectiveness.
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  This is not an overnight matter.
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  It should continue for our lifetime.
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  Continue to watch for selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fear.
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  So that's where I start with the continue kind of to pull in the stone and how does growth, uh, how do I continue to grow?
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  And it's not an overnight matter.
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  It has to be practiced for a lifetime.
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  So where does that really start?
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  Well, when people talk about steps 10 and steps 11, um, sometimes they can be, uh, you know, not entirely accurate in the way they, they lay it out.
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  But the way I understand it, is that really starts on page 85 and it starts in, where it gives me a, uh, an idea of what God's will is for me.
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  And you have a lot of people say, well, I just wonder what God's will is.
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  Well, I just wonder what God's will is.
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  Well, here's what it says in the literature that I follow in the philosophy for my life that I follow.
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  It says, every day is a day we must carry the vision of God's will into all our activities.
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  So here's God here's what God's will is.
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  How can I best serve thee? Thy will, not mine be done.
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  So that's that's God's will.
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  How can I best serve thee?
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  And again, I think we kind of talked about this over the last few days, though, is that when Christ lays down his life for us?
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  See, that's what he's saying here is when Christ, he has drawn the comparison to Christ laying down his life for our salvation as what we should be looking because that's what God's will is for us, just for us to lay down our lives, for other people.
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  Just like in John, uh, that where it said, no greater love than a man has than he does for laying down his life for his brothers.
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  So I think that's what, for me, when I think about this process of the rinse and repeat process here, that's kind of how I see that, is that in Christ's moment of passion, you know, that that bill is drawing from that very specific sentence in from the Garden of Yosemite, and saying, this is how important this is, because this Christ laid down his life for our salvation, for our freedom from our freedom of having to repeat.
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  any type of thing that we might have looked at, that we can accept his salvation and be free.
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  And from the philosophy that I practice, that helps me to interact with that starts on this very same page because it says each day.
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  So how do I interact with something that requires me to interact with it each day?
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  Well, the great news is, is that it's on the next page, which is page 86.
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  And a lot of times I hear people conflating, oh, well, you know, the the nightly inventory is the 10 step inventory, and that's not really accurate from a from a process perspective.
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  And I'm a kind of a process guy, so I look at it like that.
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  But it tells me every day.
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  So what do I do every single day?
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  Well, Bill gives me those things that I do every single day.
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  So my day starts on the very next page and it says on awakening.
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  Let us think about the 24 hours ahead, consider my plans for the day.
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  And this is the very 1st plan, the very 1st prayer I say every single morning.
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  And in the book, it says, we ask God to direct our thinking.
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  So what do I say?
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  I say, dear God, please direct my thinking.
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  Divorce me from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives.
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  And then I go on to do other spiritual things, but after I say that prayer, that's the 1st absolute 100%, 1st thing I do when I hit my knees every single morning, as I say that prayer.
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  And then I get up and I go get my coffee and do my other, uh, things I've got to do before I go upstairs and take a seat in my chair and start to do some other spiritual practices that I have, but I never missed that day.
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  That is the most absolute, most important thing I can do, right?
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  Because if what I'm trying to do is catch a vision for God's will into every activity.
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  And since that's the proper use of my will and I'm trying to do it every day, well, what's the one thing that everybody on the planet does every day?
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  No matter what time you go to sleep, you always wake up.
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  So on awakening.
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  It doesn't say on awakening in the morning.
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  It doesn't say on awakening at any particular time.
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  It simply says on awakening.
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  So my, the way I interpret that is when my intent is to get up and start my day, that I am to hit my knees and ask God to direct my thinking, divorcing me from self pity, dishonest, and self seeking motives.
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  And under, and then the promises that come behind that, under these conditions, we can employ our mental faculties.
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  So our thinking.
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  With assurance.
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  After all, God gave us brains to use, say, and that tells me that.
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  So these are backside promises, uh, when I take these actions, um, and, and for me, uh, you know, I don't, I don't take the actions, I don't take the actions for the promises, but I do receive the promises because I take the actions.
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  So, later down the page there, it says, in thinking about our day, we may face indecision, you know, so, it's going to happen, right?
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  We're going to come up against things that we're not entirely sure what we should do.
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  So at that point in time, we say, God, please give us inspiration, intuitive thought, decision, and we relax and take it easy.
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  We don't struggle because we're living in a place because we're taking this direction and we're asking we're asking for direction.
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  And the way I approach that is, Once I've asked God, omnipotent, all powerful, all knowing, salvation, creator, uh, of the entire universe past anything we could ever comprehend.
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  for direction and guidance that I'm indeed receiving that from my creator.
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  And I don't really argue with it.
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  Now, the question there also comes up as like, well, what is God's will, you know, if God's will is, uh, you know, if I go out and do something I shouldn't do,
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  Is that God's will?
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  Well, absolutely, it's God's will, because God is also, God is both, To me, you know, God can, because of my free will, I can go out and decide to do things that would be contrary to what somebody might think is God's will.
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  But the discomfort that is on the backside of that, God, the way at least the way I approach it, would hope that I would seek God's forgiveness in my life.
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  So either way, if I'm asking for direction and directions, then I'm a good boy, then I'm interacting with God's will.
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  And if I ask for directions and I go out and I knowingly do something that is intent to harm somebody in some way, shape or form, um, that the consequences from that will also send me, uh, back to God, to seek forgiveness, to seek freedom from whatever that thing is, that now will have a hold of me until I make it right.
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  You know, um, in Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew, you know, it talks literally about, you know, don't go, you know, uh, don't go to court with a, with a, uh, don't look at your brother with a speck in his eye if you've got a board in yours, right?
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  So if I don't clear my side of the street up, um, then I'm gonna, I'm gonna suffer those consequences.
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  And ultimately those consequences, the way I live my life, lead me back to God, to ask for forgiveness and direction on how I should handle that situation.
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  And now that I'm talking about that, I want to kind of touch on the next phase of this process, which is on 87 and it says as we go through the day, we pause when agitated or doubtful.
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  We ask for the right thought or action.
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  We constantly remind ourselves and it continues on page 88.
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  We are no longer running the show, but it says, as we go through the day, we pause and agitated or doubtful.
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  And when I think about being agitated or doubtful.
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  I think about those 4 areas of selves that on page 84, it tells me to watch for.
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  You know, because when I'm agitated and doubtful, the some of the characteristics of those 2 feelings can be selfishness, dishonesty, resentment and fear.
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  And the biggest one being fear that, I'm not going to get what I want or I'm not going to get what I demand, self-centered fear.
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  I believe in the 7th step in the 12 and 12 that talks very specifically about that, that the chief activator of all my character defects come from self-centered fear.
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  So if I'm agitated or doubtful, probably my self-centered fear has in some way, shape or form, activated my character defects, which has put me in a position where I must do this spot check inventory.
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  And when I do the spot check inventory, what does it tell me?
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  Well, it tells me it says, when these crop up, we ask God at once, right?
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  So immediately, just like it tells me, uh, and I ask, uh, in thinking about my day, I may face a decision, I ask God for inspiration.
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  And then on page 87.
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  It says as we go through the day, we pause when agitator doubtful and ask for the right thought or action.
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  So that's the 1st that's the 1st direction that I receive in the 10th step spot check inventory is ask God it wants to remove them.
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  That's the direction that I'm given by this process to remove the the quote unquote feeling of being agitated or doubtful.
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  The next one.
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  Um, is discussing with the with someone immediately.
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  Now, that's someone, I've talked to several friends, one of my really good closest friends, I talked to him, several times a day in some cases.
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  Um, you know, he he believes, and I tend to agree with this, is that that someone can also be the person that I'm going to make the amends to.
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  It doesn't necessarily have to be, you know, uh, a mentor, a spiritual advisor, sponsor, you know, counselor, any wife, friend, any whatever, whatever you want to call them.
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  It can be literally the person that I've run up.
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  I have that it could be the source of my agitated, um, agitation and doubt. So I can talk to them about that and make my amends because that's the very next step in this spot check inventory, discuss with someone immediately and make amends quickly.
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  And for me, you know, that is so important because I like to go to sleep at night.
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  And part of going to sleep at night for me is having a soft pillow.
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  And for me, having soft pillow means that I'm clear with the day and that I haven't done anything to harm anyone that I'm aware of and that my behavior was, you know, for the most part, uh, on on board.
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  Uh, with my belief in my philosophy and that if somebody saw me living my life, they would go, yeah, that, you know, that guy, when he says these words, his feet show the same, they reflect what his words say.
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  And I think for the most part, I do that.
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  I know I'm human and I fall short.
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  So, you know, I'll give myself a, a, you know, a wide berth in some cases, but that doesn't mean I just get to go and treat people, however, want to treat them.
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  And the final, the very final, um, instruction in that spot check inventory is then I resolutely turn my thoughts to someone I can help because someone I can help.
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  Could be anybody.
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  I could be I could be agitated or doubtful about a phone call.
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  I just made, and maybe maybe I haven't had, you know, immediately I can ask God to remove these feelings, but maybe I haven't had a chance to talk to somebody or make amends if I owe them.
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  But what I do have time to do is I do have time to serve others immediately, because it might be as simple as opening the door for the late, the next lady that comes by, or it might be as simple as seeing a guy pushing his grocery cart back up to the, back up to the grocery store, and I know I got to have a grocery cart.
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  So I said, hey, why don't you let me get that grocery cart for you and take that away from it.
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  It can be as simple as that.
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  I like my personal favorite is always compliment their glasses. Because people, um, and I told a friend of mine that one time, and he did it, and he was like, man, it's crazy, that worked.
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  But because glasses are one of the most personal things you can buy because you try them on, you look at them, you want to look good in them.
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  So when somebody says, hey, I really like the way those classes look.
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  What you're saying is, hey, you make good decisions for yourself.
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  And those glasses are a reflection of somebody that has good self-esteem and has a good self-image.
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  And that's very important.
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  You know, I found that to be a very helpful tool.
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  whenever I'm dealing with, I say, dealing with, whenever I'm interacting with other human beings, whether it's a good thing or a bad thing, if you tell them, hey, I really like your glasses.
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  That tends to soften up the conversation.
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  And uh, so anyways, love intolerance of others is our code.
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  So we talk a little bit about thinking, but we talk about behaving as well, and that's really kind of the crux of the problem is that we we lack the power to act right.
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  We lack the power to think right.
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  And in these, in, in the 10th and 11th step.
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  What we're doing now is because the keystone, is in the arch, is in place, and we're going to talk about that at some point in time in the future.
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  When the keystone is in place and my behavior and my thinking are properly balanced and held up by the power necessary for the 2 pillars of the arch to be held up when it's held up like that.
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  My behavior and my thinking is right.
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  So that means my behavior is I get up in the morning, I make that prayer that I just talked about as I go through the day.
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  If something ruffles my feathers.
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  I do, I follow the directions, um, on page 84 and take that spot check inventory, talk to something, you ask God it wants to remove it, talk to somebody about it, make amends quickly, and then find somebody to help because helping somebody is always the solution to every single one of my problems, no matter what it is.
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  Prayer and service to others is always the solution.
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  Never any other way.
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  There's never any other way that is the ultimate way, even if you make the amend, the next, the next direction is to serve.
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  So, the end of it is prayer and service, and that's it, and that's proper behavior.
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  And now my thinking, right, so my thinking, we're going to talk about that is, I can, I begun, begin to be able to rely on that because it's managed, just they manage, but it's, it's, it's part of this process.
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  And when I'm asking to be my thinking to be directed.
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  And when I'm following the directions and and cleaning up my side of the street as quickly as possible.
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  And then I get to how how do I know that I did that?
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  Well, for me, it's a soft pillow, but as far as the big book is concerned, we're back to a formal close.
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  Remember, because we talked about everybody wakes up, what everybody goes to sleep to.
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  And that we have a direction for that.
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  And in that direction, it says when we retire at night.
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  We constructively review our day, where we resentful, selfish, dishonest or afraid, do we owe an apology?
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  Have we kept something to ourselves, which should have been discussed with another person at once, were we kind and loving toward all?
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  What could we have done better?
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  And so that's a direct review of how well I did that spot check inventory, when I paused, when agitated or doubtful, because I had asked for direction, when I woke up this morning, and my direction was, follow these directions, rinse and repeat. And for me, whenever I think about that, a really, really close friend of mine and a dear mentor, someone I love very much named Larry.
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  This is what he said, that a very deep, loving person that he, that he had as a mentor, Howard A, told him, he said, this is Matthew 634.
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  Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be will worry about itself.
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  each day has enough trouble of its own.
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  And I hope that, you know, if you take a look at these pages, starting 85, then to 86, then to 84, what you will ultimately find, is that, When we humbly say to ourselves many times each day, thy will be, not none, be done, that I'm much less danger of excitement, fear, anger, worry, self-pitiful decisions, and I become much more efficient.
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  I don't tire as easily.
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  Because I'm not burning up energy foolishly as I did when I was trying to arrange life to suit myself.
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  It works it really does.
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  We alcoholics, so it says alcoholics, but we people who are spiritual seekers are undisciplined.
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  So we let God discipline us in the simple way we have just outlined.
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  And nobody really likes discipline, right?
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  Nobody cares to be disciplined.
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  Nobody cares to be, uh, you know, because we look at this one as a bad thing, like somehow or another, we've been, we're going to get a spanking, but that's not entirely true.
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  What, what, Paul says about discipline, is that no true, if you're not a son, not a true son unless you're disciplined.
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  And what happens on the backside of discipline, is you you learn from it and you persevere through it.
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  And Because of that, you can grow in the likeness of your creator.
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  And as you grow in the likeness of your creator.
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  Excuse me.
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  You will you will find yourself, um, free.
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  And then when I close with this, endure hardship.
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  This is Hebrews 12, verse 7 through 12. And their hardship is disciplined.
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  God is treating you as sons.
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  For what son is not disciplined by his father, if you're not disciplined and everyone undergoes discipline, then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.
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  Moreover, we all have had human fathers who have disciplined us, and we respected them for it.
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  How much more should we submit to the father of our spirits and live?
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  Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best.
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  But God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.
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  No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.
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  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
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  Therefore strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees, make level the paths for your feet, so that the lane may not be disabled, but rather healed.
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  Prayer.
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  Father God, keep me from becoming complacent in my walk with you.
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  Through your Holy Spirit, help me remain humble, honest, and faithful each day.
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  Shape me through the example of Jesus.
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  en.
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  I hope y'all have a great day.
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  Bye for now.