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September 11 – Courage to Make Things Right · The Daily Ripples Podcast

• 0:03
  Welcome back, everybody, to the Daily Ripples podcast.
• 0:07
  I'm Pastor Mike, and this is Friday, September the 11th, and I all have, as always, Corey, my co-host here with us, but we also have another very special guest.
• 0:18
  Would you like to introduce yourself?
• 0:19
  Hey guys.
• 0:21
  Remember me I'm Paris. and I'm just glad to be here.
• 0:25
  Absolutely.
• 0:26
  Well, Paris is here today, and this is kind of a preview to next week because next week, Monday through Friday.
• 0:33
  Paris is gonna be with us all week long.
• 0:35
  But we're going to get kicked right off today with the Daily Ripples devotional for September 11th.
• 0:41
  courage to make things right.
• 0:43
  The stone.
• 0:44
  Courage is not the absence of fear, but the willingness to do what is right despite it.
• 0:49
  Ripple one practical.
• 0:51
  Today, I will not let fear become an excuse for delay.
• 0:55
  Difficult conversations and necessary amends are rarely easy, but avoiding them only prolongs the burden.
• 1:03
  Freedom often begins on the other side of an honest step.
• 1:07
  Ripple 2 spiritual.
• 1:08
  As I follow Christ's example of truth and humility, the Holy Spirit gives me courage beyond my own strength.
• 1:15
  The Father is less concerned with the outcome than with my willingness to faithfully obey.
• 1:20
  When I trust him with the results, I find a deeper freedom.
• 1:24
  And as always, we'll save our prayer for the end of the episode, but this one is important because I, you know, I don't tend to, I don't know about you guys, but I don't tend to think about myself as being all that courageous, right?
• 1:36
  Like I hear about courageous people and I think of, well, I mean, I think of people who are like, you know, firefighters because I can't imagine rushing on purpose into a fire.
• 1:47
  you know, even to save somebody else.
• 1:49
  It's just, I have too much fear for that, you know?
• 1:51
  But the thing that I've come to realize through this program is that whatever courage I have today is not necessarily in my own, but it's the courage that God has given me.
• 2:01
  And it's through the spiritual awakening that I've gotten through working these steps, including the hard one, which is the one we're talking about a lot this month, which is, you know, step nine.
• 2:11
  But I don't know, that's just where my mind initially went, but I don't like to talk too much in the beginning.
• 2:16
  I like to just turn it over to, uh, we'll kick it off to Paris to start us off today.
• 2:21
  as our guest, as is only fitting.
• 2:23
  Yeah, yeah, thanks.
• 2:25
  Michael.
• 2:27
  No, no, what I thought about when I was reading this is the courage you say is the absence of fear.
• 2:35
  No, I was looking at the daily, not the daily ripple, but the daily reflection that I normally do every morning. And, you know, it was a sentence in there and it says above all, we should try to be absolutely sure that we are not ... because ... because we are afraid.
• 2:53
  You know what I mean?
• 2:54
  Just, you know, for me, when I remember when I was trying to make be courage and make these, you know, do my step work and, you know, make my amends to other people, um, some things I would just like, you know, I'm going to put it off in the back end.
• 3:09
  I'm going to wait on wait another time to do that.
• 3:12
  All right?
• 3:13
  And, um, but there was that 4 step prayer came in, you know, in the endpoint as well. Because I had to look at it as it says on, um, I believe it says on a spiritual, or not spiritual, but, uh, the practical part.
• 3:27
  Uh, my phone messing up right now, but uh, yeah, it says, um, difficult conversation, unnecessary, as I mean, is, are rarely easy, but a boy in them are only hold on to the burden.
• 3:39
  See, that burden that I used to have was for, you know, being with another segment, you know, I mean, like being able to converse and approach someone else when I know that I maybe not have done the wrong.
• 3:53
  But still, I just have to understand that that person is sick and I still have to show my tolerance, love, and kindness to that individual, right?
• 4:02
  That's what I'm gonna get at right now.
• 4:03
  What you got, Cor?
• 4:04
  Yeah, man, I think, uh, says courage is not the absence of fear.
• 4:10
  But the willingness to be the, what is right, despite it.
• 4:15
  Yeah, my, like, I was thinking about this and I, I don't matter, man.
• 4:21
  Like, if I'm willing to make amends to somebody.
• 4:24
  Um, I know that.
• 4:26
  And like, you know, for me, you know, there's like a feeling, you know what I mean?
• 4:29
  That feel like you are feeling, but like, you know, I met within me.
• 4:32
  I'm willing to make every amends and I.
• 4:34
  Um, right now, like, you know, I believe that God puts me in those positions today to make those amends where, what, you know, it's, We had uh, we had Spanish up and, Man, and I believe that I, you know, for all senses and purposes, the people that I've heard,
• 4:55
  I've not just hurt that.
• 4:56
  I've hurt their families is what? Try, yeah, their malls, their dads, their sisters, you know, whoever's connected to them, I've touched as well because that person has gone back to their family crime because of me multiple times.
• 5:12
  And so, I had this, uh, one man's I needed to make, and, you know, man, this lady came into town 2 times.
• 5:22
  She's in my house.
• 5:24
  Yeah, I just sit there and you know, you know, I didn't make it.
• 5:28
  And, you know, I don't think God had me in a position where I needed to make it right then.
• 5:33
  You know, so I was driving one day and man, you know, I don't, I don't, you know, I would rather have done it face to face, but you know, man, I just called her, called her and said, hey, but I need to talk to you.
• 5:44
  Do you mind talking to them?
• 5:45
  Because that's an important piece of this too.
• 5:47
  Because what if they don't want to talk to me about this?
• 5:50
  And I want to, but I need to get free of this.
• 5:53
  right?
• 5:53
  Then it's not my place to do it.
• 5:55
  So I've made my approach.
• 5:57
  You know, that's the 1st approach and it goes into talk about that.
• 5:59
  But, you know, I do think God here puts us in positions to do these things.
• 6:03
  And it's up to me, yes, to take to do that.
• 6:06
  And you know, page 83, the big book.
• 6:08
  It says, uh, And there may be a valid reason for postponement in some cases, but we don't delay if we can be avoided.
• 6:17
  We should be sensible, tactful, considering humble, without being servile or scraping.
• 6:22
  As God's people, we stand on our feet.
• 6:24
  We don't crawl before anyone.
• 6:26
  But that's an important sentence to me as God's people.
• 6:29
  We stand on our feet.
• 6:30
  We don't call for anyone.
• 6:31
  And that says I'll walk with courage today because I'm not walking with court.
• 6:35
  I'm walking with God today.
• 6:36
  And, you know, one important thing, you know, you might have heard me say this before, Paris, but like, man, Mike, you know, there's been some amends I've made, like, you know, I, I didn't understand how I was going to do it. And my 1st sponsor, Doug.
• 6:49
  He said, man, well, go open the passenger door and invite God to get into the passenger seat with you. Because you don't like, I mean, there's no way for someone like me.
• 6:57
  Because that's not in, that's not how, I think that goes against my, my, uh, what's the word?
• 7:06
  Go of nature?
• 7:07
  Yeah, going to get is my nature because my nature says, hey, maybe it's maybe it's nature is a nurture.
• 7:15
  I don't know.
• 7:16
  What's whatever one it is, but talking about your basic, like, instincts that you would think go off of, that's your nature.
• 7:22
  Man, that already happened in the past.
• 7:24
  Yeah.
• 7:25
  Let that, like, you know, everything's cool now, you know, such a better person now, all this stuff.
• 7:30
  But like, let bygones be, but yeah, honestly, you know, it says that, like we feel as a man is unthinking when he's, or no, it says, it says, uh,
• 7:40
  The affections may have been uprooted, selfish, unconsiderate habits have kept the home and turmoil.
• 7:47
  We feel a man is unthinking when he says that sobriety is a no.
• 7:52
  Man, that's but my nature says that, that it's just enough.
• 7:56
  I thought I don't have to go face these things, these people that don't know because, oh, I might hurt them now.
• 8:00
  No, that's sure the money I've stolen from these people, they'd be glad to have it back.
• 8:05
  And they would be happy to have the money.
• 8:08
  I'd so that I, so I didn't, it wasn't my money to take, and it's their money for me to go give that back to them in any form.
• 8:15
  $5 a week, $10 a month.
• 8:17
  It doesn't matter.
• 8:17
  They're happy just to get some money back.
• 8:19
  But, you know, in what it says, you know, to be tactful and consider it.
• 8:24
  But I can't do this on my own nature.
• 8:27
  I had to have God to help me with this.
• 8:28
  But that's what I thought. That's right.
• 8:31
  Well, in Proverbs 28, verse one, it says that the righteous are as bold as a lion.
• 8:38
  And that, you know, that's one of those wisdom proverbs, right?
• 8:40
  And I don't know that I'm righteous today necessarily, but I'm definitely living more on a spiritual plane than I did, you know, back when I was pouring, you know, alcohol in the most system all the time.
• 8:50
  And I'm actively trying to live more on a spiritual or righteous plane as well.
• 8:55
  And my point is that that is what gives me any type of courage that I have to make any of the amends that I had to make, you know, in the past, or any that I have to make because I'm still going to mess up.
• 9:04
  You know, my amends process isn't necessarily done just because I finished step nine, you know, I'm still going to mess up.
• 9:10
  I'm still going to owe more amends for stuff that I'm doing today.
• 9:12
  The difference is the stuff that I'm doing today that I have to make amends for, if I am continuing to live on a spiritual slash attempting to be righteous plane, then they're not going to be nearly as difficult.
• 9:25
  You know, they're not going to be as big, you know, and hopefully I don't let things go as long before I make those amends today is what I would have done in the past.
• 9:32
  But, you know, it's talking about.
• 9:35
  I never, you know, as I was saying before, you know, my courage that I have today comes from a higher power, you know, comes from God.
• 9:41
  I never had courage before.
• 9:43
  Now, at one point, you know, I used, you know, alcohol and substances as my higher power, and they gave me courage.
• 9:51
  Yeah, we call it liquid courage for a reason, right?
• 9:53
  Well, now I don't have to rely on those things.
• 9:56
  I can operate on, you know, actual courage that comes from above and not just from within me.
• 10:03
  And, and, you know, it does say in the spiritual ripple that the father is less concerned with the outcome than with my willingness to faithfully obey.
• 10:10
  And so that's why, you know, I just have to approach each day, you know, using things like the 1st step prayer and things like when you get up and and, you know, praying to actively be an agent of God's will.
• 10:22
  So if I'm doing that, I'm staying out of trouble.
• 10:24
  Yeah, my sponsor told me, and like, he didn't, he didn't come up with this information.
• 10:32
  I know where he came up from.
• 10:33
  But, you know, he said, man, you know, you're going to hear strange noise, right?
• 10:38
  When are you going to make this mess? It's going to be really weird, and it's going to be,
• 10:43
  You knock it on someone's front door.
• 10:46
  And, you know, because that's it, right?
• 10:48
  You know, and there's nothing else in between that.
• 10:51
  And, man, I remember hearing this dude talking about making this amends one day and he was, uh, I think it was brand new too.
• 10:59
  And I hate that he's out there again, but, uh, He was like, yeah, man, I got to try to get this fight with this dude that was twice my size. And, um, so off passing his house one day.
• 11:11
  I just went up to his front door.
• 11:13
  I was just like, that's all, I thought it was great though, because I'm pumped up about that. Because, man, like, you know, the Kurds that that takes, right?
• 11:21
  And as you don't know what's going to open the door on.
• 11:24
  Right, but you know, it's not him doing that.
• 11:25
  That's God leading him to do that.
• 11:27
  And so the other side of all this is for me to be a demonstration.
• 11:31
  And, you know, if I'm a demonstration of God.
• 11:35
  I, you know, I'm a very, my feet are very firm and the program on the end.
• 11:39
  I'll call it synonymous, man.
• 11:41
  And, you know, a demonstration of what alcoholics anonymous can be for someone else, because when I go to knock on that door, right?
• 11:48
  There might be someone else in that house.
• 11:50
  No, it might not be the person I need to make amends to, but I'm being a demonstration of what this program can do. And maybe they have something that comes down the line that they say, hey, man, I need some belt.
• 12:00
  I mean, I got that, you know, it's anyway, but what do you let's say?
• 12:04
  Man, you know, you said something about demonstration.
• 12:06
  It almost sounds like results.
• 12:07
  You know what I mean?
• 12:08
  Like, because demonstration can equal results almost.
• 12:11
  Like, it says on a book.
• 12:13
  You remember on one page, I remember reading it, though, that said, the verdict of our ages is our basis, that.
• 12:18
  The verdict of all ages is that faith means courage.
• 12:22
  All men of faith have courage, you know, and I do have faith today.
• 12:26
  You know, back in the day, I didn't have not a lick of faith.
• 12:29
  You know what I mean?
• 12:30
  Well, I knew what who God was and what it was about and all that days, but I couldn't surrender.
• 12:35
  I didn't get my all to him.
• 12:37
  I couldn't pray and be like, oh, let him take care of it.
• 12:40
  But, you know, with doing this program, like you said, hey, hey, you know, it has shown me like during the day, discipline, principles, stuff like morning meditation and all those things.
• 12:50
  It's easier and simple to just let go on that guy, do the work, you know, for me, for the back, uh, what the, it means, the courage to make the means, you know, um, man, you know, I still have,
• 13:05
  I still have a means to make.
• 13:06
  Of course, you know, um, but all things like, I feel that when those times are right, my guy would tell me, okay, this is right for you to make that amend.
• 13:15
  You know, I'm not rushing to go make them in because I could damage a relationship with someone.
• 13:21
  You know, by making that means, you say, I remember you saying something about the family that you are back then, you know, you could still hurt them by coming back around, even if they may not want you back around.
• 13:31
  Um, um, trying to see.
• 13:35
  And then you said, demonstrate too, it says, instead, we, they M demonstrate.
• 13:38
  So I got to let my guy demonstrate, sir.
• 13:40
  See, that's why I pray a lot, you know, out through the day, so to allow him to come into my life so I could bear to help someone.
• 13:48
  Because I know when my when my mind said and who I am, but I can't do it alone.
• 13:54
  I need guy and I need other guys like y'all to be around, you know, keep keeping me uh, the off-living courage myself.
• 14:01
  So.
• 14:02
  Well, you said that, you know, demonstrate, reminding you a little bit about, you know, results kind of thing, what I initially thought was I was trying to make the connection, and I was thinking about how, you know, we're demonstrating how the program works in us.
• 14:15
  We're basically showing the results God has given us.
• 14:18
  So I think that's the connection that was being made there.
• 14:21
  You have a song to do the other night and...
• 14:25
  Yeah, man, man, Paris were talking about results, right?
• 14:30
  And, uh, Man, the city is like, you know, and them 2 couldn't, you know, get on the right time schedule, whatever.
• 14:38
  But this dude tells me, you know, talk about a demonstration, well, cool deal, man. Like, anyways, this dude tells me, he's like, man, but you know, I met a pet, like, you know, I went into treatment and this dude, Paris, you know, he called me every day while I was in that treatment scene.
• 14:53
  Every day.
• 14:55
  He said, my family didn't call me, but that dude called me, right?
• 14:58
  But so, and like me and, you know, me and him were talking about demonstrations, right?
• 15:03
  And like, you know, because like, you know, it wouldn't, I got spot like as dudes that take people through the steps and trying to help people through this thing, man.
• 15:10
  Like, you know, we get it.
• 15:11
  sometimes you get wrapped up in the results business.
• 15:12
  Yeah, so we were talking about the results stuff, right?
• 15:15
  Yeah, so well, that's all the results you mean.
• 15:18
  That's that's it, right?
• 15:19
  Yes, that's your results business right there, is you're making a demonstration to somebody, and that demonstration showed that to them.
• 15:27
  So the cool thing is, is what you do, when we do these things, it talks about it on page 67.
• 15:34
  Oh, about the men's.
• 15:37
  It says... We would have diminished our use. If we, all right, so on 67, it says, we avoid retaliation or argument, we would treat sick people that way.
• 15:49
  If we do, we destroy our chance of being helpful.
• 15:53
  And so like, what that is, is that's in between.
• 15:56
  That's right there at the 4th column of the 4th step, right?
• 16:00
  So in your in your column, in your 4th and you're in the tort process, it's already saying when you're going to go to these people and make amends to them, you're going to avoid retaliation or argument, right?
• 16:13
  We wouldn't treat sick people that way.
• 16:15
  If we do, we destroy our chance of being helpful.
• 16:19
  So when I'm going to make amends, I'm already going to be helpful, right?
• 16:23
  That's me being abuse.
• 16:24
  And because I don't think, you know, for me, I was thinking about this a little bit today.
• 16:29
  You know, with fear.
• 16:31
  And without purpose, I still have fear, right?
• 16:36
  Because if it's, if I have a purposeless lie, I still have fear, that's why our real purpose, our primary purpose is to carry this message to the alcohol crew still suffers, right?
• 16:47
  That's it.
• 16:48
  You know, and if my life doesn't belong like that, for me, if someone that's working this deal, then I'm I'm living something, you know, if I'm not living in purpose of being abused in some way, then why would I go face these fears or go pick things right and do this?
• 17:03
  Right, I wouldn't.
• 17:04
  There'd be no points.
• 17:06
  But anyways, I was just think about all that stuff.
• 17:09
  Well, I'm sure we'll have more of this type conversation when we come back on Monday.
• 17:15
  Paris will be back with us again, like I said, so everybody be sure to watch for that coming Monday. And in this weekend, we'll hear from Corey, from you tomorrow with a Saturday episode, and I'll be back with a Sunday episode.
• 17:26
  But our prayer for today is, Father God, give me the courage to do what is right today.
• 17:32
  Through your Holy Spirit.
• 17:34
  Help me act with honesty, humility, and trust.
• 17:36
  Shape me through the example of Jesus and leave the results in your hands.
• 17:40
  Amen.