Ready, Set, Go!

Lesson 14: Ready

Introduction and Review

Principle 5: Voluntarily submit to every change God wants to make in my life and humbly ask Him to remove my character defects.

“Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires.” (Matthew 5:6)

Step 6: We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (James 4:10)

Step Six/Principle Five: Separates the Men from the Boys and the Women from the Girls

In some recovery material, Step 6 (Principle 5) has been referred to as the step “that separates the men from the boys”! I would also like to add, “separates the women from the girls”! So tonight we are going to answer the question, “What does it mean to be entirely READY?”

One of the reasons [that Principle Five and Step Six] “separate the [MATURE from the IMMATURE] is because it states that we are ready to “voluntarily submit to EVERY CHANGE God wants to make in my life.”

“Most of us, if not all of us, would be very willing to have certain character defects go away. The sooner the better! But let’s face it, some defects are hard to give up.”

The Yoke that Jesus’ gives us is “Easy,” but it still involves effort, pain, and consistency. We do not have to depend on our will and strength, but we do have to be willing to depend on God’s Wisdom and Trust God’s plans for us by being obedient.

ACROSTIC: READY

R Release Control

E Easy does it

A Accept the Change

D Do replace your character Defects

Y Yield to the growth

Body

R in READY.

R: Release control

The first letter tonight stands for RELEASE control . . ..

God is very courteous and patient. In Principle 3, He didn’t impose His will on you. He waited for you to invite Him in!

Now in Principle 5, you need to be “entirely ready,” willing to let God into every area of your life. He won’t come in and clean up an area unless you are willing to ask Him in.

It has been said that “willingness is the key that goes into the lock and opens the door that allows God to begin to remove your character defects.”

Simply put, the R — release control — is “Let go; let God!”

E in READY.

E: Easy Does It

The E in ready stands for EASY does it. These principles and steps are not quick fixes! You need to allow time for God to work in your life.

Sin is the outward expression of the root of the inner heart or character of a person. Like the weed in the garden, you can chop off the flower and stock of the plant, but unless you go down deep into the soil and pull out the roots, you will never get rid of the weed. The same can be said for a faulty and misshapen character.

Jesus says in Luke 6:43-45 [my loose paraphrase],

“For there is no good tree that produces bad fruit, nor on the other hand a bad tree that produces good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorn plants, nor are grapes harvested from thorn bushes.

The good [or mature] person out of the good treasury of his heart brings forth good, and the evil [or immature] person out of his evil treasury brings forth evil [addictions, co-dependency, and acts of selfishness]. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks [and the body follows].

Rooting out and digging up bad character defects takes time, and planting good seed and growing the good roots into the soil of God’s Word and God’s Wisdom involves discipline, that is effort and time. Precepts and Practices must be paired, nurtured, and developed.

That takes time, but God will do it. He promised! “Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him to help you do it and he will” (Psalm 37:5, TLB).

A in READY.

A: ACCEPT the Change

The key to being successful is to Trust God over Self and to Walk in Obedience rather than to Run out of Fear. We must learn to “Fight Through Fear” by Trusting and Obeying the Lord. We must be willing to follow all the twelve steps to recovery, not just some or most. This includes having a band of brothers and sisters to walk along side of you.

Seeing the need for change and allowing the change to occur are two different things, and the space between recognition and willingness can be filled with fear. Besides that, fear can trigger our old dependency on self-control. But this principle will not work if we are still trapped by our self-will. We need to be ready to accept God’s help throughout the transition. The Bible makes this very clear in 1 Peter 1:13 – 14 (GNT): “So then, have your minds ready for action. Keep alert and set your hope completely on the blessing which will be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. Be obedient to God, and do not allow your lives to be shaped by those desires you had when you were still ignorant.

James 4:10 says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” All we need is the willingness to let God lead on us on our road to recovery.

D in READY.

D: Do Replace Your Character Defects

We must Do our Due Diligence in Defeating and Replacing Our Defects of Character.

When God removes one, you need to replace it with something positive, such as recovery meetings, church activities, 12th-Step service, and volunteering! If you don’t, you open yourself for a negative character defect to return.

Matthew 12:43–45 LEB

“Now whenever an unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it travels through waterless places searching for rest, and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came out.’ And when it arrives it finds the house unoccupied and swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings along with itself seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there. And the last state of that person becomes worse than the first. So it will be for this evil generation also!”

Just as an evil spirit may return to an empty soul house and repossess an individual, so too can an negative habit restore itself in absence of a positive and stronger habit. In the Biblical text, a person needs the Holy Spirit to keep out his or her expelled demons; in Recovery we need the Spirit dwelling inside of us and empowering us with positive thoughts, positive relationships with God and with other believers, and positive behaviors, including trusting in God, God’s will, and God’s spiritual disciplines for growth and maturity. See also Philippians 4:4-9.

Sanctify and Discipline Your Character by Letting Christ Transform Your Negative Precepts, Practices, and Responses to Negative People and Circumstances, that is, your Negative Coping Mechanism that leads to Addictions, Selfishness, Self-centredness, and Co-dependent Behaviors and Patterns. Like in he Karate Kid movies, even the mundane, simple, and repetitive chores given by the master (e.g., wax on and wax off; measure twice, cut once; a stich in time saves nine) have real and lasting consequences for the transforming your character and your responses to become more like Christ, our master.

Y in READY.

Y: Yield to Growth

At first, your old self-doubts and low self-image may tell you that you are not worthy of the growth and progress you are making in the program. Don’t listen! Yield to the growth. It is the Holy Spirit’s work within you.

Recap:

ACROSTIC: READY

R Release Control

E Easy does it

A Accept the Change

D Do replace your character Defects

Y Yield to the growth

Illustrations of Willingness to Trust God and to Take One Step at a Time

Elisha the Prophet and Naaman, the Syrian General (2 Kings 5:6-14)

Ancient Aram and Modern Day Syria

It happened that as soon as Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why did you tear your clothes? Please may he come to me, that he might know that there is a prophet in Israel.”

Then Naaman came with his horses and his chariots, and he stopped at the doorway of the house of Elisha. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, you must wash seven times in the Jordan, then your flesh shall return to you, and you shall be clean.”

But Naaman became angry and he went and said, “Look, I said to myself, ‘Surely he will come out, stand, call upon the name of Yahweh his God, and wave his hands over the spot; then he would take away the skin disease.’ Are not the Abana and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all of the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them that I may be clean?” Then he turned and left in anger.

Notice What Is Implied

“Surely he [Elisha] would come out . . . and wave his hands over the spot [and] take away . . . the disease” (v. 11).

Naaman wanted a quick, one time, miraculous healing without any effort on his part. Many of us were once looking for the same one time miraculous miracle over our hurts, habits, hang ups, and addictions. We did not want to do all of the twelve steps and allow God to motivate and work on, in, and through us. But look what the pagan servant of Naaman said and how Naaman responded.

But his servant came near and spoke to him [while Naaman was angry and, therefore, risking his life], “My father, if the prophet had spoken a difficult thing to you to do, would you not have done it? Why not even when he says to you, ‘Wash and you shall be clean’?”

So he [Naaman became obedient to the Word of God and] went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh returned as the flesh of a small boy, and he was clean” (vv. 13-14).

The Ten Lepers Who are Cleansed (Luke 17:11-19)

And it happened that while traveling toward Jerusalem, he [Jesus] was passing through [the region between] Samaria and Galilee. And as he was entering into a certain village, ten men met him—lepers, who stood at a distance. And they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

14a-b 

And when he [Jesus] saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”

THREE THINGS NOT EXPLAINED IN THE TEXT THAT MADE JESUS' COMMAND DIFFICULT:

1. Biblical Leprosy is more than Hanson Disease.

2. All of These Severe Skin Diseases Can Be Very Painful.

3. Lepers Were Socially Stigmatized.

1. Biblical Leprosy is more than Hanson Disease.

Biblical leprosy is not synonymous with modern leprosy [or Hansen Disease]. The Hebrew word translated “leprosy” is derived from an Arabic word [which is] a generic term for serious skin diseases [e.g., edema, psoriasis, eczema, shingles, and mold, virus, and bacterial infections--including gangrene].

If “defiling disease” instead of “leprosy” were used in the translation of these verses , . . . it would . . . convey the true meaning of the original word more accurately. (Elwell and Beitzel, “Leprosy, Leper,” Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, 1988, p. 1324)

2. All of These Severe Skin Diseases Can Be Very Painful.

Jesus ask the ten lepers to go find the priests who were living either in the region or in a Levitical city or Aaronic city that were scattered throughout Judah and Galilee. He was asking them to walk (several miles) to one of these towns or into a town where one of the priest might have lived. And Jesus was asking them to come back to him in the same spot from which they left. (This would mean several more miles.) All of this walking and traveling would make their journey painful and strenuous. Have you every tried to walk several miles when you are sick. It is not very easy. Having a painful skin disease make it even more painful and tiring.

If you never had any of these diseases [edema, psoriasis, eczema, shingles, fungus, or mold, virus, and bacterial infections--including gangrene] affect your feet or legs, then imagine having a broken or cut toe or severe blisters on your foot. Now imagine walking two miles in flat sandals on a rough cobble stone street or an unpaved, rut and potholed path that also accommodates horses, donkeys, carts, sheep, and goats and the waste products from the same as you walk to your doctor’s office (while yelling to everyone that you are unclean). The people have the right of way so you must turn aside from the path and you have to walk on the side of the path or road.

Now imagine further what you and I would have been thinking. Perhaps, like me, you would have been thinking that you will hear the same diagnosed the second or third time for the same broken, cut, or blistered toe or feet. And only then after traveling back to Jesus and doing all the things you did to get to the priests [the doctors of ancient Israel], you would have to return to Jesus and tell him the doctor/priest verdict which you already knew. Then, after arriving back to the same location, you would have to ask him the second time to heal you. for the second time. You, like I, may be thinking that this trip and the pain and the struggle would not be worth the trouble. You would even, like I would have, questioned Jesus’ humanity and compassion. How many of you would have been obedient and would have started making such a journey? Be honest. Like the lepers, you didn’t have the New Testament and the centuries of stories about the power and grace of God.

The lepers asked Jesus to heal them, but Jesus, did not heal them right away or pronounce healing right away. Like Naaman, the Syrian General, the lepers were probably expecting an instant miracle with little effort on their part. But Jesus said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests." It does not say that Jesus said, "Go show yourself to the priest and you will be healed," but simply "show yourselves" period.

They were faced with an important decision. Would they take the steps that Jesus commanded them or complain about the pain and effort and refuse to go?

3. Lepers Were Socially Stigmatized.

Lepers Were Socially Stigmatized and Could Be Verbally Abuse and Physical Attack for Being in Public Spaces.

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I‌t was not uncommon for lepers to be spat upon and to have objects and stones thrown at them by people worried about catching leprosy from them. They would have to go to one of the most crowded and public spaces in in a near by town. They would have to announce their “uncleanliness” by shouting I’m unclean; I’m unclean. Warning, warning!

Think about the fear that COVID inspired! Now imagine having leprosy in the most crowded public venue you know. Would you put yourself in a position to be verbally scorn, to be spat upon, and to be assaulted by strangers?

Are you ready--no matter the hardship or scorn from those outside Celebrate Recovery--to go the distance, to finish the race and receive the crown of victory?

14c-d And it happened that as they were going, they were cleansed.

Note: The text makes plain that they were not healed instantly. Instead, they had to first walk in obedience and then their healing came as a result. They had to publically walk in the pain, hurt, and embarrassment of their afflictions all the while trusting God and living in obedience. First comes trust and obedience then comes salvation, healing, and victory over our deep rooted character defects.

But one of them, when he* saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. And he fell on his face at his feet, giving thanks to him. And he was a Samaritan . . .. (vv. 15-18)

And he said to him, “Get up and go your way. Your faith [your trust in me] has saved you.”

Some of us need to Trust Jesus and undertake all 12 steps of the recovery journey; some of us need to follow not some of the steps, but all of the steps including having a sponsor, having accountability partners, and doing a 12 Step study. We need to go the full distance trusting that God will keep His promises and heal us in his way and in his timing with way IF WE OBEY.

Wrap-Up

ACROSTIC READY

R Release Control

E Easy does it

A Accept the Change

D Do replace your character Defects

Y Yield to the growth

Are you READY to follow all of God’s Plan and Commands for Your Life? Are you ready to Trust God and Obey God? Are you willing to work and trust the Twelve Steps? Are you willing to trust God and let him guide and led you? or will you continue trusting yourself and striving in your own strength and power to do only what God can do?

Celebrate Recovery Leader's Guide, Updated Edition: A Recovery Program Based on Eight Principles from the Beatitudes Lesson 14: Ready

The question is, “Are you entirely ready to voluntarily submit to any and all changes God wants to make in your life?”

Let us pray.