Lesson 5 - Turn

Good evening CR family, My name is Christina and I am a daughter of my the Almighty God who by the grace of God has victory over life controlling anger, low self-worth, and binge eating and I am currently working through the emotions and challenges of divorce and learning to trust God with my career.

I am so grateful to be here with you all tonight. Tonight, we are going to talk about in my personal opinion the most life transforming point of our recovery. Once we step out of denial, admit we are powerless to change on our own, realize there is hope, and break the cycle of insanity we now get to make the best choice we can ever make which is acknowledging and accepting Jesus Christ as our Higher Power and turning our lives and wills over to his care.

Tonight’s lesson is based in Step 3 and Principle 3

Principle 3: Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ’s care and control.

“Happy are the meek.” (Matthew 5:5)

Step 3: We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” (Romans 12:1)

If you’ve already accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior don’t tune out, this message is as much for you as it is for those that have not yet made this decision.

In order to walk in freedom, we have to change the direction that our lives are currently going. We’ve been traveling on a road that has led us to a life that is out of control; a life of darkness, shame, guilt, bad habits, and hurt, it’s time to TURN that around.

By the end of this lesson, we will begin to see we can have a new life, but before we get there we have to take 3 action steps trust, understand, and repent.

Tonight’s acrostic is TURN

T – Trust

The first letter of our acrostic is T and this stands for trust which is the first action step you have to take. If you take the time to think about your day to day you’ll notice you do a lot of trusting of things and people. You trust your alarm will go off and wake you up, you trust your car to get you to work, you trust the company you work for to pay you on pay day, you trust your spouse to be faithful, you trust your children to behave at school, you trust the food you eat at restaurants to not make you sick, you trust doctors with your health, you trust mechanics with your cars, you even trust the car wash not to run you into the car in front of you, and so on and so forth.

We trust so much of our lives to other people and man made things so why is it so hard to trust our lives to the care of God? Some of you may be sitting here thinking I’m here because I don’t trust people because I’ve been hurt. Maybe your guarded and want others to prove they are trustworthy. If there is anyone who has earned our trust it’s Jesus Christ.

Jesus loves us so much he came to this earth, lived a perfect life and died a sinner’s death on the cross to take the punishment for our sins and mistakes and then he raised back to life so we can have the hope of an eternity with our Heavenly Father. He has already shown us he loves us. He chooses to love us even though we have ran from him, rejected him, and for some of us flat out ignored him. He chooses us over and over. Jesus wants to save each of us. He says so in Luke...

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. Luke 19:10

In principle 3 you make the decision to turn your life over to the care of God. It’s your choice, and it determines your destiny. The choice of receiving God’s love, grace, forgiveness and purpose for your life. It’s a gift and the only requirement is FAITH.

This is what the bible defines faith as…

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

Faith is simply taking God at his Word! Trusting that he loves us and wants to save us. God’s word tells us in Romans how we can turn our lives and wills over to God.

“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.” Romans 10:9-10

For some people that’s just way too simple. It can be hard for our human brain to comprehend that we can be saved for all eternity by just believing in our heart and confessing with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, after all the wrong we’ve done, all the harm we’ve caused can it really be that simple? Yes, it can, and it is! We want to make salvation more difficult but it’s not. God’s word is clear that God is for us, he loves us, and he wants to save us and all we have to do is choose to put our Faith in him.

If you’ve never taken the step of faith, make tonight your night. I trust that God’s Spirit is working in some of us right now, if you’re sitting here tonight and you feel God moving in your heart please don’t delay it’s the best choice you will ever make.

If you’ve already made the decision to step out in faith and turn your life over to God tonight I encourage you to meditate on your life, your will, your actions, your desires and ask yourself what area of my life am I still not trusting God in and then ask him to help you to lay it down and trust him with it. These areas are usually easily identified by what are you still worrying about? What we worry about the most is usually what we trust God in the least.

U - Understand

Our next letter for our acrostic is U for understand. When we rely only on our own understanding we are missing out on true and lasting change. Relying on our own understanding is actually what got us here in the first place. After you make the decision to ask Jesus into your life it’s time to seek his will for your life in all your decisions but in order to seek his will you have to get to know and understand Him and what he desires for your life because it’s way better than we could create on our own.

The concept of Understanding is the God-given perception of the nature and meaning of things, resulting in sound judgment and decision-making, in particular the ability to discern spiritual truth and to the apply it to our beliefs and conduct.

Our human understanding is completely earth bound, today focused, what’s best right here and now, and what feels good in the moment. When we focus solely on what is right in front of us and what’s immediate we limit ourselves and God’s almighty power. That’s why leaning on God’s understanding and not our own is so important.

I love the Passion translation of Proverbs 3:5-8

"Trust in the Lord completely, and do not rely on your own opinions. With all your heart rely on him to guide you, and he will lead you in every decision you make. Become intimate with him in whatever you do, and he will lead you wherever you go. Don’t think for a moment that you know it all, for wisdom comes when you adore him with undivided devotion and avoid everything that’s wrong. Then you will find the healing refreshment your body and spirit long for.” Proverbs 3:5-8 TPT

In this step of our recovery it is important for us to recognize that our way is not His way our thoughts are not His thoughts.

I love this quote from Pastor Rick Warren.

“You can’t tell you what your purpose is because you didn’t make you.”

God has never created anything without a purpose. The fact that you are alive means that God loves you and he wants you alive. Maybe you are sitting here tonight not knowing what purpose God could possibly have for your life we’ve all been there but his word assures us he has a plan.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” Says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

When we finally understand that God is good, he loves us, he has a plan for us, and he wants to heal us we can start to trust in His will for our lives.

A.W. Tozer said

You don’t fall apart because God made you, God loves you and God keeps you. What God made, God loves, because it’s inconceivable that God should make anything that he didn’t love.

R - Repent

The third letter and last action step of our acrostic is R for Repent. To repent means to change one’s mind, think better, turn, or to learn one’s lesson. For a long time I didn’t understand there was a difference between confessing my sin and repenting of my sin but there is a difference and it’s a difference that is important for us to know.

Lasting change doesn’t come only by behavior modification but also by spiritual transformation. Repentance is changing your mind which leads to changing your behavior. It is a rational decision and a willful act of turning from sin and turning to the Savior. Jesus himself calls us to repentance.

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” Mark 1:15

Confession invites the forgiveness and the cleansing of God into our broken lives and we definitely need that, but it is repentance that ultimately changes the course of our recovery for the long haul.

Repentance is the process of turning away from anything opposed to truth.

God will forgive us when we confess our sins but is forgiveness all we need? No, we need healing. Without repentance we will find ourselves confessing the same sin over and over without any healing or behavior changes. One area of my recovery is life controlling anger. My anger was out of control. I had verbal outburst on a daily basis, I also would throw things when I was angry which would scare those around me, the victim was not always the same but the sin was. I often asked God and those I hurt to forgive me of my angry outburst and I know God forgave me because that’s his promise to us. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

The forgiveness wasn’t changing me though. Do you find yourself apologizing for the same thing over and over? This is a sign that repentance is needed. In my recovery with my anger I started to realize I was apologizing to my daughter every single day for my temper and harsh words but I wasn’t turning away from them and until I repented and turned away from my anger I was going to continue to hurt her and damage our relationship. There was no true healing or change because I hadn’t repented of my anger. Repentance is where I found true freedom, where the chains of bondage that my anger had on my life finally fell off. The real healing came when I realized there was an additional step I had to take after I confessed I also had to repent.

Once you’ve take these action steps of trusting, understanding, and repenting you will now have NEW LIFE!

N - New Life

Once you’ve take these action steps of trusting, understanding, and repenting you will now have NEW LIFE! Which is the last letter in our acrostic N for New life! After you take the three steps we’ve talked about tonight you be given a new life. You will no longer be bound by your old sinful nature. You will receive a new loving nature that will dwell in you from your Lord Jesus Christ.

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT

You are no longer condemned based on your sins. God has declared you Not Guilty. When Jesus died on the cross he took your punishment and when you accept him into your life you accept this payment to cover the punishment of your sin.

“So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death” Romans 8:1 NLT

No matter how hard we try we can not heal on our own. It takes the power of Christ to heal us, to change our minds and our desires, to revive us to a new life. If you’ve never accepted Christ as your Savior let me assure you this NEW LIFE that he gives is nothing like living a life of brokenness and bondage, it is a life filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Your life will not be perfect, none of us are perfect Jesus is the only perfect person to ever walk this earth but your life will be better, it will be new, and it will continue to grow as you continue to grow in your relationship with the Lord. This is the point in recovery where you get a brand new start. The steps that follow this will help you change your habits and heal but this is the step that provides the blank slate to a new beginning. Accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior trusting that he loves you, understanding he has a plan for your life beyond what you could possibly comprehend at the moment, and turning away from your sinful nature all set you up to receive a spiritual transformation that will lead to your behavior changes.

“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statues and be careful to obey my rules.” Ezekiel 36:26-27

This step is like filing bankruptcy on your old life. Your debts are forgiven and you are given a new opportunity to live life a different way.

Wrap up

One of my favorite verses to go to when I am struggling is...

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect Romans 12:2

When we turn our lives and our wills over to God he gives us everything we need, he guides us in what is good and acceptable behavior, he transforms us from the inside out.

Recovery is an ongoing transformation process. Many of us can come to this program and stop whatever brought us in here in a matter of months we can get sober, clean, control our anger, stop overspending, stop overeating, stop gambling, stop watching porn, stop having inappropriate sexual relationships, etc but for long term healing and transformation we have to invite God into every area of our lives. This is why I keep coming back after just shy of 5 years in this program I continue to find areas I need to TURN to God.

Prayer

Gracious heavenly Father thank you for your word, thank you for loving each of us right where we are. We invite you into our hurts, habits, and hang-ups Lord. Restore us and give us a new life. Search our hearts and remove anything in us that is not of you, remove any desires we have that do not honor you and give us a clean heart, a new beginning. Help us to be humble and allow you to transform us from the inside out. Pour your Spirit upon us Lord and guide us through our struggles. In Jesus Name, Amen!

Closing

If you’ve never surrendered your life to God and you are feeling God prompting you, I invite you to do that tonight! Myself and other leaders will be at the front of the stage after the serenity prayer if you feel God moving in your Spirit tonight please come up and let one of us pray with you. If you’ve believed in Jesus for a long time but you want to really TURN to him and get this new life this is your night, come up front after the serenity prayer or grab another leader or speak with your small group leader rededicate your life and commit to trusting understanding and repenting so you can have your new life, don’t put off for tomorrow what God is calling you to do today!

Thank you for letting me share with you all tonight! God Bless each of you.