CIR KBs

Christians in Recovery Knowledge Base article

Consider the Consequences

Have you ever wished you could be somebody or have something? Of course! It’s within every human heart to dream, to wish, to fantasize about what might have been. The problem is, we often don’t become, don’t have because we haven’t paid the price. Even more importantly, how often do we get ourselves into a situation (because our wanting) without first understanding what it will cost us? And then, in the midst of everything, we regret where we are but are so enmeshed, we can’t extract ourselves.

Desire without knowledge is not good,
and one who moves too hurriedly misses the way. Proverbs 19:2 NRSV

“Desire without knowledge…” To want something without understanding what it will cost. The Lord Jesus taught about this very plainly:

“For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?”Luke 14:28 NASB

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Hard to Make Ends Meet? Your Budget is the Plan!

1. A budget is nothing more than a plan for saving and spending money. It includes where the money will come from and how much to expect, as well as what expenses that same money will be used to meet. A good budget takes care of all the regular and important bills — like rent or mortgage, utilities, food, gasoline and insurance — and allows for the unexpected or occasional expenses.

2. With budgeting, when the paycheck comes in, the family already knows how much of this check needs to be set aside to meet the bills coming due, and how much is available for extras — perhaps dinner out and a movie. Everything is planned for and covered.

3. To live without a budget often leads to short-sighted decisions:
“If I have money right now, I can spend it right now. So if I want new clothes today, and I have the money today, why not spend it? The rent isn’t due until next week, so I’ll worry about that then.”

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Spiritual Warfare Prayers

One of the most important aspects of Prayer is Spiritual Warfare. The Bible tells us that we are in the midst of a Spiritual battle, and our advisory the devil is like a roaring lion seeking to destroy our lives. Paul says,

We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against Spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12


Satan and his forces of darkness are trying to destroy your life, and it is imperative that we learn to pray against these forces of darkness in order to gain victory in our lives.

*SPIRITUAL WARFARE PRAYERS*

1. I arise today with the power of the Lord God Almighty to call forth the heavenly host, the Holy angels of God, to surround and protect, and cleanse with God’s Holy light
all areas vacated by the forces of evil. I ask the Holy Spirit to permeate my mind, heart, body, soul and Spirit , creating a hunger and thirst for God’s Holy Word, and to fill me with the life and love of my Lord, Jesus Christ.

2. We use every verse in the Holy Bible that wars against the demonic forces. We bind and loose spirits. We tear down strongholds. We command civil war in Satan’s Kingdom. We loose the Love of God, Price that Jesus Paid, Holy Spirit, Word of God, Blood of Jesus and Cross of Jesus against the forces of evil. All these things we do in the name of Jesus Christ , our Lord, Master and Savior, and for the Holy Trinity.

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What Our Anxiety is Trying to Tell Us

1. We tend to reject anxiety’s milder forms and are really terrified by its intense moments, like with panic attacks. It’s difficult to see when we’re fighting with anxiety that it can have any benefit, but it does.

2. Anxiety comes with some great treasures hidden inside, and they can be yours if you know how to get to them. First, you have to stop fighting and listen to the anxiety for clues.

3. Its methods of stopping us are varied and some of the common ones are: spinning thoughts, feeling disassociated, heavy breathing, and a racing heart. Whatever works so that we’ll finally pay attention, it will customize for us.

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The Jackal of Addiction: Unleashed

Most addicts and alcoholics who have tried running on sheer willpower and defiant rebellion sooner or later discover they lack the internal strength to change, especially if there’s a Jackal on the loose.

The Jackal, wearing me down, bracing me up, hardening me, softening me, worrying me, confusing me to where I could no longer pinpoint the basis of my being or direction, plays a deadly game of manipulation, of aggressive control, of parasitic reliance, a game mastered because of its cunning and persistence. It seems there is no way to out maneuver it. During the brightness of day or the darkness and chill of night, the beast stealthily creeps in against the close warmth of cleanliness and sobriety. At other times, it confronts me, making no attempt to conceal itself. The Jackal possesses a rancid aroma of smoke and scorching chemical and is worn like a rash. It devours my spirit and tears at my flesh, for I am wounded prey and a defenseless meal. Grimaced with invisible and obvious fatigue, I am left with nothing but my interpretation of how life should and should not be.

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Hold Your Hands Out

Can you hold out your hands in front of you, open, palms up, with all that you have and all that you are or will ever become held in them?

Can you keep them open like this, open to the Lord?

Then you are beginning to know THE TRUE FAITH!

Will you refrain from grasping, self-promoting, or gloating? Will you love those He gives you to care for, as they continue on their journey, passing through your hands? Or will you have your own agenda for them, push and manipulate by fear or condemnation and guilt?

Will you give what He tells you to give, and let go what was never yours in the first place? All is His!

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Have You Been Quieted in His Love?

There is nothing in our journey quite like being quieted in His love. Have you been? Is this a normal part of your walk with Jesus? All of hell is against this! Fear assaults us daily while stress, anxiety, nervous tension, constant worry and trauma work there <insidious plan in our lives. We cannot quiet in His love if focused on these demons. But we must. It is a non-negotiable daily part of our joy in Him. These demons will flee as we quiet in His love!

There’s nothing to fear from evil ever again! God Is Present among You 16 Jerusalem will be told: Don’t be afraid. Dear Zion, don’t despair. 17 Your God is present among you, a strong Warrior there to save you. Happy to have you back, he’ll calm you with his love and delight you with his songs. 18 The accumulated sorrows of your exile will dissipate. I, your God, will get rid of them for you. You’ve carried those burdens long enough. 19 At the same time, I’ll get rid of all those who’ve made your life miserable. I’ll heal the maimed; I’ll bring home the homeless. In the very countries where they were hated they will be venerated. Zephaniah 3:15b-19, The Message

Truly, what marvelous news this is!

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Discouraged? Wisdom Regarding Prayer

Scroll down the page. There are several helpful quotes,scriptures & prayers.

Probably the number one reason why prayer malfunctions in the hands
of believers is that we try to turn a wartime walkie-talkie into a domestic
intercom. Until you know that life is war you cannot know what prayer
is for. Prayer is for the accomplishment of a wartime mission…. But what
have millions of Christians done? We have stopped believing that we are
in a war. No urgency, no watching, no vigilance. No strategic planning.
Just easy peace and prosperity. And what did we do with the walkie
talkie? We tried to rig it up as an intercom in our houses and cabins
and boats and car – not to call in fire power for conflict with a moral
enemy, but to ask for more comforts in the den. ~ John Piper

2 Corinthians 10:3-4
For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war
according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare
are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.

Father,
Forgive me if I simply seek easy peace and prosperity instead of
choosing to fight the good fight. There is a spiritual war raging. Keep
me alert and diligent to the wiles of the Evil One and help me to stand
strong as I pray forthrightly. Amen.

Promises, though they be for a time seemingly delayed, cannot be finally
frustrated… the heart of God is not turned though His face be hid; and
prayers are not flung back, though they be not instantly answered. ~ Timothy Cruso

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“What if I can’t be fixed?”

“What if I can’t be fixed?”

You ask a bunch of guys about their biggest fears, and you hope for some open dialogue. You don’t really expect someone to whisper from the depths of the fog.

“What if I’m hopeless? This addiction killed my dad and my grandma. My sister’s relapsed over and over for fifteen years. And I’ve prayed and done everything I can for a decade, but I keep falling into the same pattern.

“What if I’m broken so bad that even God can’t fix me?”

How are you gonna respond to that? Think carefully, because whatever you say better not rhyme. It better not be some platitude or theological truism. He’s heard them all, and they’re salt rubbed in an open, bleeding wound.

We don’t want to hear “God can’t.” Our first reaction is to argue — God can do anything! And when that fails — you can’t argue your way out of the fog — we’re tempted to retreat to the safety of the Christian cocoon where the light’s bright, the fog’s clear, and people don’t talk about the hopelessness of addiction and depression.

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Perseverance in Prayer

“By running and exercising every day, you are the fitter to run in a race. Just so, the more often you come into God’s presence–the greater confidence, and freedom, and enlargement it will bring to your soul.”


No doubt by praying we learn to pray; and the more we pray–the more often we can pray, and the better we can pray. Those who pray by fits and starts are never likely to attain to that effectual, fervent prayer which avails so much.

Prayer is good,
the habit of prayer is better,
but the spirit of prayer is the best of all.
It is in the spirit of prayer, that we pray without ceasing.

It is astonishing what distances men can run, who have practiced often; and it is equally marvelous that they can maintain a high speed for a long time after they have acquired stamina and skill in using their muscles.

Likewise, great power in prayer is within our reach, but we must work to obtain it. Let us never imagine that Abraham could have interceded so successfully for Sodom, if he had not been in the practice of communion with God his entire lifetime. Jacob’s all-night at Peniel was not the first occasion on which he had met his God. We may even look at our Lord’s most choice and wonderful prayer with His disciples before His Passion, as the flower and fruit of His many nights of devotion, and of His rising up often and early, before daylight, to pray.

A man who becomes a great runner has to put himself in training, and to keep himself in it; and that training consists of much exercise and running. Those who have distinguished themselves for speed have not suddenly leaped into eminence, but have been runners a long time.

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