Grace To Grow By In Recovery (2)

Amazing Grace is a well know hymn which was composed by John Newton a former slave trader.  For Newton it was an expression of how God had pursued him with His love during a turbulent life and how he found grace and peace within himself when he surrendered his life to the Lord Jesus. Many of us identify with this hymn and it has become a favourite for people who understand where their lives were prior to surrendering to the grace and truth that is found in the Lord Jesus. In recovery, when we come to the conclusion that, we were lost but now are found, we arrive at the place where God will generously pour out his amazing grace as we seek Him in all our ways.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:1-2 NIV)

When we, through faith, believe and confess that Jesus died for our sins to reconcile us to a Holy God, we immediately change our citizenship from the Kingdom of Darkness to the Kingdom of Light and thereby receive all that God has for us.  We are freed from the powers of darkness and obsessions that we have previously been subjected to, and they lose their authority over us.  Through His Holy Spirit, God works in our lives to change us into the person He created us to be.  As we start to live in the Kingdom of Light we have the protection of our gracious God and all the benefits of the inheritance that is ours through being citizens of His Kingdom. This truly is LIFE in recovery.  For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins. (Colossians 1:13-14 NLT)

God has adopted us as His children.  He has promised that no matter what happens He will cause everything to work together for good. We know the Holy Spirit helps us in our weaknesses.  The Holy Spirit prays for us and pleads for us in harmony with God’s own will.  We are loved with an everlasting love by a loving and gracious Father whose mercy is new every morning.  Nothing in all creation is able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus. Through the Lord Jesus we are inheritors of all the promises of God.  For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.  (2 Corinthians 1:20-22 NIV)