Lesson #3 Hope (2 of 3) - For God Fore His Glory

STEP TWO

   (WHILE SEEKING FRIENDSHIP WITH JESUS)
   WE CAME TO BELIEVE THAT A POWER GREATER THAN OURSELVES
   COULD RESTORE US TO SANITY

“For it is God Who works in you to will and to act according
To His good purpose,” Philippians 2:13

PRINCIPLE TWO

EARNESTLY BELIEVE THAT GOD EXISTS, THAT I MATTER TO HIM
AND THAT HE HAS THE POWER TO HELP ME RECOVER

“Happy are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted,” Matthew 5:4

LESSON THREE
HOPE
PART TWO

We have admitted we are powerless, and with our admissions of powerlessness
- WE ARE ABLE
- To believe and receive God’s POWER
- To help us recover and experience our way of life
  - Renewed
  - Transformed
We don’t want to just cover the bottomless pit of our hurts and habits with
layers of denial
- Trying some quick fix
We need to keep those hurts exposed to the Light of Truth through God’s Power
- Holy Spirit
The wounding they have caused can truly be
- HEALED
In John 16:33 Jesus explained:

“In the world you have tribulation! Take courage!
“I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD”

“God gives Power to the faint and weary,
And to those who have no might He increases strength”
Isaiah 40:29

“So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have
Worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble.
Seek first of all God’s kingdom and His righteousness
(His way of doing and being right)”
Matthew 6:33-34 AMP.

So give serious consideration to the words of Jesus:

“YOU WILL KNOW THE TRUTH, AND THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE”
John 8:32

For you may not have known nor had you heard:

“The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not
Faint or grow weary; there is no searching of His (knowledge) and understanding,”
Isaiah 40:28 AMP

During this step we shall confront in a
- Safe
- Orderly way
  - That which we find distressing
After living through different traumas many events can be “TRIGGERS” responsible for
sparking
- Unwanted
- Undesirable reactions
AVOIDANCE is a hallmark of the ANXIETY DISORDERS
It seems natural to avoid pain and suffering; however, without AWARENESS
- Inner healing CANNOT occur

We would never learn
- We can TRIUMPH over our fears
We would never learn
- New COPING skills
  - WE WOULD REMAIN CONTROLLED BY THE PAST
It is God Who desires for us:

“To be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,
So that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith; and that we
Can be rooted and grounded in LOVE”
Ephesians 3:16-21 NASU

We can come to know and believe the love which God has for us because
- GOD IS LOVE (1 John 4:16)
Paul assures us in Romans 5:8 AMP:

“GOD SHOWS AND CLEARLY PROVES HIS UNCONDITIONAL LOVE FOR US
WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US”

God wants us to seek knowledge of Him so we can experience His love which
- Nurtures
- Protects
God’s desire is for us to have a sound mind
- He gives us self-discipline that keeps us focused
  - In the right direction
  - Grounded in Hope
God’s love and Hope become a wonderful spiritual fortress protecting you
from evil
- Yet at the same time giving you the tools that are needed
  - To face evil
The remedy comes from slowing down
- Making a U-TURN
- Heading in the right direction

This can be an act of transformation in the healing process
- As you set out step-by-step on your road to
  - Inner healing
  - Recovery
Inner healing and recovery means changing today’s
- Self-defeating learned survival behaviors
Inner healing and recovery means
- Dealing with the ways we may have been TRAUMATIZED
We reconnect with ourselves
We learn to give ourselves some
- Respect
- Concern
- Kindness
We learn to feel SAFE

We know, REALLY KNOW, it’s okay for us to be as healthy as we can become
We’re not crazy – our leaning on, trusting in and relying on one another has
produced character deficits
- Our inner healing and recovery means
  - Identifying them
  - Working to overcome their
    - Dysfunctional
    - Destructive tendencies

Our inner healing and recovery is a process, a gradual one of
- Awareness
- Acceptance
- Change
We will enter into a process of God’s design:
- ASK
- SEEK
- KNOCK
  - For surely you will receive
  - New discoveries will be made
  - Doors will be opened for you in heaven and
    - Right now, right here on earth
Our renewal and recovery is a HEALING PROCESS
Our renewal and recovery is a process
- By which we CHANGE
- By which we BECOME CHANGED
This journey of renewal and recovery will help us realize
- It is important to learn
  - When it’s time to do something
  - When it’s time to let something happen
    - WITHOUT our interference

Now is the time for us to truly believe God exists
- We are important to Him
  - We are able to enjoy a relationship with Him through His Son
    - Jesus Christ
You will enter into a relationship with Jesus that is like no other, one that is
- Personal
  - Nothing about you has been hidden from the Lord
- Pervasive
  - Intimate
- Persuasive
  - Jesus invites us to look “IN-TO-ME-SEE” My love for you

“Did I not tell you and promise you that if you would believe and rely on Me,
You would see the glory of God!”
John 11:40 AMP

You will come to understand Jesus desires a hands-on, day-to-day, moment-to-
moment relationship with us
Jesus can do for us what we have never been able to do for ourselves
- He guides us into wonderous and miraculous realms

Romans 11:36 says:

EVERYTHING COMES FROM GOD ALONE!
EVERYTHING LIVES BY HIS POWER!

Many people today believe their doubts, and doubt their beliefs
We have never seen an
- Idea
- Love
- Faith
The real things
- The lasting things – in the world are
  - INVISIBLE SPIRITUAL REALITIES
When we say “We came to believe” in anything
- This describes a PROCESS
Belief is a result of
- Consideration
- Doubt
- Reasoning
- Understanding
- Concluding

In 2 Corinthians 12:9 Jesus tells us:

“MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT FOR YOU; FOR WHERE THERE IS WEAKNESS
MY POWER IS SHOWN MORE COMPLETELY!”

We come to understand God wants to fill our lives with
- His love
- His joy
- His Presence
The story of the prodigal son is really a picture of God the Father’s love for
- YOU
God’s unconditional love is looking for you
- No matter how lost you feel
God’s searching love can find you
- No matter how many times you may have given in to temptation
God’s hands of mercy are reaching out to
- Pick you up
- Love you
- Forgive you
This is where we truly find HOPE

Taking this step means we must be willing to experience
- An OPENNESS
- A WILLINGNESS to CHANGE

Hope is openness to change
This process will lead to solid beliefs
- That will change your life
“We came…”
- We took that first step toward our inner healing and recovery
“We came…”
- We stopped denying our hurts and habits
“We came…”
- We started to believe and receive God’s power to help us
- Heal
- Recover
- Be Transformed
- Experience Newness of Life

God has been waiting for you to come to Him
Our heavenly Father bestows a means to experience everlasting change

ASK —– SEEK —– KNOCK

Those who ASK will receive
Those who SEEK will find
Those who KNOCK will enter through the Gate of Heaven
- Christ Jesus

Hope opens doors that despair closes
Hope helps us develop a grateful spirit
- Gratitude ensures discovery for what can be done
  - Instead of grumbling about what can’t be done

“WHAT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR MAN, IS POSSIBLE FOR GOD”
Luke 18:27

Throughout life you will continue to encounter hurts and trials that you are
powerless to change
- With God’s help you can be open to allow those circumstances and situations
  - To change you
  - To make you BETTER – NOT BITTER

During this step you will discover it is God Who gives us the POWER to change by
- His Spirit of Grace

In the past, we may have wanted to change, and were unable to do so
- We could not free ourselves from our hurts or habits
Now we will come to understand that God’s power can and will
- Change us
- Our situation
Philippians 4:13 assures:

“I CAN DO EVERYTHING GOD ASKS ME TO WITH THE HELP OF CHRIST,
WHO GIVES ME THE STRENGTH AND POWER.”

POWER TO CHANGE COMES FROM GOD’S SPIRIT OF GRACE

HOPE DRAWS POWER FROM A DEEP TRUST IN GOD
- Like the Psalmist that wrote:

“Lead me; teach me; for You are the God Who gives me salvation.
I have no hope except in You!”
Psalm 25:5

DESPITE ourselves
- This in itself is a MIRACULOUS intervention
Accepting these truths builds a solid foundation of
- Faith
- Hope
- Love
  - You can honestly
  - Maybe for the first time
    - EXPECT change to occur
Don’t quit before the miracle happens
- We have only taken that Second Step
With God’s help, the changes that you have longed for
- ARE JUST A FEW STEPS AWAY
Philippians 1:6 tells us:

“I am sure that God Who began that good work within you will keep right on
Helping you grow in His grace until His task within you is finally finished,
On that day when Jesus Christ returns.”

You can’t do anything until you get started
- How much faith do you need to get started
Matthew 17:20 tells us:

“If you had faith even as small as a tiny mustard seed
You could say to this mountain,‘
Move!’
It would go far away. Nothing would be impossible.”

Eternal life does not begin with death
- It begins with FAITH
Life without Christ is a hopeless end
- With Him it is an endless HOPE

This second step is the TRANSITION STEP
It takes us from where we are to where we want to go
- Setting us on a course that holds more Power and direction,
  than we have on our own

During this step all we are asked to do is “COME TO BELIEVE”
We do that by opening our minds and hearts
- Connecting with other like-minded people
Though the details of our insanity vary, there are millions who have
taken this step, and have seen its POWER work
- God’s Spirit is in this with us
By keeping an open mind to the steps figuring out what they
mean to you
- Surprises are revealed
These steps are a structure not a container that binds us
- One that allows us to feel safe while we discover the various
  mysteries of Life

Many of us need to be restored from
- Shame
- Fear
- Suppressed feelings to
  - Peace
  - Confidence
  - Good feelings about ourselves
We may need to be restored from negative, hopeless thoughts to a
- Positive
- Hopeful outlook
We may need to be restored to a certainty that we possess the key to
- Our happiness
- Our destiny
  - NOT others

There are some who come to this process of inner healing and recovery
believing it is reasonable to
- Repress their feelings
- Dislike themselves
- Stay immersed in shame
- Feel trapped
- Hopeless
Some may be placing their hope in self-protective behaviors such as:
- PSYCHIC NUMBING
  - A symptom of stress disorder
    - We protect ourselves
      - To keep things going
      - To keep ourselves going
    - We disconnect
      - From our feelings
      - From ourselves
    - We go into “FREEZE” or “SURVIVAL” mode
- HYPERVIGILANCE
  - Another symptom of stress disorder
    - The inability to feel comfortable unless we’re continually
      monitoring our surroundings
      - Always expecting the worst
      - Unable to trust or feel safe again
      - We stay on guard
        Watching
        
        Listening
        
        Worrying
        
        Wondering when the other shoe will drop
        
        No longer feeling safe
- SURVIVOR GUILT
  - Whenever the fullness that life has to offer begins to be experienced,
    a person immediately feels as if they are betraying those who never
    had the chance
    - Feeling it is somehow wrong
      - To go away
      - To be healthy
        When those who are left behind are still suffering

Working step two helps us realize
- Self-Protective behaviors such as these may seem
  - Rational
  - Logical
    - They PREVENT change from occurring

Father God, many of us need healing. I need healing for past hurts, random
Physical pains that I allow to waylay my days and spiritual healing for various reasons.
I reach up to You to receive this healing so that I may be whole and that I may be able
To then minister to others in a way that brings You fullness of glory.
How wonderful to be able to worship You without stain or blemish
And to be totally healed. Show others Your healing power so that they may
Also recover and walk in wholeness. In the precious name of Jesus.
Amen! – Dawn Mast