Archie Boyle's Blog Space

Rely on each other

2010-05-11T16:06:00.000-07:00

When others depend on us, it takes away our independence - unless we let them down.

2 John 1:5 But permit me a reminder, friends, and this is not a new commandment but simply a repetition of our original and basic charter: that we love each other.

I'm Tired...

2010-04-28T08:20:00.000-07:00

I have just arrived home from a very busy night on 'Street Outreach' Things didn't happen tonight the way I anticipated they would. Because the plans were different to my expectations I got irritated, I got tired and I got resentments.On arriving home I have to unwind so I sit with a coffee and assess my evening. I then begin to read scripture:

James 1:2-4 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

Resentment can lead to sinful actions,
Resentment can lead to wrongful accusations.
Resentment can prevent positive spiritual growth,

In 12 Step fellowship we read the cliche:

Don't get too....

Hungry
Angry
Lonely
Tired

When tests and challenges come at you from all sides, you know that under pressure your
faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors

Don't take life to seriously and practice Step 10 (Continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.) daily to avoid character relapse.

Follow-through on your decisions

2010-04-27T18:33:00.000-07:00

When you make a promise to God, don’t delay in following through, for God takes no pleasure in fools. Keep all the promises you make to him. Ecclesiastes 5:4 (NLT)

We must take care of all that God has entrusted to us. Following-through on the decisions we make in life makes Him happy. Whatever the result of our decisions are in His hands. Our part is to take the actions He directs us too and give Glory to Him for what happens.

Step 12
Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other hurting people and practice these principles in all our daily lives.

Commitment that overcomes obstacles

2010-04-25T19:13:00.000-07:00

2 Corinthians 8:12 Once the commitment is clear, you do what you can, not what you can't. The heart regulates the hands.

As we commit our lives to God and to recovery we can expect to face obstacles, but we can also expect to overome them with God's power. Our common bond must be commitment to God at all costs....

Family

2010-04-25T18:54:00.000-07:00

1 Peter 3:8-9 Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that's your job, to bless. You'll be a blessing and also get a blessing.

Favouritism destroys family unity - Parents may not always be able to change their feelings but they can always change their actions.

Family responsibilities must be a priority - It is easy to get caught up thinking our work is so important that we can ignore our families. Spiritual leadership must begin at home and we must not allow other activites to detract from our family responsibilities.

Family members should honour each other - If the saviour of the world obeyed his human parents, how much more should we honour the mebbers of our families?

God's commands apply to both parents and children. If our faith is real it will prove itself at home, in our relationships with those who know us best.

Personal Needs

2010-03-18T01:24:00.000-07:00

Over the last few weeks I have become more and more involved in things spiritual. As I have the Holy Spirit has prompted me to make sure I take care of my own needs and the needs of my family in order to be fully available to others.

Psalm 104:27-28 All the creatures look expectantly to you to give them their meals on time. You come, and they gather around; you open your hand and they eat from it.

As I live my life and consider all the people dependent on me, for various thing, I realise my life Depends On God. Without Him I would't be here, wouldn't have the beatiful wife and three wonderful children I have. Wouldn't have a God given job working with people in desperate need of personal relationship with Him.

As I consider the last few weeks and my personal needs I am grateful that I have a Saviour, whol loves me unconditionally and supplies all my needs to enable me to complete the tasks He places before me.

A new commandment

2010-01-01T16:15:00.000-08:00

As I began a new job for The Salvation Army's Project 614 24/7 team God gave me the following verses:

Matthew 10:6-7 Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood. Tell them that the kingdom is here.

For all of us it is difficult to venture into the unknown with God but it is also important for us to talk to Him, listen to Him and follow Him. Knowing that He has everything under control and He will equip us for the tasks He sets before us.

Done something wrong? Frustrated?

2009-10-31T02:12:00.000-07:00

1 Samuel 12:20-21 "Don't be fearful. It's true that you have done something very wrong. All the same, don't turn your back on God. Worship and serve him heart and soul! Don't chase after ghost-gods.

Frustration comes through foolish indiscretion. After a lot of repetitious mistakes failure becomes the familiar. After which comes inevitable frustration. Should we be content to live with frustration? It is often difficult in recovery to break the bondage of frustration. Sadly, wallowing in it will stop us from reaching the freedom God wants us to experience.

Frustration is a form of captivity. Depression from frustration can lock us into ourselves, imprisoning our spirit. Life need not be permanent captivity. Freedom from frustration is offered by Christ. Turning to Him for the cure involves us accepting our limitations, adjusting our ideas, abandoning the causes of our frustration and availing ourselves of the total victory and full salvation which is only found in Him. As we give Him control of our lives the door of darkness closes and His light shines in and through us.

Reconciliation

2009-10-18T03:23:00.000-07:00

Colossians 4: 5 Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity.

In recovery Steps 8&9 are about reconciliation.

With whom are we to be reconciled?

First, we are to be reconciled with our own conscience.
Second, we must reconcile with other people.
Third, and perhaps most importantly, as we have reconciled with ourselves and others, we are now prepared to reconcile with God.

Say "I'm sorry and mean it!"

2009-10-18T03:02:00.000-07:00

Colossians 3:13
Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.

Step 9 says we need to make amends to others: Luke 6:38 says "Give and it shall be given you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

It is clear from the Bible that in recovery God wants us and expects us to forgive, as He has forgiven us. Making amends and forgiving others are a necessary part of the recovery process.

Rigorous Honesty!

2009-10-04T05:33:00.000-07:00

"Every one of us shall give account of himself to God." (Romans 14:12)

It appears that some people do not constitutionally seem capable of being honest. We can only treat them as unfortunates. Recovery from addiction can only begin when we face being honest with ourselves, and others, especially those within our support networks. Those who never make it are usually the ones who refrain from complete honesty. There is no immediate requirement of sudden outbursts of frank confession when we begin our new life of recovery. But we are destined to a life of honesty and it is here that many stumble. It is easier to choose a short-term period of self-revelation, than to maintain a close walk with God in which honesty is a priority claim. He knows every niche and corner of our lives, and reads the thoughts and intentions of our hearts and minds so why cover-up?

MEDITATION
I am called to daily accountability to God now and not just an end- of-the-road reporting of my life's doings. This is to my advantage, in that I can quickly confess my faults, failings and sins and this off-loading saves me from building up guilt and the associated ills that surround the burden of condoning sin. In as much as we can let go, we can let God; account for our sin, pardon and renew us. How much wiser than trying to camouflage our misdeeds, and grievances?

Are we prepared for an honest facing-up to our responsibilities?The Bible offers us this encouragement, "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)

PRAYER
God, I find it easy to hide from my innermost self, and to gloss over my shortcomings. Please help me be honest. I confess my need just now.

Need Refreshment?

2009-08-11T04:16:00.000-07:00

Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah.
Acts 3:19-20 (NLT)

False Pride

2009-06-06T06:31:00.000-07:00

Step 7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

James 1:9-10 Humble believers should be proud because being humble makes them important. Rich believers should be proud because being rich should make them humble.

In 1987 I first entered 'Recovery' in a 3 month live-in rehabilitation programme in Western Australia. I stopped drinking and using drugs - I learned the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, attended meetings on a regular basis (even started a couple of new ones). But I had a problem, that problem was 'false pride' You see I had lived my life believing God was for the week and I never saw myself as being weak so I had no place in my life for Him. Although I believed He was in my life, I never believed in giving Him control of my life, nor did I 'humbly ask Him to remove my shortcomings' I knew I had them but believed it was up to me to change them. As a result of my wrong beliefs and attitudes I drank again. However, because of what I had learned in A.A. I knew I had to do something to STOP
So I did a geographical to to South Australia. Where I again moved into a live-in rehabilitation programme The Bridge Programme There I learned of my need for God, a personal relational need on a daily basis. I learned to LET GO of the false pride that prevented me from achieving lasting life recovery and to LET GOD into all the areas of my life I had not permitted Him into previously. The reuslt is I am now in my 21st year of a lasting, loving relationship with Him and I still go to Him daily and 'humbly ask Him to remove my shortcomings'

In John 14:1-4 Jesus says “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home.If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going.”

Today because of the letting go of false pride I am certain He is preparing a place for me and when everything ready He will come and get me so I can live with Him forever.

Never the same again....

2009-05-02T20:58:00.000-07:00

Galatians 5:1 Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.

Admission addiction is never easy, making it public is even harder. However, being honest about it with ourselves and others helps us amend our ways. The process of recovery begins with hope -

hope that things can be different by abstaining from our drug of choice and changing our ways of living and acting.

Through hope we learn and apply the principles of recovery to our lives. This develops new found faith.

faith that things can and will be different because we are different in so many ways.

From faith we learn to put our trust in the one true Higher Power, Jesus Christ and apply the new characteristics we develop from recovery to our daily living. This then leads to love.

love for God and others, unconditoional love that does not depend on us geting what we want but what we need to live victorious lives of service in reaching out to others who are still suffering.

Through applying hope, faith and love to our daily lives, one day at a time we experience new freedom and grow in strength and commitment to the recovery process.

Is your God too small?

2009-05-01T23:06:00.000-07:00

O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens. You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength,silencing your enemies and all who oppose you.
Psalm 8:1-2 (New Living Translation)

God is full of surprises! He mixes the normal with the totally unexpected and the natural with the supernatural. His ways are often beyond our understanding, His power beyond our expectations and He always manages to surprise us. He is incomprehensible in His sovereignty, inexhaustible in His resources and unfathomable in His reserves. In our lives and in our recoveries we often fail to credit God with the fullness and wonder He deserves. Yet He is always ready to give personal time and personal attention too us each.

When you think of God - think BIG. Set your sights on appreciating who He is and what He has done for us.

God promises "If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me." Jeremiah 29:13. Acknowledging the wonder of God in our lives can be the first step to an enlarged vision of Him for many of us and a refreshing appreciation of His personal interest in us each.

God, teach me lessons for living so I can stay the course Psalm 119:34

"Praise God"

2009-04-27T06:10:00.000-07:00

Psalm 106:1-2 Hallelujah! Thank God! And why? Because he's good, because his love lasts. But who on earth can do it—declaim God's mighty acts, broadcast all his praises?

As we draw upon God for strength to do right and the power to overcome. It will get easier to express our appreciation. We can do this woshipful praise, through verbal testimony and through practical actions.

Whilst relief can be felt through sharing all of our bad past with others through meetings, sustaining the relief requires the over all glory be given to God for redeeming us from dreadful behaviour and sinful ways.

Romans 10:9 Say the welcoming word to God—"Jesus is my Master"—embracing, body and soul, God's work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That's it. You're not "doing" anything; you're simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you. That's salvation.

Let us not be obsessed with the old life but marvel in the new life that He has given too us through application of the Twelve Steps on a daily basis. God is worthy of our best accolades for He has done in us and all He has still yet to do to help us become the people He created us to be.

About Living Life Recovery

2009-04-26T00:39:00.000-07:00

2 Cor. 1:3-4 All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us.

God wants to strengthen us in our time of weakness and comfort us in painful experiences.

It is good for us to count on God to minister to us in this way. Whatever circumstances we find ourselves in God will always provide others to help us. This is how Living Life Recovery works. We are partners in a ministry of support; this is not a ministry of a few cheering words but of deeper spiritual involvement.

People who allow the Holy Spirit to convert difficulty into victory will know the blessings that come from sharing hope with others in recovery.

Doing what God wants to fit your own circumstances!

2009-02-06T04:24:00.001-08:00

A number of years ago God gave me a vision 'Living Life Recovery' He gave me at that time clear instructions of what He wanted me to do and how He wanted me to do it. He gave me a curriculum to use and a definite structure to apply to making it a tool to change lives of people suffering from addiction and in recovery. A mission to make a difference in His Kingdom.
Because I am human however I as it says in The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous looked for
easier softer ways.

I began LLR as God wanted it done, using the curriculum that He provided. Then because my life got too busy I searched for and found curriculum that meant less time in preparation - less time in communication with Him, seeking His message for each and every meeting.

The result of doing this was that LLR was not as effective as God wants it to be, due to the fact I was only giving it the time I had to give, instead of giving it the commitment God requires. Also as a result of this delivery of the vision to others was not the vision God wanted delivered.

Tonight I thank God for revealing the errors of my ways and renewing the original vision He gave to me for LLR. A vision that is 'Church for People with Addictions' A place where people can come, to be themselves, to belong and grow in personal relationship with Him.

Nehemiah 7:3 (New Living Translation)

I said to them, “Do not leave the gates open during the hottest part of the day.And even while the gatekeepers are on duty, have them shut and bar the doors. Appoint the residents of Jerusalem to act as guards, everyone ona regular watch. Some will serve at sentry posts and some in front of their own homes.”

God has a plan for each of our lives and with Hid plan comes tasks and responsibilities - In this passage Nehemiah assigned each family the task of protecting the section of the wall of Jerusalem near their home. For each of us God instructs us to protect the things He has given to us. It is tempting to relax our guard of those things sometimes. But we must continue to serve and take care of all He has entrusted to us. Following-through is a vital part of our Spiritual growth and includes giving the time and commitment to His plan. Communicating with Him daily on the plan and trusting Him to do what He wants to do with it.

Learning in Recovery

2008-11-16T20:15:00.000-08:00

Pray for guidance: Before you do anything in recovery take time to pray and to wait on God to show you the way in which He is guiding you. John 16:13 But when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is. He won't draw attention to himself, but will make sense out of what is about to happen and, indeed, out of all that I have done and said.

Be open minded: What God wants is not always what we want and we need to be open minded and trust that God has things under control. 1Corinthians 4:2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful

Don't set your recovery up on one text: When we are in recovery we often look for a quick fix. In order to know God we need to understand His word - to understand His word we need to study a number of Scriptures on what He says on how wants us to live before making them our road to recovery. 2Peter 3:17 Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position.

Check the sources of knowledge on which you base your recovery: Other than the Bible their a lot of books on recovery, good and bad. It is important we check there validity prior to basing recovery on them - check how they measure up to how the Bible says we should live - If you are unsure take it to God in prayer or seek out someone to verify them against. Going it alone in recovery is a remedy for failure - Proverbs 19:27 If you quit listening, dear child, and strike off on your own, you'll soon be out of your depth.

UNDERSTAND GOD'S WORD IS A MATTER NOT JUST OF THE HEAD BUT ALSO OF THE HEART

John 7:17 Anyone who wants to do his will can test this teaching and know whether it's from God or whether I'm making it up.

Forgiving Others

2008-11-15T06:01:00.000-08:00

Proverbs:24:29 And don’t say” Now I can pay them back for all their meanness to me! I’ll get even”!

Forgiveness is a mark of a changed life: If we have really changed and experienced true recovery (a gift from God) we will want to share it with others. By forgiving those who have harmed us we are not excusing their misdeeds. But we are recognizing that they are human, in spite of their failings they are created in God’s image and we need to love them as God loves us.

Forgiveness is not the pattern of the world: In these times of constant lawsuits and demand for legal rights. When someone hurts us the Bible tells us we must forgive them. Forgiving them may:

• Break the cycle of retaliation and lead to mutual reconciliation
• Cause the other person to feel ashamed and change their ways
• Hurt us just as much, maybe more than it does them

Forgiveness is an act of willingness: It involves both our attitudes and actions. How we feel and act towards someone who has hurt us. By telling the person how you feel and that you wish to heal the relationship can lead to the right attitudes and actions being followed by both parties.

Matthew 6:14-15 “if you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you, But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

If we want to be forgiven by God and by others we must begin by forgiving others. It’s what the Bible commands us to do

Procrastination

2008-11-07T14:29:00.000-08:00

Proverbs 10:4 He becomes poor who works with a slack and idle hand, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.

Procrastination reveals deeper problems: Sometimes we delay things that seem large, difficult or boring. But to continue not to do them shows lack of self-discipline, poor stewardship of our time and sometimes disobedience to God. Things we don't want to do require concentration, encouragement and accountability.

Procrastination is the cause of many of our failures: Each day has twenty four hours in which we have opportunities to grow, serve and be productive. But it easy for us to allow productive time to slip away and let real recovery growth opportunities pass us by. In recovery let us see time as a gift from God and sieze opportunities for growth as He presents them for us.

Procrastination can lead to relapse: If we are in recovery and make endless excuses not to do the things we need to do - things God wants us to do we become lazy. Lazy in our work, lazy in our relationships, lazy in our spiritual walk and lazy in our recovery. To overcome laziness we need to make a conscious decision to act. We need to set realistic goals for ourselves and follow the steps we need to to reach them. Praying for strength and persistence and avoiding making excuses.

Goal Setting

2008-11-07T14:00:00.000-08:00

Putting off an easy thing makes it hard, and putting off a hard one makes it impossible.—George H. Lorimer

In recovery I believe I have always set goals for myself and my life. Denis Waitely in the Psychology of Winning says " A goal should be just out of reach but not out of sight!" That is a lesson I heard early in
recovery and have tried to shape my life on. I have always tried to set SMART goals:

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Timely

My usual process is to map out my goals and include a schedule for achievement.

Over the last couple of months I have been busier than usual and have depended very much on goal setting and planning.

Today I thank God for Step 10 and continued personal inventory because in reviewing my movements over the last couple of months what I have realized is once I set a time line I forget about it until it is nearly up and then I do a mad dash at the end to make sure I get to my goals in time.

It is important for me and for all of us to remember with long term goals the purpose of setting time lines is to achieve stepping stone goals

GOD HAS A PLAN!

2008-11-03T19:21:00.000-08:00

Psalm 138:8 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever —do not abandon the works of your hands.

In 1991 during the Salvation Army's first 'National Alcohol Awareness Week' my story was featured in ' The War Cry" and in a number of other Local and National newspapers. As part of A.A.W. I was interviewed on the Channel 10 News by Paul Makin about how my life had changed and what caused the change. From that interview I was given the opportunity to feature my story in a Christian Television ad, which ran on South Australian Televisions for a number of months. From that television ad I was given many opportunities to share my faith with many community groups and in many Church congregations into which I would not normally have opportunity to enter.

The reason I believe all these events and many more that have occurred since have happened in my life is because as it says in Psalm 138:8 God was and is fulfilling His purpose fro me - through love - He opens unexpected doors for each of us to make a difference so He can be Glorified and others will hear of His magnificent work in us and choose to follow Him.

My favourite verses in the Bible are: Hebrews 3:7-8 So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert.

Many times in my life whilst I was drinking (looking back) God opened doors for me to escape from my addiction but I was not prepared to listen (I hardened my heart) When I finally did listen and obey Him, He again opened doors that have made it possible for me to share the Good News with so many people and it is my prayer for myself, for them and for anyone else reading this that we will not harden our hearts when He speaks to us but place our trust in Him through faith and allow Him to fulfill His purpose for us each so that He can be glorified through the transformation of lives to His way of living.

Thank God for the Salvo's and Alcoholics Anonymous

2008-11-03T02:41:00.000-08:00

Below is a testimony I wrote in 1989 for an inhouse newsletter called TRUTH - Recovery First, produced by the men on the Salvation Army's Bridge Program. Reading it today I still thank God for the Salvation Army's Bridge Program and for Alcoholics Anonymous. Both played a significant part in my recovery and because of them I have now been sober for 20years, living one day at a time and Turning my will and life over to Him Daily

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

I thank God today for the Salvation Army's Bridge Program and Alcoholics Anonymous and the Simplistic way of life they have shown me.

The simple little sayings I heard in so many meetings but never took in are today life savers in my sobriety. There seems to be one for every occasion that arises in my life. If you are returning to A.A. after a 'bust' remember "You don't fail until you stop trying". If you are like I was, an arrogant, self-centered alcoholic, quick to jump down the throat of anyone who threatens my new found security. When someone upsets you, don't jump down their throat before you ask yourself the question "How important is it?" Is it really worth losing your sobriety over?

'It is important for me today to remember that word I see in so many meetings, "THINK"!! Because we all do know the difference between right and wrong. If I am doing wrong, I know it, and if I don't do something about it I'm on my way back to where I came from. I didn't like it very much last time.

Another saying I hear around is "It gets better"! and you know it does.

Today I have an indescribable peace, a God given peace. I say God given because I have never known any peace before in my life. My head was always filled with a thousand different thoughts that really meant ftothing. When I decided to turn my life and my will over to God I realized with help, that what happened in my past isn't really that important. I can't change my past,-but I can alter its effect on my future. The object of every situation was to learn, and I praise God today for the lessons I have learned.

If I live my life "one day at a time" and ask myself each night "How much of today wasn't God's will?" and try to do better the next day I can't go wrong.

"Let go, let God". "Live and let live". "Easy does it".

They all sound so simple, don't they?

I couldn't "live and let live". I grew up in a world full of racial, religious and political violence. I was a member of the National Front, and hated any one who wasn't like me.

Spiritual Blindness

2008-10-25T06:46:00.000-07:00

I read this from a message I presented to a church back in 1992

"every person on the earth, whether they have grown up knowing God or found Him later in life as I did at some stage is 'Spiritually Blind'. Why? Because we are human and doubt, uncertainty, procrastination etc exists in all of our lives and as human beings we do not know God's plan for our lives.

Philippians 4:13 says I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me'

Today if you are experiences a 'Spiritual Blindness' experience STOP! PRAY! and make a commitment to live this day uses the unlimited resources that are available to us through faith in Jesus Christ.

What would you Say?

2008-10-15T05:04:00.000-07:00

For a number of years it has been my desire to start a personal blog. My wife asked me once "what would you say"? As I sat down to think about that God gave me a message. The message was "share your experience" So this blog is a place where I intend to share my personal experience of life.

In my life I have a personal ambition 'to be different and to make a difference'

I am a recovered alcoholic, recovering through the application of the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous in my life and personal relationship with the one True Higher Power Jesus Christ. I have been a Christian since 1989 and through this blog will share my personal story and recovery experience .