Participants: Cheri Peters (Host), Matthew Gamble
Series Code: CLR
Program Code: CLR000053A
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00:10 Welcome to Celebrating Life in Recovery.
00:12 I'm Cheri your host! 00:13 A lot of people have a lot of ideas of what 00:15 the secret to recovery is. 00:17 How am I going to stay clean, how do I avoid relapse? 00:20 I think I have the secret and I have been in recovery 00:23 for a long time. 00:24 So let me share with you today come in and join us, 00:26 it's incredible! 00:53 So let's talk about the secret of recovery. 00:55 It is funny to me, because there is all kinds 00:57 of things people will tell you. 00:59 They say you know what in recovery you have got to watch 01:02 your friends, and watch what you do, 01:03 and watch what you think and all that stuff. 01:06 I found that there's more to it than that. 01:08 I want to start with there are some folks that are 01:12 staying at the ranch right now, our Ministry Center. 01:16 I met her the first time, let's say she's from New York, 01:19 because I never want to call somebody out the closet 01:23 if they are not ready to come out. 01:24 So let's say she's from New York and I met her the first time 01:26 she was 12, 11 years old. 01:28 Her father was just indicted for molestation. 01:31 He was a schoolteacher and her mother had a psychotic 01:34 break, went into the hospital for months. 01:36 Nobody told us kid anything. 01:38 I can't believe that no one said a word to this kid. 01:42 So she all of a sudden had to decide about the entire 01:45 world based on what was happening in her environment. 01:49 Both parents are gone and she is by herself. 01:51 Friends got pulled away from her. 01:54 She belong to a church, but you know all the sudden, 01:57 nobody wanted their kids playing with this kid, 01:59 because what about their parents and all the stuff 02:01 that is going on in their life? 02:02 I'm not even talking about maybe what was happening in 02:05 her home prior to that, we are not going there. 02:08 We are talking about this crisis happened, and this kid, 02:11 all the sudden has to decide about the world. 02:14 Seriously decides about the world, makes vows about 02:17 the world, whether people can be trusted or not. 02:19 Whether she is safe or not, and all that stuff. 02:23 So when she stumbles finally into her addictions, 02:26 oh and at the time she goes deaf. 02:29 No reason, and the reason I want to say no reason 02:35 is we physically are powerful. 02:39 Do you know what I mean? 02:40 I don't want to hear anything. 02:42 I don't know what the world means anymore. 02:44 I don't know what to do anymore, 02:46 so we literally shut down. 02:47 When people get sick all of a sudden, 02:49 after divorce they get sick, there's stats that are saying 02:52 that people are literally starting to die sometimes 02:54 after a divorce, after major tragedies. 02:56 and I think we shut our own 02:57 bodies down because it is that powerful. 03:00 So this kid goes into addictions goes into all that stuff. 03:04 Now I want to break from that and I want to go into what 03:08 I think some of the secrets are when you come out of that stuff. 03:11 You make vows, you go into addictions. 03:13 Let me just say about addictions, 03:16 we think we are messed up before that. 03:19 We've got all the family stuff. 03:21 You know my family are addicts and I've been molested 03:25 since I was 3 months old. 03:27 I have all that stuff. 03:28 I ended up homeless by the age of 13 years old. 03:30 So when I got into my addiction, in my addiction I thought 03:35 was the solution not a problem, know what I mean? 03:37 So I'm thinking I finally found something that is 03:40 actually going to help me. 03:41 So we fall into that kind of stuff, so all of a sudden 03:44 we start looking at recovery. 03:46 It cracks me up in recovery because I start looking 03:50 at recovery and try to figure out, let's see, 03:54 what am I going to do in recovery? 03:56 I am taking this mind, this twisted thinking. 04:02 I have gotten myself so twisted because of my pain 04:06 and my hurt and acting out in my rebellion. 04:09 Somebody else's rebellion and someone else's acting out. 04:12 I'm coming to recovery and thinking with this mind, 04:15 I'm going to figure it out. 04:17 I think all of heaven is says, oh please! 04:20 There's even a place in the Bible that says, 04:22 "don't lean on your own understanding", don't do it. 04:27 Because your understanding is tweaked. 04:29 It was tweaked from the time you were a little girl, 04:32 a little boy. 04:33 All of a sudden when you were molested the first time, 04:35 you decided something about the world and made vow's at 04:38 that time that have changed everything about you. 04:41 You come into recovery and you think you are going to 04:43 figure it out, please don't even do it. 04:46 So now we are going to talk about the secret of recovery 04:48 is to learn to communicate with the only person that 04:51 actually can figure it out for you, and that is God. 04:53 So we are going to talk about prayer. 04:54 We are going to talk about prayer, and people 04:57 it cracks me up because they did studies, 05:00 most of us don't pray. 05:01 I don't care if you been a Christian for a million 05:04 years, most of us don't pray. 05:06 We will get up and give it a few seconds, you know God 05:10 hang out with me today, thanks and that is it. 05:13 Do you know what I mean? 05:14 I don't even think for some of us we get busy and we don't 05:16 even give it that. 05:17 So we are going to talk about prayer. 05:19 We were created in the image of God, right? 05:24 In the image of God and I'm thinking, it is just not 05:27 I just don't have His nose, do you know what I mean? 05:30 So what does that mean, the image of God? 05:33 Do I look like Him, what ever? 05:34 We were created in the image of God, this is a God that 05:37 spoke the Universe into existence. 05:39 He spoke and it happened. 05:42 I'm thinking, He created me maybe when I speak 05:47 it's a big deal, when I speak vows against things. 05:51 When I decide on something and I start speaking all that 05:54 stuff into my life that is horrible. 05:57 Nobody can be trusted, I'm not worth anything. 05:59 I am nothing but a liar born to addicts. 06:03 When I speak that is a big deal, because I'm created 06:06 by God, in His image. 06:09 When He speaks things happen. 06:12 So when I speak things happen either positive or 06:14 negative and God Himself has to start teaching me that. 06:18 I believe with everything in me that the only way for 06:22 recovery, the only way for me to get from one place 06:25 in my twistedness. 06:27 Starting to untwist is to understand who God is, 06:31 and start asking Him, 06:32 God I think I've messed it up. 06:37 You know what's really funny to me is when I think we 06:40 get to that place all of heaven says, you think. 06:43 Do you know what I mean? 06:44 I just feel like it is in such love, day just think, you think! 06:49 All of a sudden we ask, that's all we have to do. 06:52 We have had addicts on this season who said the only 06:56 thing I could say to God for months was, please help me! 06:59 Please help me! 07:01 I don't even know, I don't know how to, and I have talked 07:06 about this story before. 07:07 They're sending an addict over to my Pastor's house 07:09 one time, and we have a couple pastures in the café 07:11 today, I want to say welcome. 07:13 But they sent this addict to my Pastor's house, 07:15 and this guy was angry all the time, all the time. 07:18 I'm thinking God this guy just irritates me 07:21 I can't believe that he doesn't irritate You. 07:24 God says, I love that guy, do you know what I mean? 07:26 I love him, but I sent him over to my Pastor's house. 07:30 He comes back over and says, that guy is an idiot. 07:32 I hate him and if you knew what he believed you would 07:35 not be in his church. 07:37 And you know what he says something, Cheri, what's 07:39 incredible about that, he will look at me and say, it's 07:42 in the Bible. 07:43 He said, and I grabbed him by the shirt collar 07:46 and I almost bashed his face in and then I realized, wait a 07:49 minute, this is Cheri's Pastor, she likes him. 07:52 So he decided not to hit him. 07:54 I said, what did he say to you? 07:56 What you knew the dude I accepted, Jesus, I said, yeah. 08:00 He said that dude was 3 dudes in one. 08:02 Oh Hon, sit down. 08:06 When we come to God we don't know a thing, we just don't 08:09 know thing, we don't even know what to ask. 08:11 God said, you know what sometimes the best you can do, 08:14 is just say, HELP ME! 08:15 Help me, help me to untwist, help me to understand, 08:18 help me to get out from all this kind of stuff. 08:21 God says, I will speak life into you. 08:24 I will speak in all the damage that was done to you, 08:28 I am not going to come in with a Band-Aid, 08:30 and a lot of people try to do that. 08:32 A lot of people come in and say just go to a 12-step 08:34 program, and I am not knocking 12-step programs. 08:37 Just go in and learn about self-esteem. 08:39 Just go in and start dealing with your depression. 08:41 All at stuff is good but it's like Band-Aids. 08:44 I need to change the very core of who I am. 08:47 I need to change what I think. 08:48 I need to really realize the vows I made in my life, 08:52 and be able to surrender those and give them back 08:55 to God and say, how to get away from those? 08:58 How do I realize that there is I can trust. 09:01 I can step out of hiding and I can step out of these 09:04 addictions, I can heal. 09:06 I actually can do more than that. 09:08 I'm a heroine addict in recovery, right? 09:10 When I came into my recovery I was a 100 pounds, 09:13 teeth missing and strung out on heroine, illiterate. 09:18 I stopped using heroin I was like Yahoo, look at me! 09:22 I'm a life not using heroin and I thought I wanted to tell 09:25 everybody that. 09:26 Hi my name is Cheri, I haven't used today at all. 09:29 People are like, what ever, do you know what I mean? 09:32 Most people, every addict in the room says Amen. 09:35 Because sometimes if I didn't use in the last 09:37 15 minutes, it was good. 09:39 But it was like, I was so proud of that. 09:41 God said, when you were less than 1 year old, 09:45 I was molested at 3 months old, right? 09:49 Constantly, I shouldn't say constantly, but frequently. 09:53 So before I was a 1 old I knew the world was not safe. 09:57 Before I was a 1 year old. 09:58 God and not only has to take this heroine addict, 10:01 or what ever addiction you are dealing with, 10:03 not only takes us out of that but says can I step you 10:06 out of that junk and let you feels what it feels like 10:11 to be out of hiding, to be out of all the damage. 10:16 To all the sudden look up and say, God, you know what, 10:19 I am kind of glad to be alive today. 10:22 I was suicidal my whole life and God says, 10:26 can I step you up out of that and show you that there 10:28 is going to be a time in your life that you are going to 10:31 be glad you are alive? 10:33 That you are going to contribute back to the people 10:35 around you, you are actually going to bring life to 10:38 people that are in darkness in the same place 10:41 you were in darkness. 10:42 Every molested kid, I want to will grab them and say, 10:44 you know what, there is a God that will take all 10:47 that from you and stand you up pure and holy, 10:50 in the presence of a holy God. 10:51 Where you love who you are. 10:53 Where you can stay present with the people in your life, 10:55 especially with your husband, and with your wife, 10:58 all those kind of things. 10:59 God does all that and so how do I connect with that God? 11:03 Through prayer, and we always say that and think people 11:07 will understand what we mean. 11:08 People don't understand what we mean, what is prayer? 11:10 What does that mean, and it literally is a dialogue, 11:13 conversation with God. 11:15 God, Cheri here, do you know what I mean? 11:18 I don't even know how to talk to You. 11:20 It's so funny, I worked with this addict. 11:23 You have to just imagine addicts because they are so 11:25 funny, but I worked with this addict, strung out for 11:28 ever, just out to lunch and doesn't know anything. 11:32 Doesn't even hardly, you can't trust him. 11:35 He opens his mouth and his lips are moving but he 11:37 is lying to you about something, you just know that. 11:39 He rips people off, his first conscious act, 11:43 where his conscious just peaked him and got 11:48 him to think about something. 11:49 He is in this store and trying to do recovery and picks 11:51 up some cereal, because he wants to get some cereal. 11:54 He puts it in his cart and then he goes a couple aisles 11:57 over and says, you know I don't even want cereal. 11:59 I want peanut butter, so he gets peanut butter 12:02 and puts the cereal where the peanut butter 12:04 was and puts the peanut butter in his cart and goes on. 12:06 All of a sudden he hears the Holy Spirit say, 12:08 that is not where the cereal goes. 12:10 He's like, oh shut up, what do you mean that it's 12:13 not where the cereal goes? 12:15 Cereal is 2 aisles over. 12:16 God wants to clean us up, so he is nice about that. 12:19 It's nice for you to go put the cereal 12:22 back where it belongs. 12:23 This addict is saying, last week I was ripping off 12:26 people's wallets, you know what I mean? 12:28 This cereal is no big deal, God says, 12:30 that is not where the cereal goes. 12:31 So finally after he just cannot stop thinking about 12:35 this, he goes back to the aisle, gets the cereal 12:37 and goes back 2 aisles and puts it on the shelf. 12:41 That is the connection with God, how do you get from 12:44 that place to where you are actually talking with God? 12:46 How do you do that? 12:47 How do you pray, how do you start that dialogue? 12:50 With this addict he starts, the first time 12:52 I heard him pray it was so funny. 12:54 He gets on his knees, serious and a he's a little bit 12:58 trembling, because he doesn't know what he is doing. 13:00 Cheri, what do I say? 13:01 Say anything, you know it's God and He loves you. 13:05 Alright, Cheri, I don't know how can you just pray? 13:09 No it would be good if you prayed, alright. 13:11 God bestow on me this day, and I'm thinking where 13:15 did he get that, bestow on me? 13:17 It's really tough because I wanted to just bust up, 13:20 I want to laugh out loud, but somebody is trembling 13:23 and praying for the first time you have 13:24 got to give them a break. 13:26 So I'm thinking, for a lot of us, the secret to recovery 13:30 is our starting to communicate with God. 13:33 To start to say, God help me, help me not only with 13:36 learning to pray but with my, the Bible calls them 13:40 strong holds, with the stuff that has got 13:42 me all twisted up in bondage. 13:44 With the vows that I made even sometimes before 13:46 I learned to speak, help me with all that. 13:48 But I need to learn to speak to God, and sometimes 13:50 you are going to want to get on your knees and 13:53 you will want it to be just a holy thing. 13:55 Just God I realize who you are as somebody that created 13:59 the entire Universe and created me and knows everything 14:02 about me and my family. 14:04 I want to stay in just reverence of that. 14:06 There is other times you are going to be 14:08 walking down the street and hey man, 14:09 are you hanging out, are you here with me? 14:12 It's going to be a very casual thing. 14:14 There sometimes that I have a friend that lays on the 14:17 ground and just puts her arms out and lays flat on the 14:20 ground, because she feels like she wants to do that. 14:23 So you can speak to God just like you speak to any 14:25 friend, sometimes you are going to be more serious, 14:27 sometimes you're not. 14:29 But God says however you speak to Me, don't ever 14:31 for a minute think that I don't hear you. 14:33 I hear every single thing you say in my delight is 14:36 to bring you into recovery, my delight is to help 14:39 you laugh out loud, to be comfortable in your own skin, 14:42 to be able to stand up and walk away from that junk, 14:45 not to look at the junk the rest of your life. 14:47 You don't have to stay focused on this the rest of your life. 14:49 God said I created you for incredible things, 14:52 and you don't even know the gifts you have. 14:54 I want to show you that stuff, and that's 14:56 where it gets exciting. 14:57 So stay with us, we are going to look at some of that 14:59 stuff and that is my favorite. 15:01 We will be right back! |
Revised 2014-12-17