Helping You, Is Helping Me…

By Audie (Dobie) Brandon

As I sat through these classes I realized that I needed this, if not more than the people I am trying to help.  I was able to identify a lot of my own problems even after all these years I have been a Christian.  God’s word was beginning to cleanse my life and heal my past and I realized by helping others God was really cleansing me and through this I was able to help people with God’s word to heal and be set free.

It’s amazing, these classes have been helping people with addictions and other problems and God has come into so many peoples lives.  The excitement that’s going on is beyond any words that I can describe.  People can’t wait to get to class and if they are going to be late they will call or send word.  The laughter and peacefulness we feel is better that any drug.  People become family.  I just want to thank God for allowing me to be a part of Hope2All and healing me.

God’s Purpose for You

By Annjeana Gates

I know it’s hard to think of ourselves as being worthy of anything. I know this because I have struggled with this and still struggle sometimes, but I have to remember that God has a specific purpose for me even though I may not know exactly what that might be at this time. It is still hard for me because I am surrounded by people who have amazing talents, one of those people happens to be my husband. I find myself asking the Lord, “What is it you want me to do?” “What kind of purpose can I possibly serve in ministry?” I just want the Lord to be able to use me to the point where He is going to be proud of me and so I can be a blessing to everyone around me.

We just have to remember that the enemy will put thoughts in our minds that will make us think that we are not worthy, that we are no good, and that we are not serving a purpose. Remember God has something special for us even though we may not know what that is yet. I know that if I stay in prayer and keep serving Him like I should, then He will reveal to me one day what he has in store for me. That is the same for any other person out there who might be feeling or might have felt the same way. God is the one who has given me life so I know He has a reason and a purpose for me because of that alone.

God has you here for a reason and He definitely has something in store for you even if you may not think He does. We have to remember to try to be patient and wait on the Lord because He knows exactly the right time and place to do things. Our timing isn’t His timing, and that can be hard to understand sometimes, but we have to remind ourselves that He is God and He knows best.

One Day at a Time

By Jeff Harkin

It’s true that the Lord covers our past and holds our future, and we need to affirm this and to live in this grace and peace. In fact, He is the Alpha and the Omega, that is, the Eternal Beginning and the Eternal End. Yet, as most of us know, His Name is “I Am.” (Exodus 3:14 and John 8:58) In other words, He is HERE AND NOW! True, our past and our future are all the same to Him because He is eternal. Yet “I Am” is present tense, and nothing less. Thus, He intends that our walk with Him be present tense, HERE! NOW! The history we have with Him builds faith for today and our future in Him builds hope. Yet our God is literally IN THE MOMENT with us. In His personal contact with you and I, that’s where we find Him.

That’s one main reason we are learning to live one day at a time.

Very few people know it’s important to stop and to simply be in the moment. Ask yourself if you even know what that means. Hopefully you do: Maybe the last time you hugged your baby or your grandchild, maybe the last time you caught the aroma of bacon frying early in the morning and you were hungry, maybe the last time you were hot and sweaty and you stepped into a cool shower. These sorts of things can bring us into the moment; Unfortunately for most of us, it’s only for a moment; then our minds are on to other things, often elsewhere!

How often have you been in prayer or in the Word or in church but your mind was traveling elsewhere? That’s the typical human experience. How about being in the moment with the Lord, the Here and Now? The word being is, of course, present tense. You are first of all a human being, a now being, if I can put it that way. Can being in the moment become a way of life?

True, our testimonies of what Jesus has done in our lives in times past bless us and others, powerfully. And we do make plans for the future subject to His provision and direction. And, obviously, our decision concerning eternity is crucial. No problem. But do you live mainly in the future? Instead of now? Is your God primarily a God of the past or of the future, and, thus, not exactly the “I Am”? That leaves a pretty big vacuum for you HERE and NOW.

Most recovering people I’ve known have to learn to do one day at a time, often one moment at a time. They never say, “I know I can make it through the rest of my life clean and sober.” (That would be overwhelming and unmanageable.) Most usually say, “I believe, with the Lord, I can make it through this day clean.” Sometimes they have to say, “I don’t even know if I can make it through the entire day clean, but, with God, I can make it through the morning. Then I’ll do the afternoon, then the night.” The beauty of this is, it pretty much brings each one into the moment. There are some advantages to being weak in ourselves.

I have to live this way too, but not on account of addictions. How about you? Jesus said, “Tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34 NASB) He handles all eternity at one time. We cannot. We are designed primarily for the here and now with Him. This understanding can make our lives much more manageable and, thus, much less stressful. Thank You, Jesus!

Get Out of the Boat

By Timmy Martin

Matthew 14: 22-34 speaks of the disciples getting into a boat to cross a lake. Jesus stayed behind on the land to pray. A storm of high winds and strong waves began to attack the boat the disciples were in. They feared for their safety. Jesus knew of their trouble and walked across the water and strong waves to save them. The sight of Jesus walking on water frightened the disciples and they thought it was a ghost. While others were frightened, Peter asked Jesus who he was. Jesus replied by telling Peter who He was and told him to step out of the boat and walk on the water toward him. Peter stepped out of the boat and walked towards Jesus on the water. While he looked at Jesus, Peter managed to stay on top of the water and not drown in the strong waves. Once he looked away from Jesus and noticed the wind and the waves again, he began to sink. Jesus reached out and saved Peter asking why he doubted Him. They made it back to the land and were safe.

In life, we are born as children and close to God. We are naturally safe as children. One could say that we are on land. As we grow, many of us often develop some form of addiction or otherwise compulsive negative behavior. This compulsive behavior will be called our “boat.” We get in our boat and ride away from the land which we called GOD. Our life is all fun and good for a while. Some might refer to our life as the “water.” Once we get so far from the land (GOD), storms appear. The storms cause winds and waves in the water (our life). We, in our boat (compulsive behavior) are being tossed around, frightened for our lives. The storms and winds are things such as broken marriages, legal troubles, financial problems, health problems, prison, broken relationships, etc… Most people are terrified and want to get back to safety but are too scared to get out of the boat (compulsive behavior) because the storms are so bad. They are afraid they’ll drown in their troubles. Although the boat is causing the trouble because it has taken you from God, you somehow feel more comfortable in the boat and hoping for the best. We must be brave, like Peter, and step out of the boat. We do this, just as he did. He first found out who Jesus was and focused on Him. As long as we stay focused on Jesus, we can walk across the troubled water and back to land were we are safe. In other words, we can cross our troubled life and get back to God. Sure, our feet may get wet as we do this but we will not drown or sink in our troubles as long as we stay focused on Jesus. Remember- Peter only sank when he lost focus on Jesus and started to look around at the storm.

Do you have a boat? Are you in a boat now? If so, are you going to continue to be tossed around in the storms of life or are you going to be brave and step out of the boat as Peter did, focused on Jesus, and walk back to God?

Don’t stay in the boat and hope for the best when you can have assurance in Jesus.

Overcoming Your Past

By Annjeana Gates

Many people have trouble with overcoming the obstacles caused from their past, including myself. I am learning everyday that God will not hold your past against you and that he will forgive you no matter what. He wants us to learn from our mistakes and move on.

If you read throughout the Bible you’ll see that the people God used were not perfect. Most of the people did horrible things in their past. But thankfully, we serve a God that likes a challenge! The Apostle Paul is great example of “overcoming your past”. Paul murdered many Christians before God used him. Anyone, despite their past can change, get saved and be used by God in a very fantastic way. That’s what I have learned and I will continue to learn more.

I personally have struggled to overcome my past, because I have done a lot of things and have made a lot of mistakes that I’m not proud of, but I know that God has changed me alot and I have learned from my mistakes, and He is trying to use me to do wonderful things for him in ministry. So, don’t ever think or have anyone put the mentality in your head that God won’t forgive you of your mistakes, because he will.

Remember that you can change and God can use you in a way that you have never imagined. God is a loving, caring, forgiving God and he wants you to serve him and love him just like He loves you.

Self Talk

By Jeff Harkin, excerpted from his book “Grace Plus Nothing”

No doubt you talk to yourself. Everyone does. The question is, what do you usually say?

Self-talk is common to all human beings. In its simplest form, it is merely the thinking you do all day. The psalmist certainly knew how to use self-talk. He said to himself:

Why are you in despair, 0 my soul?  And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence (Psalm 42:5).

See, he encouraged his own soul with truth.

Start listening to your own self-talk. What are you usually saying? Is it often negative? I’ll never amount to anything. I’m such a fool, I can’t do anything right. I could mess up a free lunch. I’m so ugly. God hates me.

Do you often kick yourself verbally for your failures and mistakes? The psalmist used self-talk to rebuke his negative feelings and thoughts and to encourage himself (based on the faithfulness of God), expecting the best. Once the Lord spoke in my thoughts, and he said to me, “I don’t give you permission to kick yourself, Jeff. I bought you with My blood. You are Mine. Leave yourself alone!”

Let me interject something else here: It would be very helpful if Christians could learn to leave themselves (and other Christians) alone—that is, stop kicking and hitting. Christians who kick themselves have a satanic concept of God. I mean, what would you think of a father who, when his kids disobeyed, handed sticks to his kids and commanded, “Here, go beat yourselves”? Such a man should be arrested. Yet it is a common practice for many Christians to beat themselves because they have failed the Father. It is a perverted, satanic concept of God to think that he would approve or allow such a practice.

Use self-talk to lift your soul, based totally on the grace of God. Whatever you do, reverse your negative self-talk and stop kicking yourself.  Jesus said:

“Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me” (John 14:1).

As the Lord applies grace to your life, self-talk, like the psalmist used it, is a valuable heart-calming tool. You can learn to use it to speak to your heart and to tell it not to be troubled. You will learn to tell your feelings how to feel, in agreement with God’s Word.  Up until now, your feelings have probably been telling you how to feel!

Self-talk is going to be there. Your mind is seldom blank. Bring your self-talk into obedience to Christ.

Another Chance At Life

All the loneliness, the anger and the hopelessness you’re feeling right now – I’ve been through, I know what you’re feeling. You see, I was once in the same situation you’re in, I was once a “Tweaker” not only did I use speed, but I also manufactured it and sold it in large quantities. I am happy to say that I have been clean now for 14 years, and not once have I gotten the urge to take another hit.

I got another chance in life because I gave my life to God, and God came through for me. I was at a point in my life were I was on the verge of going over the cliff, not only was I paranoid, but I was full of rage. I used to think my girlfriend worked for the FBI, and that my parents worked for the DEA. I used to think that all my friends were trying to set me up, I had so much anger because I felt like everybody I knew was trying to backstab me. I was so far gone that I knew if I didn’t get help I was going to end up dead, or in prison.

Then one day a friend of mine who was a Christian told me that “God Loved Me” I knew what it meant but I didn’t understand. I would say to myself yeah right God loves me, what does God want with me, how can God love me if I don’t even love myself? Why would God love me, here I am with nothing good in my life, I lie, I cheat, I steal, I do drugs, I sell drugs, there isn’t anything good in me. I have done so many bad things in my life, I’ve hurt many people, emotionally, and physically, for all I know I have messed up so many lives by manufacturing speed and selling it, and who knows how many people got hooked because of me, and here your telling me, “God Loves me?” God don’t love me, he might love that person who has it all together, but he doesn’t love me, he hates me.

When I was selling I had many, many friends I used to think of the world of my friends, my friends were everything – so I thought. As fast as the money came dealing, that’s how fast the friends went. When I had nothing there were no friends in sight, not one and here I am risking my life for these guys, here I am wasting my life because I care what they think.

I used to say when I have my first kid I am going to stop using, well the first kid came along and that didn’t stop me – I kept on doing the same old thing. I went to jail for 45 days for a warrant, when I was locked up – I was clean, I was thinking right, I put on a few pounds and I said to myself that’s it no more tweaking for me. On my release day I started thinking about the drug, my first stop on my way home was at the connection, I picked up and I started using again.

I couldn’t quit no matter what I did, or what I tried. I would go to a place far away to try to “get away from it” but I would only regret it because now I’m far away and that craving for the drug is still there. I would break my pipe, flush the rocks down the toilette, give away my torch only to regret it the next day. I would get so scared that I would cry because I didn’t see a way out and I didn’t want to be a drug addict for the rest of my life, but all I seen for my future was exactly that – a drug addict.

Testimonial of Mario Nunez
Feel free to email me:  mnunez99@sbcglobal.net
Be sure to visit:  www.addictedtometh.com

Suicide

By Author Unknown

Did you know that youth suicide has been the cause of death higher than youth homicide? Statistics show that every 100 SECONDS, a youth commits suicide.

If one person reads this and was contemplating suicide, but then after reading this article changes their mind, then the praise be to God.

Suicidal people often feel overwhelmed, like no one cares, like the pain will never go away. But suicide is not the answer. It’s a permanent solution to a temporary problem. If you feel overwhelmed, sit back and think for a minute. Think everything through. Prioritize everything that is on your mind, try to solve the problems that you can. If you feel like no one cares, remember that at least one person cares. If no one else does, *I* care. Even though I have no idea who you are, I care about you. And obviously you care or else you would never be seeking help. Pain always goes away, sometimes faster than others. Think about it this way. When you go in for surgery, it hurts afterwards, right? But the pain eventually goes away. Sometimes it takes hours, days, or even years but eventually the pain will disappear.

If you’re still not convinced that suicide isn’t the answer, think about your family and friends. The pain that you thought was so unbearable will now be transferred to them, even worse. Even if you don’t see all the love, it’s there. Everyone has someone that loves them, even if you can’t see it.

Remember His blood was shed so that you would not have to shed your own!

The New Normal

By Audie (Dobie) Brandon,
Director of Outreach for Hope2All

An addict’s life consists of a mind altering experience detouring them from true reality. Their definition of normal is all together different from the rest of the society.

As a person seeks recovery and comes to class many things begin to happen. Their lives filled with devastation and destruction soon take a transition to peacefulness and wholeness.

As time passes they go from being reluctant and ashamed to being forgiven and free. We have seen individuals time and time again experiencing what they call: “the new normal”. To them the air smells better, the grass is greener, and their outlook on life is brighter. They quickly learn that it feels so good to have a purpose in their new life. For years they were thinking about drugs all the time because it was through their constant use that they were able to normalize themselves and now that has all changed. Now they know that God is a precise God, and they think of Him every day, every hour. That normalized life they were attempting to make before, cannot compare to the creation that God Himself has done for each of them now through the ministry of Hope2All.

The bottom line is this… When God gets the chance to come in to a person’s life, that person is going to experience a great change, a new normal. I believe…and see…that miracles truly happen everyday at Hope2All.

Rock Bottom

By Tim Martin

Often, we get caught up in addictions and/or other negative behavior that causes us many problems in our lives. Our lives become such a mess that we don’t know what to do. No matter how hard we try, nothing seems to go right. This goes for so long that we finally give up trying while thinking there is no hope. We begin to think that our life was just cursed from the beginning. We always seem to be stuck between a rock and a hard place. We have problems with employment, our health, families, legal troubles, financial problems, relationships, etc… These problems cause us to feel dead in certain, if not at all, areas of our life. Sure, we are still breathing, but are we really what you would consider living?

Have you ever felt like this? Maybe you feel that way right now.

Many people refer to this as our bottom, often called “Rock Bottom”. We have gotten as low as we can go. We have a feeling of death and are spiritually dead. Some have a rock bottom worse than others. Only you can determine what you consider to be “rock bottom”.

There was a man named Lazarus in the Bible. He had been sick and finally died. He was placed in a tomb made of rock and it was sealed with a rock. This is as “Rock Bottom” as you can get. Not only was he laying on rock, it completely surrounded him. He was dead for (4) days and then Jesus rose him from the dead. He raised Lazarus from his rock bottom and he was alive again.

For those of you in a “Rock Bottom” position, all you have to do is call on Jesus. He will raise you up alive just as he did Lazarus. In John 11:25 Jesus said, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me though he were dead, yet shall he live.”

While Lazarus was dead, he was wrapped or bound in cloth. When we hit bottom, it is because we are bound by sin, addiction, or negative behavior. Jesus commanded the bandage to loosen fall, releasing Lazarus in John 11:44. Lazarus was not only alive, but the Bandages that bound him in his rock bottom was released and he will command those things that bind us to release us and free us from them.

No one has to live on rock bottom or be bandaged and bound with sin, addiction, etc…that holds us down. All we have to do is believe in Jesus and call on him. He will rise us up just as he did Lazarus.

ROCK BOTTOM ISN’T THE END OF LIFE.
IT’S ONLY THE BEGINNING
BY BELIEVING IN JESUS.