Ephesians 1:3-6
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. .

As a recovering addict, born again by the Blood of Christ, these promises or truths about what God has done are the very thing that is chipping away at my worldly-born beliefs of who I am and what I should feel. 

A lifetime of  trying to earn love; created from a childhood nearly completely devoid of authentic affection or emotional and physical security which put me on the path of self preservation, self reliance, self soothing, self purposing, and ultimately self destruction.

The only reason anyone “comes to Christ” is because God has chosen that person before the creation of the earth. (verse 4)

There are so many verses in the bible that Satan will use against me, to show me how short I fall from God’s glory and convict me of crimes that he and I both know I’m guilty of. Lust, idolatry, slothfulness, pridefulness, deceitfulness, resentments, jealousy; all things that everyone will battle on some level throughout our life. No matter how good we think we become, we can never reach the full potential of God’s intention for creation.

And that is  what makes the Good News so good! And what seems to me to be taking forever to sink deeply into my heart and belief system.

I am in Love with Christ, my life has been turned around because of Christ, I pray to Christ, I hunger to understand the teachings of Christ all because He chose me to be a part of Him, not because of anything I did in my life that made Him stand up and take notice.

Unconditional Love is a love that says “I love you because it’s in my nature to love and it is not dependent on your actions”.

Blessings may be a reward for good stewardship, but unconditional love is beyond anything the recipient can affect.

I think the true depths of Christ’s unconditional love for us goes so deep that it is beyond the grasp of mere human understanding. And it is that very love that is the healing salve that is melting away the (in my case) decades of walls and hardness built up against others including God.

It is so hard to trust. In fact family through forms of physical, emotional and sexual child abuse can be some of the most abusive and constant pain afflicters one may ever experience, so even the concept of being called a son may not be pleasant for some.

For me that has been much of my journey in the last few years, to continue to pursue a deeper understanding of God’s unconditional love, and to trust that His ways are better than mine and to each day strive to surrender more of my life, my ways, my understandings and live according to His teachings.

To be on that road of seeking God and not shying away from self discovery is to be on the journey of redemption.

To be willing to look my faults square on, give them to God, accept His grace, mercy and forgiveness over them, then become willing and where appropriate make amends and restitution to those I have hurt along the way, and offer forgiveness and grace and compassion to those who have hurt me; this is to be on the journey of redemption.

Those are not easy concepts, but they are the healing tools of a saved person living out a chosen sonship, chosen by a loving God filled with mercy, not a vengeful ruler waiting to convict, condemn and punish.

We are safe in the Fathers arms, for He first rescues us, then adopts us and in that we are complete, holy and blameless in His sight because of the work of His Son on the cross. Thank you Jesus!

For anyone who is in recovery, or is currently battling with addictions or hurts of any kind or may feel trapped in a cycle of relapse or doesn’t even know how to get started in recovery, I can’t recommend this short video enough.

No matter how many times I watch that I cannot keep from being overwhelmed with emotion. 

There is hope, there is a Healer, His name is Jesus, may you find Him now. 

Father God, that You would have mercy to take a wretch like me, one that was so lost and living only for my own pursuits, my own pleasures, my own security and safety, my own desires and take the time to care about me personally enough to love me where I am and show patience and mercy as I battle to love me even a tiny piece as much as you love me. You know my heart Lord, You know my spirit is whole in You but my fears and failures continue to make this road twisted and difficult. It is not because of Your lack of power over my shortcomings, but my stubbornness and blindness to surrender it ALL to You Lord. Help us all this day Father recognize just a little more clearly how far and wide Your love stretches to cover our sins, how completely and purely Your blood on the cross washes us clean, help us to experience the freedom that comes from a deep, intimate, and personal understanding that it is Your doing that we are holy and blameless in Your sight because of what You have done. That is a promise, a promise from You to us, the broken sinful world who has eyes that can see and a heart that longs to live as Your chosen, not just be hearers of Your word. Thank you God for the work of Your Son that paid the ultimate price for our salvation, may my life glorifies Yours this day and forevermore. In Jesus precious name I pray…

You can start your journey of redemption by attending a Celebrate Recovery group near you !