STAND UP! TO YOUR DEMONS

“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can STAND UP under it.” I Corinthians 10:13

IT IS TIME TO STAND UP! AND GET RIGHT

…IS THIS WHAT YOU ARE THINKING?... “If I’m going to take the time to read I want to get something out of it. I don’t want to read about someone else’s situation or problems. I have enough of my own to focus on. If I’m going to read then it needs to be something that makes sense to me in my life. What’s in it for me? I wish I could say that I wasn’t so selfish in this approach but the truth is life is short and I don’t have time for the fluffy stuff right now. If you aren’t going to tell me how to make money, keep a roof over my head or get out of this situation that I’ve gotten myself into, then I don’t have time.”

God is a God of order if when you think of your current situation you are thinking of words like chaos, confusion, heartache, pain, anger, then you don’t have God in your life. You may say you know God but the reality is you do not have a relationship with him. I’m right. You know I’m right because when you have a relationship with God you can feel it. You may still have the chaos going on at times but you have a peace that tells you that everything is going to be ok. A peace that tells you that everything will work out. You have hope. Where are you at right now? Do you have hope? If not, you have some work to do.

I know you’re thinking did I just read that I have to do something? I know it is hard to step out of your comfort zone and do something. You just want things to get better. God fix it! Someone fix it! Well, guess what? That ain’t gonna happen. God will give you what you need and put the people in front of you that can help you BUT YOU HAVE TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN.

Maybe you say that you aren’t ready. That’s your business. My job is not to judge you. Shoot you are beating yourself up enough I don’t need to help you. If that’s the case pass this letter on to one of your friends BUT IF YOU ARE READY TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN, THEN KEEP READING.

The first thing you will need to do is seek help. No, I’m not telling you to go check yourself into rehab or go find Suzy Social Worker (that will come later). Right now your situation can’t be fixed by any person. You are going to have to surrender. Sound like a bunch of crap? Keep on trying to do this by yourself and see how far you get. You have to surrender to God. You have to get your pride out of the way. You need to let God take over and run your life. This may be one of the hardest things you will ever do. This is raw. This is personal. This is where your life will change and it may very well get harder before it gets better. Once again, it’s your choice, if you aren’t ready, well then you just aren’t ready BUT IF YOU ARE READY then this just got real!

So…what do you have to do? Read the whole bible? No. Start going to church all the time? No. Get up in front of a crowd? No. You just have to mean it. That’s all. You can’t lie to God. He can see through any fake intentions right away so if you are doing this for your girlfriend or boyfriend or for your kids or your parents then you are just wasting your time. Don’t fool yourself and don’t insult God. If the thoughts going through your head right now are something like, “Let me go do this thing one more time and then I’ll talk to God.” Or “Let me do this so I can shut these people up.” then you are just fooling yourself. You are just going through the motions. BUT if you are thinking, “I don’t want to do this anymore.” “There has to be a way.” or “God help me.” Then you keep reading.

First things first, you need to realize that you are nobody and you can’t change anything. “ What?! I do a good enough job at telling myself that I’m worthless and now you are going to tell me that?” I know it sounds harsh, but it is true. You are nothing, I’m nothing, no one has any significance EXCEPT THROUGH GOD. That’s the key!

Sit and think about it. Take your time. Clear your head and really think about it. None of us would be here without him. And he is the only one that can lead you out of this mess that you are in. Once you can wrap your head around that then you can move on. Sit here as long as you need to.

If you were thinking about it I’m sure you realized the flip side. With God you are somebody! With God you can do anything!

WITHOUT HIM = NOTHING WITH HIM = EVERYTHING

You know all day every day you talk to yourself in your head. You tell yourself what to do, how you feel, what you think. Now you are going to talk to God the same way. Let him come into your head and just talk to him, tell him everything that’s going on, let him know that you know he is real. Talk out loud if you need. Don’t worry about people talking about you. They will talk no matter what. All you should care about is the fact that God will talk back. Make sure you don’t drown him out with your “self talk”. You need to get out of the way and let him do what he does. When you truly surrender you will feel it. Peace.

That’s it! You just surrendered yourself to God. No lightning and thunder but I guarantee you - things are going to change from this point forward. Put on the bracelet that came with this letter as a reminder of your surrender. As a reminder that you have chosen to STAND UP! Look at it every time you want to do something stupid or slip back into an old habit and remember what you just did. Feel good? Pretty cool huh? Welcome to your new family!

A Friend

P.S. Now it’s time to find a church, a recovery group, a social worker -- someone you can share your victory as you Stand Up! and start down the new road that you’ve chosen.