Celebrate Recovery
11850 108 Street T8V8G5 Grande Prairie, AB, Canada

Prayer for Serenity God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.... Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardship as a pathway to peace; taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your will; so that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with You forever in the next. Amen. - Reinhold Niebuhr

Life has taught most of us to depend on ourselves often times leaning on our own ability and behaviors. This can open us up to being influenced by our weaknesses, egos, pride, our ability to escape, holding onto defects of character, shame, guilt, ways of the world, negative learned behavior from family and friends, and so on. The Bible teaches us to instead die to ourselves and accept the power of the work Jesus Christ did on the cross and follow Him. For whoever wants to... save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? Luke 9:24-25 It may feel like loss, but in the end you gain the fullness of life (oh and ETERNITY WITH HIM FOREVER IN THE NEXT!).

Sometimes it seems easier to see the bad we did instead of focusing on the good God is doing through us. However, once we accept the work Jesus did on the cross, we are made brand new and get to think of ourselves that way! And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Colossians 2:13-14 NKJV

A great question to ask yourself during your daily inventory is In which areas of my life am I not well? This exercise is not meant to make anyone feel bad, but to take an honest assessment. Once you area aware of being unwell, you can ask for Christ’s help to get well. The story in John 5 is a brilliant example of someone who had a lot of reasons why he’d never be well but Jesus was bigger than his reasons!!!... One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, Do you want to get well?John 5:5-6 NIV