A few years after God delivered me from addiction, I was driving home from church one night…
My eyes were on the road ahead with my hands planted firmly on the steering wheel. I was completely sober and finding myself actually living a simple, peaceful, normal life.
Gratefulness to God swept over my senses as I felt the beauty of His grace sink into my heart. To someone once addicted to alcohol and drugs—in contrast to the old life—it felt like a miracle!
The life of addiction
is filled with
the consequences
of faulty thinking
and unwise choices.
“Normal” for me then had been a life of continuous regret, anxiety, and foreboding—from past, present or future calamities. Drama and crisis had become my life’s hallmarks.
Jesus can indeed
call us out
of darkness into
His marvelous light!
Welcome to Part Four: “Live Loved,” the last part in this series of posts on finding deliverance from addiction…
In Part One of this series, we looked up and saw that receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior is the Foundation for finding deliverance from addiction.
In Part Two, we saw the truth that Salvation is the beginning of a Relationship with our heavenly Father through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
In Part Three, we discovered what it means to trust God and His power in our daily life.
Now in Part Four, we see that living loved is the beautiful life God makes possible through Christ!
Living loved means
Getting to Know
the ‘Perfect Parent,’
Our Heavenly Father.
As much as we love and need our earthly parents, there is only One Perfect Parent. God loves us unconditionally with an everlasting love. He will never harm nor leave us. God created us for Himself. He alone can complete us and satisfy our every need.
“...ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
Living loved means
Being Under
New Management.
We find true freedom under the authority of our loving heavenly Father. Why? Because His ways and His thoughts are so much higher than ours. God has placed boundaries in our life out of His love for us. In His will we find there is purpose, provision, protection, and peace. Obedience brings blessing. We obey Him because we love Him!
“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
”
Living loved means
No More Regrets.
Has most of your life been filled with regrets? Mine has. The worst part is my sin affected my loved ones. But God is so good! Nothing is too hard for Him. He is in the process of healing and restoring those relationships. God wants to heal and restore your relationships too.
“ Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.”
Living loved means
No More Condemnation.
Love and forgiveness heal hearts. Accepting God’s love and forgiveness is the beginning of healing—He wants us to love and forgive ourselves and others the same way.
“As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”
Living loved means
Growing in Grace.
The Christian life is not about a set of rules; it’s about our relationship with God. He wants our love and loyalty. Sin separates us from fellowship with Him. He invites us to come boldly to His throne of grace to find help in time of need. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He knows our weakness. He knows our heart. His grace is sufficient for us. We are the clay and He is our Potter.
“For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
Living loved means
Being Who We Are
In Christ.
Our identity as a saved child of God is not dependent upon our feelings. Our worth is not measured by our performance. We are God’s workmanship through Christ in us. We are loved more than we can know by the One Who created us for His glory.
Trust God’s promises and His love for you, dear friend! Stand on the solid Rock of God’s Word, Anchored in Christ. Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world! Living loved means daily acknowledging every good thing that is in you in Christ Jesus.
“ That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.”
My grandson, Barrett’s drawing of what it means to live loved.
The It’s Personal Daily Journal can help you get started having daily devotion time with the Lord.
“5 Truths for Overcoming Addiction”
”My Testimony”
Need Prayer? Email me: JulieHeathWrites@gmail.com
