Living Free Every Day®

Today's Scripture

May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. - 2 Peter 1:2 NLT

Thoughts for Today

Today's scripture tells us that one way to experience more of God's grace and peace is to grow in our knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.

Grow in our knowledge. Get better acquainted. So how do we do this? How do we get better acquainted with our heavenly Father and with his Son?

If we want to build a closer relationship people on this earth, how do we go about it? We spend time with them. When we are together, we don't do all the talking - we listen. If they express their desires - either by speaking or in writing - we are eager to know what they have to say. We try to do things that will please them.

And so it is with the Lord. If we want to know him better, we spend time with him in prayer. And we don't do all the talking - we listen. We eagerly read the Bible to hear his words, to understand him better. We trust him and live to please him.

Consider this …

As we approach a new year, consider making a commitment to grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. Determine to talk to him more--and to listen even more than you talk. Eagerly seek him in his Word. And trust him day by day, becoming increasingly aware of his constant presence. As you do these things, he will give you more and more grace and peace.

Prayer

Father, I thank you for your love and grace and peace. Sometimes I get so caught up in the whirlwind of life that I don't spend time getting to know you better. In the coming months, help me to spend more time with you … to learn to listen … to learn from your Word. In Jesus' name …

These thoughts were drawn from …

Knowing God My Father: Applying the Names of God to My Personal Life by Jimmy Ray Lee, D.Min. This curriculum is designed to help people strengthen their relationship with their heavenly Father by applying His names to their personal life. Along with helping Christians know God better, it can serve as an evangelistic tool by giving a true picture of God to people who may have a distorted view of Him because of an absent or abusive earthly father who did not or does not provide for them. This group can also help men who want to be better fathers. Note: This curriculum was written especially for small groups, and we encourage people to use it that way. However, it can also be used effectively as a personal study for individuals or couples.

 

 

PO Box 22127 ~ Chattanooga, Tennessee 37421 ~ 423-899-4770
© Living Free 2007. Living Free is a registered trademark. Living Free Every Day devotionals may be reproduced for personal use. When reproduced to share with others, please acknowledge the source as Living Free, Chattanooga, TN. Must have written permission to use in any format to be sold. Permission may be requested by sending e-mail to info@LivingFree.org.

Invitation to COA's Famous New Year's Eve Party

Join City of Angels as we ring in the New Year!  We'll be celebrating from 10:00 pm to 1:00 am on New Year's Eve (Monday,  Dec. 31) at the Dwier Center (392 Church Street, Groveville) There will be music & dancing...and of course, plenty of refreshments including pizza from Groveville's best Italian restaurant, Family Nest. Everyone is welcome, old friends and new. If you haven't been to COA in awhile, this is the perfect time to catch up and re-connect. If you're able, a snack for the refreshment table is always welcome...     For more details about this event, or to volunteer to help with it, contact CityofAngelsNJ@hotmail.com. To watch a video of this year's Christmas with the Angels, click here.   Tips for Preventing the Holiday Blues Most people know the holidays can be a period of emotional highs and lows. Loneliness, anxiety, happiness and sadness are common feelings, sometimes experienced in startling succession. The bad news is the holiday blues can trigger relapse for people recovering from alcoholism and other drug addiction. The good news is the blues can be remedied by planning ahead.  Why do the blues hit during this otherwise festive season? Doing too much or too little and being separated from loved ones at this special time can lead to sadness during the holiday season. Many recovering people associate the holidays with memories of overindulgence, perhaps of big benders that resulted in relationship problems or great personal losses.  People experience feelings of melancholy, sadness and grief tied to holiday recollections. Unlike clinical depression, which is more severe and can last for months or years, those feelings are temporary. Anyone experiencing major symptoms of depression, such as persistent sadness, anxiety, guilt or helplessness; changes in sleep patterns; and a reduction in energy and libido, should seek help from a mental health professional.  Whether you're in recovery or not, developing a holiday plan to help prevent the blues, one that will confront unpleasant memories before they threaten your holiday experience. Your plan should include improved self-care, enhanced support from others, and healthy ways to celebrate. Here are a few suggestions to achieve a happy, sober holiday season:  Good self-care is vital. Remember to slow down. Take some quiet time each day and work on an attitude of gratitude. Plan relaxation and meditation into your day, even for a few minutes, no matter how busy you are. Relax your standards and reduce overwhelming demands and responsibilities. Don't overindulge. Go easy on the holiday sweets and follow a balanced diet. Monitor your intake of caffeine, nicotine and sugar. Exercise regularly to help maintain your energy level amid a busier schedule. Don't try to do too much. Get plenty of sleep. Fatigue is a stressor. Maintain some kind of schedule and plan ahead; don't wait until the last minute to purchase gifts or prepare to entertain.  Enhance your support system. Holidays are a good time to reach out more frequently to your therapist, sponsor, spiritual advisor, or support group. If you're in recovery, spend time with fellow recovering people. Let others help you realize your personal limits. Learn to say "no" in a way that is comfortable for you.  Find new ways to celebrate. Create some new symbols and rituals that will help redefine a joyful holiday season. You might host a holiday gathering for special recovering friends and/or attend celebrations of your Twelve Step group. Avoid isolation and spend time with people you like who are not substance users. Don't expose yourself to unnecessary temptations, such as gatherings where alcohol is the center of entertainment. If there are people who have a negative influence on you, avoid them.  Focus on your recovery program. Holidays are also an important time to focus on your recovery program. For example, ask, "What am I working on in my program now?" Discuss this with your sponsor.  Release your resentments. Resentment has been described as allowing a person you dislike to live in your head, rent-free. Resentments that gain steam during the holidays can be disastrous for anyone, especially recovering people. The Big Book of "Alcoholics Anonymous" refers to resentment as the No. 1 offender, or the most common factor in failed sobriety.  Holidays may also be a time to evaluate your spirituality and find a personal way to draw support from the spirit of the season. Return the holidays to a spiritual base, and stress the power of unselfish giving.  Recovery is serious work, but it is also important to have fun. Laugh a little and a little more. Start seeing the humor in those things that annoy you. Take from the holiday season what is important for you and leave the rest. Thank you to our friends at Hazelden for these helpful suggestions!   Tidbits   COA hosts support group meetings for both addiction sufferers and their families every day of the week at the Dwier Center (392 Church Street, Groveville, NJ). This includes 12-step meetings, a Sunday night Spirituality Meeting and the popular Sunday morning Family Support Group. To check out our online calendar, click here.     For directions to the Dwier Center, click here.      The COA website now offers an Addiction News Feed with the latest studies, reports, new and other info on addiction. It's updated in real time with top 30 articles. To read the feed, click here.  New videos are up on the COA YouTube channel. To watch, click here.      Join COA's Pinterest community! To visit the boards, click here.          Keep current on COA activites - join the COA group on Facebook!  COA news is posted first on Facebook, and this page often has photos not available elsewhere. Click here to visit.   City of Angels NJ, Inc. is a non-profit organization that provides many services to addicts and their families including interventions, recovery support, Family Program, counseling services and more. All of our services are provided at no charge.

Happy holidays to you and yours from NAADAC!

Dear Joseph, As 2012 comes to a close, we take pause in our busy lives to be grateful for our family, friends and colleagues. In 2013, NAADAC is excited to introduce many new initiatives for members of our profession.  Bookmark our website to stay abreast of our progress. Blessings for the coming New Year, Cynthia Moreno Tuohy, NCAC II, CCDC III, SAP Executive Director, NAADAC Make a Donation to the Addiction Profession Give a gift that keeps on giving by making a donation in a loved one’s name. Make a tax-deductible donation to NAADAC Education and Research Foundation (NERF) to help us empower addiction focused professionals. By supporting NERF you are helping us to lead, unify and empower addiction focused professionals to achieve excellence through education, advocacy, knowledge, standards of practice, ethics, professional development and research. Click here to make a donation Last Minute Shopping Need a gift for your favorite addiction professional, colleague, clinical supervisor, or friend? Get 25% off items in the NAADAC online bookstore. Click here to browse the online bookstore NAADAC Website

Give Recovery Your Voice!  The road to recovery is not an easy journey, yet tens of thousands of men, women, and young adults have found their path to sobriety at Fellowship Hall. Now, as a tribute to all of the individuals who have made the journey here, as well as those yet to come, we are creating the Fellowship Hall Serenity Fountain and Courtyard. We expect this symbol of hope - constructed at the entrance to Fellowship Hall - to contribute significantly to the feeling of tranquility and calm that our guests and visitors expect. Surrounding the fountain will be bricks that may be purchased and engraved as honorariums and remembrances for friends, alumni, counselors, family members, and loved ones. Please show your support for the work of Fellowship Hall and all whose paths lead here by adding your message. Brick by brick, we will create a lasting monument to life. Levels of Sponsorship and Giving:      Fountain Sponsors (4)                               $10,000    Bench & Lighting Sponsors (8)                    $3,000    Landscape Sponsors (8)                             $1,000    Walkway Sponsors (12)                                 $500    Brick 8" x 8" (includes company logo)             $250    Brick 4" x 8"                                                  $100 For more information, please contact: Murphy Sullivan Director of Development & Community Relations 336.621.3381 murphys@fellowshiphall.com Buy A Brick Today

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Living Free Every Day®

Today's Scripture

"Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; reverently fear and worship the Lord and turn [entirely] away from evil." - Proverbs 3:5-7 AMP

Thoughts for Today

If you are trying to help a loved one with a life-controlling problem, you must first reach a point of accepting the reality of their situation. Only then will you feel free to turn your loved one over to God. This is a time when you are able to detach yourself from the one you love so much. You will be able to truly lean on and trust in the Lord—and stop depending on yourself to fix your struggling loved one.

Consider this …

The prodigal son's father was not an enabler. He allowed his son to be responsible for his own actions (read Luke 15:11-32). The rebellious son asked to receive an early inheritance and then squandered it all on wild living. He then had nothing—he was hired to feed pigs and found himself yearning for their food. Even at this point, no one reached out to rescue him from the consequences of his behavior (verse 16). And so … he "came to his senses" (verse 17). He finally was ready to take responsibility for his behavior. He showed humility and took positive action (verses 18-20). He returned home and confessed his sin toward his father and heaven.

This father had faith that his son would return. Although he showed compassion, there is no record of his enabling his son. He allowed the son to be responsible for his own actions. Do you love the struggling person in your life enough to let go … and lean on God?

Prayer

Father, I have tried leaning on my own understanding. I know now that I must let go of my loved one, allow him to suffer the natural consequences of his behavior, and lean on you. Help me fully trust in your way and your time. In Jesus' name …

These thoughts were drawn from …

Living Free by Jimmy Ray Lee, D. Min. and Dan Strickland, M. Div. This updated version is presented in two parts. It offers information for anyone who either has a life-controlling problem or has a loved one with a life-controlling problem:

Part 1: Learning to Live Free

• Defining Life-Controlling Problems
• Mastered and Trapped by Issues
• Walls of Protection
• Family Influences
• Helping or Harming?

Part 2: Helping Others to Live Free through Small Groups

• The Small Group Strategy
• Effective Facilitation and Communication
• Launching a Living Free Ministry 

 

 

PO Box 22127 ~ Chattanooga, Tennessee 37421 ~ 423-899-4770
© Living Free 2007. Living Free is a registered trademark. Living Free Every Day devotionals may be reproduced for personal use. When reproduced to share with others, please acknowledge the source as Living Free, Chattanooga, TN. Must have written permission to use in any format to be sold. Permission may be requested by sending e-mail to info@LivingFree.org.

Living Free Every Day®

Today's Scripture

"Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls. For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good—not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne." - Matthew 11:29-30 AMP
Thoughts for Today
Codependent people often feel guilty because they believe that they did something to cause their loved one to go out of control. They see that their efforts have not cured the person, and they think that somehow if they try harder, they can control the person with the life-controlling problem. The misbelief that we can "fix" other people leads to a painful cycle of failure and loss of self-worth.
If you are trying to assist a friend who has become codependent, help him or her understand these truths:

• They did not cause their loved one's problem. Their loved one is responsible for the choices that have led to addiction, no matter what the circumstances may be.
• They cannot control their loved one's behaviors. Trying to control the struggling person through manipulation, domination and guilt only leads to a greater loss of energy. They cannot fix their loved one—only God can do that.
• They cannot cure their loved one. Encourage them to give their anxiety to the Lord. He doesn't want us to suffer through this kind of struggle. He has promised us that his burden is light.

Consider this …
Codependents need encouragement to examine their own lives. Because of their own delusions, they usually cannot see their addiction to another person. It takes friends from the outside to point out this reality to them. You can help your codependent friends by

• Taking them to a Living Free Concerned Persons group
• Encouraging them to focus on Christ instead of on their loved one
• Modeling an honest relationship with respect and boundaries
• Care-fronting delusion
• Encouraging them to accept responsibility for their own actions
• Praying for them

Prayer
Father, guide me in helping my friend. Help her understand that she can't fix her loved one … that your yoke is easy and your burden is light … that she can trust you with her loved one. In Jesus' name …
These thoughts were drawn from …
Living Free by Jimmy Ray Lee, D. Min. and Dan Strickland, M. Div. This updated version is presented in two parts. It offers information for anyone who either has a life-controlling problem or has a loved one with a life-controlling problem:
Part 1: Learning to Live Free

• Defining Life-Controlling Problems
• Mastered and Trapped by Issues
• Walls of Protection
• Family Influences
• Helping or Harming?

Part 2: Helping Others to Live Free through Small Groups

• The Small Group Strategy
• Effective Facilitation and Communication

Launching a Living Free Ministry

 

 

PO Box 22127 ~ Chattanooga, Tennessee 37421 ~ 423-899-4770
© Living Free 2007. Living Free is a registered trademark. Living Free Every Day devotionals may be reproduced for personal use. When reproduced to share with others, please acknowledge the source as Living Free, Chattanooga, TN. Must have written permission to use in any format to be sold. Permission may be requested by sending e-mail to info@LivingFree.org.