How does the Hid-N-Life relate to my affections? If I appropriate my identity in Christ by faith, I need to also cooperate with God’s Spirit as He “restores my soul.” This process of renewal in the mind, will, and emotions (Romans 12:1-2) depends on a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

An aspect of this renewal that has been impressed upon me lately is that of renewing the affections. If Christ is my life, I will delight in that which HE delights. My affections will be directed to what is valuable to Him.

How prone the flesh is to delight in the sensual and carnal desires of this fallen world. I recently heard a great definition to help identify present day idols in the lives of 20^th century Christians. One simple question will reveal unhealthy delights. How would you respond if it is taken from you? Idols are a very real addiction in our society today. This should be no surprise to us as it is in the list Paul gave us for the manifestations of the flesh. James rebuked the early Christians for following after their own lust or pleasures (James 4:1-3). Why else would John need to caution us in his first epistle? 1John 2:15-16, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” This delight to have, be and do can be changed by the inside persuasion of a new spirit as well as the Spirit of God.

The true believer has the blessing of a regenerated human spirit – “the new man” (Colossians 3:10). We have been made partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). Yet the soul is still vulnerable to the forces of the world, the flesh, and the devil. “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;” 1 Peter 2:11.

When the Lord Jesus is functioning as my LORD and LIFE, He will redirect my AFFECTIONS. What should we delight in?

“Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”

(Psalm 37:4)

Delight in God’s perfect will –  “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.” (Psalm 40:8)

Delight in the Word of God – “I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.”

(Psalm 119:162)

Delight in God’s moral principles – “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:”

(Romams 7:22)

Delight in God’s comfort – “In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.”

(Psalm 94:19)

Delight in the Second Coming –  “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;”

(1Peter 1:13)

Delight in the blessing of eternal fellowship with God – “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”

(Psalm 16:11)

Evan Hopkins wrote, “We shall seek what we love and delight in. It is where our treasure is that our heart will be also. ‘Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is nothing upon earth I desire beside Thee.’ What are the things we are seeking? It is those things that are filling our thoughts and attracting our affections. It is upon these we set our wills and concentrate our energies. It is not difficult to seek what we love.

Will we ask God to search our heart and redirect our affections to where they belong?

Our Father, we confess that our affections tend to get misdirected as we live by sight instead of by faith. Illumine us so that we will set our hearts on things above, where Christ, Who is our life, is seated with You. Continually restore our soul by redirecting our affections to what is eternally worthy. Amen.

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Christianity without Christ is Boring!

II Corinthians 11:3, “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”

The other day my wife and I were discussing the alarming rate at which we have noticed people dropping out of ministry and even out of local churches altogether. There are many excuses that people give for the dropout rate; however, I believe that much of it boils down to the fact that people are sick of “going through the motions” of a dead religion. How frustrating it is to try and start a car when the tank is on empty or trying to use a flashlight with the wrong type of battery. We need more people around to show them that Jesus Christ is alive! They need to realize the power of God living within them!

I would rather be a Christian than anything I know. Being able to live the very life of Jesus Christ on earth, right here and right now, and tap into the limitless resources of his Deity to accomplish only those purposes designed by almighty God is the most exciting life anyone can live.

It is exciting to work in a ministry that exposes the hidden life to so many different kinds of people, especially those that participate in one of our conferences, or listen to a tape or a book that explains this hidden life in Christ. At first, the hearer is often bewildered by what they hear, and many times it seems to go right over their head. Then slowly, they come to a moment of truth where it becomes so obviously clear. You can watch their faces as if the proverbial light bulb came on. They begin to see the truths of the crucified Christian life and realize how profound they are; yet simple, thus making them simply profound.

Paul expressed a grave concern to the church at Corinthians regarding this process of understanding the crucified Christian life. He even called it a fear that he had. The context of 2 Corinthians 11, Paul had just compared the church to a virgin, soon to be presented as a bride to her Redeemer, yet he was reminded of how the first woman, Eve, was deceived by a tempter, and led astray from walking with God to knowing about God.

II Corinthians 11:3, “But I fear (alarmed that it would happen again), lest by any means (no limit to gain a result), as the serpent beguiled Eve (to adapt temptation to a person’s character or circumstances) through his subtilty (trickery), so your mind should be corrupted (your thoughts should be perverted) from the simplicity that is in Christ (a single hearted devotedness to Him).

Paul was anxiously concerned that nothing in their lives should detract from the simplicity that was in Christ. That simplicity is found in Galatians 2:20, particularly in the phrase, “yet not I” I am also inclined that many Christians today believe they can have a relationship with the Lord by what they do for Him in the local church. Their mind has been “perverted”, that is to have an intended meaning altered, misrepresented, and corrupted. When the mind is corrupt, it is manifested by the affections being alienated from the proper object and the soul is filled with its own purposes and desires. The end result is our heart is alienated from not only the Source but the power gained from that Source. We’ll never have a relationship with Him because of what we do; we’ll only have a relationship with Him because of what He did. I also witness those who minister to people with the idea that they’re a good Christian if they do “these things” and the Christian life/discipleship is based on an outward appearance instead of an inward relationship. The utmost need in every ministry and in every outreach and in every denomination is to rediscover the Lord Jesus Christ and the Person of His indwelling Presence within the believer.

Today we can encounter the living, risen Lord who shares His life with us on our way to Heaven … so that He may accomplish through us what He began to do in His own physical body 2,000 years ago. What a fantastic privilege! Today allow that phrase ring in your heart, “yet not I” and experience the abundant life instead of a redundant life.

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I was never a “bad” kid, when I was growing up, not by the world’s standards.  As a child, my parents did many bad things to me; things that would affect me much of the rest of my life.  I was raised in the Lutheran Church.  There I was taught about God, that Jesus died on the cross for me!  I wanted to go to heaven some day, when I died, but I didn’t know how to get there.  People always told me that God loved me but I didn’t really believe it.  I wanted to find someone who would truly love me.

All my life, I grew up feeling like I was unlovable.  I thought there was something wrong with me that no one loved me.  If my own family didn’t love me, how could God love me, when I really didn’t know Him or have a relationship with Him?  I tried to find ways to make my family love me.  I found that I was pretty good at sports so I immersed myself in them.  I joined the military, and went off to college all in vain attempts to find love.  Nothing worked!  While at college, wanting to fit in and be loved, I began drinking heavily and doing drugs.  I just wanted someone to say that they cared for me!

One spring day, one of my teammates shared the gospel with me and for the first time I realized that it had nothing to do with me!  It was all about what Jesus did for me!  He paid the price, he loved me enough to take my sin on Himself and pay the price for them with His own precious blood!  I realized that there was nothing that I had to do, not getting my family to be proud of me, not their love for me or their approval would get me to heaven, but God’s love and sacrifice was all that I needed.    That day I trusted Jesus as my Saviour and I began a new relationship with Him!  I didn’t know much else about God, so I remained in the Lutheran church.

At college, I met a boy who told me he loved me.  We married and 15 yrs. later I found out that he never truly loved me.  I had wanted so badly to find someone to love me that I was blinded to things that I should have noticed and been obvious to me long before I married him.  I was devastated for a long time.

I poured myself into my children.  I committed my everything to them in hope that they would love me!  Then my best friend had to move away but her brother and his family were moving in next door to me. I already knew them so I felt better.  They were going to a Baptist church and had invited my kids and I.

I went to church with them and discovered that there was a place where God’s word was preached without apology or compromise!  I knew right away that I needed to join that church.  I knew that if I wanted to learn to live right and to have a better life for me and my kids that FBC is where we needed to be.
We joined the church and through the grace of God, I have grown in the Lord!  I was struggling with a smoking addiction that I just could not overcome.  When Preacher announced that they were going to be starting an addictions program called RUI, I thought that this would finally be what I needed to overcome my addiction.  Although I had tried to quit many times before, I just could never do it.

I began to work the program and God started to prick at my heart, regarding my smoking.  Finally I gave up!  I gave it to God!  I told Him that I could not do it, I needed Him to help me.  He did and I have been free from the addiction of smoking for the last 3 and ½ yrs.  Fast forward to the day I found out that I was sick, very sick with cancer. Even though I knew better, I stopped relying on the Lord and went back to my smoking.  It was my “security blanket”.  I know that I truly hurt my Saviour’s heart when I did that but I felt so alone and once again as if no one loved me, not even my Lord!

Recently, God has shown me some areas in my life that I needed to deal with.  I have never dealt with the feelings of being unlovable  and that has plagued me all of my life.  I have always felt unloved and worthless all of my life.  Even though I know that God loves me, I still struggle with feeling like He really does love me.  I know myself better than anyone and I am well aware of my shortcomings, therefore it is hard for me to understand how He could love someone like me!  I am going through a process now, of painstakingly breaking down the walls that I have built up in my life over the last nearly 50 years.  I am beginning to understand that God does love me!  I am starting to understand that I am someone who could be loved by God and others.

Looking back over my life, I can see God’s hand in much of my life, guiding me every step of the way.  God is so merciful to me; He truly does love even a sinner like me.

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I was born and raised in Wisconsin. I had 7 brothers and 1 sister. I went to 7 or 8 different schools in my life. My Mom was a good lady but my Dad was a drinker. Alcohol was a part of growing up.

My Dad would swear at me and call me stupid and dumb. I think that it was a big part of the bad decisions that I made in my life because I didn’t think I was worth anything.

I went into a business that wasn’t a very good deal. My drinking really increased something fierce and kept getting worse and worse. I was drunk every night and didn’t remember anything. I just liked to drink and liked the atmosphere. Sometimes I’d get so drunk I’d get into fights and get thrown into jail.

God had to make me humble enough to ask for help. Even though I had a good marriage, my life was being destroyed. My drinking was out of hand and my wife had left. It gave me a little time to think about it, and I told my wife that I was going to look for a group. I called the mission to see if they had a program and they recommended Reformers Unanimous. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to quit drinking. I also told the Lord that if I came to Reformers and stayed with it, to make Himself real to me. I’m still asking Him and He’s becoming even more real, and my faith is growing just a little at a time. I have to give God the credit because after I visited Reformers, I never drank another drop. The Lord helped me give up my drinking without even missing it. My wife prayed for me steady and my kids and grandson showed me love like you wouldn’t believe. The Lord just had everything planned the right way and filled my life with other things.

Reformers really helped me tremendously. I look forward to hearing the Word and I can communicate well with the people. I have people there who I can confide in and they’ll pray for me. The Lord has used Steve and other leaders to point me to the Word of God. Steve teaches us that a wise man falls and gets up and goes. Before I was whipped all the time because I had no self worth and I would stay there. Church also has helped me because I need to hear the Word of God to stay where I am at. If I don’t hear the Word, it would be easy to slip back into my addiction.

The Lord helped me see my life in a different way and helped me to understand and see the goals I wanted to attain. I like to think of myself as a new person because I’m much happier than I’ve ever been and I can actually smile and joke and not be moody or holler and nag. It’s a great feeling to go to bed that way and to get up that way. Sometimes it’s like I didn’t do the things I used to do because God has removed from my mind. I have to teach myself to think of where God has brought me and what he has brought me out of. I can grill out. I can go to the park. God has filled my time with walking and looking at nature, thanking Him for all the beautiful things that are there. I’d recommend Reformers to anybody who has an addiction.

We have 2 adult children: a son, Stacey and daughter, Beulah. I look at my wife, children and grandson differently now. I enjoy my little grandson. When I retire, I’ll be able to spend time with him and really enjoy him.

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Here are Ten warning signs of alcoholism. Understanding alcoholism signs can help you determine whether you or a loved one are experiencing alcohol addiction. You or your loved one may consider yourself “social drinkers” but as the amount of drinking per occasion or per week increases, one or more of the ten warning signs of alcoholism will develop as a result.

Two alcoholism signs associated with dependency are tolerance and withdrawal. Tolerance is the need for increasing amounts of alcohol consumption to become intoxicated. Withdrawal symptoms occur when alcohol intake is reduced or discontinued. In the USA alone, as many as 14 million adults are alcoholics.

What are ten warning signs of alcoholism? Here are alcoholism signs listed (in no particular order):

1. Drinking Alone
2. Making Excuses, Finding Excuses to Drink
3. Daily or Frequent Drinking Needed to Function
4. Inability to Reduce or Stop Alcohol Intake
5. Violent Episodes Associated with Drinking
6. Drinking Secretly
7. Becoming Angry When Confronted About Drinking
8. Poorer Eating Habits
9. Failure to Care for Physical Appearance
10. Trembling in the Morning

Alcoholism signs can also include blackouts, the complete inability to remember the previous evenings events. Also grayouts the inability to remember portions of the events of the previous evening. Also feeling anxious in a social situation where alcohol is not available.

Does heavy chronic drinking have health consequences? Absolutely. Chronic heavy drinking can result in serious damage to the liver, heart, brain and other vital organs. Such severe physical damage may irreversible and result in serious illnesses and even early death.

If the above ten warning signs of alcoholism help create interest in exploring possible alcohol addiction and finding help for you or a loved one, the good news is that help is available. God loves you and wants you to be totally free from your addiction. Reformers Unanimous offers multiple tools for the alcoholic including our local addiction classes, residential addiction treatment, alcohol recovery books, and the Personal Recovery Kit.

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I had everything going for me. I was a wealthy physical therapist and had a beautiful family, ranch, horses, and ponds on my property. However, I made many small compromises that led to great disasters. I allowed the stress of my life to lead me to alcohol and soon thereafter to drugs.

I was arrested 13 times for drunken driving, the last of which nearly cost the lives of many. I woke up in jail, which was not uncommon for me, but soon found myself revoked of my driving license and my license to practice medicine.

It was in this desperate position that I was first introduced to the RU program. I began by attending their meetings in the jail and eventually the meetings at Grace Baptist Church in Ohio upon my release. At my judicial hearing for what was supposed to be two to five years in prison, I was miraculously court ordered to the Men’s Discipleship Home in Rockford.

That was 2002. Today, I work full time in this wonderful Christian ministry. I have a beautiful home, beautiful wife and family, and have gained full privileges to drive again. As a matter of fact, our God is so good that the day after I miraculously received my license back, my wife shot a hole in one at a golfing event and won a prize—you guessed it, a beautiful Cadillac! Yes, God is so good, and I am so unworthy. Won’t you give God the same opportunity to do for you what I have personally seen Him do in the lives of hundreds of other people just like me?

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