This Week’s Recovery Application Challenge
Please complete TWIRL 030 prior to proceeding with this week’s application.
Pilgrimage of Faith-Driven Recovery
It is paramount to your faith pilgrimage into recovery that you accept the truths of Psalm 84 and then apply your focus on such truth as it applies to New Testament reality found in this Scripture in 2 Corinthians 4 and Romans 8. Consider how the veil has been lifted for us in the context of mercy and grace in relationship with Jesus Christ, who we know to be risen from the dead—not known to the psalmist of Psalm 84.
6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in jars (vessels) of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 2 Corinthians 4:6-9 (NIV)
13 It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, 14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. 15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:13-19 (NIV)
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Romans 8:31-34 (NIV)
- What would you say is the light of God shining in your heart? How does it shine?
- Where would you say God dwells today in your relationship with His Son?
- The jars, or vessels, of clay is the frailty and vulnerability of our human bodies and minds. How does the transformative power of God compare to your ability to fix yourself and sustain quality of life on your own in your own way?
- Apostle Paul declared, “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” What testimony can you give concerning God’s response to belief in your life? What would you say about what you believe and what evidence can you point to that back’s it up?
- What does it mean to you to have a spirit of faith according to the reality of Christ’s resurrection and promise to raise you up in the same way?
- Does thanksgiving flow from your heart out of the goodness and presence of God in your life? Please explain.
- The Psalmist stated that being transformed from sorrow and weeping to springs of refreshing and joy, that the transformed go from strength to strength. What would you say Paul is saying when he said that though our physical being is wasting away that we are being renewed day by day?
- What would you say it means that our “light and momentary troubles” (easy for Paul to say in the face of brutal beatings and imprisonment) are achieving for us eternal glory that outweighs them all? What does this mean to you in the face of your life experiences?
- How is it then that you can focus on that which is eternal? What does that mean for you, today?
- What shall you say then in response to these things? Think about it, if God is indeed for you with Jesus interceding on your behalf at the Father’s right hand, who or what can possibly defeat you, or as Paul says with emphasis, even dare to oppose you?
- Is there someone you may not have thought of opposing you this very moment? What about you? Are you standing in the way of what God is wanting to accomplish in your life? What would you say God is wanting to empower you to do? How would you say you stand in opposition to what God is wanting to empower you to do?
- Does self-condemnation stand in the way in opposition to what God is wanting to empower you to do? Does it get in the way of experience His merciful grace? Please explain.
- If God did not spare His very own Son that you might experience the fullness of His mercy, how is it that He would withhold His mercy and every other blessing that He has for You? Especially if you struggle with the providence of God in your life, as this author often does, please mindfully respond to this question.
- Finally, what does it mean for you that Jesus can all at once dwell in the hearts, minds, souls, and even bodies of all that believe into relationship with Him; and, intercede for each of us at the right hand of the Father?
Ponder this: God is three persons—Father, Son, and Spirit; and as God, is wildly passionate about you wanting to bless you generously without measure (not keeping track or being stingy of how much). Human life by experience, on the other hand, is the journey of a lifetime. Pilgrims are people of discovery. Is your heart set on pilgrimage in relationship with God? Are you seeking to discover all that God is; all that God can and will do for you, and in you, if you are willing to surrender to His way for you?
Surrender is the gateway to freedom. Just like a child surrendering to the way of a knowledgeable, mature parent is trusted with more and more of what the child can manage and sustain, as you surrender to the way of all knowing, all powerful God, will you be entrusted with more and more of what you can manage and sustain. Set your heart on the pilgrimage of knowing and believing God; prepared to discover…
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