Welcome to Bill's Place.
A collection of Friends In Recovery.
Featuring a weekly Step Study from various 12 Step Recovery literature.
With the occasional inspirational message or message pertaining to a broad spectrum of varied spiritual practices.
An open forum for discussion of the aforementioned Step Study and inspirational/spiritual practice messages.
"Dance like there's no one watching and love like you've never been hurt."
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BillsPlace/
Third Step Meditation
Streams In The Desert II
September 23
The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and storm (Nah. 1:3).
The fiercest wind that may blow on me is held in the hollow of His hand. Behind what seems cruel chance there is the love so wise and wisdom so loving of our God.
If God can send a storm through
space,
And dot with trees the mountains face,
If He the sparrows course can trace,
What can He do for you?
If God can hang the stars on
high,
Can paint the clouds that drift on by,
Can send the sun across the sky,
What can He do for you?
If God can send us sunny days,
And nature from her slumber raise
Till songbirds lift their notes of praise,
What can He do for you?
If God can bring sweet peace
to me,
And to my soul bring liberty.
By Christ who hung upon the tree,
This He can do for you.
~G. E. Wagoner, (from "Log of the Good Ship Grace.)~
God's eye has never yet become dimmed with age; His ear has never yet become dulled with the years; His arms have never yet been wanting in strength, nor have His footsteps ever faltered. He is not changed; He is still the same immortal, immutable, invincible God, from all the ages. He makes a commitment of Himself to me. What a gift, what an offering, what a measureless, boundless condescension of the infinite God to give Himself. ~Unknown~
Twelfth Step Meditation
Streams In The Desert
September 23
Give Out The Blessing
~Mrs. Charles E. Cowman~
"He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his inner being shall flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38).
Some of us are shivering and wondering why the Holy Spirit does not fill us. We have plenty coming in, but we do not give it out. Give out the blessing that you have, start larger plans for service and blessing, and you will soon find that the Holy Ghost is before you, and He will present you with blessings for service, and give you all that He can trust you to give away to others.
There is a beautiful fact in nature which has its spiritual parallels. There is no music so heavenly as an Aeolian harp, and the Aeolian harp is nothing but a set of musical chords arranged in harmony, and then left to be touched by the unseen fingers of the wandering winds. And as the breath of heaven floats over the chords, it is said that notes almost Divine float out upon the air, as if a choir of angels were wandering around and touching the strings.
And so it is possible to keep our hearts so open to the touch of the Holy Spirit that He can play upon them at will, as we quietly wait in the pathway of His service.--Days of Heaven upon Earth
When the apostles received the baptism with the Holy Ghost they did not rent the upper room and stay there to hold holiness meetings, but went everywhere preaching the gospel. --Will Huff
The patriarch spoke with scorn;
What would he think of the Church were he shown
Heathendom-huge, forlorn,
Godless, Christless, with soul unfed,
While the Church's ailment is fullness of bread,
Eating her morsel alone?
He bade, who hath given us all.
How shall the soul in us longer live
Deaf to their starving call,
For whom the blood of the Lord was shed,
And His body broken to give them. bread,
If we eat our morsel alone!"
~Archbishop Alexander~
"Where is Abel thy brother?" (Gen. 4:9).
A Course In Miracles
What Am I?
14. What Am I?
1. I am God's Son, complete and healed and whole, shining in the reflection of His Love. In me is His creation sanctified and guaranteed eternal life. In me is love perfected, fear impossible, and joy established without opposite. I am the holy home of God Himself. I am the Heaven where His Love resides. I am His holy Sinlessness Itself, for in my purity abides His Own.
2. Our use for words is almost over now. Yet in the final days of this one year we gave to God together, you and I, we found a single purpose that we shared. And thus you joined with me, so what I am are you as well. The truth of what we are is not for words to speak of nor describe. Yet we can realize our function here, and words can speak of this and teach it, too, if we exemplify the words in us.
3. We are the bringers of salvation. We accept our part as saviors of the world, which through our joint forgiveness is redeemed. And this, our gift, is therefore given us. We look on everyone as brother, and perceive all things as kindly and as good. We do not seek a function that is past the gate of Heaven. Knowledge will return when we have done our part. We are concerned only with giving welcome to the truth.
4. Ours are the eyes through which Christ's vision sees a world redeemed from every thought of sin. Ours are the ears that hear the Voice for God proclaim the world as sinless. Ours the minds that join together as we bless the world. And from the oneness that we have attained we call to all our brothers, asking them to share our peace and consummate our joy.
5. We are the holy messengers of God who speak for Him, and carrying His Word to everyone whom He has sent to us, we learn that it is written on our hearts. And thus our minds are changed about the aim for which we came, and which we seek to serve. We bring glad tidings to the Son of God, who thought he suffered. Now is he redeemed. And as he sees the gate of Heaven stand open before him, he will enter in and disappear into the Heart of God.
A Course In Miracles
Lesson 351
My sinful brother is my guide to pain.
And which I choose to see I will behold.
Who is my brother but Your
holy Son? And if I see him sinful I proclaim myself a sinner,
not a Son of God; alone and friendless in a fearful world. Yet
this perception is a choice I make, and can relinquish. I can
also see my brother sinless, as Your holy Son. And with this
choice I see my sinlessness, my everlasting Comforter and Friend
beside me, and my way secure and clear. Choose, then, for me,
my Father, through Your Voice. For He alone gives judgment in
Your Name.
Daily Meditations for Recovering Addicts
September 24
A growing concept of God
"The only suggested guidelines
are that this Power be loving, caring, and greater than ourselves.
We don't have to be religious to accept this idea. The point
is that we open our minds to believe."
Basic Text, p.24
In a lifelong process of coming to believe, our understanding of God will change. The understanding we have when new in recovery will not be the same when we have a few months clean, nor will that understanding be the same when we have a few years clean.
Our initial understanding of a Power greater than ourselves will most likely be limited. That Power will keep us clean but, we may think, nothing more. We may hesitate to pray because we have placed conditions on what we will ask our Higher Power to do for us. "Oh, this stuff is so awful, even God couldn't do anything," we might say, or "God's got a lot of people to take care of. There's no time for me."
But, as we grow in recovery, so will our understanding. We'll begin to see that the only limits to God's love and grace are those we impose by refusing to step out of the way. The loving God we come to believe in is infinite, and the power and love we find in our belief is shared by nearly every recovering addict around the world.
Just for today: The God I am
coming to understand has a limitless capacity for love and care.
I will trust that my God is bigger than any problem I may have.
After joining feel free to invite your friends to the Group by using the "Invite" button below;
or by simply sending them this URL;
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BillsPlace/
Just for today, you never have to use again.
Never Alone Never Again
(neveralone_neveragain)
Twenty-Four Hours a Day
The Little Black Book
September 24
Thought
for the Day
Let us continue with Step Twelve. We must practice these principles
in all our affairs. This part of the twelfth step must not be
overlooked. It is the carrying on of the whole program. We do
not just practice these principles in regard to our using problem.
We practice them in all our affairs. We do not give one compartment
of our lives to God and keep the other compartments to ourselves.
We give our whole lives to God and we try to do His will in every
respect. "Herein lies our growth, herein lies all the promise
of the future, an ever widening horizon." Do I carry the
principles with me wherever I go?
Meditation
for the Day
"Lord, to whom shall we go but to Thee? Thou hast the words
of eternal life." The words of eternal life are the words
from God controlling your true being, controlling the real spiritual
you. They are the words from God, which are heard by you in your
heart and mind when these are wide open to His spirit. These
are the words of eternal life, which express the true way you
are to live. They say to you in the stillness of your heart and
mind and soul: "Do this and live."
Prayer
for the Day
I pray that I may follow the dictates of my conscience. I pray
that I may follow the inner urging of my soul.
Jimmy K.
---
"Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man
of value."
~Albert Einstein~
Peace.
Bill
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