CASTIMONIA

Sexual Purity Support & Recovery Group

lust

By

Intended Evil Becomes Ultimate Good

“Intended evil becomes intended good.” As I reread that promise, it sounds formulaic, catchy, as if destined for a bumper sticker. I don’t mean for it to. There is nothing trite about your wheelchair, empty pantry, or aching heart. These are uphill, into-the-wind challenges you are facing. They are not easy.

But neither are they random. God is not sometimes sovereign. He is not occasionally victorious. He does not occupy the throne one day and vacate it the next. “The Lord shall not turn back until He has executed and accomplished the thoughts and intents of His mind” (Jer. 30:24 AMP). This season in which you find yourself may puzzle you, but it does not bewilder God. He can and will use it for his purpose.

Case in point: Joseph in prison. From an earthly viewpoint the Egyptian jail was the tragic conclusion of Joseph’s life. Satan could chalk up a victory for the dark side. All plans to use Joseph ended with the slamming of the jail door. The devil had Joseph just where he wanted him.

So did God.

What Satan intended for evil, God used for testing. In the Bible a test is an external trial that purifies and prepares the heart. Just as a fire refines precious metal from dross and impurities, a trial purges the heart of the same.

Every day God tests us through people, pain, or problems. Stop and consider your circumstances. Can you identify the tests of today? Snarling traffic? Threatening weather? Aching joints?

If you see your troubles as nothing more than isolated hassles and hurts, you’ll grow bitter and angry. Yet if you see your troubles as tests used by God for his glory and your maturity, then even the smallest incidents take on significance.

Today’s devotional is drawn from Max Lucado’s You’ll Get Through This.

By

Anxiety and Stress

Keith B – Not Unknown

First, I hope all of you are surviving this difficult time in Houston. I know I don’t have to describe to any of you the stress, anxiety, turmoil that is present in all of our lives right now. This is one of the few times I can use you and we statements to describe the impacts of Harvey on all of our lives and our homes. Whether you have a worst case scenario or you have just been riding out the after effects, we all are balancing the conflicting and overwhelming emotions that have hit us, our families, friends, workplaces. I know one thing and one thing only in this time…He is faithful, even when I am not.

The stress and anxiety started for me personally last week, when I returned to work after a few days off to take my son to college and to care for my dad who is in hospice care in my home state. I got back to work last Monday and started the process of trying to catch up. That’s when my boss came to meet with me and let me know that she had decided that I wasn’t really a good fit for the organization and that she had determined that the company would be separating me. Welcome back!

I wish I could say I was surprised and caught off guard but I really wasn’t. I knew that my working relationship with her wasn’t going well. It wasn’t. It hadn’t since I started about 18 months ago. My first few months there were different from my last year. Because for the last year I have been in recovery. My attitude and focus on work has changed. I started approaching my work and my relationships at work much differently. Specifically, I determined to be rigorously honest, only focused on work when I was at work, and not try to manipulate or lie to anyone. Unfortunately, that had been my primary work mode in the past…lying and manipulating wherever I could for my own benefit.

I found that my work relationship with my boss didn’t improve, despite what I knew to be a change in my working behavior. I came to finally understand that I could only change my own behavior, focus on my own faults and character defects. I realize now that I previously believed that my boss and past bosses didn’t have the same type of issues that I had. That somehow they were fair, truthful and above reproach.

I look now at how I have worked over the past year. I can clearly say that I wasn’t perfect. I can clearly and honestly say that I was transparent, and open, and rigorously honest, and not manipulative. I did good work. I did the best I could. The hard part is it wasn’t enough to remain there, because that isn’t where God intends me to be. I don’t like that, not being in control of my own career and work. But that is how God wants me to be…dependent on him for everything. Turning my life and will over to the care of God…all of it. I haven’t done that yet. Not all of it…but I am moving toward Him. Not away.

I was texting my friend in recovery who had to evacuate his house. Something struck me that he said to me as he asked me and others for help. He said he was thankful that he was in recovery because prior to that he wouldn’t have asked for help. That rings true to me as well. Prior to recovery I would not have openly sought help and guidance for my next steps in my career. Now I am seeking help and guidance from God and the people He has put in my life.

By

Journal Through Recovery – Bonus Podcast #13 Being Known

Being known feels dangerous and risky. Being known is terrifying. And being known is how God wants to use my story.

By

Anatomy of an Emotional Affair

Is your spouse “catching up” with an old high school friend on Social Media or chat, and you feel uncomfortable… but you can’t put a finger on WHY?  That’s because right now their texts may be just two old friends talking about the past, but if it continues here’s what they’ll start talking about:

Their lives since they parted
Their relationships since they parted
Their families
Their spouses
You (the spouse)
How you’re an excellent parent
How you’re a great spouse
How you’re a wonderful person
Your job
How your job keeps you busy
How your job keeps you away
How they sometimes feel a little lonely when you’re away
How they sometimes feel a little overburdened at home
How they sometimes feel a little taken for granted
How they feel that you don’t ALWAYS listen
How they feel that you don’t ALWAYS understand her
How they feel that sometimes you’re just “not there” for them
How, okay… you’re not ALWAYS such a wonderful person
How they loved hearing from their old friend again
How they look forward to their old friend’s texts/calls/e-mails now
How they feel young again
How they feel appreciated again
How they feel attractive again
How it’s so nice to have someone who just LISTENS again
How it’s been so, so long since someone made then feel that way
How their eyes have now been opened
How they now realize what they truly want and need
How they now realizes that their spouse could NEVER give them that
How insensitive their spouse can be some times
How their spouse can be a real jerk sometimes
How they wonder what it would be like if the two of you would have stayed together “back in the day”
How they now realize that they never really loved their spouse
How they now realize that they really loved their old friend all along
How they ever could have fallen for a jerk like their spouse
How their spouse is the biggest a++hole they’ve ever known
How their spouse is standing in the way of true happiness
How their spouse ruined their life
How they made a big mistake marrying their spouse
How they made an even bigger mistake letting the old friend go
How now they see that they were really meant to be with the old friend
How they desperately have to get away from their spouse
How they’re definitely going to leave their spouse
How they’re talking to divorce lawyers
How they’re going to live happily ever after…

(original author, unknown)

By

Deepest, Darkest Secret – VIDEO

By now you probably know I LOVE movies!  I grew up watching tons of movies and still do so today.  A short while ago I watched the movie Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2.  As I watched the movie various scenes stood out to me.  As I have stated before, now that I’m in recovery the Holy Spirit has allowed me to see movies differently and notice subtle (and sometimes blatant) recovery tones within the movie. 

The plot of this movie has been pasted below courtesy of Wikipedia:

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is a 2017 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team Guardians of the Galaxy, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sequel to 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy and the fifteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the Guardians travel throughout the cosmos as they help Peter Quill learn more about his mysterious parentage.

What I saw in this movie was a humorous example of what NOT to do when a man tells you his deepest, darkest secret which is usually done as part of a Step 4 inventory exercise. Many men in recovery struggle with the idea of confessing their deepest, darkest secrets for fear that they will be humiliated or rejected by others.  This movie, although not therapy-accurate, brings humor to a very stressful and intense time in a man’s life.  Hopefully, men who have done this can see the humor in this movie as much as I do and men who fear the Fourth Step and revealing their deepest, darkest secrets can  find the courage to do so after watching this movie.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This video may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for purposes such as criticism, comment, teaching, & education, etc. This constitutes a ’fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED! All trademarks and copyrights remain the property of their owners.