For me, CONSCIOUS CONTACT is a personal relationship with God in this moment and at this time. I do not look back in regret nor do I look forward in fear. Through the grace of God in this moment I have relinquished my human nature. My human instincts are no longer propelling my thought process, but rather my thought process is propelled by the will of God through inspiration.The "Big Book" of Alcoholics Anonymous says, "We may face indecision, we might not be able to determine which course to take. Here we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or decision. We are often surprised how the right answers will come after we have tried this for awhile. What used to be the hunch or the occasional inspiration gradually becomes a working part of the mind. We find our thinking will be, as time passes, more and more on the plane of inspiration. We come to rely upon it." The dictionary defines inspiration as, "the thoughts of God implanted upon the mind and soul of man." I do not need to run the thoughts of God through my intellect - I instantaneously perceive them as truth. The question becomes, will I be obedient? Is my behavior going to be propelled by the will of God or by my human instincts? The back half of the Eleventh Step says, "...praying only for the knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out", as my human nature will never do the will of God.
It is here that a recovered alcoholic lives, in the will of God, through CONSCIOUS CONTACT.
Written by Armand
I've frequently visited a special part of The Atlantic Ocean where the ocean and the bay meet in almost-silent harmony and peace. In my own experience in the program of recovery, this conjoining of forces is a virtual model for conscious contact as I know it. It is when my human nature and my divine nature meet that I am the person I was born to be. For when that occurs, my divine nature is all there is in that very moment. Peace, tranquility, confluence, perfection, serenity are all present in that exalted nature of me, and of all of us. This certainty is only accessible to me through The Power within me as the direct and divine result of incorporating The Steps into my life in such a way that they have become my life. I am open and unafraid and available and useful in my humanity through conscious contact with That Power. I am awakened.
ReplyDeleteMichael incorporate the program of Alcoholics Anonymous in your life and you are the human being God created you to be.
DeleteAvailable to each and everyone of us...Thank you...Armand
In this modern and technological age, with it's confusing clatter of human pedagogy, situational ethics and moral relativism, there is yet a timeless and eternal call still being proclaimed by the Creator and Sustainer of all:
ReplyDelete"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me"...
When we became even the least bit willing to answer that call we soon discover that the 12 Steps of AA are in the order they are for a reason and Step 11 is no exception. Every step is recorded in the past perfect tense forming the collective testimony of each personal yet unified journey on this divinely inspired road less traveled with a simple clarity seldom encountered in secular writings. There is no me as the focus proclaimed. There is solely Himself, as the ultimate destination named. God can only be experienced when all other forms of mere human ingenuity are abandoned and surrendered to a fervently desired Person who is the only Faithful and True Author of Life through the only path He has proclaimed, a humble and contrite heart.
The Steps, in their entirety, bear unimpeachable witness through a collective personal testimony to God's never ending outreach of grace to anyone who is willing to surrender and embrace the immutable truth of His Word that manifests the undeniable Presence of His Person the moment we make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to His care. It is He that is the source of an ever increasing desire to understand Him and His ultimate reason for His creation.
It is He, who sweeps away the carnage of our past and our morbid dread of the future. It is He, who authors the Fruit of the Spirit as a never ending manifestation of the divinely desired relationship that, once barred from within, is now free to inspire our every conscious moment. It is He, who provides the grace to yield ourselves to Him as our old desires are systematically swept away and it is He, who lovingly compels us to inwardly nurture and surrender to this ongoing and ever broadening relationship with the Creator, Sustainer and Lover of our souls.
Just as the 11th step bears witness that God Himself is the instigation and inspiration of our growing desire to commune with and please Him, Step 12 testifies that this once desperately lived life begins to bear the unmistakable witness of Gods presence and purpose through the Holy Spirit who now resides within to reveal Jesus, drawing those still suffering from the insatiable, desperate loneliness of a life without hope to a true and eternal life of freedom. Yes, although we live In a world gone mad, be of good cheer; for the Alpha and Omega, the only True Source of eternal peace, joy and hope still proclaims:
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me" - Revelation 3:20 -
A Grateful Recovering Alcoholic
A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic the surrender of our nature to the will of God is the purpose of the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous...Thank you...Armand
DeleteListening for inspiration from God has a few challenges for me. First, my ego can block the inspiration. Putting myself in prayer and meditation to move beyond my human nature is needed. Also, the will of God may absolutely nothing to do with my human dilemmas. I maybe asking God for a solution that He believes I should be solving on my own. And last, the will of God maybe totally uncomfortable for me or even destructive to my human nature. I heard Joyce Meyers once say God sent Noah a rainbow as a sign He was pleased. And He sent Abraham circumcision as a sign he was pleased. My human nature says "send me rainbows, but my Father thinks circumcision is what is required. So I am so far away from understanding the will of God for me except that good or bad, I accept it because that is what I am supposed to receive. I may not understand His will in this life, but it will be revealed to me in the next life.
ReplyDeleteJim understanding the will of God is not a requisite to be able to live Gods will. We are called to subrogate our will to the will of God. In the will of God we will not drink nor will we manifest our character defects. Manifesting our character defects in our behavior is the signal needed to stop, surrender and ask God to help us...Thank you...Armand
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