A despondent man sits before a large, luminous forest painting in a dark room.
Tetelestai Recovery

Letting Go of Perfectionism: A Spiritual Journey

Although introspection is important to growth, it is not the main purpose of our spiritual awakening. We are moving into a new position of authority in Christ. We are leveling up. We are no longer human beings having a spiritual awakening. We are awakened spiritual beings affecting the realm of human existence.

Admittedly, human nature can often get in the way, so we frequently ask the Holy Spirit to show us where we need to improve. We ask for help in making the necessary changes. We believe we receive that help and start thanking God for the results even before we see them. We use the words of Christ, “It is finished!” (Tetelestai) to call an end to our obsession over shortcomings and our continual dialogue of negative self-talk.

Empowered by the Spirit of God, and emboldened by the words of Christ, we let go of the things that trip us up. We release our grip on perfectionism. We dismiss that internal committee in our heads who sit in judgement of our every motive, thought, behavior, or attitude. We stop auditioning for the lead role and find our proper place in the supporting cast. With the spotlight on Jesus and what He is doing, we take our eyes off ourselves and are relieved of self-consciousness.

Tetelestai Recovery

Overcoming Trials: The Promotion After the Fire

Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the area of Babylon. Daniel 3:30


You have the ability to stand up for what you believe and for whom you believe in. This is true of your loyalty toward friends and family as well as your loyalty to God.

You do not allow others to dictate your values or coerce you into an uncomfortable position of questionable ethics.

As the three Hebrew boys risked their entire future in order to remain true to their own sense of values, you too, are sometimes called upon to stand when everyone around you bows.

The temptation to accommodate powerful people, not matter how disgraceful, may be great, but as you maintain your stance and walk through the fire, you will find there is honor and promotion waiting on the other side.

You may sometimes be alone in your convictions, but you can count on Jesus to be at your side.

When you emerge from the fiery trial, you will discover that the burning shame did not touch you, and not even a hint of humiliation remains.

The promotion that you receive after walking through the fire may come from the same source who attempted to destroy you. This is an act of God, on your behalf. It is His pleasure to see His children promoted.

God has the power to change the heart of any authority figure, and He will happily do so, in order to place good people like you in positions of power.

Tetelestai Recovery

Creating Safe Spaces: A Call to Protect and Restore

Zadok rebuilt the wall in front of his house. Samaiah, who protected the East Gate, rebuilt the section after that. Nehemiah 3:29


You have a persistent drive to repair and protect. Whether the source of disorder is a structure, a landscape, or a person, you recognize evidence of original design buried beneath the messy surface.

You have been given the gift of spiritual perception which sees past the damage and identifies true hidden value.

You understand that each child of God is a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. You possess a unique level of expertise in which you can clearly assess damages and identify appropriate steps to restore original beauty and brilliance, reflecting the Designer’s intent.

Many seek you out for your advice and input.  Your natural ability to accept people in their current state, and not shy away from dysfunctional behaviors, places you in a position of great influence.

Much like the experts who made repairs to the destroyed walls in Nehemiah’s day, you work to reconstruct the protective boundaries for God’s lost children who have been demolished by addiction, tragedy and poor choices.

With your relaxed demeanor and casual sense of humor, you build bridges for communication. With your commitment to stability and safety, you offer support to those who are feeling unsteady.

As you open your heart to those who are vulnerable and at risk, you are guarding the gate from the enemy intruders of lies and deception. 

You maintain secure boundaries. You dedicate your time and talents  to creating safe spaces and developing a secure sense of community.

Tetelestai Recovery

Forgiveness and Healing: Submitting Our Claims to God

We are damaged humans who have been damaged by other humans. Our only hope of recovery is to submit our claims to God and wait for Him to reimburse us for our loss.

We finally understand that when Jesus instructs us to forgive, He is not telling us we must sustain damage and accept it as okay. He also isn’t telling us that we don’t have a valid claim. In fact, He is stating the exact opposite.

The fact that forgiveness is necessary, means an injury or loss has occurred. Jesus is not denying our claims. He is validating our losses and confirming their legitimacy.

He doesn’t suggest we just get over it. He doesn’t instruct us to ignore it and congratulate ourselves on taking the high road.

 He instructs us to forgive because he wants us to gain access to His full coverage comprehensive plan. Jesus is telling us, “Submit your claim to me, and I will take care of all repairs and injuries.” He knows that the process is too exhausting and emotionally charged for us to deal with on our own. He also knows that when two humans try to settle up, they rarely get it right and they seldom get it done. 

(Tetelestai Recovery – Our New Normal pp 113)

Tetelestai Recovery

Finding Strength Through Divine Justice


Exodus 3:20…”I will use my great power against your oppressors. I will make miracles happen in that land.

The Lord cares deeply about you. He sees that some of the things you go through are unfair, but He always brings you through them and into a position of power.

You sense God’s presence with greater intensity during times when your burden seems too heavy to carry alone.  Because of this, you can be grateful for your struggles, because they generate a new level of intimacy between you and your Creator.

Knowing that God does what is right, you have come to rely on His justice. You do not hesitate to ask Him for a judgment call any time you see a violation of what is honest, fair, and right.

Because you know God is just and will help you carry the heaviness you feel after having been wronged, you are able to move easily into forgiveness where freedom is found. 

Assured that the Creator of the Universe is interested in what happens to those who are harmed by human injustices, you remain alert to any violation of basic human rights.

God promises to hand down a ruling that is just, bringing integrity where there was once corruption; and equality where there was once disparity.

You know that you are called to speak for those who have no voice. You feel impassioned to stand up for those who are held in bondage by prejudice and inequity. You reject any ideology which promotes bigotry or derision.

You often cry out to God about this particular aspect of the human condition. You pursue all remedies available to eliminate its ugly presence in society.

In answer to your passionate prayers, the Commander of Angel Armies is empowering other individuals who will help you advance this cause and shed light on the social injustices which have plagued society for centuries.

No human will be able to stand against His plan. Justice will be served. Honor will be given where honor is due.

Tetelestai Recovery

From Relief to Despair: The Costs of Emotional Dependency

The presence of unwanted feelings such as insecurity, inadequacy, fear, anger, and other social phobias, coupled with our inability to manage or control them, unleashed within us a desperation for relief at any cost. We soon learned of a temporary reprieve that occurred when our brain chemistry became altered. We didn’t care that the relief would be short lived or cause irreparable damage. The long-awaited relief of rightness, contrasted against the life-long agony of wrongness, offered such an enchanting embrace, we surrendered without a fight.

When our minds were not altered, we fell into total despair. Sadly, these moments of disparity began to seep into every moment, and the relief withdrew as quickly as it came.

We became slaves to our feelings. We tested the quality of our product by the way it made us feel. We watched for warning signs of overdose by the way our bodies felt. We discovered ways to get out of responsibilities by saying, “I don’t feel well.” We made all sorts of excuses to ourselves and to others, based on our feelings. We accused our dealer of cutting because his product didn’t make us feel the way we wanted, or the way it used to. We sank into despair when the supply ran out. We drove through blizzards, walked through storms, and did whatever necessary to get the substance that would make us feel right. We went without sleep, food, and basic necessities. We lost relationships and emptied bank accounts in a mad pursuit of a feeling we wanted to feel.

We were caught in a cycle of frenzied flight. Running from feelings we couldn’t stand. Searching for a feeling we thought we knew. We didn’t like to feel wrong, and we didn’t know how to feel right…

Tetelestai Recovery

Renewed Identity in Christ: From Regret to Redemption

We began to thank God for His provision even when we felt needy:  

The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:17

We believed God for His righteousness even when we felt wrong. We believed in ourselves as new creations even when we felt damaged. We stopped living in regret, even when we felt as if we should.

We no longer identified with who we were, but rather, we identified ourselves as who we became at the moment, we began our Tetelestai Revolution. We had come to know love that we had never known before. We had received a personal pardon from the King of Kings and according to Ephesians 3:19, we were becoming filled with the fullness of God, which was gradually squeezing out our tendency to be full of ourselves.

Tetelestai Recovery

Embracing Spiritual Transformation: A New Life in Christ

We realized we were no longer addicted, damaged, and dysfunctional. We sensed that our bodies, souls, and spirits were coming into harmony with our divine destiny. As the light seeped into where darkness had been, we saw things we’d never seen before. We understood spiritual concepts that had seemed confusing in the past.

As we opened our minds to sacred text, the revolution began. We discovered new parameters for our belief system.

I Corinthians 2:16 stated, “We understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ,” so we released our mental constraints and became aware of our new understanding.

2 Corinthians 5:17 told us that “anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”

Therefore, we resisted the temptation to dwell on the past. We had become a new creation in Christ, so there was no past to lament.

Tetelestai Recovery

Mastering Emotions That Control Us: A Biblical Perspective

We know that our emotions can be a powerful force that affects us, body, mind, and soul. We also know that Jesus has made a way to escape being controlled by our feelings, which can range from pesky to obsessive or even frightening. We are told in the Word that we have been made the righteousness of God in Christ. This flies in the face of feelings that indicate something is wrong with us. Our feelings are no match for the Word of God. If the Creator of the Universe says we are righteous, then our emotions have no right to dispute it.

We have been made right by the blood of Christ which was donated as a divine transfusion to heal us from the inside out. The emotions we feel, the sounds we hear, the words we say, and the images we see, must all defer to the words of our King who has decreed tetelestai over all that is wrong with us…

Tetelestai Recovery

Idolatry of Emotions: Claiming Righteousness Through Grace

When we discovered the power of Jesus’ declaration, “It is finished,” we claimed tetelestai over our misaligned compass comprised of human emotion.

We stopped worshipping at the feet of our feelings and ditched them at the foot of the cross. We learned that our feelings were an unpredictable deity. We saw that exalting our feelings to a place of devotion, was nothing short of idolatry.

We made a firm decision to discover God’s thoughts of us, rather than our own thoughts of ourselves.

We didn’t feel like believing in our rightness, but the Word stated we were the righteousness (right-ness) of God. We were much more comfortable feeling wrong and running from it. We were unsure how to settle into knowing, rather than feeling.

It didn’t feel right to believe right, but once we got a revelation of grace, and stopped relying on how bad we felt, we discovered a sense of stability we’d never known before.