Tag: Healing

Tetelestai Recovery

Navigating Feelings: The Search for Normalcy

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As far back as we could remember, we felt different, damaged, and just plain wrong. We did not know exactly what was wrong with us. We only knew that we felt more intensely than others and we processed our problems with great difficulty.

We obsessively examined ourselves, looking for clues to solve the mystery and to find a key which would unlock some invisible door into normalcy. We noticed people we admired and made feeble attempts to imitate their personas. We sought out damaged friends who would validate us in our dysfunction. We pursued money to prove our worth. We questioned and we blamed. We fought with ourselves and resented God. We learned how to act right, but we didn’t know how to feel right. Eventually it was our feelings which became our undoing.

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Tetelestai Recovery

HAPPY NEW YOU!

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A New Year –

A New Start –

A New Normal –

https://a.co/d/6QtnnH8

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Tetelestai Recovery

Understanding Addiction: The Desperate Search for Relief

lastwordrecovery

As far back as we could remember, we felt different, damaged, and just plain wrong. We did not know exactly what was wrong with us. We only knew that we felt things more intensely than others and we processed our problems with great difficulty.

We obsessively examined ourselves, looking for clues to solve the mystery and find a key to unlock some invisible door which kept us perched precariously on the outside edge of normalcy. We noticed people we admired and made feeble attempts to imitate their persona. We sought out damaged friends who would validate us in our dysfunction. We pursued money to prove our worth. We questioned and blamed. We fought with ourselves and resented God. We learned how to act right, but we didn’t know how to feel right. Eventually it was our feelings which became our undoing.

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 which occurred when our brain chemistry became altered. We didn’t care that the relief would be short lived or cause irreparable damage to our relationships, our finances, and our minds. The momentary relief of rightness, contrasted against the life-long agony of wrongness, offered such an enchanting embrace, we surrendered without a fight….

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Tetelestai Recovery, Chapter 2

Tetelestai Recovery

Breaking Free from Addiction: A Journey to Redemption

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Addiction is stealing the lives and destinies of so many of God’s children who can’t find their way out.  Many good people suffer in silence from the effects of this deadly disease.

We were addicted to drugs and alcohol for many years. The disease tried to kill us, and we thought there was no hope.

We finally hit rock bottom (incarceration) and found a word that would change our lives forever: Tetelestai.

Tetelestai is the Greek word that means, “It is finished!” It was the final declaration of Jesus from the cross.

We watched the power of Tetelestai play out in a courtroom verdict that no one saw coming. The shock and disbelief gave way to hopeful anticipation as we enthusiastically came into agreement with Jesus and declared our addictions FINISHED.

Living clean and sober in the power of Jesus’ words ushered us into a life that is better than we ever thought possible.

This program was developed by addicts, for addicts. God redeemed our past, gathered the broken pieces, and made us into something useful for His Kingdom.

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Tetelestai Recovery

Escaping the Cycle of Despair and Addiction

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Have you ever felt stuck? I don’t mean stuck in prison, stuck in a ditch, or stuck in the mud or snow. I also don’t mean stuck in an unfulfilling relationship, stuck in a job, or stuck with your kids.

The kind of stuck I’m talking about has to do with feelings of despair, dysfunctional behaviors, addiction, or anything else that impacts your life negatively, leaving you feeling hopeless about getting unstuck.

Sometimes we become stuck due to an obsession of the mind. It’s something that we just can’t let go of. We want to break free, but it seems to have an unshakable hold on us. What do we do?

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Tetelestai Recovery

Unlocking Miracles: The Spiritual Meaning of Tetelestai

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Tetelestai is recorded in the original Greek text describing what Jesus said from the cross in His final moments of mortality. The English translation, “It is finished!” (John 19:30), is the basis for this program.

We believe that Jesus’ words hold miraculous power. We speak these words into our own lives and into the lives of others. We are confident that a spiritual principle is set in play when our statements come into alignment with the words of God.

So also, will be the words that I speak: it will not fail to do what I plan for it; it will do everything I send it to do. Isaiah 55:11

Since Jesus gave witness on the cross, “It is finished,” we align with Him in calling an end to our addictions and dysfunctional behaviors. We testify in agreement with Jesus and thus, the matter is resolved. 

Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.   
2 Corinthians 13:1
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Tetelestai Recovery

Understanding Unmet Emotional Needs: A Spiritual Approach

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Considering this list of our emotional needs, we realize how unfair it would be to expect another human to meet them. We think about all the times that we scroll through texts on our phones, looking for reassurance that we are worthy, needed, loved, approved, or any number of the other emotional needs we have at the time.

Ironically, it seems a bit ridiculous that we place more hope in a text on our phone than in Sacred Text filled with the love of God. One connects us to other flawed humans; the other connects us to the Creator of the Universe who loves us dearly. 

As we evaluate our unmet emotional needs and identify the ones which cause us the most pain, we ask the Holy Spirit to guide us to our truth.

  • Have you ever been pressured to meet someone else’s emotional needs? How did that make you feel? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
  • Have you ever pressured someone else to meet your emotional needs? How did that work out?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
  • Name some specific emotional needs you have. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
  • What are some scriptures you can claim over them?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Excerpt from: Tetelestai Recovery 3 – Leveling Up; Chapter 2: No Need

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Tetelestai Recovery

Understanding Emotional Needs: A Path to Healing

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When we pull away from relationships because the emotional cost is too great, we feel like a bad person. We want to follow the leadership of Jesus. We want to be the kind of person who turns the other cheek and goes the extra mile. But being that person takes its toll on our sense of well-being. Our trust turns into suspicion. Our self-sacrifice turns into self-defense and self-preservation. We become discouraged and frustrated. Our personal investments don’t always pay off and it seems pointless to throw any more emotional currency toward relationships that are bankrupting us.

With our emotional center depleted, it is easy to just shut down and go dark. For some of us, the darkness is called depression, and we struggle with thoughts of self-harm. For some of us, the darkness is shoved aside with distractions. We bury ourselves in work, entertainment, shopping, or anything else that will keep us from dealing with our unmet emotional needs.

These needs keep us running from one relationship to another; one career path to another; one church to another; one substance to another. We play the blame game, accusing our parents, our partners, or our culture. We know we have unmet emotional needs, so we are naturally drawn toward people and situations that promise to meet them. Of course, it is only a matter of time before they fail us. No human can fully meet our deep emotional needs. It is a painful lesson we have to learn time and time again, until we begin to understand what it means to level up…

Excerpt from Tetelestai Recovery 3 – Leveling Up; Chapter 2: No Need

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The Power of Redemption: Becoming a New Creation in Christ

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If you have a coupon you wish to redeem at the grocery store, you are trading a worthless slip of paper for its cash value from the manufacturer. In other words, the real value of the coupon didn’t exist until it was redeemed.

We are not defined by our history, we are remade and redeemed by it. Our true value is revealed through redemption. Our history brings us into an even deeper relationship with our Maker. God takes our past and weaves a new narrative which brings new life and a DEEPER life with Christ as our advocate and example.

In 2nd Corinthians 5:17, Paul writes, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

Through faith in Christ, we are made new. This verse reminds us that when we are in a relationship with Jesus, our past no longer defines us. We are transformed into new creations, with a fresh start and a renewed purpose.

Regardless of our past mistakes, failures, or regrets, God’s grace and forgiveness are available to us. In Christ, we can leave our old ways behind and embrace the new life that He offers.

Tetelestai Recovery

The Last Word

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As part of an ongoing prison ministry at Lansing Correctional Facility behind the razor wire, we discussed Tetelestai (It is finished) with the inmates. Together, we explored the truth and finality of the power of Jesus’ words which delivered complete healing, grace, and forgiveness to all of mankind.

Not only did it call an end to addiction, dysfunction, and criminal behaviors, but it created a starting point for the beginning of something new, powerful, and unexpected. On the third floor of an old stone prison chapel, we embarked on a weekly tour of Jesus words and works.  We explored, discovered, and embraced the expansive impact of His words, “It is finished!” into other areas of our lives where we still struggled.

There we found freedom, commitment, courage, grace, love, compassion, fulfillment, and the desire to face our ailments and our addictions head on and in a permanent manner. Christ’s grace and what he did on the cross cannot be undone and neither can his words “It is finished.”

We documented what we discovered in that old prison Chapel. We wanted to preserve for others the testimony of our experience with the power of Tetelestai.  Jesus’ word had enabled us to move out of a lifestyle of relapse, despair, hopelessness, and criminal behaviors. We were able to move into something life-changing, and life-preserving, just like Christ’s work on the cross. We were excited to share how Jesus made us each a new creation.

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