Tetelestai Recovery

Understanding Emotional Needs: A Path to Healing

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

A Date With Destiny

The Safety Zone

Proverbs 12:3
Doing evil brings a person no safety at all.
But a good person has safety and security.


The Spirit of God’s goodness resides within you and around you. This creates a protective force-field of safety and security.

As you encounter the icy chill of societal norms, that applaud greed, aggression, and ego, you are warmed from within by the Spirit’s flame.

Like a crackling fire on a cold winter night, the presence of divine light permeates the atmosphere and brings comfort.

Your soul is at rest and your mind is at peace because you know the power of your position in the universe. 

Since God is on your side, and has promised to defend you, there is no need to defend yourself. You have an army of angels on standby, ready to assist as you stand your ground.

You know that the forces of darkness cannot take what is yours.  God has given you a divine destiny and therefore, you live in safety, knowing that your future is protected.

Along the way, you may encounter opposition in the forms of sabotage, jealousy, or misunderstanding.

Some of these battles are critical and require the strategic planning of you and your Creator. Yet other battles are not worthy of your time or attention. You refuse to be drawn into petty disputes because they waste time and slow you down.

The Divine Spirit gives you the unique ability to maneuver safely through confrontation and conflict without losing ground or losing your peace.

You play a vital role in the next great awakening. You have been given gifts and talents to lay the groundwork for God to reveal new insights and unleash greater power on His people.

You have been chosen by the Creator of the Universe for specific assignments that will change the course of history. You have a divine destiny which is protected and promoted by the Commander of Angel Armies. Nothing can harm you. No one can stop you.  Your steps have been ordered by the Lord and nothing can stand in your way.

A Date With Destiny

Empowered by God: Discovering Your Path to Success

Genesis 12:2
I will bless you. I will make you famous and you will be a blessing to others.


Having been blessed by God, you are empowered to succeed.

The fear of failure may occasionally drift through your thoughts when you take on a project that you feel inadequate to manage, but knowing that you have been empowered to succeed by the Creator of the Universe, you set aside fearful feelings, and face each challenge head-on.

Being blessed by God, you see His supernatural power at work in all of your efforts. You realize that He is able and willing to make a success out of anything – even things you thought were failures.

Sometimes your successes do not appear all that successful at first. There are times that your initial attempts at success look a lot like failures. But, you live by faith, not by sight. You do not view failure as the end, but rather, the beginning of a new approach.

Empowered to succeed, you rise each day with a purpose and a plan. However, you also remain open to the possibility that an unexpected divine assignment may pop up along the way. If it does, you are willing to change course at a moment’s notice in order to fulfill it.


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The Power of Redemption: Becoming a New Creation in Christ

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.

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The Power of Gratitude in All Circumstances

In Thessalonians 5:18, we are instructed to give thanks in all circumstances because this is the will of God for us.

The writer is not saying that we should thank God FOR everything, but IN everything. Evil does not come from God, so we don’t thank Him for that, but we can thank Him for His presence during that evil, AND for the GOOD He will accomplish through the distress.

In other words, our attitude of gratitude must not be dependent on our circumstances or feelings, but rather on the confidence that God is making all things work together for good.

Remaining thankful in all circumstances places us at the center of God’s will. It creates a spiritual atmosphere that is welcoming to His Presence. Gratitude invites the power of God to alter our perspectives and halt the trajectory of our spiraling thoughts.


You inhabit the praises of your people. Psalm 22:3

Tetelestai Recovery

Why Gratitude Matters

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this the will of God concerning you.
1 Thessalonians 5:18


As we prepare for the holiday of Thanksgiving, with all of the planning to gather with family, friends, and loved ones, we get anxious, don’t we? We often worry about shopping, cooking, relationship challenges, or maybe how past holidays turned out.

These are legitimate reservations that we need to listen to, but also realize that we can be thankful for these feelings. All of these holiday anxieties show us that we cherish these relationships regardless of past interactions that may have left us distanced from others.


Tetelestai Recovery

The Last Word

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.

A Date With Destiny

Embracing the Holy Spirit: A Guide to Spiritual Clarity

Happy Birthday 11/13



You know how to give good things to your children. How much more then, will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!

Luke 11:13

The Holy Spirit has infused you with clarity of purpose and divine destiny. You maintain a higher level of spiritual perception because you listen to the Spirit and follow the instructions you are given. You have the mind of Christ and share His thoughts, ideals, and goals.

Your Spirit-controlled mind gives you a supernatural vantage point which allows you to view life from the divine perspective, outside of time, space, and human emotion.

You receive increasingly more light as you walk with Christ through the seasons of life.  Having the superior guidance system of the Spirit allows you to be in the right place, at the right time, making good decisions.

You deeply desire to live as the Spirit guides, because you want to do the right thing for yourself and those you love.

Spiritual directives come to you through divine insight and experience. You find comfort in knowing that the wisdom of Christ is gift from God rather than an academic accomplishment of your own human intellect.

You appreciate the strength of the Spirit when embarking on difficult journeys through forgiveness, regret, loss, and insecurity. You know that when your mind is controlled by the Spirit, the concept of faith is not difficult to comprehend.

As you continue to identify His thoughts and ideals emerging from your own mind, you realize that the Holy Spirit is truly yours and therefore, the possibilities are endless.

Tetelestai Recovery

Divine Destiny

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

Tetelestai Recovery

Tetelestai Recovery

Tetelestai Recovery – Finding Total Recovery in the Words of Christ, “It is Finished!”

Within the pages of this book you will learn how to move out of your addiction and into your destiny. Through their personal journey of recovery, the authors present indisputable evidence that total healing and release from the disease of addiction can be found through the final declaration of Christ, “It is finished!”

Whether you are a suffering addict; an exhausted 12-stepper; a chronic relapser; or a person who loves one, Tetelestai Recovery will open your eyes to the possibility of permanent sobriety without the struggle. This revolutionary concept is bringing radical changes to the recovery community. You are here for a reason and it’s time to find out why.