Tag: Jesus

Tetelestai Recovery

Activating a Miracle

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We searched the scriptures for more proof of the power of praise. We were astonished to discover that the act of giving thanks was typically the prelude to a miracle. Jesus himself made this point when feeding the 5000. The gospel accounts tell us that He held the 2 fish and 5 loaves, looked up, and gave thanks. Immediately following His expression of gratitude, the food multiplied and there was more than enough to go around.

We see another example in the story of Lazarus. The man had been dead four days when Jesus appeared and raised him from the dead. Amazingly enough, the words of Christ, right before calling Lazarus from the tomb, were words of gratitude to God.

Our search led us to some Old Testament writings of King David who was a pro when it came to praise. Time after time, David poured out his heart in the Psalms. Sometimes they were words of praise from start to finish. Other times, the writing began with an outpouring of distress, but turned to praise in the final stanzas. Whether threatened by enemy armies, wounded by family betrayal, or overwhelmed by too many decisions, each painful experience was handled with the same primary coping mechanism. We found it over and over in the final lines of each sad song, “Yet, I will praise God.”

We were delighted to find another example from the familiar Old Testament story of Jonah and the whale. After reading verse after verse of Jonah complaining to God in a pathetic prayer of self-obsession, we found a sudden change of heart. In verse 9 of Jonah chapter 2, the pitiful prophet abruptly states, “But I, with shouts of praise will sacrifice to you.”

Suddenly, in the next verse we read, “And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry ground.”

This principle of praise as a precursor to a miracle was not just for Old Testament Kings and Prophets, nor was it only for Jesus during His ministry. We discovered post-ascension proof that praise continues to be the key component to divine intervention. We read the story in Acts 16 of Paul and Silas chained to the wall in a jail cell. Their midnight praise session was so powerful, it created a shift in the earth’s plates and the prison foundations shook until the chains fell off and the cell doors opened.  

After gathering evidence from scriptural data and personal experience, we were amazed to find that the key to unlocking any miracle is this simple, yet powerful act of praise.

Tetelestai Recovery – Chapter 10, The Power of Praise

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Tetelestai Recovery

The Root of Shame

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We grew up so familiar with our shame, it seemed to be a part of our personality. We didn’t know how to relinquish it, so we put it on a pedestal and made it an object of worship. We justified our outrageous behaviors, bragged about our immorality, and shook off our fears with a ‘who cares?’ attitude. We couldn’t extinguish our shame, so we embraced it. We got together with other shame-filled people and competed for admission into the Hall of Shame.

When the power of Christ was revealed to us, we became new creatures. However, not all our shameful behaviors disappeared overnight. Shame was still very much a part of our lives. We no longer reveled in it. On the contrary, we wished it to be buried with our former selves whom we had grown to despise.

Ironically, the hatred we felt toward our shame was not an indication of our failure to believe. We believed in Christ, and we clung faithfully to his words, “It is finished!” However, that root of shame continued to produce bitter fruit and we needed relief.

We consciously pondered our thoughts of ourselves in relation to the thoughts God has toward us. We practiced praise continually. We claimed Tetelestai over our addictions, disease, poverty, and any other form of the curse from which the power of the cross had set us free. We watched our words and verbalized our agreement with God concerning His perception of us. We called ourselves Blessed, More than Conquerors, Children of God, and Chosen. We trusted that Jesus bequeathed to us his very own Shalom, which assured us the promise of wholeness, with nothing missing, nothing broken. We no longer trusted our feelings as the Truth, but rather, we relied on the Word of God and the guidance of His Spirit to be our compass. We recognized that facts are changeable and when we are out of options, it only means we are in the perfect position for a miracle. We believed that the supernatural could override the natural realm and we occupied territory never before conquered.

Sadly, our shame was still an integral part of our existence. Our guilt taught us that we made mistakes. Our shame told us we were a mistake. We had no remedy for our shame.

We tried to hide our feelings of shame with superficial coverings. We used money, prestige, aggression, relationships, and an air of superiority to quiet the inner voice which whispered, “If others only knew the real you…”

As we journeyed down this treacherous path, as new creatures in Christ, we searched for insights from our Sacred Text. In Mark 11, we found the story of Jesus encountering a fig tree which was covered in green leafy foliage but had no fruit. He simply said, “May no one ever eat of your fruit again.” And the disciples heard him say it. The next day, when passing by the same tree, it was reported to have been withered from the roots up.

At first, we felt that Jesus overreacted to the failure to find fruit. We suspected he had become too tired and hungry, which we all know is a prelude to becoming too angry. However, after closer inspection, we are reminded that this was a fig tree. These fig leaves were a reminder of that time back in the Garden of Eden when His newly created couple tried to cover their shame. The fig tree with leaves but no fruit was a symbol of humanity without purpose.

Tetelestai Recovery

Self Destructive Tendencies

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We found the facts of the first story in Mark chapter five, concerning a demon possessed man who cut himself and lived in tombs, to be tragic and disturbing. We also identified with him in a way that few others can. This man was out of his mind, and everyone knew it. The historical facts had proven that human power was no match for a demon. Evil was an entity to be feared and avoided.

When we were lost in our addiction, we were self-destructive, violent, fearful, crazy, and more conspicuous than we cared to admit. The demoniac man is one we relate to with deep heartbreaking empathy. We walked his path. Like him, our path led to Jesus. And in like manner, Jesus called out our demons and returned us to our right minds.

  • Fact: this man was violent and dangerous.
  • Fact: anyone who got close got hurt.
  • Fact: the man had been this way for many years.
  • Fact: there was no treatment or remedy available for him.
  • Fact: no mortal man could throw down with a legion of hell hounds and live to tell about it.
  • Fact: the demoniac man ran toward Jesus.
  • Truth: Of all these facts, only one held any significance: He ran toward Jesus.
  • Truth: When he ran to the Prince of Peace, with his frightening facts, they were overpowered by the Truth.
  • Truth: The man’s sanity was restored, and his life changed forever.

Oddly, the story states at this point that the people were afraid. Sadly, when we were delivered from our addiction, some of our friends and family were afraid too. They were afraid it wouldn’t last; afraid it was too good to be true; afraid it was a manipulation technique; or just afraid of being hurt again.

Tetelestai Recovery – Chapter 8, Facts are Changeable

https://a.co/d/1wqIxA6

Tetelestai Recovery

Not Just Another Statistic

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Truth can change the facts but the facts can never change the Truth.

We discovered within the Tetelestai realm of recovery, we were no longer destined to remain stuck in our sickness and disoriented in our dysfunctions. We were painfully aware of the facts concerning statistics, relapse, and case studies. We also knew the facts of our past, our failures, and our crimes.

We could not rely too heavily on these facts however, for if we subjected ourselves to natural results, we would forfeit the opportunity of a supernatural override. If we allowed ourselves to be enclosed by a fence of facts, we would once again fall victim to the old status quo. In agreement with Christ, we declared, “Tetelestai,” against becoming just another statistic.

We looked to the fifth chapter of the gospel of Mark to discover Jesus’ total disregard for facts. In this one chapter, we found three unique and unrelated accounts of individuals who desperately sought to change the facts of their reality. Each case study contained significant details which would negate the likelihood of change. To change an unchangeable fact is outside the realm of reality. We, like the characters in Mark 5, rejected typical reality based solely on facts. We believed that our righteous Judge could and would overrule the facts to establish His trademark justice which is lovingly steeped in mercy.

When we claimed the powerful declaration of Christ, “Tetelestai,” over our sickness, poverty, strained relationships, and criminal records, we were, in essence, asking Jesus to override our human facts in preference to His divine truth concerning our divine purpose and potential.

Tetelestai Recovery – Chapter 8, Facts are Changeable

https://a.co/d/hGqluhL

Tetelestai Recovery

A Clear View

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They arrived in Bethsaida. Some people brought a sightless man and begged Jesus to give him a healing touch. Taking him by the hand, he led him out of the village. He put spit in the man’s eyes, laid hands on him, and asked, “Do you see anything?”

He looked up. “I see men. They look like walking trees.” So, Jesus laid hands on his eyes again. The man looked hard and realized that he had recovered perfect sight; saw everything in bright, twenty-twenty focus.

Jesus sent him straight home, telling him, “Don’t enter the village.” 

Mark 8:22-26

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Like the blind man in this passage, we needed a second touch from Jesus to heal our distorted view. All we had to do was be honest and admit that our perspective was still distorted. Jesus didn’t scold the man for not having enough faith, or for being inadequate. Jesus simply asked him what was wrong and then fixed it.

At the end of the story, after the man’s vision was perfectly restored, Jesus told him to go straight home and not to go back into the village.  In our own parallel stories, we heard Jesus say, “Don’t go back into….”

We each heard a different ending to that sentence, based on our own uniquely personal experience. For all of us, it was a moment of truth. If we wanted to enjoy our total Tetelestai Recovery and be comfortable in our New Normal, we would not be able to return to that person, place, or thing which was certain to pull us back into our distortions.

Tetelestai Recovery Volume 2, Chapter Four, A Clear View https://a.co/d/49qBC5V

Tetelestai Recovery

Tetelestai

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In the original Greek language, the word for the phrase “It is finished” is Tetelestai.

I was introduced to the word Tetelestai one day when I was well into my fourth year of permanent healing from addiction.

It was during a year-long court battle which had been a residual consequence from my old life. The day I appeared in court to hear the verdict and receive my sentence, I claimed this scripture and the word Tetelestai over my case.  I was relieved by the peace it held and became willing to accept whatever God had in store for me, even if it meant a year in prison.

I prayed this scripture and acknowledged the fact that God had already redeemed me. He had made me a new creation by healing me from addiction. As I was praying that morning, God was working on the judge.  He gave the judge an insight into something that no one else had seen…

Tetelestai Recovery Volume 2, Introduction https://a.co/d/0lhAU5G

Tetelestai Recovery

Post-Traumatic Strength and Stability

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And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 1 Peter 5:10

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This came as a shock to those of us who grew up in the psycho-babble era, where therapists were gods who slung letter-label disorders at us like lightning bolts. Most of us had been zapped by at least one label or another which altered our identity. Sadly, that movement brought such a self-defeated attitude; many of us doubted the power of the cross over our disorders.

Thankfully, after receiving the message of Christ’s finished work, we concluded that our dysfunctional labels need not remain our identity.

  • We claimed the powerful promise from Romans 8:37 concerning our sense of powerlessness:

In all these things we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us.

We subjected our past trauma to the truth found in Romans 8:28:

We know that all things work together for the good of those who love Christ, who have been called according to His purpose.

Paul didn’t write ‘some things’ or ‘the good things’. No, he said that all things, even the least expected or most traumatic things, will work together for our good and for the Kingdom’s expansion project.

We realized that it wouldn’t benefit the Kingdom if its soldiers and ambassadors were traumatized, weak, and frail (either mentally or physically). No military unit would succeed with a platoon of disabled soldiers charging in to take a hill. Fighters in poor condition would be counter-productive to the cause. When charging into enemy territory, only the healthiest, strongest, and well-trained are called up to active duty.

Knowing that God has called us up to active duty, we also trust that He has given us health, strength, and solid training. We have discovered the spiritual law of the Kingdom where trauma turns to triumph and frailty turns to strength.

Chapter 4 / Post-Traumatic Strength and Stability

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Tetelestai Recovery

Self-Help Was No Help

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Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

John 14:27

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Jesus gave us this promise of peace, translated from the original word shalom, meaning: wholeness; nothing missing; nothing broken. Therefore, if we failed to experience it, we needed to know why.

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Was He a liar? Did He tease us with hope and then pull it away like Lucy holding the football in the Charlie Brown cartoon?

We developed resentment toward this Higher Power who seemingly yanked away our hope, time after time. If He controlled the universe, why didn’t He just snap His fingers and make all our misery disappear?

We questioned Him and His ways. We saw other people receive deliverance and healing from their dysfunctions and we were jealous. We finally concluded that the odds of a miracle landing on us were about the same as a rose petal falling from the sky and landing on our heads.

We knew we couldn’t raise our hopes for a miracle of our own if it was simply a cosmic lottery. We were driven to figure out what we could do to make it happen. We had been taught all our lives that a person gets what they deserve. We feared our relapses and failures had deemed us unworthy.

We knew how to work in the natural realm to get what we wanted. We worked hard. We had built personal empires and seen our own efforts succeed in other areas of life. This made it extremely difficult to understand why we couldn’t succeed in our efforts to maintain consistent sobriety.

We wanted to work for recovery and thus, control the results. We wanted to work for it, so we could own it. We wanted to know we had earned our sobriety. We wanted to receive accolades for how courageous we had been. We wanted to know it had come to us honestly, through hard work and perseverance.

Tragically, we discovered that our work just didn’t work.

Chapter Six, Shalom

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Tetelestai Recovery

Yes and No

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As we leveled up in our new normal, we had to adopt the same type of mindset with our life choices as we did for driving on muddy country roads.  Our decisions and actions needed to be precisely calibrated in order to achieve the results we wanted.  Just as it would be foolish to see how close to the ditch we could drive without sliding off the road, it was also foolish to see how close we could get to temptation without giving in.  

In our leveled-up position, we learned that every action started with a choice. And every choice carried an equal and opposite result. In other words, every choice carried both a yes and a no decision.

If we said yes to sobriety, we said no to the chaos and destruction we once lived. And visa-versa.  If we said yes to a drink or drug, we said no to hope and sanity. When we said yes to thinking out our choices, we said no to making the same dumb decisions over and over, expecting different results.

To level-up, we had to accept our own responsibility for the choices and events of our lives. We had to realize that our decisions, even in little things, mattered.   Whether it was getting a good deal on a laptop we suspected was stolen, or working the system to get benefits we didn’t really qualify for, every decision set off a chain reaction of negative results and consequences.

We evaluated some of our individual experiences and shared them with the group.

One member who had been an addiction to porn, shared his decision-making process when it came to watching television.  He knew which shows would trigger lustful thoughts, so he simply chose not to watch them.  He chose instead to watch sports, cooking shows, and educational programs like Nova. He said yes to living free from his addiction which meant he said no to shows that triggered him.  Each time he made that choice, he placed himself into a position of freedom. He continues to pursue his destiny using the wisdom God has given.  He has leveled up into a mature, godly man who demonstrates great leadership skills. 

Another member of the group shared about self-esteem issues. From childhood, he had been trying to cope with the confusion of trauma, unaware of what to call it. He struggled with feelings of unworthiness and was unable to feel a sense of value.  That all changed when he made the choice to learn about trauma and its effects. He chose to develop a relationship with Jesus, his Healer.  He made a choice to forgive and move away from the pain. Because he said yes to openness, and no to suffering in silence, he now operates in a position of power and serves as an advocate for others. He has the wisdom of God and the heart of a servant.

Another member shared about his past life of uncontrollable rage.  He spoke about feeling as if he had no choice when it overtook him. His experience with rage was like driving on a slippery, muddy road at full speed, headed straight for the ditch, and unable to stop.  It was hard for us to believe he had ever struggled with rage. This was a man who carried the joy of the Lord on his face. His smile was contagious, his demeanor was gracious, and he radiated positive energy whenever he walked into the room.  He often spoke of love and forgiveness as if it were his lifeline.  He had made a conscious choice to forgive whenever he was wronged. He refused to carry a grudge, but instead, chose to walk in love. He said no to rage and yes to compassion. Forgiveness and joy were no longer second nature to him; they were his new normal.