Desperate Joy

  Addiction is a powerful and malevolent force that corrupts our hearts and minds. It warps the way we think and makes us believe all manner of false and dangerous lies. Addiction is a mental illness, a disease of the mind that distorts the way we think. If we are to find sobriety and sanity we have to learn to change the way we think. We have to learn to think about what we are thinking about and understand how we think. We have to be vigilant and practice "casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:5) Paul wrote this as well in Romans 12:2 "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." One of the most effective ways we can renew our minds is through meditation. There are myriad ways to practice me...

  When the average person first makes his way into recovery, he is usually in desperate straits.  We are usually feeling defeated, crushed, and absolutely broken.  The addiction has ravaged our lives and left us feeling empty and alone.  We have tried every other solution on our own, and in desperation we turned to a Twelve Step group.  We read Step One and knew it was talking about us, "We came to believe that we were powerless over sex addiction, that our lives had become unmanageable." Learning that we were powerless and our lives were unmanageable was a bitter pill to swallow, but we quickly learned that while we were powerless, we were not hopeless or helpless.   We found that God was ready and able to help if we were willing to cry out to him in prayer.   Through prayer we find the power we need to overcome the addiction. Prayer has always been an important part of my life, I came to know God at a young age and learned to cultivate that relat...