Recovery Under the Cross

Reflections

Host Tim Gray offers his reflections on Recovery Under the Cross and announces what's coming up in future episodes.

Midweek Meditation: Self-Control

Self-Control and Addiction are completely opposite of each other. How can I, as a recovering alcoholic, have any sense of self-control? It's only by the grace of God and with the help of God that we can even begin to exercise self-control. Because of what God's own Son, Jesus Christ our Savior, did for us by taking away all of our sins that the Holy Spirit comes to us in God's Word and Sacrament to work faith in our hearts, thus enabling us to produce fruits of faith. Self-control is one of those fruits.
May God continue to work in us the desire to show our love for Him in all that we say and do because He loved us first.

Jesus: In Real Life

Merry Christmas! In this Christmas Episode, we marvel at the Word Incarnate, Jesus Christ, becoming flesh and dwelling among us. Jesus, as true God and true man all at the same time, is the perfect Savior we needed to take away our sins. Jesus was tempted in every way we are tempted, but never sinned. He bore upon himself the sins of the world, washing them away with his blood shed on the Cross. He defeated death once and for all by his resurrection from the dead. 
Praise God for the wonderful gift of his only-begotten Son to save us from our sins!

Midweek Meditation: Gentleness

Confronting someone about open sin isn't easy. You might have butterflies in your stomach because you don't know how the person might react, or you're nervous because you don't know how you'll react to the person's reaction. God calls on us to speak with someone caught up in sin with a spirit of gentleness and humility. It's too easy for us to confront someone with a I'm-better-than-you attitude without recognizing our own sins. Thank God he has given us Jesus whose saving work motivates us to show our loved ones their sin in a gentle and humble way, and to show them their Savior.

Midweek Meditation: Faithfulness

The next Fruit of the Spirit a believer in Jesus has that's listed in Galatians 5:22,23 is faithfulness. Faithfulness involves commitment, staying true to someone or something. Our reading from Joshua encourages us to be faithful to God and to serve him. We serve God by loving and serving one another because God loved us first.

Enduring Comfort

God commands the prophet Isaiah to preach the message of the Gospel to comfort the people of Israel who will be taken away to Babylonian captivity a few generations after warning them of their idolatry. God does not abandon His people. He stands by his promise for a Savior from sin.
So too with us. God stands by us who have sinned against him. He does not treat us as our sins deserve. God sent his Son Jesus to die for our sins and rise again from the dead as an exclamation of victory over sin, death, and hell. It's in God's eternal Word that we find this comfort of the forgiveness of sins.

Midweek Meditation: Goodness

Goodness. What does that mean? Ask 100 different people and you might get 100 different answers which all lead to the same basic concept - that which is virtuous or commendable. How does God define goodness? What does the Bible say? On our own, we are anything but good. However, because of Jesus, God works in us the desire for goodness and living our lives for Him.

Stay Spiritually Sober

Periodically, Recovery Under the Cross will use a Bible reading that fits with the current time of the Church Year. This episode was written and recorded during the season of Advent. During Advent, we focus our attention on the coming of the Savior - both his first and second coming. With Christmas around the corner, we focus on Jesus' first coming when he was born as a baby in Bethlehem. We also focus on Jesus' second coming when he will come again in glory on Judgment Day.
This episode's Bible reading comes from Luke chapter 21. Jesus warns the people about what it will be like in the end times and how he wants us to keep watch continually by staying spiritually sober.

Midweek Meditation: Kindness

What does it mean to be kind, or to have kindness? It's more than being nice to one another. Being kind means to be selfless and contribute to the needs of others. This is something we do out of love for Christ because he loved us first.

Build One Another Up with Your Words

The words we use have impact. We can use our words to tear down. We can use our words to build one another up. Paul encourages the Ephesians and us to build one another up with our words.