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Chapter 6- Faith and Acceptance (Dena)

11/10/2019

This Step is about turning ourselves completely to Him.
It talks about Come to me… and I will give you rest. Matt 11:28

His gift of rest, peace, and serenity comes as we acknowledge our readiness to have Him remove our character defects.

We have to be on top of this every day, every moment.
When I get up, in the morning and say my prayers, it does not stop there.
The struggle I face is that I say my prayers for God to walk and talk with me that day. But so many times I fail to completely give my thoughts, moods, direction, for that day to Him.

So many times I forget to refortify my thoughts in His word.

I get off my knees and except all to be well. No so!!!

I forget to shoot up those prayers all day long, and trust He is with me to help when that person makes me crazy.
Our character defects come when we do not put our will in God's hands.
God patiently waits for us to call on Him each moment of the day.
Should we feel it is too much to give all to Christ? We must ask ourselves the question, What has Christ given for me? The Son of God gave all – life and love and suffering-to save us. Amen

- Dena

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Chapter 7- The Test of Discipleship (Charlie)

11/3/2019

For me this was one of the most difficult steps. Making a a list of all people I had harmed, and be willing to make amends to them all.
It was very humbling to face up to my past. I didn’t see it as a chance to restore broken relationships but having to face the one my behavior had injured. I didn’t know if they would forgive me or tell me I was jerk and to never bother them again. It was scary. I decided with the help of God I could face the music. Most folks readily forgave. Some just couldn’t. I understood. This caused be to be more careful. I needed spiritual guidance on who I could talk to without hurting them more. Thus this step helped my relationship with God to become more full because I sought Him and relied on Him for discernment. Soon, through the grace of God, I recognized when in my current situation I had injured someone. I immediately or as soon as possible fessed up my wrong behavior and asked forgiveness. With it still fresh in my mind and theirs it was resolved and neither one of us had to carry that burden. It became a chance to do a personal inventory to resolve the problem. It became freedom. I found the sooner I addressed the issue and made things right I could have the peace I so desperately sought after. Courage my friends rely on God and He will not let you down.

-Charlie

Chapter 4- Confession (Dena)

10/15/2019

This to me is a very important step. It brings us to the point of really understanding our
disappointments about ourselves and what we consider sin and not sin.
Making that decision to turn our will and life over to the care of God is one
that I struggle with each day. Sometimes I am willing and other days it is not there.
This chapter makes it evident that before confession of sinful (addictive behavior) there
needs to be a recognition of the specific addictions and character defects that are causing
us problems and separation from God.
This step to me is a ongoing one, it takes time and a lot of prayer. God has always
been faithful to bring me around that mountain multiple times when I don't get it on the first time around.
First we need to admit to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature
of our wrongs.
You will never succeed in life if you try to hide your sins, confess them and give them
up; then God will show mercy to you. Proverbs 28:13
Praying for myself has been hard to learn. We get use to praying for many other
things and people. We need to not only intercede for others, but intercede for ourselves as well.
Our eternal wellbeing depends on it. Read the in 1 Samuel 12:19 where it talks about
confession to God. Its good to read also Gen 3:12,13..
Our confessed sins free us to move forward with God and our fellow man. Pray that as
time is short we all come to the Lord and turn it over to Him
-Dena

Step to Christ- Where can I read it?

9/22/2019

For those following along and wanting to know where you can read this book. There is a free version online, we have attached the link in the button below. We encourage you to read it for yourself and let us know what you think.

Steps to Christ Book online

If you want a copy of the Recovery Edition specifically you can use the contact form below. Please make sure to put your address in the box so we can mail it. We will send you a copy of the book free of charge if you live in the USA. Otherwise please leave a comment if you outside the USA and we will figure out shipping with you.

Chapter 3- Repentance (Dena)

9/16/2019

How can a person be put aright with God?. How can a sinner be made righteous? Only through Christ can we find harmony with God and be made holy. But how are we to come to Christ?
To Repent means to be sorry for sin and to turn away from it. We will not give up sin unless we see how sinful it is.
There will be no real change in our lives until we stop loving sin and decide to turn from it.
The bible does not teach that the sinner must repent before he can accept Christ's invitation. “Come to me , all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest." Matt 11:28
When I read about repentance I need to really seek the Lord. I feel the only way to come to true bible repentance is with the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Here is a example of what true repentance is not.
Judas Iscariot sold his Lord to those who planned to kill Him. Then he cried out. ”I have sinned by betraying an innocent man to death. " Matt 27:4
This confession was forced from his guilty heart by a terrible fear of punishment. He was afraid that he might have to suffer for what he had done,
But he felt no deep, heart -breaking sorrow for selling out the perfect Son of God.
When we truly want to repent of our sin, a real victory in the Lord's leading will follow. Its not about the sin, its about the sinner.

We need to truly seek our Lord Jesus, and draw close to him with every thought. He wants us to follow Him, but also wants us to have a loving relationship with Him. This is done as we seek to lay our sinful way at His feet.
My prayer is has we draw closer to our Lord's coming that we see our need for a savior.

-Dena

Chapter 6- Faith and Acceptance (Charlie)

9/16/2019

" We humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.”
We can’t depend on our feelings. Our feelings have shown us they cannot be trusted. We can depend on God and His promises. Our self-reliance fails us. Pride keeps us from humbly asking God to remove our shortcomings. Asking is not enough, we must believe that God is willing to help us. We can come to God just as we are confessing our sins and repenting. In his loving mercy, He changes our lives. The Holy Spirit enables us to recognize sin for what it is. When we see sin for what it is we are sorry and feel guilty. As God works our heart, we are changed and begin to hate sin. Our new heart, given as a free gift, causes us to believe God's promises. So we confess our sins and choose to serve God. Thank God, we can receive his blessing right now! We don't need to clean ourselves up first. God's promises are for each of us. We are to believe, come to Him, confess our sins and repent. There is no reason to be afraid or unbelieving. The Father hates the sin, but loves the sinner.

Blessings,
Charlie

Chapter 5- Consecration (Charlie)

7/21/2019

This was difficult for me. Be ready and willing to allow God to remove my character defects. I did know God and had not developed a relationship with Him.

What it boiled down to was a trust issue. God wants to heal us. He wants to remove our sinful behavior. He invites us to come to Him. I wanted to be in control of my own life. Do what I wanted to. To give control of my life over to God was to admit that I couldn't run my own life. I hadn't had much luck with running my own life. The results were clear enough to everyone who knew me and had to become clear to me. As I reflected on the choices I had made I could see I was going downhill fast. I ask God to make me willing to be willing to give my life over to Him. God has our best in mind. He actually has a plan for our lives. Our choice is whether we keep control and continue going our way or to allow Him to work out His plan for our lives. God wishes us no ill will. He desires us to live harmoniously with Him so we can finally have peace in our lives. The choice is ours.

-Charlie

Chapter 4- Confession (Charlie)

7/21/2019

God does not force us to do anything. He desires us to freely come to Him of our free will. God doesn't want this to be painful. It may be painful because we see and admit the wrongs we have committed. The Holy Spirit guides us to recognize our sin for what it is. We have to admit it is our problem (addiction) and feel sorry for the pain we have caused God or someone else. When we take ownership of our sin and stop blaming someone else, God will forgive our trespasses. True confession names the sin: addiction, resentment, or character flaw. Sometimes it is helpful to have an experienced Holy Spirit- filled person to help us with our journey. We must be careful who we ask to walk with us. One of the byproducts of sin is that when we commit the sin the first time it is easier to do again. We have lost our innocence and it does not look as wrong as it did before. Brokenhearted people are humbled and desire forgiveness. This leads us to see that God does really accept us and loves us. God will forgive us when we admit our sin and repent of it.

-Charlie

Chapter 3- Repentance (Charlie)

7/10/2019

The need for repentance occurs following an awakening in our conscience. This awakening is caused by the Holy Spirit touching our hearts helping us to recognize our problem. Unfortunately a lot of people don’t understand repentance. They mistakenly believe that repentance opens up the way to forgiveness. We need to come to Christ with our heavily laden hearts. That is where repentance begins. The Bible teaches that the Spirit of Christ leads us to repent and receive a pardon from God. Our minds (and hearts!) are touched and we see sin for what it really is. This affects conscience and opens up the door to true repentance. It is our choice to receive this gift but we can reject the idea if we so chose. If you desire change, you need only ask. Christ died to take away our sins and change our lives to be more like Him. We need to sense our need of a Savior to come to Him. The opening of our eyes to the fact that sin has caused our shame and our desire to mask the pain. The next step is to talk to God about it and ask for His mercy. A lot of the time we want to blame others for the condition we are in. Delaying our decision to come to Him only leads to more of the old life. Every time we delay is an opportunity to have our hearts hardened. This leads us to make poor choices. Delaying keeps us from receiving the love of God. Sin makes us less willing to receive the Holy Spirit. Sin changes our habits and hearts to desire the lifestyle we need so desperately to leave. Many have chosen to accept Christ's sacrifice on our behalf . We tend to want to stop there. We want Him as our Savior but not as Lord of our lives. We clearly see how awful sin (our addiction) is when we are drawn to God. We also clearly see God’s love for us when we repent and ask His forgiveness.

- Charlie

Chapter 2 - A Sinner's Need for Christ (Charlie)

6/30/2019

We recognize our complete lack of power to change our compulsive behavior. This is may be an eye opener for the one suffering. Folks around them already know that they are out of control. Usually an event triggers the decision to change our lives. Whatever the event, it is painful enough to cause us to seek help. We cannot escape the power of sin on our own. The good news is this pain opens the door for us to look for help beyond the realm of human power. We cannot change our desires because we have to have a change of heart. The Power that can change us is Jesus. When we accept the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins we can be reconciled to God. If we choose not to accept this gift then we feel guilty and want to hide from God. We do this by continuing our cycle of addiction. Christ desires to save all those who come to Him with a repentant heart. That is God’s will for our lives. He wants His family reunited.

- Charlie

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Steps to Christ Recovery Edition Blog

Charlie
and
Dena Meigs

Hi friends,

I am Charlie, pastor of the Wrangell SDA church during 2014-2019. My wife Dena and I started this blog as a way to share what we are learning as we read through the Ellen G. White book Steps to Christ.

I was an atheist and hedonist. My choices and actions caused me to become a broken person. I realized my need of God and trusted Him to guide me to being whole again. I followed a 12 step program on my quest of finding this all powerful loving God. I am excited to share with you my journey through the Recovery Edition of Steps to Christ.

Chapter 6- Faith and Acceptance (Dena)

Chapter 7- The Test of Discipleship (Charlie)

Chapter 4- Confession (Dena)

Step to Christ- Where can I read it?

Recovery Edition Steps to Christ

Chapter 3- Repentance (Dena)

Chapter 6- Faith and Acceptance (Charlie)

Chapter 5- Consecration (Charlie)

Chapter 4- Confession (Charlie)

Chapter 3- Repentance (Charlie)

Chapter 2 - A Sinner's Need for Christ (Charlie)

Steps to Christ Recovery Edition Blog

Charlie
and
Dena Meigs

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Recovery Edition Steps to Christ

Steps to Christ Recovery Edition Blog

Charlie and ​Dena Meigs

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Charlie
and
Dena Meigs