Tonight we begin a journey on the road to recovery. This journey has to begin with Jesus Christ. But before we begin this exciting journey together, we need to ask ourselves a couple of questions:

1) Am I going to let my past failures or these giants from my past prevent me from taking this journey?

2) Am I afraid to change?


Let’s look at Hebrews 12:1

The TLB version says,

Since we have such a huge crowd of men of faith watching us from the grandstands, let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back, and especially those sins that wrap themselves so tightly around our feet and trip us up; and let us run with patience the particular race that God has set before us.

There are two things that I would like to point out in this verse. First, God has a particular race, a unique plan, for each of us. A plan for good, not a life full of dependencies and addictions.

The second thing is that we need to be willing to get rid of all the unnecessary baggage, the past failures, the giants, in our lives that keep us stuck. Again it says , let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back, and especially those sins that wrap themselves so tightly around our feet and trip us up.

For many of us, our addictions hold us back and trip us up. Working this Christ centered recovery program will, with God’s power allow you to defeat those giants and strip off those things that are holding you back. God will help you find the strength to defeat those giants and be free of their hold on your life.

You see, a lot of us have giants in our lives from the past. These giants are trying to hold you in the past.

Lets look at tonights acrostic: GIANTS

The G stands for GUILT:

Some of you are bound by guilt. You keep beating yourself up over some past failure. You’re trapped, stuck in your guilt. You think that no one anywhere is as bad as you are, that no one could love the real you, and that no one could ever forgive you for the terrible things that you have done.

You’re wrong. God can. That’s why Jesus went to the cross, for our sins. He knows everything you’ve ever done and everything you’ve ever experienced. And there are many here tonight that have faced similar failures in their life and have accepted Christ’s forgiveness. They are here to encourage and support you.

The apostle Paul had a lot to regret about his past. He even participated in Stephen’s murder. Yet in Philippians 3:13 he tells us, “No, dear brothers, I am still not all I should be but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.”

Here’s the bottom line, If you want to be free from your giants: You need to deal with your past guilt once and for all. You need to do as Isaiah 43:18 tells us, “Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past.” That doesn’t mean ignore the past .You need to learn from your past, offer forgiveness, make amends, and then release it. Only then can you be free from your guilt, grudges, and grief!

Let’s face it , we have all stumbled with our addictions. But the race isn’t over yet. God isn’t interested in how we started but how we finish the race.

The next letter is I:

Our giants ISOLATE us from God.

Adam and Eve are a great example of how our giants and secrets separate us from true fellowship with God. Gen: 3:7 tells us that Adam and Eve hid from God because they felt naked and ashamed. But Adam tried to rationalize. He said to God, “The woman you put here with me”…Then he tried to blame it on Eve: “She gave me some fruit.”

Remember, God’s light shines on the truth. Our giants keep us in the dark. “ God is light, in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his son, purifies us from all sin.” ( 1 John 1:5-7)

The next letter is A:

Our giants ALIENATE us. Our giants tell us we are getting away with it. We think no one knows, but they do. We don’t dare reveal our true selves to others for fear of what they will think or say if they knew the real us. We must protect ourselves, our secrets, at any cost.

What’s the answer? Listen to Ephesians 4:25 “ Stop lying to each other, tell the truth, for we are parts of each other and when we lie to each other we are hurting ourselves. Remember it is always better to tell the ugly truth rather than a beautiful lie.”

The next letter is N:

Our giants NEGATE our growth. We cannot grow in recovery until we are ready to step away from our giants. God is waiting to take your hand and lead you away from your giants. The Bible says, “ They cried to the Lord in their troubles, and he rescued them. He led them from the darkness and shadow of death and snapped their chains.” ( Psalms 107 :13-14)

The next letter is T:

Our giants interfere with our TRUST.

Have you ever been behind a semi truck on a two lane mountain road? I remember a time traveling with my family.
We were driving up a mountain road with beautiful scenery. At one point, we approached a very steep incline and there must have been ten cars ahead of us. All of us were stuck behind a very slow moving 18 wheeler.

The truck chugged very slowly up the hill. All of a sudden, the driver stuck his arm out of the window and motioned the cars to go around him. By his arm movement, he was telling us it was safe, there was no oncoming traffic ahead and we could pass him. One by one, the drivers of the cars trusted their own and their families lives to a total stranger, as they moved out and in blind trust went around the slow truck.

All of a sudden, it hit me. I realized that we trust our lives to complete strangers everyday. We trust that on coming cars will stop at intersections. We trust that the food we eat won’t make us sick.

Why then is it so hard for us to trust our lives to the care of God, whose eye is always upon us? I don’t know about you, but I would rather walk with God in the darkest valley than walk alone or with a stranger in the daylight.

The last letter is S:

Our giants SEPERATE us from God.

Some people talk about finding God as if he could ever be lost. Separation from God can feel real, but it is never permanent. Remember, he seeks the lost. When we can’t find God, we need to ask ourselves, who moved? I’ll give you a hint. It wasn’t God.

For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels won’t, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God’s love away. Nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us. ( Romans 8: 38-39).

Maurice Johnson
Pastor
One Step Ministry

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Comment by Godsproperty1952 on March 29, 2009 at 8:32pm
Praise the Lord Pastor Johnson. I too believe that the only road OF recovery, begins with taking a hold of the Lords hand. I am now persuing my C.A.S.A.C. to enable me to become a Pastoral Counselor. God has blessed me to be able to teach those who are suffering from this disease of the enemy, that they can, and will, overcome through Christ Jesus. A few years back, I didn't know who I was, but God inspired me to write this poem that I'd like to share with you, it's called: "Who Am I?"

WHO AM I?

Who am I?
Why am I?
Is my only reason in living to die?

All my life, my real self laid hidden.
Known only as a man whose back is ridden
By a demon; whose sole purpose is the destruction of me.
Cunning and baffling, he is powerful you see.

Am I a child of the streets always on the run?
Or a child of God shining bright like the sun.
Am I a child of satan always living in sin?
Or a Lamb of Christ, God's love shining from within.

Whoever I am, this much I know,
That drugs and the street life is not the way to go.
And if I stay true to my recovery,
And I follow Christ's way,
I know one day
I will truly say
I know exactly
Who I am.

copyright 1998 Joseph Pannell

Please, by all means share this with others, because as they say, "you can't keep unless you give it away."
Grace and Peace,
Comment by Terance H. DeCuir on January 24, 2009 at 7:26pm
Thank God for your ministry , so many of us need recovery .
Comment by Mrs. Esther Kershaw on January 8, 2009 at 12:38pm
Thank You, I have not taking all the time I need to read and understand every word of you message, I will
do this because I see some of my Giants here, I know your message will give me more power to help Me,
Myself and I so that I can Help those Like Me, God Bless You and Your Ministry
Mrs. Kershaw

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