This letter was received at our office from a dear lady who is working in the Thresholds book. The materials were written by RU Founder Steve Curington. They’re produced by RU Recovery Ministries and implemented in local RU Recovery Programs throughout the world. Read her Recovery Story and see all that this series has done for her:
My husband and I moved to Fort Worth to a new church with a new RU Recovery Program. This move came in the aftermath of the hardest year of our lives. In that year, we officially became “empty nesters”. In that year, we began grieving the destruction of our little church. We grieved the breakup of our pastor’s/best friends’ marriage, and their subsequent rejection of their old way of life, including us. We felt alone, adrift, and stripped of purpose.
After the move, the Lord worked it out for me to work from home. So I spent more time home alone than ever before. He also worked it out for us to begin RU at that time. The ‘It’s Personal Daily Journal’ taught me how to develop a Bible-reading/prayer time that were not just boxes to check off and lists to recite. Rather they taught me to have an interactive conversation with the Lord. As I experienced the Lord’s presence in my daily quiet time, the joy of my salvation returned!
The Stronghold Study Course exposed much self-righteousness in my life and made me want to learn how to be Spirit-led rather than self-righteous.
The Uphold Study Course and Tall Law demolished my engrained mindset about what it means to walk with the Lord. I realized I had actually been trained at church to ‘conform by performing’-to be self-righteous – to be a “Martha”. I realized my greatest need was an ongoing, two-way relationship with God on a daily basis-to first sit at His feet and listen, await His instructions for the day, carry them out, then return to Him for more instruction. As a result of this changed mindset, I actually said “no” to a teaching opportunity because the Lord didn’t tell me to accept it—something I wouldn’t have done in the ‘Martha’ period of my life.
After a long wait in which I had no formal place of service in my church, the Lord led my husband and me to work in establishing a Sunday School class for RU students. It was the right service opportunity for me. As my husband teaches through Tall Law again and again, the concepts continue to be brought before me, so I am being re-trained as I serve in the class.
It’s amazing to see that the same material that helps me overcome my “conforming by performing” way of life is powerful to help students overcome the “behavior modification” mindset that is so prevalent in mainstream recovery, and truly overcome their addictions through “conforming by transforming”.
The Threshold Course and Produce the Juice have been extremely helpful to me as well. I now understand that my spiritual gifts only motivate me when used under the influence of the Holy Spirit. When I attempt to use them on my own, they are not a blessing to me or others. Through this examination of spiritual gifts, the Lord has continued to impress upon me the role of encouragement. The Lord has given me some specific ways in which He wants me to encourage others. I sense there is much more for me to learn. I plan to repeat the Threshold course and Produce the Juice.
Sometimes I compare my internal state and the resulting external way of life of four years ago and today. Now I can see that the Lord has helped me much through RU. There is surely much more work for Him to do! I’m so glad to know that He is the one doing the work, my part is just to cooperate.
