Anybody ever had a "run-in" with people in "the church, or "the temple", or "the synagogue", or "the mosque" and walked away feeling condemned, no good, judged, and like you had leprosy?  Well, you probably had a run in with "Religion", not with God.  In fact, if you have had enough "run-in's" with "Religion", you would probably be very unlikely to think very highly about God and about having a relationship with Him.  
            In my own life and history with God and Religion, I spent the first 10 years of life, from 0 to 10, going to the Church of Christ.  What I learned (not necessarily what I was taught) was that God is up in Heaven, and I am down on planet earth.  God was an angry God who had lighting bolts that he was ready to hurl at me and fry my backside should I mess up and fall into "sin".   Of course, with this belief system in place, I had no desire to go to church or know more about God.  Nevertheless, what I had was a "relationship with a church" which told me about God thru a rather negative lens.
            At the age of about 11yrs old, the family switched churches and we went to an Episcopal church.  There I learned that God was a "big warm fuzzy" in the sky who loved everything, and I was on earth alone dealing with my alcoholic mom not sure why God was not intervening.  After all, I was going to his church and was an acolyte (alter boy) there.  At this church too, I had a relationship with the church who told me about God thru a very positive lens and yet did little to teach me to connect with Him.  Even though I learned that God was good, His goodness was not helping my life on earth to become better nor solving my real life problems!  
            By the time I was 26 years old, I thought I knew all about God, even though I knew only a little about His Word and about Him.  I did know quite a lot about His people in His religious churches - some were nice, some were phonies, and a very few had this beautiful love flowing out of them . . . which I did not really understand other than thinking they were just nice people.  

            One day in July 1985 though, my life changed when I went from "Religion" which equals having a relationship with a church that tells you about God, to having a relationship directly with God thru His Son Jesus Christ, by His Holy Spirit.  This is not  "Religion", but true salvation and abundant life.  That day my life changed, and I discovered the real supernatural God that exists, and how He wants to have a relationship with you thru His Son by His Holy Spirit.  All of a sudden "God stuff" became real in my life as did miracles happening around me as well as answers to prayer.  Also, the Bible which I had tried to read several times thru out my life, but found it intolerably boring and dead, suddenly became "alive" and was like food.  I read the whole Bible in 3 months after coming into relationship with God.  I realize now the Bible was not "dead", instead I was dead to the Bible.  
            When my spiritual awakening occurred, I realized, that all my life, I had had a relationship with the "churches of God" instead of with God direct.  Religion which is full of rules always brings condemnation and ultimately death to the person.   True relationship with God brings love, peace, joy, and much much more!  Anything else is NOT GOD!
            Don't let your past run-in's with Religion keep you from the Real Life that is found "in relationship with God".  He is waiting for you to call Him, one touch from Him will transform your life!  Don't let RELIGION block you from the abundant life that is yours thru a relationship with the One True God.  For me, that is Jehova Adonai whose son is Yeshua a.k.a. Jesus Christ!  Look forward to your comments!  God bless you!      CJD 

        As I watch people move in "recovery" from their addictions, there seems to be some who move quickly in recovery, moving rapidly thru the 12-steps of recovery, then there seems to be others that struggle and move forward slowly.  As they move forward changing their "old ways", and incorporating "new ways" of doing life, there lives do improve.   Those who incorporate the 12-steps of recovery into their life as a lifestyle appear to become more stable than those who don't.  But many who have been doing the 12-steps for years, appear to hit a plateau in which their life from the outside appears to be "stale", "routine", and not filled with the "joy" and "excitement" of new sobriety and the beginnings of "new recovery".  So what has happened to them?  Could it be that "growth" in the ways of recovery have become more important than "growth" of something more important than recovery?
        At the end of the day, if recovery is based on a "spiritual awakening" occurring in a person's life, then continual growth and improvement in one's life I believe is tied in very closely with the growth of one's personal relationship with their Higher Power/God.  So how is your relationship and GROWTH in your relationship with your Higher Power/God going at the moment?  
        I discovered for myself, that my own relationship with God is always moving in one of two directions.  My relationship with God is either increasing in closeness or decreasing; it never stays the same!  My relationship with Him is always based on my efforts and my investments in my relationship with Him.   
        The efforts that I put into My relationship with God which improve my relationship with Him are (1) time spent with God in prayer, praise, and thanksgiving; (2) studying God's Word (The Bible) which has the power of renewing my mind as well as building up my faith in God; (3) going to church (Impact Fellowship in Kerrville) and receiving "truth" packaged in the form of sermons and praise and worship in a group setting; (4) spending time (fellowship) with like-minded believers in which we share the latest greatest things God is doing in our lives which gives encouragement and builds up my faith and hope for God to move in my life; (5) volunteering at a prayer ministry in which I use my gifts to bless others as well as receive the blessing of seeing the demonstrated "Power of God" changing others' lives.

        So for those in AA/NA 12-step meetings, what are you doing to improve your relationship with your Higher Power/God?  To me AA/NA is great for getting you connected to your Higher Power/God, but it is very limited in its ability to assist you in growing in your relationship with your Higher Power/God beyond a certain point . . . I believe you must at some point in  your recovery go outside of AA/NA to continue your growth in your relationship with your Higher Power/God.  AA/NA were created to help you get sober and to come into "Recovery", which has to happen before anything else good can happen in your life.  But having said that,  AA/NA has only limited capacity to develop and mature your personal relationship with a Higher Power/God.  
        For myself, I have found growth and development of my relationship with God results in me being "always satisfied and always fulfilled."   My investments of time, talent, and money in my relationship with God always produce wonderful fruit in my life - "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Galations 5:22-24).  In addition, as my relationship with God grows, I find that my own life grows and expands in ways beyond my own imagination.  
        So what am I saying?  There is MORE beyond Recovery!   Don't settle just for "Recovery", go for  "MORE THAN RECOVERY", which is "life and life in abundance" as promised in John 10:10 of the Bible!  Discover MORE now in Jesus' name!
        
        Take care and God bless you all on your journey!

        CJD