Introduction
This R.E.C.O.V.E.R. 9 Program is designed to help you be an overcomer!
Life can be cruel, but you do not have to be overcome by the challenges you face. You can overcome, and you will overcome as you apply yourself to the principles and teachings of this course. “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” (1 John 5:4) “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:37,32) “Now thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 2:14 KJV)
Victory is already won. How can you be overcome if you have the victory? In Christ you are more than a conqueror. Stay with God’s plan and He will cause you to triumph every time, all the time!
This is a nine week program. Psychologists tell us that it takes 21 days to tear down old strongholds in the mind (old ways of thinking). Then it takes another 21 days to begin to build new, good strongholds and pathways. A third 21 days will establish those new ways of thinking so that you are established as an overcomer!
Each week is comprised of a teaching, a book to read that accompanies the teaching, five Master Key Meditations to enhance what has been taught, and five testimonies of people just like you who have overcome using these principles. They work every time, all the time for those who work it.
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.” (James 1:22, 25)
#1 Hope
Overcoming Hopelessness
You can always begin changing a hopeless situation today! Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow is not here. But you can change your tomorrow today by doing something new today!
This week we will be focusing on the NOW, today. Forgetting what lies behind and pressing on to what lies ahead, we can use the NOW to overcome hopelessness. We will study the finished work of Jesus, and we will learn about your enemy, the defeated devil. You will find out, among other things, about God’s unconditional love that never fails. Start NOW by telling yourself out loud, “I am an overcomer, I will not quit! Today is my day, I’m doing something good, something new today!”
#2 Admission
Overcoming Denial
The best and fastest way to get on a course of a victorious life is to recognize sin and defeat it, hate that lifestyle, and want change. Admit there is a problem! Most of all, be aware that behind the addiction there is a demonic spirit that you have given access to your life. The demonic realm wants to control your life. Denial is one of your worst enemies. It must be overcome and the spirit behind it defeated. Even if people were able, in their own strength, to quit drinking or taking drugs, they will not have defeated that unclean spirit that is behind it all.
This week we will focus on not being ignorant of satan’s devices, one of which is denial. We will look at your position before God, becoming vitally united with Jesus, meditating the Word of God, and practicing change. Say it with me, “I am not going to bed the same as I woke up!! I am getting more of God’s Word in me today!”
#3 Forgiveness
Overcoming Guilt
One of the greatest realizations you must make is that forgiveness is not a feeling! You believe Jesus died on the cross for your sins, that He was raised from the dead after three days, and is alive today! If you have asked Him to forgive you and have confessed Him as Lord of your life, according to His Word, He has forgiven you! He did not say,”No,” or “I’ll think about it.” It does not matter whether you “feel” forgiven or not. What matters is what His Word says! God cannot lie! God and His Word are One and the same. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1) Then Jesus said, “The one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.” (John 6:37) The Holy Spirit says in Romans 10:9-10, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Say this out loud, “I have confessed my sin and I am forgiven. I have been washed in the Blood of Christ! But I’m not stopping here! I will continue in His Word. I am His disciple! I will be an ambassador for Christ!”
#4 Temptation
Overcoming Enticements
The best way to overcome temptation is to recognize what temptation really is! Many people believe that temptation means being drawn away by sin. It’s definitely a good thing not to let sin reign in your body by obeying and serving it, but it is also important to discern the real temptation and who the tempter is. If you are being drawn away to serve sin, you have already missed the battle, the real temptation.
The actual tempter is the defeated devil, but the temptation is the pressure to quit doing and saying what is right! His objective is for people to quit their lifestyle of faith and love. Sin is actually a result of quitting faith in Christ and not walking with Jesus! It is so important to grab a hold of this concept! If the temptation to quit your faith in Jesus is overcome, sin has no place and true freedom will result! Say this with me, “I love God with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength; and I love my neighbor as myself!”
#5 Relationships
Overcoming Peer Pressure
Now that you have come to know Jesus, you can choose to change the course of your life! That is good news! You have liberty to choose where you go and what you do—especially, you can choose new friends. You must leave the past behind, which means leaving some friends as well. “But they are not saved! I want to witness to them!”
Have you heard the saying, actions speak louder than words? It is true! You will not be able to talk your friends into receiving Jesus. They must see your lifestyle change, and your new friends, before they will believe you. The defeated devil will try to use your old friends to persuade you to quit your faith! If they can get you to fall away from your relationship with Jesus, they have proved that there is no truth in what you say. Make this your daily confession! Every day for the rest of your life say, “I choose life, I choose blessing.”
#6 Mind Renewal
Overcoming Thoughts
You are born again in your spirit and you are a son/daughter of God in your spirit. You have a soul that is comprised of your mind, will, and emotions (your thinker, chooser, and feeler). You have emotions, but you are not your emotions! Not every thought that comes into your mind is your thought! You were born again, a new creation, in right stand standing with God in your spirit. Your soul, with its thoughts and feelings, and your body, with its appetites, were not born again. To have victory in your life, the mind is what must be changed. That is where the battlefield is! This week we will apply ourselves to the saving and renovating of our souls and bodies. These phrases will be repeated and become such a habit, you will train your mind to say them automatically. Practice now, “That’s not my thought! That’s not me! I cast that down! I’m dead to that!”
#7 Goals
Overcoming No Purpose
Under normal circumstances, there is no such thing as a vacuum, a void, a space without something in it! In other words, there’s no stopping something without starting something else. Everything you stop will be replaced with something. The ideal is to replace what you do not want with something you do want. This is called living on purpose, with goals, dreams, plans, and vision. It is much easier to forget what lies behind when you are stretching ahead to something about which you are excited! See yourself on the very threshold of the most exciting adventure of your life. Focused on the price Jesus paid for you to have an exciting, fulfilling life, you can boldly say, “This is my day! I am waking up to a new time. A new day is dawning in my life. I’m forgetting what lies behind, and looking forward into the unknown. A great adventure awaits me!! Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning!!”
#8 Foundation
Overcoming Instability
In a world without God, there’s constant dread of being between a rock and a hard place. No matter what you do, you are going to get hit or land hard! It’s the “school of hard knocks!” You feel as though you are walking a tightrope, trying to do the right thing.—”This is really living!” “No, that won’t work! This is how you do it.” There is nothing more secure than Jesus being your Rock, your strength, your confident assurance, your sure provider, and your refuge. You can confidently say with David, “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.”
#9 Commitment
Overcoming Quit
Here is something unique for you to do: DON’T QUIT!! Overcoming “quit” is something of which a world without God knows nothing! In this world if you don’t like your job, just quit! If you don’t like school, just quit! If you don’t like your marriage, just quit! Anybody can quit! It takes commitment, something we used to call “guts,” to see something through and to go beyond your feelings. Any dead fish can float downstream. It takes a lively fish to get somewhere worth going. This chapter in your life is HUGE! In order to overcome “quit,” you must be determined to continue in God’s Word that will give enduring strength! You must be determined “To know Him,” to give God attention, and to know what Grace really is. Say this statement with resolute determination, “I cannot be defeated and I will not quit!”