Be a true soldier in God's army....my story continued.

MY THOUGHTS: Hello, I am back again. THANK YOU FOR READING MY BLOG!  My first week of school has been busy, but very educational. I am already learning so much about the counseling world. It seems that the "world"  has come up with many diffirent theories on how to overcome our problems. I would say that most of these theories are good, but in my mind everything always comes back to God! I have learned from the scriptures that God actually gives us all diffirent weaknesses, so will humble ourselves and turn to Jesus Christ, and then when we humble ourselves and tap into the power of Jesus Christ; He will turn our weaknesses into our greatest strengths! The keys to overcoming addiction and any weakness are found in humility and faith in God. To be humble is the oppisite of prideful. To be humble means that we are willing to listen and learn new things. When we are humble then we are willing to take the action to do whatever it takes to stop the self destructive behavior. When we are humble we are willing to get down on our knees and pray to our Heavenly Father. I truly believe that addiction is a spiritual matter. What I mean is that we all have a spirit body inside of our physical body. It is our spiritual health that is most important. If you are spiritualy strong you are much more capable of standing strong in the face of temptation. When you are spiritualy strong you are able to have self control. To become spiritually strong one must exercise spiritually. We exercise spiritually by reading God's word and by prayer and fasting. We exercise spiritually also by choosing the right in the face of temptation. Temptation is the opportunity to choose the wrong or choose the right. When we choose good over evil we are exercising spiritually.
It is true that a spiritual war was started in heaven before we ever came to this earth. Satan rebelled against God and the battleground has been moved here upon this earth. This is why I am writing a book to explain the reality of Gods army and Satan's army! We are all involved in this war and our very own souls are at stake!!! It is our freedom to choose who's army we will fight in. You are actually choosing each day who's army you are in by the choices you make! As for me and my house we will choose to be all we can be as true soldiers in God's army! What about you?
One point I am trying to make today is that the world can teach you all sorts of great information, but eternal truths, or God's truths will be the most effective in overcoming addiction. I firmly believe that God's words will help you change behavior faster than any other words will! This is why I choose to participate in the addiction recovery program that has been created by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In this program the original 12 steps have been adapted into a framework that coincides with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our higher power is recognized specifically as God and Jesus Christ. If you would like to learn more about the program you can go to lds.org.
 I also want to make the point that God will win this war! Satan's destiny is already determined, but as for you and I it is yet to be determined. You must choose to live rightously to have the protection of God's armor. You see, our choices are really all we have to offer God that is not already His. He owns and operates EVERYTHING, except our freedom to choose. Our freedom to choose is a free gift that He will never take from us. This is one of the main purposes of life, to be tested. This is why God allows the devil to tempt us , so we can have oppisition and opportunities to grow. We are sent here to learn of good and evil and then make a choice as to which we will follow.   
I hope you will learn from reading my story that when you choose good that God grants you the strength to stay on His side of this spiritual battle that we call life. When you choose the right you feel good. When you choose the wrong you feel bad! Well most of us do anyway. Yes bad things happen to good people, but God always grants you the peace and strength to get through our trials if we turn to Him. I hope this encourages you to seek out Gods will for your life and then pray to have the strength to carry it out. He is your living Father, He will lead you, guide you, and protect you as you draw near to Him. He will also bless you with an inner joy and peace that the world cannot couterfeit. It is my testimony that Jesus Christ lives and loves us all. I know God is our Father and He is involved in the very details of our lives.


Scripture of the day: EPHESIANS 6:10-18



WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT:  This is a poem that was written for the theme of my book....Its called:           "Im a True Soldier"

I’m a true soldier, that’s what I am, saved and sanctified, by the blood of the Lamb, fighting each day, on my road to recovery, and along the way, I made a discovery, it’s a spiritual world, where this battle is held, and when fighting this battle, I am often compelled, to give into my flesh, or an evil spirits temptations, but I must be strong, and meet the Lords expectations, for He would not have me weak, living in sin, so in prayer to Him, is how each day I begin, Jesus loves me, now and forever, of this I’m sure, but there’s times that I’m weak, and its hard to endure, and during these times, He helps me to be strong, to put things in perspective, right where they belong, this spiritual battle I fight, is one fought everyday, one that the devil would win, if he had his way, his temptations are many, but none can I afford, because when I give into them, it hurts Jesus my Lord, Yes, IM A TRUE SOLDIER, and may I always be, ready to fight temptations many forms, on my road to recovery.  

Here is more of my personal story: 

B.J. was only 23 years old when he died. I was 21 at the time. In dealing with B.J.’s death,  I turned to more drugs, and more alcohol. You could say that my drinking and drug use went from bad to worse. It was at this point in my life that I had another spiritual experience. I want to share this experience with you in hopes that your faith in Jesus Christ will grow stronger. I was living my weed smoking, beer drinking life style when my sister Missy called one day and said she needed to speak to me. She said that she had something very important to tell me, but that it needed to be in person. One day soon after that phone call she came over to my house and this is what happened. Missy explained to me that she had been inspired by God to relay a message to me. She told me that Jesus Christ wanted me to know that He knows me personally, and that he has a special love for me. She said that the Savior of the World desires for me to turn my heart towards Him. She said that He wants me to imagine a door with a small window in it, and that I should picture Jesus looking at me through this window. She went on to say that Jesus is watching me at all times, and that he is very aware of me as an individual. This door is a unique door, she said because on this door there is only one door handle. This door only opens from your side Daniel. Jesus has great blessings in store for you, but you have to open the door, He has no door handle. You must open your heart and let Him in. Here is how the spiritual experience happened. Missy said to me, “Daniel, I was promised that the Holy Ghost would tell you that what I am saying to you is true.” As she spoke those words to me, my entire body, from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet, was filled with the Holy Ghost. It was such a powerful force and such overwhelming feelings that I immediately burst into tears. The Holy Ghost pierced me to the center of my soul! It was an indescribable feeling, a wonderful, beautiful, peaceful, warm feeling. I instantly knew without any doubt that Missy’s words were true. I came to know for myself that Jesus Christ really is alive today, and that He is aware of me as an individual. I had gained a sure witness that left such a powerful impression on my soul that I will never forget it. I know that Jesus Christ lives! I KNOW THAT HE LIVES AND LOVES ME!  I have learned that the door Missy was speaking of actually symbolizes my heart. You see, Jesus Christ also knocks on your heart and desires for you to open it up for Him to come into your heart. We learn this from the book of Revelations chapter 3 Verse 20. Jesus said, “behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me.”  Jesus Christ loves and knows each one of us as individuals, and He is constantly there to heal our hearts. I know Jesus Christ lives, and that He is very aware of our individual circumstances. He knows us better than we know ourselves. YES, JESUS KNOWS YOU AND LOVES YOU TOO!

You would think that an experience like that would be enough to get me to change my ways, but it wasn’t. I continued to drink and use drugs even after that experience. It was New Years Eve in 1999 when the Lord decided to give me a wake up call. I was driving home in the middle of the night after being out partying all night when I was pulled over and arrested for D.U.I. Let me tell you, the Harris county jail, in Houston, Texas is no place to ring in the New Year. You wouldn’t think that one could have a spiritual experience inside of such a crazy place, but I did. While I was sleeping in that jail B.J. (who had been dead for almost two years) spoke to me in a dream! B.J. told me that he too was in some sort of bondage, and that he needed me to “bail him out”.  When I woke up, I instantly knew that B.J. really was in spirit prison and that I needed to prepare to go through the Temple of the Lord in behalf of him. Inside the Temples we perform saving ordinances for those who have passed on into the spirit world that can no longer do it for them selves. I knew that I needed to clean my act up and do what I had to do to help my brother. This spiritual experience inspired me, and gave me the motivation to change my life. It took some time, but I cleaned my life up, and in the process of cleaning my life up I was inspired to prepare to serve a full time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.   

I received my mission call, and was called to serve in the English speaking, Connecticut, Hartford mission. This mission covered all of Connecticut and Rhode Island. I went to the MTC (missionary training center) in the year of 2000. A short time later I flew out to Hartford Connecticut. I ended up serving in places like Groton, East Haven, and Bridgeport, Connecticut. I also lived all over Rhode Island while I was on my mission.  I grew to know and love New England. I worked hard and served an honorable two-year mission that included much success and many spiritual experiences. My mission has been by far the most rewarding two years of my life so far! If you have the opportunity to go on a mission for the Lord, I encourage you to do so. You will be so blessed for serving the Lord full-time!

Just before my mission was complete, my sister’s oldest son Travis was in a terrible car accident that caused a very severe traumatic brain injury. His accident left him in a coma and unconscious for many weeks. Once he awoke he was left unable to use any part of his body, he couldn’t hold his head up, sit up, and move his arms or legs; he couldn’t move his eyes or blink at will. He had a feeding tube, had to wear diapers, had a shunt in his head, and was confined to a wheel chair. Through Travis’ determination, faith, and hard work, countless hours of therapy, he has been blessed to overcome all of those things. Although he has an unusual gift to communicate with his spirit, his speech has yet to return. His right arm has had some movement come back, but he cannot use it functionally. Travis is a true soldier in God’s army and living proof that through hard work and dedication we can recover from just about anything!

I will continue to share more of my story each week... My purpose in sharing my story is because it is in the sharing of our personal stories that we ignite hope in one another. When we share our personal stories then others can see that we are just real people with real problems.If I can change well then so can you!!!  I hope that someone is uplifted and decides to change their life beacause of my story. I will continue to post atlaest once a week. Thank you for reading my blog. God Bless!!!