New Beginning: Scriptural Steps Away from Life Crisis to New Life in Christ

By Timothy Martyn McGee

With the leading of the Holy Spirit, Tim has studied the Scriptures to find biblical truths and instructions to share with both new believers desiring to turn from worldly pursuits and begin walking with Christ and mature Christians who seek help in recovering from crises in their life. Using a progressive format of steps similar to those introduced in twelve-step recovery programs, Tim shows how Scripture instructs us to see ourselves, the process through which God draws us to Himself, and the spiritual application of the Word of God in developing a solid Christian foundation for moving forward.

Drawing from Scripture passages from dozens of books in both the Old and New Testaments, Tim points out Gods desired relationship with humans and how His Word gives us a blueprint for living the life that He desires for us. At the end of each chapter, a series of questions is presented intended to help readers reflect on their own views of scriptural teachings and their attitudes and perceptions of God and living a Christian life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Oct 7, 2015
• ISBN: 9781512711271

Timothy Martyn McGee

Raised in a Christian family in Savannah, Georgia, Tim turned away from his faith as a teenager and began pursuing a life of striving for status, material success, and self-centered pleasure. His use of alcohol and drugs for thrill and escape eventually led to substance abuse and alcoholism. As circumstances began to spiral out of control, Tim lost his family, his career, and his physical and mental health. On the verge of suicide, Tim reached a crossroads. Instead of killing himself, Tim chose to surrender his life to Christ and begin a new life in spiritual recovery and daily walking with the Lord. As he experienced the Lord drawing him closer, Tim reached out to Christian mentors who could help him walk a new path in life. He made an honest assessment of himself and, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, began to develop new attitudes and behaviors, Godly character, and spiritually healthy relationships with his family and others. Through prayer, searching the Scriptures, and daily surrendering of his will to his heavenly Father, Tim began to experience peace and joy and a new outlook on life. Today Tim has discovered a new passion for helping others who are facing crises in life. He is active in his church and men’s ministry as well as in addiction recovery groups. He also leads a Bible study and is a leader in local Christian businessmen’s groups. Currently residing in Greensboro, North Carolina, Tim is actively engaged in a commercial real estate career.

Book preview

Copyright © 2015 Timothy Martyn McGee.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1 [phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-5127-1126-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-1127-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015914367

WestBow Press rev. date: 10/6/2015

Contents

Words of Appreciation

Introduction

Choices

Being Honest

Gaining Humility

Becoming Willing

Experiencing New Birth

Identifying Sin

Offering Forgiveness

Accepting Peace

Building Character

Giving Thanks

Confessing

Abiding In Prayer

Studying God’s Word

Living For God

Daily Walk With God

Scriptural References

Words of Appreciation

I would like to thank my loving wife, Eva, for her support and encouragement throughout the writing of the manuscript that has become New Beginning. Also, many thanks to my older brother, Dr. Harry McGee, who offered advice from his perspective as a Christian counselor and teacher of the Bible.

In addition, I am grateful to Greg Hinnant with Greg Hinnant Ministries who offered me instruction and encouragement throughout the process. His knowledge and experience as a Bible expositor and author of multiple devotionals, commentaries, and scholarly articles provided valuable insight in my inaugural attempt at writing.

Most of all, I give praise to my Heavenly Father, my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and His Holy Spirit who has lifted the veil and opened my eyes to the wisdom and truth given in the Word of God as I have sought to follow Him.

Introduction

Can you relate to this ….?

Irritability. Frustration. Guilt and remorse. Despondence. Depression. Despair. Noticeable warning signs that things are just not right with your life. A sense that life has gone off course. A growing awareness that things are getting out of your control. A demoralizing realization that your life is not unfolding the way you had planned, or dreamed, that it would.

Maybe the circumstances of your life are gripping you and dragging you down to a place you don’t want to go. Perhaps the things you chose to give you a thrill or an escape are now consuming you and turning you into a person you don’t want to be. It may be that you feel like you have painted yourself into a corner and that there is no way out. You may even be considering a permanent solution to a temporary problem as those of us who have contemplated suicide are reminded it actually is.

You may have never been spiritual. Possibly you were raised in the church but wandered away from the faith as an adolescent or young adult. Perhaps you have continued to be active in your pursuit of God but have started to realize that your passion and commitment have grown cold as life has gotten between you and your relationship with Him.

Look at your situation a different way. Is it conceivable that God has now gotten you to the specific place that he wants you to be? Have your circumstances been divinely engineered to allow you to realize that you aren’t the best person to be running your own life? Are you approaching the place of surrender, of brokenness, of being poor in spirit that is the necessary starting point for a walk with God, a doorway to the new beginning that He has planned for you for eternity?

Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me—now let me rejoice. Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and make me willing to obey you. (Psalms 51:8-12)

Would you guess that that those words were written by a person blessed by God, an anointed King of Israel, one in the ancestral lineage of the parents chosen to raise God incarnate, Jesus Christ? Did I mention that he was feeling the remorse and guilt of having made wrong choices in his life, despite God’s benevolent blessing, when he wrote those words, and that he was an adulterer and a murderer? Did I also mention that he, King David, would become a legend in the history of Israel, and a favorite figure among Jews and Christians for thousands of years after he wrote this psalm?

If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water. Those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life. (John 4:10, 14)

These words were spoken to a women who had repeatedly failed to find love and happiness in her personal relationships, who had been married five times, and who was ostracized by the community in which she lived. Spoken by the Messiah, Jesus, however, these words caused her to want to share the good news she had heard with her entire village. Life changed for her instantly as she realized that she could have a new beginning.

Hope. Joy. Peace. Assurance of an eternal relationship with your Creator. Loving relationships with your family members and others. If you walk through the doorway that God is placing in your life today, you can begin to realize those blessings if you are willing to walk daily on the path God has ordained for you.

As for myself, God rescued me from a life of rebellion against Him, a life of self-centered pursuits of thrills, success, wealth, prestige, and escapes from circumstances that I couldn’t control. I had reached the abyss of having to acknowledge the futility of my own attempts at happiness. I had lost my family, my career, my health, and my sanity, and I was ready to end it all. Then God stepped in and reminded me that he had better plans for my life if only I was willing to accept them. Fortunately, at that moment I realized I had nothing to lose – my independence from God had resulted in the loss of everything I held dear - so I accepted the Gift He offered – Jesus!

God began lovingly, gently drawing me to Himself and restoring my relationship with Him. I began to reach out to people who could help, people to whom God had given a new beginning and who could help me realize His plan for me. The changes in my life didn’t involve exterior circumstances as much as they involved a refocusing of my perspective and a retooling of my character. I made an honest and deep assessment of my inner spirit with the guidance of the Holy Spirit and I began to recreate my attitudes toward and relationships with others. Through a daily walk with God which still continues, through prayer, meditation, and searching the Scriptures, and through a daily surrender of my life and will to God, I began to realize a peace and serenity and eventually a joy that I had never before experienced.

My prayer for you will be that as you read these pages and purposefully apply these life principles and disciplines, you will begin to distance yourself from a life of turmoil and begin to realize the new beginning that God has planned for you.

Choices

Looking back on it now, I wish I hadn’t chosen to join those teenagers smoking pot behind our cabin during the school retreat up in the mountains of North Carolina. At the time, I was a skinny, pimply kid desperate to fit in at the high school that I had started attending. One of my few friends, who had gone to the school for several years and was very popular, especially with the girls, casually mentioned that he was meeting some guys in the woods because they had some marijuana with them. Did I want to come? Despite some trepidation because I had never done that kind of thing before, I said sure, I would.

The year was 1980 and the decision made that day set my life on a course from which I almost didn’t recover. It led me away from a relationship with God, a relationship that my parents had been actively encouraging since my early childhood. It led me to addiction, deception, ill-advised friendships, jail cells, suicidal thoughts, and moral bankruptcy. It almost killed me. It should have killed me. It didn’t because God had other plans for me.

The events of my life stemming from that day also allowed me to gain appreciation for a new beginning in life and, with the Spirit’s prompting, to write a book to help other people recover from the catastrophes in life created by poor decisions. I had to learn these lessons the hard way, but I don’t pity myself. It took what it took for God to bring me to a place where I could realize that people, given the opportunity, can make a wreck of things if they don’t depend on Him.

The Bible is full of stories of people who took a wrong turn and suffered the consequences of life gone amok. Let’s take a look at a few of those stories.

*   *   *

The book of Genesis reveals that Lot, son of Haran and nephew of Abram of Ur of the Chaldeans, was taken into Abram’s household upon the death of his father. Lot was most likely a youth or in early adulthood when this occurred. When Abram received God’s directive to leave his homeland for Canaan, young Lot was brought along to travel with his uncle, his aunt Sarai, and the herdsmen taking care of the considerable livestock in Abram’s possession. A portion of the livestock herds also belonged to Lot as inheritance.

Lot, who was traveling with Abram, had also become very wealthy with flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, and many tents. But the land could not support both Abram and Lot with all their flocks and herds living so close together. So disputes broke out between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot. (At that time Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land.)

Finally Abram said to Lot, Let’s not allow this conflict to come between us or our herdsmen. After all, we are close relatives! The whole countryside is open to you. Take your choice of any section of the land you want, and we will separate. If you want the land to the left, then I’ll take the land on the right. If you prefer the land on the right, then I’ll go to the left.

Lot took a long look at the fertile plains of the Jordan Valley in the direction of Zoar. The whole area was well watered everywhere, like the garden of the Lord or the beautiful land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) Lot chose for himself the whole Jordan Valley to the east of them. He went there with his flocks and servants and parted company with his uncle Abram. So Abram settled in the land of Canaan, and Lot moved his tents to a place near Sodom and settled among the cities of the plain. But the people of this area were extremely wicked and constantly sinned against the Lord. (Genesis 13:5-13)

Lot was given the choice by his uncle Abram of picking the place in which he would settle. At first glance, opting for the fertile land in the Jordan valley may have seemed prudent. Upon further review, however, Lot’s decision to live near cities filled with worldly and wicked inhabitants led him down a path to ruin. The assimilation of Lot and his family into the heathen culture of Sodom enticed him away from the values and traditions with which he had been raised. When the time came for God’s judgment on the citizens of Sodom years later, Lot would realize the heavy cost he must pay for his decision.

That evening the two angels came to the entrance of the city of Sodom. Lot was sitting there, and when he saw them, he stood up to meet them.

Then he welcomed them and bowed with his face to the ground.

My lords, he said, come to my home to wash your feet, and be my guests for the night. You may then get up early in the morning and be on your way again.

Oh no, they replied. We’ll just spend the night out here in the city square.

But Lot insisted, so at last they went home with him. Lot prepared a feast for them, complete with fresh bread made without yeast, and they ate.

But before they retired for the night, all the men of Sodom, young and old, came from all over the city and surrounded the house.

They shouted to Lot, Where are the men who came to spend the night with you? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them!

So Lot stepped outside to talk to them, shutting the door behind him.

Please, my brothers, he begged, don’t do such a wicked thing. Look, I have two virgin daughters. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do with them as you wish. But please, leave these men alone, for they are my guests and are under my protection.

Stand back! they shouted. This fellow came to town as an outsider, and now he’s acting like our judge! We’ll treat you far worse than those other men!

And they lunged toward Lot to break down the door. But the two angels reached out, pulled Lot into the house, and bolted the door. Then they blinded all the men, young and old, who were at the door of the house, so they gave up trying to get inside.

Meanwhile, the angels questioned Lot.

Do you have any other relatives here in the city? they asked. Get them out of this place—your sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone else. For we are about to destroy this city completely. The outcry against this place is so great it has reached the Lord, and he has sent us to destroy it. (Genesis 19:1-13)

Lot found himself in a colossal quandary. He had to finally come face-to-face with the evil perversion surrounding him. Whereas he had chosen to ignore the lifestyle of the people he called his neighbors, it was now being forced upon him in a way that was unnerving and intimidating. He must choose either his comfortable life among the Sodomites and ignore the angels’ warning or take seriously the threat of impending catastrophe and leave behind everything that he held dear.

So Lot rushed out to tell his daughters’ fiancés, Quick, get out of the city! The Lord is about to destroy it. But the young men thought he was only joking.

At dawn the next morning the angels became insistent.

Hurry, they said to Lot. Take your wife and your two daughters who are here. Get out right now, or you will be swept away in the destruction of the city!

When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety outside the city, for the Lord was merciful.