But as many as received Him (Jesus), to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. - John 1:12.

We hear of person after person who begins to use illegal substances, or who becomes involved in sinful activities, and their lives begin to disintegrate. It is the downward spiral, which continues until they are hurt, arrested, or kill someone. Sometimes the disintegration is very vivid, as in obvious. There is a posting on the Internet showing through mug shots (photographs taking when being booked into jail) the very obvious downward spiral. It is sickening how much deterioration that can happen to a person in a very brief period of time.

Once in the downward spiral of things going from bad to worse there is a sense of hopelessness that sets in. Because of that sense of hopelessness, the self-destructive behavior continues and often even accelerates. But it does not have to be that way! Because there is hope! Instead of a downward spiral of destruction, there can be an upward spiral into blessing.

If you are in a downward spiral, how do you stop the freefall? How do you begin going the other way? Step one is to receive Jesus as your Savior. When you receive Jesus as your Savior, you become a child of God (John 1:12). When Jesus is your Savior, it means that you have become a part of the royal family, and not just any royal family; but the royal family of the King of kings and Lord of lords. No one can take that away from you. As the apostle Paul puts it, "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39)."

Step two out of the downward spiral, and into the upward spiral of blessing, is to start living like a child of the King of kings and the Lord of lords ought to live. I know you have all of these excuses, and you’ve failed every time you’ve tried to do better, and on and on. It does not have to be that way. Why? Because you are no longer alone. One plus one no longer equals two. Things have changed, and God Himself is on your side. "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things (Romans 8:31-32)?" "…in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Romans 8:37)."

Believe now in His Name, live in His power and begin the upward spiral of blessing.