Turning from sin is tough

[dabro]

How long I tried to abstain from inappropriate content just made it easier and easier to stop but I have something to compare it to and that is abusing medication. I gave into that so many times that when I get the urge to get a buzz I have hardly a conviction. So today I got tempted but instead of giving in I turned the other cheek. I still feel I'm doing wrong even tho I'm resisting and I think it's because it's a pain to feel tempted and I associate that pain with giving in than feeling remorse for my actions.


Is there anyone here that can level with me or comfort me?

 

[faroukfarouk]

Luther said you can't stop the birds flying over your head, but you can stop them making a nest in your hair. (He was referring to thoughts.)

Philippians 4.8 and its context come to mind.

 

[preacher4truth]

In our flesh dwells no good thing, Romans 7:18, but thanks be to God that we will be delivered from this body of death! Romans 7:24, 25.

 

[fozzy]

Is there anyone here that can level with me or comfort me?

You are trying to get righteousness out of your sinful flesh and this is an impossibility. It may appear that the sin you are wrestling with is inappropriate content and addiction but this is just an illusion. The real sin in your life is the sin of unbelief. You don't really believe that Jesus can fulfill all the promises he has made in the bible to keep you from falling. So what you should be doing is praying the prayer that is found Mark 9:24 - Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. Unbelief is the sin behind all sins and we will never be right with God until this is understood.

 

[Alithis]

You are trying to get righteousness out of your sinful flesh and this is an impossibility. It may appear that the sin you are wrestling with is inappropriate content and addiction but this is just an illusion. The real sin in your life is the sin of unbelief. You don't really believe that Jesus can fulfill all the promises he has made in the bible to keep you from falling. So what you should be doing is praying the prayer that is found Mark 9:24 - Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. Unbelief is the sin behind all sins and we will never be right with God until this is understood.

this ..its simplified but it makes the point

 

[gideons300]

How long I tried to abstain from inappropriate content just made it easier and easier to stop but I have something to compare it to and that is abusing medication. I gave into that so many times that when I get the urge to get a buzz I have hardly a conviction. So today I got tempted but instead of giving in I turned the other cheek. I still feel I'm doing wrong even tho I'm resisting and I think it's because it's a pain to feel tempted and I associate that pain with giving in than feeling remorse for my actions.


Is there anyone here that can level with me or comfort me?

Brother, one of satan's greatest tools is to convince us that temptation is a sin, and that guilt MUST follow.

If this be the case, then our Lord sinned greatly as He was tempted sorely by the enemy of our souls. I have said this before but of all satan's weapons, the following one is in his top five for sure. Here is how it goes:

He comes to us with full knowledge of our weakness, our pet sin, our Achilles Heel. He knows where to attack. And when he does, he does not come to us as the little devil on our shoulder, whispering "Go ahead, you know you want to. You know you are going to cave in." No, no, he is must smarter and far more devious than that. He comes whispering "I am such a crumb for even wanting to do THAT", and he whispers it in OUR voice, seeing if we will take the bait and believe it is our heart speaking, and that the temptation originates from us. It does not.

Are we not told that we are dead and our life is hid with Christ in God? We are no longer darkness, but have been made light in the Lord! To accept that it came from us, which instantly stirs up guilt and shame, we must lower our shield of faith that we are no longer sinners still with old natures, and not changed at all.

No, we ARE new creatures right now, and thus, the temptation that comes at us MUST come from OUTSIDE us, and it is simply not our heart, our desire any longer. Once we know satan's plan of attack, we keep our shield of faith up, resisting satan's lies steadfast in the faith, believing that we WERE such sinners, but we are such men no more. We are new creatures, with new hearts, and it is in this way we find that we can put the devil to flight.

I pray this helps you. Truth WILL set free.

Blessings,

Gideon

 

[dabro]

Thank you Gideon.......

 

[gideons300]

this ..its simplified but it makes the point

Michael, it is good to see you here. You know of course I agree with your assessment fully. We have a Christianity that unknowingly limits the Holy one of Israel by our unbelief. That is no small thing, for unless we acknowledge it to our God as a sin, and not a weakness, the sin goes unrepented of, and the unbelief grows even stronger.

In these last days, the church is going to be transformed by faith in who God has made us...new creatures. We are to become a people who "forget not all His benefits". As Peter said, it is by our believing the amazing promises of our God that the transformation takes place within us, and we see parts of us that we thought would never be changed into the image of His Son begin to hang low with full, ripened fruits.

That day is coming closer, and the bride, long encumbered with cares of this world, will soon arise from the ashes of worshiping an external God, and to realize that if Christ be in us, our old man is DEAD, not slowly dying, and we can... and WILL do all things He asks us to do, and to do it because our very nature has been changed, transformed from darkness trying to do "light type things", to true 100% light where doing light tyoe things is no effort at all, but simply a reflection of who we now are. Here is what Peter said:

"Wherefore are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature."

2 Peter 1:4

What an amazing God we serve!It is time we re-discovered exactly what He has promised us. They are staggeringly wonderful. We are about to be amazed.

Blessings to you. And Fozzy, thank you for your great insight. You were spot on.

Gids

2 Peter 1:4

 

[Alithis]

ty Gid

I have to admit a shortness of patience on the topic .. which is very unfair considering how long the Lord was patient with me .
but it is not those that struggle i feel impatient towards ..but those that reinforce the very essence of underlying unbelief which you speak of .

the west has developed a philosophical approach to repetitive sin enslavement... because they too often do not recognize it for what is is .. its bondage and instead of encouraging us to seek to be free from it ,they encourage us ..in error.. to accept forgiveness and put up with the sin because ..as they would say "no one is perfect your only human,your wont be free until your in heaven " ...UGH ..ugh ugh such teaching of unbelief causes such a sense of indignation in me ..simply because hiding in plain sight in such words are lies and unbelief from the pit .. Of course our adversary would whisper such doctrines ,the last thing he wants us to realize is that not only can we be utterly free from the power of the bondage to sin.. but that in Christ we already are .. our enemy and former master does not desire us to know that .he wants us to be deluded into thinking the cage is still shut ..but the lord Jesus has smashed the door right off its hinges and we can leave any time we desire .... but what is it we truly desire .hmm that's the question.

it all comes down to whom we love more . i know some struggle with the presentation of this aspect of freedom of sin..some don't like to be told as the lord told me ..saying to me " you return to that sin because you love it more then you love me "words that staggered me profoundly , because they were the truth .(you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free )
{the topic at hand is in regard to sexual sin }
A good analogy i find is to be holding your 18mnth old ,whom you love dearly as he /she smiles at you from eyes that are pools of trust and innocence ,in your arms while walking a path on a cliffs edge .. and on your way you meet the most carnally gorgeous
lady your flesh could ever desire who offers you every fantasy of flesh ... all you have to do is .."DROP THAT CHILD "

aahhhh. now tell me its not about whom you love more !- aint no way im dropping that child ,my love for that child is so intense that the offer of that seductress is grotesque to me ,love for one has made the other abhorrent ...
we are not tempted by that which we abhor ..only by that which we love the most ...

folks need to preach the truth and get honest before God-for he desires truth in the inmost place where he searches out and knows the heart of man and stop lying to themselves by believing a lie .
the truth is likened to a sword ..it cuts ,it hurts its hard and Sharp and its separates the flesh to expose the bone of the matter . for the purpose of righting the wrong .
LOVE yields the sword of truth ,it does not hide it in a pretty sheath .

the lord Jesus did not shed his blood on that cross so that we might wallow in bondage to repetitive acts of wickedness ..he loves us so much he came to SET US FREE and then having done ALL he said "it is finished "
so we repent ..we turn back from from our worldly thinking we receive the lords forgiveness and allow the renewing of our minds to grasp again the truth ..that we are free and will serve and yield our bodies to serve, whom so ever we love the most .

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

and, those who love the messiah yeshua, don't , do not, cannot love the things of the world.
right there, that eliminates a lot of people who admit loving the world, or their life on earth, or things of the world.

and they don't want to repent. often, they think they don't have to.

 

[iambren]

I believe addictive personalities exist just like depression or bipolar ones do. The key is to acknowledge,stay away from triggers, and possibly be part of step groups or accountability groups. Most people have a weak spot;it's how we deal with it that makes us virtuous.

 

[Alithis]

You are trying to get righteousness out of your sinful flesh and this is an impossibility. It may appear that the sin you are wrestling with is inappropriate content and addiction but this is just an illusion. The real sin in your life is the sin of unbelief. You don't really believe that Jesus can fulfill all the promises he has made in the bible to keep you from falling. So what you should be doing is praying the prayer that is found Mark 9:24 - Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. Unbelief is the sin behind all sins and we will never be right with God until this is understood.

 

[Emmy]

Dear dabro. Yes, turning from sin is tough, but Jesus is always ready to help us. In Luke 10: 25-28: Jesus is asked: " Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus answered: " you know the Commandments to Love God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. Also, to love thy neighbour as thyself? Do this and you shall Live." In Matthew 7: 7-10: we are told: " ask and you shall receive," we ask God for Love and Joy, then we thank God, and share all Love and Joy with our neighbour. (our neighbour is
all we know and all we meet, friends and not friends) We keep asking for Love and Joy, then thank God and share all Love and Joy with our neighbour.
God will see our loving efforts, and God will approve and bless us. People around us will treat us the same as we treat people, the Holy Spirit will help and guide us, and Jesus our Saviour will lead us all the way: JESUS IS THE WAY.
The Bible tells us to " Repent and to be Born Again," to give up all our selfish wishes and wants, and start Loving and caring for God and our neighbour.
We might stumble and forget at times, but then we ask God to forgive us,
and carry on Loving God and loving and caring for our neighbour.
Love is a Christian`s strong weapon, and love will overcome all anger and wrong behaviour. Our Love will turn us into the sons and daughters which God wants us to become. I say this with love, dabro. Greetings from Emmy,
your sister in Christ.

 

[dabro]

I'm talking about a addiction to drugs.......You can't just say I have grace and it magically disappear. You have to fight addiction the way it needs to be dealt with. The deep rooted problem is renewing your mind with pure things......getting rid of the triggers that cause you to stumble. Resist the devil and he will flee from you? Isn't that a reason to get rid of the triggers.....It's not that I don't believe I'm saved...It's more I want to tackle an addiction to drugs just to have a better life. The Life the Lord said I want to give you Life and Life more ABUNDANTLY.

 

[Alithis]

I'm talking about a addiction to drugs.......You can't just say I have grace and it magically disappear. You have to fight addiction the way it needs to be dealt with. The deep rooted problem is renewing your mind with pure things......getting rid of the triggers that cause you to stumble. Resist the devil and he will flee from you? Isn't that a reason to get rid of the triggers.....It's not that I don't believe I'm saved...It's more I want to tackle an addiction to drugs just to have a better life. The Life the Lord said I want to give you Life and Life more ABUNDANTLY.

there are two mind sets .. the worlds .. and the Lords .. one of these can be useful .. the other , miraculous ...
i was addicted to "p" (meth) when i came back to the lord and asked him for help ... he gave it .. i did not buy any more ..i did not use any more i never have since (many many years ago now ).. cant explain that except to say"with God all things are possible "..

 

[dabro]

Same thing happened to me.....what was it 'meth' and been sober from it for almost ten years....I no longer yearn for that anxiety filled high.....But, here comes something better.....I have asked God for help, I receive none.....So I believe I must tackle this a different way......now inappropriate content I have almost gave up. Just because God delivers you from one thing doesn't mean He's going to show up and I start to speak in tongues.....God wants me to learn or it doesn't offend Him which I have to understand.....The meth thing had to go or I was going to literally lose my mind..

 

[Alithis]

Same thing happened to me.....what was it 'meth' and been sober from it for almost ten years....I no longer yearn for that anxiety filled high.....But, here comes something better.....I have asked God for help, I receive none.....So I believe I must tackle this a different way......now inappropriate content I have almost gave up. Just because God delivers you from one thing doesn't mean He's going to show up and I start to speak in tongues.....God wants me to learn or it doesn't offend Him which I have to understand.....The meth thing had to go or I was going to literally lose my mind..

to follow our good Sheppard .. we must agree and follow our good Sheppard ..
consider this .. do your words agree with his or deny his?
iv heard and wrestled with every excuse surrounding inappropriate content (sexual immorality and adultery- thats what inappropriate content is ) and every excuse is falsehood.

we do what we love the most .so we must admit that ..receive forgiveness and then go and love the lord more .

 

[dabro]

See now where changing it to inappropriate content....Lets talk about the issue of drug addiction.

 

[Alithis]

See now where changing it to inappropriate content....Lets talk about the issue of drug addiction.

ok .. same god ,same truth, same precepts, same love, same grace, same power, same salvation ,same deliverer ..

same need to trust him

 

[dabro]

ok I will trust He has taken care of it on the cross.