(Somewhat rambling letter) advice needed

[Jim2011]

How do I let God be in charge?
I feel some days like I am walking on a tightrope, trying my best not to fall into various sins. (Lust mostly, at least that is the one I'm most aware of).
Is repentance supposed to feel this...difficult?
Someone said in a earlier post that their desires have changed and the lusts that they found exciting in the past are not interesting.
Although I have not gone to the porn sites in several months, (what? you want a cookie?) I still feel the desire to see them. Is the lust desire something I will have to live with all my life? Treat it like alcoholism?
Sorry, thiis is not makeiing a lot of sense right now. Im tired and a little frustrated, but if I dont post at least part of my questions now I wont have the courage later.
Can you know if you are saved? Is salvation a tightrope act? (Narrow is the way) Pauls letter to the Romans says we all sin. But this is not a accidental sin. I know just which sites I want to go to. If I go there intentionally am I risking my salvation? (providing of course I am saved) Hebrews part 7? If you fall away...forget it kid, your toast.
One you tube video says that born again Christians DON'T sin. We are new creations...If he is correct, Im just as lost as I was several years ago.
A video by Paul Washer<?> said "Dont expect a perfect repentence" it will take time.
Peachy, Have I mentioned my lack of patience?
Tank you for taking the time to read this mess. I really should not post when I am tired and a little depressed. Ok maybe a lot depressed. I appreciate your responses.

 

[saved24]

I want to answer 2 questions.
If you have asked Jesus to forgive you and your are sorry for your sins, and you want to live for Him, you are a Christian.
A Christian is not a sinner.... but that does not mean you will not sin, it means you are not someone who wants to practice sin. With God's help we will sin less, but we can never be perfect. When the Lord looks at us He sees a robe of righteousness, He does not see our sins. When we ask Him to forgive us, He makes the slate clean, He forgives and choose to forget.
Praying for you..... the Lord cares for you and understands your struggles. God bless.

 

[DiscipleHeLovesToo]

How do I let God be in charge?
I feel some days like I am walking on a tightrope, trying my best not to fall into various sins. (Lust mostly, at least that is the one I'm most aware of).
Is repentance supposed to feel this...difficult?
Someone said in a earlier post that their desires have changed and the lusts that they found exciting in the past are not interesting.
Although I have not gone to the porn sites in several months, (what? you want a cookie?) I still feel the desire to see them. Is the lust desire something I will have to live with all my life? Treat it like alcoholism?
Sorry, thiis is not makeiing a lot of sense right now. Im tired and a little frustrated, but if I dont post at least part of my questions now I wont have the courage later.
Can you know if you are saved? Is salvation a tightrope act? (Narrow is the way) Pauls letter to the Romans says we all sin. But this is not a accidental sin. I know just which sites I want to go to. If I go there intentionally am I risking my salvation? (providing of course I am saved) Hebrews part 7? If you fall away...forget it kid, your toast.
One you tube video says that born again Christians DON'T sin. We are new creations...If he is correct, Im just as lost as I was several years ago.
A video by Paul Washer<?> said "Dont expect a perfect repentence" it will take time.
Peachy, Have I mentioned my lack of patience?
Tank you for taking the time to read this mess. I really should not post when I am tired and a little depressed. Ok maybe a lot depressed. I appreciate your responses.

many focus on stopping wrong actions, thus trying to starve wrong desires; but ultimately this leads to frustration and depression. desires are determined by what you focus on; what you choose to (or default to) think about. your 5 senses will dominate your thinking unless you exert effort to keep your thinking on God; if you just let your mind wander, it will default to thinking on things of the flesh and not things of God.

the bible gives two definitions of 'sin'; wrong actions ('sins') and unbelief ('sin'). unbelief has several forms: 'natural' unbelief based on the reports of the 5 senses (such as when your body still has pain while you are believing for healing), ignorance of God, wrong thinking about God, and refusal to believe God. when you strive to 'stop that sinning' (cease from wrong actions), you will still 'sin' because the underlying unbelief has not been overcome. to reduce unbelief you must focus on God's word through fellowship with Him, and you must strive to be led by Him - because to the extent you are led by God you will not 'sin' (do wrong actions) as He will never lead you to sin.

knowing is based on knowledge; you can't believe what you know, and you can't know what you believe - they are mutually exclusive. you know that the sun came up today because you have physical evidence of this based on your 5 senses (knowledge); you believe the sun will come up tomorrow, but you don't have any evidence that it will yet, so you don't know that it will; you believe it will.

there are a number of requirements you must meet to permanently reject God and salvation based on Hebrews 6:4-6. if you study these verses and the requirements they specify, i think you'll agree that it is very difficult (if not impossible) to 'loose' your salvation; as the vast majority of Christians do not (in this life) achieve the level of spiritual maturity specified in Heb 4:4-6 to begin with.

Christians strive to believe God above every other report, so in this sense they do not 'sin' (refuse to believe). No one in a flesh body (except Jesus) is able to avoid all wrong actions ('sins') because no one (except Jesus) has complete knowledge of God and is led by God at all times without exception.

true repentance means to strive to be led by God rather than by your own limited wisdom. God is in charge to the extent that your mind is stayed on Him at any given moment, and how much you trust in His leading versus your own wisdom. you can confirm His leading based on His revealed written word (that portion of His word that you understand through fellowship with Him), so the less of His revealed written word you are familiar with, the less you will be able to recognize His leading in any given situation.

Isa 26:3 KJV
(3) Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Jim2011

How do I let God be in charge?
I feel some days like I am walking on a tightrope, trying my best not to fall into various sins. (Lust mostly, at least that is the one I'm most aware of).
Is repentance supposed to feel this...difficult?

Yes, it is supposed to be this difficult, Jim. But, don't let the Enemy make you feel like it's ALL your fault. It's not all your fault. The reason those sites have the draw they do is because they are siphoning off and twisting God's power. The reason you "like" women is because that is how God made you. It wasn't the Devil's design, but he loves using it to draw us away from God.

Someone said in a earlier post that their desires have changed and the lusts that they found exciting in the past are not interesting.
Although I have not gone to the porn sites in several months, (what? you want a cookie?) I still feel the desire to see them. Is the lust desire something I will have to live with all my life? Treat it like alcoholism?

In a way, yes. Satan's scheme is to draw you in further and further into his territory, making you more and more an addict, and he's exploiting people's souls (and many times their talents and money) to do it.

Sorry, thiis is not makeiing a lot of sense right now. Im tired and a little frustrated, but if I dont post at least part of my questions now I wont have the courage later.

No...you make a lot of sense, especially in the fact that you're reaching out for help.

Can you know if you are saved? Is salvation a tightrope act? (Narrow is the way)

Yes, you can 'know' you're saved, although as we mature, we do not assume we've attained all that Christ means for us to attain (or that we take it for granted that we are saved--which is what Paul relates to us in Philippians.)

Pauls letter to the Romans says we all sin. But this is not a accidental sin. I know just which sites I want to go to. If I go there intentionally am I risking my salvation?

....not instantly, no. But each time you do so, you give the enemy a little more leverage in your life.

(providing of course I am saved) Hebrews part 7? If you fall away...forget it kid, your toast.
One you tube video says that born again Christians DON'T sin. We are new creations...If he is correct, Im just as lost as I was several years ago.

Faith is a process of growth and spiritual maturing, not an overnight experience of "overcoming."

A video by Paul Washer<?> said "Dont expect a perfect repentence" it will take time.

It does take time; it also helps if you realize that as you expose yourself to that kind of material, the enemy is essentially raping YOU spiritually. The trick that the enemy wants you to believe is to get you to think that you completely control what you're doing, when in fact, while you're complicit in the viewing, Satan is 'hacking' into your consciousness and part of your soul. Keep that in mind, Jim.

Peachy, Have I mentioned my lack of patience?

We all have problems with patience.

Tank you for taking the time to read this mess. I really should not post when I am tired and a little depressed. Ok maybe a lot depressed. I appreciate your responses.

It's not a mess. You did well, brother.

Peace

 

[WoundedDeep]

How do I let God be in charge?
I feel some days like I am walking on a tightrope, trying my best not to fall into various sins. (Lust mostly, at least that is the one I'm most aware of).
Is repentance supposed to feel this...difficult?
Someone said in a earlier post that their desires have changed and the lusts that they found exciting in the past are not interesting.
Although I have not gone to the porn sites in several months, (what? you want a cookie?) I still feel the desire to see them. Is the lust desire something I will have to live with all my life? Treat it like alcoholism?
Sorry, thiis is not makeiing a lot of sense right now. Im tired and a little frustrated, but if I dont post at least part of my questions now I wont have the courage later.
Can you know if you are saved? Is salvation a tightrope act? (Narrow is the way) Pauls letter to the Romans says we all sin. But this is not a accidental sin. I know just which sites I want to go to. If I go there intentionally am I risking my salvation? (providing of course I am saved) Hebrews part 7? If you fall away...forget it kid, your toast.
One you tube video says that born again Christians DON'T sin. We are new creations...If he is correct, Im just as lost as I was several years ago.
A video by Paul Washer<?> said "Dont expect a perfect repentence" it will take time.
Peachy, Have I mentioned my lack of patience?
Tank you for taking the time to read this mess. I really should not post when I am tired and a little depressed. Ok maybe a lot depressed. I appreciate your responses.

Letting God be in charge simply means surrendering your will and desires to obey His commands. Obedience to God always involved living a life of holiness.

From your descriptions it seem more like a case of temptations rather than actual sinning, and every Christian is tempted in one way or another. To sin is to give in to the temptation and allow it to breed sinful thoughts, to resist the temptation is to resist the urge to act upon it or to stop dwelling in your mind upon the sinful thoughts. Take captive of sinful thoughts and cast it out of your mind by rejecting it, that's what Paul wrote in his epistles as a way of obeying God.

A truly saved Christian is never free from temptations, but the power of sin is removed. That means you can have the ability to resist temptations and avoid sinning. But that does not mean you will succeed in every resistance. Sometimes we do fall, but God's Holy Spirit will immediately convict us of sin so we can repent and be reconciled and cleansed from all unrighteousness. Repentance and resistance to temptations are things we constantly do as we grow in faith and maturity. Our lives should be marked by lesser and lesser failures at resisting sin and greater success at overcoming sin.

To say that a born again Christian is not capable of falling into sin is wrong, because where there exists temptations, there exist the possibility of falling into sin. What the Gospels mean by a Christian not being able to sin is that a Christian will stop practicing sin. To practice means to do it continuously without stopping, if you are resisting temptations like a true Christian will, you are not practicing sin.

 

[Autumnleaf]

I have found that focusing on God instead of on avoiding sin is more effective for me.

 

[Emmy]

Dear Jim2011. The Bible tells us: "Repent and be Born Again," give up your selfish and unloving wishes and wants, and start loving and caring.
In Matthew 7: 7-10: we are told: " ask and you shall receive," ask God for Love and Joy, then thank God and share all Love and Joy with your neighbour.
God is Love and God wants loving sons and daughters. You say you have accepted Jesus as your Saviour, and that means that you are saved. Our sins do not leave us quickly and easily, but keep asking God to help you overcome
these sins. Remember you are saved and keep asking Jesus to help you be an overcomer. Your sins will gradually become less demanding and burdensome.
Jesus told us in Matthew 22: 35-40: " The first and great Commandment is:
" Love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
The second is like it: love your neighbour as you love yourself." God will see
and bless you, and your sins will become less and less. As long as you Love God and Jesus, you are saved, and you will find you will be helped to sin less and less. Do God`s Will in loving your neighbour, ask God for Love and Joy, then share all love and joy around you. The Holy Spirit will help and guide you, and Jesus our Saviour will lead you all the way: JESUS IS THE WAY.
I say this with love, Jim. Greetings from Emmy, your sister in Christ.

 

[DreyDay]

Don't mistake lust for your sex drive, which God gave you. It's not a sin to want to have sex, because after all, God made you a man. What is a sin is to respond to that lustful act and entertain it.

Like I said in other posts similar to this, find an outlet. Seeking God or sitting down and reading the Bible is only like 10% percent of the battle. Trust me, I know, I've struggled with this before. The other 90% is what God gave you responsibility for. Your responsibilities as a man are to get out there and seek your purpose, get what you want out of life, take charge, and get women wanting you instead of you wanting them. The #1 thing I hear about these topics from guys is that they lust after women. Forget that. You need to flip that switch, so that women are wanting you, and you are the one they are wanting, because it gives you back the power. Reading the Bible and praying are good too, but doing those alone without being proactive is only going to delay masturbating by about 15-30 minutes lol.

Seriously though you need to find an outlet, and start taking charge and being proactive in life. Find an outlet, and throw yourself into your purpose, otherwise somebody else will do it for you by telling you what to do and how to live your life.

Many Christians are going to give you generic advice like "Sit down, pray, and let God deliver you." Don't listen to them because God gave you responsibility to:

1. Man up
2. Stand up for yourself, and to the demonic activity going on
3. Take responsibility
4. Take charge of your life by becoming more attractive to women
5. Put God first by diving headfirst into your calling

Read my article at:

Mental Wellness And The Law Of Attraction - How To Use Healthy Habits To Generate An Attractive Lifestyle

This can help, if not change your life.

Boom, I'm done

 

[Quasicentennial]

Lust no doubt is an energy-intensive activity, the body burns a lot of calories and after a while your flesh hungers for food, racking up or raising the weekly grocery bill. This is one major reason why marriage should be between 2 individuals, just like Adam and Eve before they were deceived by Satan:.
If Adam and Eve did the right and smart thing by using the "information confirmation communication method" with Jehovah our God the Father, then Satan would have been expelled out of the Garden of Eden and most probably be marooned on a planet in another galaxy far, far away:.
It seems that Jehovah's solution to sacrifice his son Jesus Christ for our sins, might seem unusual, only because he has the most powerful gift to see future reality events, not just our human lives but also Satan's life and he cannot turn back the clock to prevent Christ's Second Coming supernatural victory return that will end Satan's reign on Earth and when that happens -
I believe Christ-spirituality will replace sexuality in all it's forms: homosexuality, heterosexuality, polygamy, masturbation, etc - once we receive our new minds and bodies of Christ with the supernatural abundance of peace and joy to such an extent that the energy-draining depression side effects of sexual feelings would be too long-forgotten to be ever experienced again.;'*';.