Ok, back to work.
God said that when I am tempted, He would provide a way of escape.
God didn't say that with a wink. Those words have provided the impetus for a lot of my hope in Christ.
I believe that alcoholics do not have to be alcoholics for life. I believe they can be set free from their addiction through the power of the Holy Spirit. I believe that freedom from the fear of falling back into drunkenness could be for the rest of their lives.
I used to love smoking pot. When I was backslidden, and I needed to feel like there was more than just me in the universe, I smoked as often as I could.
I would buy it by the pound and sell off some of it so I could smoke for free.
When I was high, I wasn't alone. When I wanted to return to God, I couldn't stop for an entire year while I tried. I finally had to act drastically, but I made outward decisions that changed my inward desires, and God honored my prayers and actions.
One of my present weaknesses is stress eating. I'm not obese, but if I had a friend, I could conquer my anxiety eating much faster than I am succeeding on my own, and I am succeeding. It's hard to give my wife (who is losing weight and shouldn't be) a snack without imbibing myself, but it's possible. Plus, exercising is very difficult since I can't leave my wife alone. I'm not a glutton, and I will do as God directs me with my diet.
I rarely see people, much less gossip. If I had a church standing behind me, we could have stood up to my brother together. I wouldn't have to go out into the world and try to find true Christians to support my hatred for his sins against my wife. They would have been attending my church.
As far as my materialism, in the past nine years, all I have bought for myself is a Scrabble game to play solitaire, a Rubik's Cube, and a couple of decks of cards. I have had to reduce our household possessions significantly because Donna would break things or put them in her mouth. We have a few stuffed animals and some books. Oh yeah, I bought a few books. They were written by someone I met online, and I wanted to show him some support.
Mostly, I have prints of photographs. Shoe boxes full. I have a few paintings my mother painted and a few decorations to give our home a warm feel. Other than that, just essentials.
Anyone can talk to me about any of my weaknesses, and I welcome it.
Just not wrath......
I say this because:
@CS1 For some reason, brings up sexual sin. Just because I live alone with a woman who can't monitor my porn intake doesn't mean I indulge. I don't. If someone watches porn, it is adultery, and they are participating and supporting financially in the rape of the women they view. I don't watch it, and I don't masturbate, and I don't pull up erotic images in my mind. God can deliver men from that horrible prison. I would be willing to someday help young men do just that if the church would quit telling them that everybody does it and that it's acceptable and normal.
I'm reminded of a Charismatic pastor whom my brother and I went to for arbitration. I gave him our emails, and he told us our conflict was because of the sexual sins of our ancestors. He said we had demons. He couldn't be the one to deliver us, but he "knew a guy".
He was obsessed with the curse culture.
I'm about solutions, not raising our hands in surrender because we think God will be ok with a bride who smells putrid and is adorned in rags. Who has consented to be that bride? Is racism in the church inevitable? Are cliques? Who thinks this way besides the sinners that get invited into the "hospital" that they call the church? Whether it's the caregivers or visitors, that's how you get a staph infection.
"I played tennis in high school,
@CS1", Underd0g said with a dry humor that most people don't get.
. I'm impressed that you're re-reading everything in the thread, I do the same when I start a thread trying to figure something out. Just be open and prayerful and I think your answers will come.
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