Gambling Freedom in 60 Days: Day 40
Are you going to spend aenough time working on getting your addiction under control? Every time you do what you need to do to change you are putting another bullet in that tiger who is trying to destroy you.
The great thing is that you get to choose the weapon you need to have to succeed in killing your enemy! I would be scared stiff if I had to attack a tiger with a low powered 22 caliber rifle. However if I was sitting in a tank I would have no fear at all. I would go right at him. So the question is: how do we attack this vicious opponent with the proper weapons?
First of all set up a time and a place that you will use every day for your attack to get rid of gambling. The greatest hunters are not always the most accurate shooters in the world. But they are always people who consistently hunt all the time. When hunting season opens they are there hunting every morning and they are back at twilight because there are often great chances at that time as well.
When you set up a specific time to attack your addiction every day you are using a high powered weapon to attack. Don’t just say I will work on my addiction at 7:00 every day. Say instead “I will work on my addiction from 7:00 until 7:30 every day”. Also be specific about where you will work on it if space is a problem. If you have a spouse and a couple of kids tell them clearly that this is your space for that time every day.
Outside stress fuels addiction, gambling stress causes overall stress and leads to depression. We need to learn how to cope with outside stress in ways other than gambling! Stress can come from too much of something or not enough of something. Our body will begin to break down if we keep it under constant stress.
Stress beaters are exercise, meditation and prayer and a new lifestyle. First meditation and prayer. Just sit in a quiet place and tell God that you worship Him. You can tell Him this many times as long as you are sincere. We are created to worship God and to fulfill our purpose. When we meditate we allow God to fill us up a bit with His power and joy. (Then if we quickly get back into sin the power goes right away). So also meditate with this statement – Father help me to turn aggressively from sin. Remember, Peter and Paul from the Bible virtually always obeyed the Bible and fulfilled their purpose and they virtually always had the Spirits power and help with them. Tell God that you praise Him and that He is the mighty and great God. Praising God is something we do during meditation as well as throughout the day.
Another great stress buster is to practice deep breathing exercises.
Get addicted to regular exercise because physical exercise lowers depression and helps to fight addiction. Once you get back in shape, exercise gives a natural high that will stay with you all day. Consult your doctor and start slow. Walk before you jog, lift really light weights for a week or two before you get aggressive. Make it a habit and it may be a habit that may help with your main addiction.
Change your lifestyle to lower stress. I keep track of my high stress activities and have goals of getting away from the stress at specific points. I am developing things I like to do that do not involve stress. What fun activities can you develop that will, distract you, lower your stress, keep you from addiction and help keep you balanced so that you can move forward to fulfilling your purpose?
Exercise #1 – Say to yourself: Gambling has caused me financial pain, it has in the past and it will in the future. It may be helpful to complete this exercise morning noon and night.
Temptation to gamble is like a huge bonfire. The more fuel we put on it the hotter it burns. Giving in to temptation is like putting gas on a fire. Doing other activities and thinking about other things is like putting water on a fire.
Exercise #2 – Repeat this statement twice each day: ”This temptation will disappear if I don’t act on it. If I fall it will return and it will be even stronger next time. If I don’t give in it will go away and someday it will go away for good. I have the discipline to overcome this”.
What does God want us to do: James 1:27 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained [a]by the world.
Wikipedia noted the following:
“The Jesus Army is the identity that the Jesus Fellowship Church uses in its outreach and street-based work. It is a Christian movement based in the United Kingdom. The Jesus Army frequently engages in evangelism in public places, seeking through outreach to demonstrate the love of Jesus and the moving of the Holy Spirit.[5] The Jesus Army has used various slogans, in its early days adopting “Love, Power & Sacrifice” and later “Jesus People, Loving People”, but since 2012 has simply gone by the name “Jesus Army”.
Jesus Army, evangelism and ministry to the marginalized
The Jesus Army was launched in 1987. Following the example of the early Salvation Army, and with a stated intention to “go where others will not go”,[13] the Jesus Army engages in what has been called “aggressive and effective street evangelism among the marginalized sections of society”.[14] The Jesus Army’s mission has been described as “essentially one to the poor, the disadvantaged and the marginalized” .[15]
Jesus Army Charitable Trust and Jesus Centres
Growing from the Jesus Army’s work among homeless street people, those involved in drug or alcohol abuse, and prisoners and ex-prisoners,[17] the Jesus Army/Jesus Fellowship has founded a charitable trust “to develop and enhance its existing work with many disadvantaged groups and individuals”, largely through the founding and running of “Jesus Centres” in UK cities and towns.
In 2002, the Jesus Fellowship opened the Coventry Jesus Centre including a Drop-In Centre known as “The Bridge”, which provides services such as a subsidised breakfast, free clothing, showers and hot drinks, as well as social support, job training and medical help to vulnerable people. The Centre also assists in finding rented accommodation for the homeless, though a major emphasis of these activities is evangelistic, “bringing people to Jesus”.”
I am American and know little about this Jesus Army. But it sounds pretty good to me. We seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit so we can do something like this. We practice rapid repentance so we can do something like this. We make a commitment to be ready for righteousness so we can do something like this. We fight with all our might to quit our addictions so we can do something like this. We think often about doing something like this to change and renew our minds. When our minds are renewed we will think about new things. We will then be obsessed with something like this. At some point we will be compelled to do something like this. We are Christians and we are warriors. “Christian warriors” do something like this.
Read Matthew 12, and 2nd John 1 and 3rd John 1
Continue to read the Purpose Driven Life.
Matthew 5 is about how we can change so that we will start to be blessed by God. www.relijournal.com noted the following
Psalm 119:76
May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant.
The Third Beatitude v5
God blesses those who are gentle and lowly,
for they will inherit the whole earth.
When we look in the Old Testament it says in Psalm 37:11 “The lowly will possess the land and will live in peace and prosperity”. Jesus was saying the same thing in our reading in Matthew when he said that those who are gentle and lowly, meaning humble or meek, will inherit the earth.
The Greek word for meek is praus and was used to refer to domesticated animals. The word does not refer to a wild, disobedient animal; it refers to a strong and powerful horse or ox that was trained and disciplined so that it could be controlled by a human.
The word lowly (or meek) used in this verse refers to a strong person who is under God’s control. They are controlled by God in every aspect of their lives, especially in their soul and spirit. Meekness is more than skin deep. It does not mean that we become weak. A meek or humble person cannot be walked over, but can be bold.
When we want to be powerful we ruin our chances of being humble and we can only become truly humble when we get to know Jesus because Jesus is the one who was a true servant (Matt 11:27-30)
Pray: Father help me to align with you because when I am doing things your way -we are more powerful than any substance can be.
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Thank you for reading day of this Get Rid of Gambling program
Index
Day one: Quitting addiction exercises
Day two: It is important to admit you are powerless
Day 3: Learn the right way to live
Day 4: Getting rid of negative emotions
Day 5: Remember – money lost is not yours. Don’t try to get it back or you will lose more.
Day 6: can you increase your pleasure by gambling?
Day 7: Staying clean in all ways helps you quit the addiction
Day 8: Decide what pain and pleasure you want
Day 9: Analyze what leads you back to your addiction
Day 10: Change your emotions and your mindsets. Stop believing that your big score will come in.
Day 11: Where the Spirit of the Lord is – there is liberty
Day 12: Learn how to worship God. Also try to develop positive addictions.
Day 13: Write out a letter saying why you want to quit
Day 14: Overcoming cravings and negative emotions
Day 15: You have some self control
Day 16: Have a list of coping statements. Have a list of substitute activities.
Day 17: How to find living water that will always satisfy you
Day 18: Do not have faulty beliefs abourt gambling odds
Day 19: Interview with a professional poker player
Day 26: Which prayers are answered quickly – which prayers time more time and persistence
Day 27: How to fill the vacuum that addiction caused
28: Finding a good church
29: Knowing why you can’t quit can help you plan how to quit
30: How to eliminate the vacuum created by quitting
31: Tripping your addiction trap. Overcoming sloth
32: You need clean people around you if you are going to stay clean
33: Use real math not gambling math
Day 34: Don’t condemn yourself
Day 35: Don’t test yourself to see if it is safe to gamble a little bit
Day 36: Knowing why you can’t quit can help you quit
Day 37: Do not chase pipe dreams
Day 38: Getting the anger out
Day 39: The vice of greed