Sex/Porn freedom in 30 days: day 23
Matthew 12:43 “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45 Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”
Some hard core addicts read this and say – Now that I am clean I got to make sure I don’t screw this up. I probably had a demon and I don’t want it back and I really don’t want his friends to come along for the ride. But we all need to pay attention to this verse. Spirits harass everybody. They come screaming in and if we you not living right they stay for a while. If we are not doing something to fulfil our purpose or preparing to fulfil it they stick around.
We get free from sin and the Holy Spirit gives us strength to fight back. But if we start to fiddle around in sin they are back. If we sit around doing nothing they are back. We are in God’s army and we are fighting a war. Those who choose to sit out the war will be at war with spirits and they will lose. Those who fiddle around with sin will also be at war with spirits and they will often lose. Those who go to war for Almighty God will also have to battle spirits – but it is not a fair fight. The Holy Spirit is waiting to win the war for those people. Waiting to empower those Christians who plan to do what God wants them to do.
Some of you want to be neutral and not pick a side. But if you don’t pick a side you will end up on the wrong side. But bad spirits hate the Bible, so to get them to leave – read it a lot. They hate it when you pray, when you read a great Christian book, when you listen to a great pastor or priest. They hate being around people who are always praising and thanking God for everything. They especially hate it when you remind them that Jesus shed his blood so that you can be free from sin and addiction. And yes they harass me too, but when I am on point they don’t stay for long at all.
Whatever your addiction is, it is important to fully understand the pros and con’s of your addiction at all times. We all would love to live in a fantasy world where we could just magically stop any addiction at any time. But it doesn’t work that way because there is always something we like a lot that keeps pulling us back in.
One secret to success is to understand what your addiction trap is. An addiction trap is any activity you do which will lead you back into full blown addiction. So we need to be aware of and very afraid of any activity which will trap us and cause us to be enslaved by the addiction.
For example we have the sugar addict. Sugar addicts don’t necessarily eat large meals. But when they eat one thing with sugar on it, it leads to 2 things then 4 things with sugar in it and so on and so forth. So in this case the trap is baited with sugar. In this example let us look at how 2 different people’s plans might play out.
In situation #1 our dieter is determined not to overeat today at work. In situation #2 our 2nd dieter has a blueprint for success. The blueprint calls for a small bowl of bean soup for lunch along with some carrots. The question is, which person would you predict will give in to the always available cookies. Person #1 who is very determined or person #2 who is very determined and who also has a plan? Yes both people can raid the cookies, but your odds of resisting cookies double or triple when you have a full stomach.
In this case we have sprung the trap (which is the cookies) before we got in it by making a blueprint for our success. In this scenario the addict understands that if they don’t prepare a good lunch they will be in severe temptation. So when the cookies are available their hunger may start them down a slippery slope which they likely can’t handle.
It is a similar story with a sex or porn addiction. If person #1 is determined not to give in to lust on Friday night they may succeed. But if person #2 is determined not to give in to lust on Friday night and they have a fully scheduled course of action to get them through the night they have an advantage.
Here is a key point.
The more addicted you are the more you need to be prepared for your every move. In this example person #2 has a plan to play pool with people who understand what you are going through. Then they will hang out with Johnny who wants to support their dedication to change. Then they plan to go to bed at 1AM sharp.
In this scenario they now have some power and that power is their plan. And if they simply follow their plan they will spring the trap shut before they get caught in it.
Key point #2
U need clean people around you if you are going to stay clean.
In this last example our hero played pool with people who did not always talk about sex. If they are a true addict they may not prefer to hang out with this crowd. We don’t really know these people as well as we know our normal crowd. Additionally they may be a little unsure about us.
So it is important to remember that it will take hanging out with these new people 5 to 8 different times before you can accurately know how well you fit in. It will also take 5 to 8 times for your head to clear up. What I mean by this is; even if your new friends are perfect for you and even if what they are doing is great fun you may not enjoy it at first. If your mind can only think about your habit it will be hard to make new friends. So since you have to make new friends to break your addiction you need to make it happen no matter what.
Here are some rules to follow to break away from the crowd you hang out with now.
#1 Be ultra aggressive in finding friends who are not obsessed with sex. Be patient, it will not happen in one day but always be persistent. If you never give up on finding a new crowd you will find one.
#2 Be the person who suggests clean activities. If you don’t have something to do you will likely fall into an addiction trap.
#3 Always have a backup plan. If you can’t find something interesting to do, have a plan to do something. A hobby, sport, game, or spiritual activities etc.
#4 Although being busy is important try to not overdo it. When you are tired watch some TV or read or get some sleep. Having a good balance in your life is one key to success.
When trying to find a new crowd it is very important to go the extra mile to make it a good night. Make a great effort to treat these new people well. Even if you feel like crap, try to be a person who has love for people. Make an effort to always go around treating people with respect and with some genuine caring for them. If you do you will be surprised at how much better life can be.
I watched the Queen movie Bohemian Rhapsody. I felt great sadness when Freddie announced to his wife that he was leaving her so he could see other people. He had a great passion for her but his sin was much more important to him. He traded his joy for doing what he wanted to do for that 3% of his day in sexual sin.
Many get depressed or get jammed up and use that as an excuse to give in to lust. If we habitually do that, we don’t even know what joy is.
Dry out from sexual sin today and try to find out what joy is.
Satan fooled Freddie by telling him how important illicit sex was. He will try the same stunt on you. Don’t listen to him. The results will be bad.
Addiction is slavery. It tells you what to do, when to do it, where to go and how to act. Even if you love your addiction I want you to tell yourself 20 times a day that addiction is slavery. At its worst, addiction drives you to destruction and at the very least, it enslaves you into a habitual trap that will keep you from any chance of fulfilling your life given purpose.
Addiction is slavery just like all sin is slavery. The reason the Bible is so against sin is because sin always leads to destruction. For many people there are sin’s which are trigger points to your main addiction. Many secular programs want to solve your main addiction while leaving other sin in your life. The drawback to that method is it doesn’t often work all that well, plus you will never find your God given purpose that way. Having said that if you find any program that helps you, it is a good thing, as long as it is not against Christianity.
The solution to help with addiction and to overcome sin in general is to put a priority on daily Bible study. Read a chapter from the New Testament and one from the Old Testament each day. Then put a priority on doing what it says to do.
Every person who makes it a priority to follow God’s ways will find fullness of joy in their life to some extent. Every person who makes it a priority to follow Jesus ways in full (which is to obey his ways and to spread the Gospel) will always have fullness of joy.
Read John 20, 2nd Corinthians 4 and Proverbs 18
Continue to read the Purpose Driven Life.
Fulfill your purpose – do something to help. Pray “Father, bring people to this website and give them a chance to overcome addiction, find your love, start to find their purpose and to start to find joy again.”
I need your help. My new book “What The Bible Says About Addiction” is available for sale on Amazon. If you want a copy please purchase one and leave a good review. If you are short on cash you can read the first 3 chapters for free at Amazon and still write a review. This book along with this course will help you change twice as fast. Writing a good review is your way of helping the next person. When you are busy helping the next person, you are starting to think the right way. Click here to access it.
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Thank you for reading day 22 of this program on sex addiction treatment and porn addiction treatment.
Index
Day 1: Overcoming cravings
Day2 : Is God real?
Day 3: Quitting addiction exercises
Day 4: Getting negative emotions out
Day 5: You can never increase the amount of pleasure that you can have for the month by going back to an addiction
Day 6: Sin leads back to addiction
Day 7: Worshiping God helps us overcome addiction
Day 8: What causes you to stay addicted
Day 9: Develop positive addicitons
Day 10: Overcoming negative emotions
Day 11: You have some self control
Day 12: Always have a list of alternate activities to do when temptation hits
Day 13: Only living water can satisfy you for good
Day 14: Learning form the story of Adam and Eve
Day 15: Blessings and curses
Day 16: Self Control
Day 17: Self Control continued
Day 18: Learning to pray
Day 19: What kind of prayers does God answer
Day 21: Finding a Church that can help you
Day 22: Why is it so hard to quit