We all can Increase Self-control: if you are still struggling you need to believe it. You can increase self-control in some area of your life. And when you do that, it will at some point help you with your addiction.

Increasing self-control: When self-control is absent Eve will look at the forbidden fruit and take it. We will likely do the same “if” we don’t focus on self-control daily.

How is self-control attained? The decision to put aside or crucify our own desires is attained through daily following the Lord. “Then He said to them all, if anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23)”

Step one – deny yourself. People who know me think it is extreme that I will look away from the TV when a borderline sinful scene comes on. Or if I focus on moderation with sugar or fatty foods. But they don’t understand that I am denying myself so that I can try to be strong so that I can follow Christ and do what He wants me to do. Results: when a TV evangelist denies himself a luxury car all of a sudden a bunch of poor people get saved. Pastor Jentezen Franklin fasts (40 days of intense prayer while denying yourself food) to start every year –his first 5 or 10 sermons on the year are not to be missed.

In what 3 ways can you deny yourself 1:____________ 2:_____________ 3:________________

Step two – take up your cross daily. Many people have gone to Christian rehab for drugs/alcohol/sex/gambling and 3 weeks after they get out and they are dead. They had a great experience at rehab but they did not develop a lifelong habit of taking up their cross daily. Every day Jesus has something for you to do. You must be fully motivated to get the sin out so that you can do it. You can’t take even one day off from taking up your cross. You can’t even take one day off from Bible study and prayer. You can’t even take one day off from seeking your purpose or from fulfilling your purpose. Taking up your cross daily means fighting sin tooth and nail as if God really has a purpose for you.

Step three – follow Christ. Every day Jesus has something for me to do. Now you may say, that’s you but I am me. Wrong – I was you 10 years ago. Jesus has something for you to do every day. I pray every day believing that the Holy Spirit will lead me today. If you are going to war with sin you can pray every day that the Holy Spirit will lead you as well.

It’s good to know what path you are on

Lets assume we have 100 paths we can choose to be on in life. Path # 1 is full dedication to Christ – Paul from the Bible choose that path. Most of us choose path 5 or 25 or 75. Lets assume quit your addiction, get on fire for Christ, make a dedication to Church, Bible study and prayer. You also help out at the food bank and spread the gospel every once in a while. I would guess that this is path 15.

Why is it so important that we know what path we are on? Because, unless we are on path #1 we will be highly frustrated at times. Prayers that would be answered on path # 1 are not answered for us. At points everything seems to go wrong all the time. Even when you are trying hard to be obedient you get no blessing. Sometimes you feel like you are trying to be a Christian but there is no way out.

You know that full disaster is waiting for you if you go back to sex/porn, but you feel like your life is a disaster anyways.

1. Now I am going to shock you – you are correct, your life took a wrong turn. But instead of falling, you assess your path. You could tell more people how Jesus changed your life.
2. You could pray and prepare more as you fight to find your purpose.

I wrote this article because I thought I was on the path that God wanted me on. But I was on the wrong path. My old path was a Christian path, it was a pretty good path. But is was no where near path #1.

Now I am choosing my new higher path. I bet I will be less frustrated now. Maybe have a few more prayers answered positively. I think that now obedience will start to put me in |God’s blessing more.

When you think there is no way out, stop and examine the path you are on. God has a higher path for you. Are you willing to put in the work it will take to find joy and purpose by going higher.

Practice self-control – Charles Box had this great article on self-control.

“Where Christians must practice self-control: Self-control must be practiced in good and right things: (1) eating, (2) pleasure, (3) work, and (4) sleep. Self-control must be practiced as Christians completely abstain from: (1) fornication, (2) lying, (3) gambling, (4) drunkenness, and (5) stealing. Christians must control their temper. (Proverbs 14:29) The tongue must also be controlled by Christians. “If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.” (James 1:26)”

Note: I will add to this great pastor’s article that gambling is not a Biblical sin but gambling becomes a sin for the addicted gambler because it always leads to unrighteousness for them. For those not addicted it often leads to unrighteousness and it is often a practice of the deadly sin of greed. He continues:

     “Self-control results from bringing our thoughts into captivity to Christ. “Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5)  Do you have self under control?”

     By Charles Box, Walnut Street Church of Christ, P.O. Box 551, Greenville, Alabama 36037.

The Bible talks about how we should sacrifice as Christians. What does that mean? Today we will look at 2 people. Both of them pray about an hour a day. They have goals of quitting their addiction and finding their purpose. Mike is a hard core sugar addict and Sue is a hard core heroin addict. Both have had some success but both still have their struggles.

Saturday in December: Both of them get in their hour of prayer and both read the Bible. They have learned the value of strict planning for their day and both make it to 9:30 pm free from addiction. Mike settles in for about 90 minutes of “clean” TV but Sue has been hearing about Christian sacrifice. She decides to sacrifice some of her TV time and get in a bit more prayer. 15 minutes into her prayer time she is a little shocked but the clarity of her thoughts. The clarity of how mixed up her views of reality really are. A moment of clarity about what really should be going on in her life.

Why was this prayer time more powerful than the hour long prayer? She wanted to watch TV just as much as Mike but she sacrificed that time and tried to hear from God. If at that time 100 people prayed, maybe only 1 or 2 sacrificed anything at all. What kind of Christian warriors were the regular Christians who prayed? They were fluffy, normal, not ready for the war Christians.

Sue is still a bit of a mess but now God see’s Sue as someone who can someday be ready to do her part. When God see’s you as someone who someday will do your part – you are going to hear from Him. You still will have to put in a ton of work, make a ton of changes, make a ton of sacrifices – but now Jesus is as real to you as the room you are in. You still have sin habits but now you “know” the Holy Spirit is right with you – ready to help you. You “know” you are getting close to answered prayer. You feel like you need to improve in the area of righteousness but now you “know” that that is exactly what you want to do.

Tomorrow your challenges will be the same, but tomorrow you will still “know” what you want to do. That is a great advantage for tomorrow.

Mike made it through the evening without falling as well. But he got very frustrated while watching TV because he could not do the one thing he really wanted to do.

Which person do you want to be?

Margit Hannelore Roach noted the following:

A LIVING SACRIFICE

1.“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Rom. 12:1 -2.

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” Psa. 51:17. Contrite means sorrowful, crushed. We take a sorrowful attitude towards sin and fight to crush it.

“…Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; He shall dwell on high: his place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.

Margit Hannelore Roach

Read Matthew 14, and Acts 3-4