Pastor Ron slipped up again. He was having a bad day and was looking forward to spending some time with his wife (if you know what I mean). But she was like – I really had a long day and I really was planning to go to sleep early. She did indeed go to bed early and Ron hit the liquor store 5 minutes after she went to sleep. He bought way too much and drank every drop and passed out in his basement.
5 hours later he woke up feeling rotten. He paused to pray for forgiveness and did not feel a thing. He then realized he had been slipping up on a pretty regular basis. He knew he needed to try something new to get his act together. He grabbed a pen and paper and decided to write out the consequences of his actions.
He wrote – the minute I go over the line and get drunk I feel the light in my life disappear and other forces seem to move in. #2: Over the last few weeks my goal of growing my church 10% this year has been totally forgotten – been busy drinking or thinking about drinking. #3: I made a couple of bad financial decisions in the last few weeks. Could they be related to my present actions? #4: Last month I was encouraging my church members to invite others to church and they did it. I was finding great joy in seeing these people saved. This month the party is on, I have forgotten about church growth and my joy level has gone from a 10 to a 3. #5: I always preach that relationships suffer when you get into sin. Yep, all of my relationships could use a band aid right now. #6: Another night with very little sleep. #7: I have been sick on and off all month – noticed that God doesn’t really answer my prayers when I put alcohol before Him.
Pastor Ron bowed his head and prayed: Father, I know your rules are for my own good and joy. Please forgive me for my ignorance and sin. Next time I am going to review these consequences before I mess up. This time he felt a warmth like Jesus was with him again. Yep, he always taught his church people that real repentance was putting together a plan of how you are going to change. Now he has a plan which gives a little bit of power about how to fight future temptation.
My new book is out on Amazon. How Dylan Quit Drinking is 24 action-packed, true to life adventures Dylan goes on, which teach him how to quit drinking. At the end of each story, he talks to his mentor Gordon, who helps him learn from his adventure and learn about his Higher Power. The 24 adventures include: Titanic, Pearl Harbor, the Matrix, the Exorcist, Amish Adventure, the Screwtape Letters, the Pleasure Principle, Escaping Reality and many others. Gordon teaches Jonny his code at the end of every chapter. The code teaches you how to have self-control, how to find lasting joy instead of short term pleasure, how to make current obsessions become minor temptations and how to fight until you are free.
This book teaches you practical techniques on how to renew your mind while having fun. These vivid stories will help you form new habits that will allow you to quit for good. Click to access it
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People will criticize you and rip you to shreds. But they can only steal your joy if you let them steal it. You can choose to keep your joy because as a Christian you can choose how you think now (with the Holy Spirits help). Today, choose to keep your joy.
Sue is determined to form a habit to say to herself 3 times a day that “my goal is to stop drinking and stop doing drugs. I will not put a priority on fun or excitement – my goal is to quit. Today I will do things that satisfy.
One of the reasons some people struggle to quit is because they have no idea what the purpose for their life is. There is an excellent book by Rick Warren called “The Purpose Driven Life”. I highly recommend that you read this book.
1 Corinthians 10:13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
God has unfailing love for us. Every day I will add another verse that talks about His unfailing love.
Psalm 6:4
Turn, O LORD, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love.
Today Tom decided to add idea’s about the consequences of his actions in his quitting drugs and drinking journal.
Read First Corinthians 1 and John 2 from the Bible.
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