timcia
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David said, “I have set the Lord always before me.” How can we do that?
Firstly, we can fight temptation the way our Lord said to fight it. The Bible gives us the example of Jesus fighting temptation with scripture.
#1 Pick out one scripture verse to use to fight. Here is a list of habits, and how to search for specific verses about those habits:
Lust: Search “Verses lust.”
Drinking, or drugs: Search “Verses Drinking.”
Gambling: Search “Verses gambling.”
Whatever your habit is, search “Verses ________.”
Note: I chose gambling as an example on purpose. Very few verses are perfect for that habit. But, pick the best one and use it. The point is to get the Holy Spirit activated.
Second, do a hard memorization of the verse or start a soft memorization. A soft memorization is putting it in your phone so you can read it every time you are tempted, or printing out the verse 5 times on a piece of paper so you can put them where you will constantly see them.
Third, your temptor is mathematical. He wants to tempt people who will give in, not those who will fight. After you quote the verse to him 10, or 20 times he will leave. He will return the next day to try again, but, at some point, he will only stick around for 1 verse. Once he leaves, you will simply have to fight your own personal desires.
I was shocked at how my temptations dropped once I was just fighting my desires. I still needed to say no, but now it had become a fair fight.
Finally, I was shocked at how I began to understand God, temptation, and life as I made this technique a habit.
As I did this again and again, it worked more and more. Over time I did quit my main habit for good. Picking a verse to fight temptation was one of the smartest things I ever did.Psalm 16:8 I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. 9 Therefore my heart is glad.
To stop bad habits it is wise to form habits of thinking about new things. Philippians commands us to think toward love.
First, think about things that attract, please, and win other people’s admiration and attention. Everybody likes a person who does this because then they speak in a way that is positive and makes life better for everyone.
Second, part of the reason long-term habits continue is because of conflicts with others. If you form the habit of thinking in a helpful, loving way, it becomes easier to get along with everybody. Thinking right sometimes leads to speaking right as well as acting right. It all starts right in you mind. Consider praying:
“Father, help me to form the habit of having 1-2 positive, life improving things to think about.”
The Bible commands us to let our minds dwell on helpful, loving thoughts.
I am not good at this. That is why I keep referring back to these articles about what to think about. I need to keep working on that habit. It will keep me from focusing on wrong things.
Third, I act, and think based on my emotions, and on what I want. This is a bad system, and it leads to bad habits, which then lead to destruction.
God wants us to think before we act. Think first!
Think, what does God want me to do? How does God want me to think?
Fourth, everyone starts off thinking wrong. But only a few catch themselves and think: The way I am thinking is terrible, and it will lead to darkness, which will lead to _______. I need to change the way I am thinking. Consider praying:
“Father, help me to form the habit of changing thoughts of _______, and replacing them with thoughts of Christian love.”
Today, consider replacing thoughts of:
#1 Self-pity, with thoughts of love
#2 Fear, with thoughts of Biblical verses on courage
#3 Bitterness, with thoughts of forgiveness.
Finally, consider writing out 2-3 of your negative thoughts, Then, write down what you will replace those thoughts with.
If you think right, it will lead to doing right (someday).
Most importantly, replace constant thoughts of your habit with something better.
Thinking God’s way starts us toward freedom and
joy.We all think that our habit is (or was)) the greatest thing on earth to do. It is not. Other activities are better. The challenge is… To understand the whole equation, instead of just focusing on the pleasure.
Bad habits cause destruction. Sometimes twice as much destruction as we think. Consider praying:
“Father, show me the full destruction that ______ is causing me.”
Second, we need to dry out from the habit for weeks before the new activities will be fun. We just need to do the new activities instead, in frustration until our brain resets, allowing us to once again enjoy the new activities.
Third, pray about which activities you should try.
Fourth, have lists of activities to do. Try praising the Lord while you do the activity.
Fifth, often the first 10 to 15 minutes of the activity is the hardest. Pray to be content constantly during these first difficult minutes.
Example of how to fight to start a new activity. I get a cheap keyboard, and decide to play for 30 minutes daily. I start playing. I am unhappy, this is not what I “want” to do. I pray “Help me to be content” about every 22 seconds. After 10 minutes I am doing a tiny bit better but still…
I think, I will keep going. I will be aware of the destruction of _______. “Father, remind me of the destruction of _________.” I am going to try this activity for 30 days. Until then, it might not be great, but the equation is better. Way less destruction. I will do the things I need to do to someday live in joy, and peace. My week and month will be way better, if my life is clean and right. I will be healthier, and happier.
Fight, pray, plan, win.Satan tempted Jesus, and Jesus said: “Get behind me satan.” While we don’t quite have the power of Jesus, if we have repented fully of our sins, we have the full power to fight with satan.
First, repent. Second, tell satan in Jesus name to get behind you. Third, commit to a long-term war with sin. This commitment will increase your power to fight temptation. Fourth, committed Christians have great power when they pray the blood of Jesus over their fight. The power of Jesus blood gives us victory over darkness.
1 Peter 5:8 -9 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Everyone can resist. If while under severe temptation you read these verses over and over again, power will start to fill you. Read them while watching (clean) TV. Put them in your phone. Access His power.
How do we submit to God? Consider praying:
“Father, Your ways are right and great. Help me to fight until I change.”
With every temptation Jesus said to satan, “It is written.” What if with every temptation you find 2 verses about your habit and you repeat them 5 times per hour, or more. Then, the next day find two new ones and repeat, repeat, repeat. What if you find two new verses each day for 30 days, and repeat them with “Every” temptation. With every verse copy Jesus, and say, “It is written.”
Finally, fight temptation the way Jesus did. It works.The Bible says: “Be ye filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Today, I will review the last 4 keys for being filled-with-the-spirit based on some of my old articles.
1 To be filled with the Spirit I pray by asking the Holy Spirit to fill me with His power. To fill me with His fire. The next direction we can choose is to pray the prayer of Jabez.
“Father expand my borders and bless me indeed.”We pray this prayer because we need to more fully understand: God wants to fill us for His reasons, not ours. We need the Holy Spirit if we are going to expand our borders. God is filling us for a very specific reason. And the challenge is that often we think that our lives will be worse, with less pleasure and less joy if we do exactly what God wants us to do.
Wrong!!!
Doing exactly what God wants is the key to purpose and joy.
2 Great Christians memorize this verse:
“Thy will be done.”Then they spend time in prayer to be empowered to do “His will.” Often we need to pray and ask Jesus to increase our will to surrender and give up control. To ask Jesus to empty us of anything that’s preventing the Holy Spirit from being in control. Ask Him to increase our faith in His promise to give us the Holy Spirit. Consider praying:
“Father, help me to fight against sin, and fill me with your Spirit.”
3 Consider praying:
“Father, help me to remember that sin leads to death.”
This prayer is based on James 1:14-15. Something always is dying or dies when we give in to_______.Some people want to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that they are empowered with the gifts of the Spirit. But if that is your method, that is a long cut. Instead, use a short-cut. Focus on the two commands that Jesus said are most important. To love the Lord your God with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. This consistent focus leads us to activities that produce joy. Helping Others. We pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that the Holy Spirit can empower us to help others.
Take time every day in prayer to allow the Holy Spirit to fill you. Second, let the Spirit know that you are available to do something today, or to say something today if He will help you do it. Remember… God knows your strengths and your weaknesses. If He is going to have a tiny brained person like me talk to someone about Christ, He is going to do a lot of leading. More likely, all the talking. My only jobs are going to war with sin, spending time in prayer, and being available.
Fourth, people who insist on being filled with the Spirit quit 10 times as often as others. Why? #1 because the Holy Spirit helps us to be in God’s will. #2 Because now they have something great “to do.” #3 Because now the Holy Spirit is becoming a constant help in the war against sin. #4 Because now they again experience their “First love,” and start to increase in joy. And it is great.
Finally, if you are a rebel like I was a few years ago, being filled is a long process. But… everyone can do some of these steps and get more filled-with-the-spirit. Today, set your goals for what steps you are willing to do. It will help.
Day 21
Here are the next 3 verses to pray over for 20 minutes:
Luke 21:34 ESV “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap.
Romans 13:13 ESV Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.
Ephesians 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;How do we live in truth daily?
#1 Read the Bible. But, also pray constantly about God’s ways. God’s commands are good. We usually believe that statement except when we are fighting one of the commands. Instead, take the command you are fighting and say, #1 This command _________ (fill in the blank with the command you struggle with) is also good. My life will 100% be better when I learn to follow it. #2 Say, God, you are my miracle, my provider, and my joy. #3 Say, “God’s ways are best and they start to lead me toward joy.”
What statements/prayers can you focus on that will lead you toward truth?
Second, put on Christian music. Sinful music can easily lead you away from truth. Christian music can often lead you toward truth.
Third, practice rapid repentance. I wish I was like Paul or Joseph from the Bible (Righteous people), but maybe their trick was rapid repentance.
The habit of rapid repentance helps us understand why we should live life God’s way. Until we practice rapid repentance, joy will be a mystery.
Fourth, when you have fully repented, ask the Holy Spirit to be your guide. He has a purpose for you.
Finally, we live in truth when we spend time with other believers. Other believers are usually strong in a different aspect of Christianity than we are. Learn how to love, be humble, have faith, or do good works by watching other believers. If they are a powerhouse, loving Christian, get to know them and find out why. Do they have more joy than you? Find out why. Biblical Paul was filled with joy. Why? Because he was way better at living in truth than I am.
Finally, complete all the daily steps listed on day one.Day 20
Here are the next 3 verses to pray over for 20 minutes:
Isaiah 5:11 ESV Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may run after strong drink, who tarry late into the evening as wine inflames them!
Psalm 33:8 ESV Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
1 Peter 5:8 ESV Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
To quit for good we need to have positive addictions. When we are first quitting we force ourselves to do alternative activities. We remind ourselves that they may not be great fun until we dry out mentally from our habit. We do these activities out of self-discipline in order to quit. But in order to quit for good we need positive addictions.Example: We get a cheap keyboard and force ourselves to play it as a distraction idea. We also try softball, jogging, art, biking, or any of 1000 things as new activities to help us do other new things. But out of the many new activities we try, we find that we just start to love playing the keyboard, while that volleyball league that we joined… we hate that.
Now we have a great positive addiction. Severe temptation arises and we run to the verses for quitting. We settle down, and we play the keyboard some more. Maybe we learn some Christian music or hymns. Now our positive addiction has a great spiritual component as well.
Second, if you develop a positive addiction to something like helping out at church or becoming a big brother or big sister it will help you even more. Doing that combines positive addictions with purpose. When we combine those two we add a lot of “power” because the Holy Spirit is involved.
Think about positive addictions every day. Work on them often. They are a key to quitting.
Finally, complete all the daily steps listed on day one.
Here are the next 3 verses to pray over for 20 minutes:
Proverbs 20:1 ESV / 1,156 helpful votes
Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
Psalm 111:10 ESV / 1,117 helpful votes
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!
Ecclesiastes 12:13 ESV The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
I attended Pilgrim camp as a kid. Their motto was Holiness unto the Lord. Some would say, what a pushy, strict motto. But none of the kids minded. We were treated with love, and it was obvious that their beliefs were the real thing. They were living with joy and purpose, and they were teaching us how to live with joy and purpose.The problem in life is, when we forget about holiness, we lose faith in believing that God’s ways lead to happiness.
The problem with quitting is people want to quit drinking but still do porn, or quit porn and still drink in excess. Holiness is no part of that quitting program. People want to quit ______, but still do _______(Put in the sin you don’t want to quit).
Pilgrim camp’s motto was Holiness unto the Lord. The leaders lived great lives. They constantly exhibited the fruits of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, temperance. They taught people to seek the Lord to study scripture and to pray to be filled-with-the-spirit.
Some read my articles and do the practical tips and reject the Spiritual tips. That system will work as long as you can resist your temptations without having a lot of joy in your life.
God’s #1 reason for writing the Bible might not be so we can be good (But it is high up on the list). His #1 reason might be that we can study it so that we can be shining Lights, allowing Him to shine through us.
Trust me, there are already millions of joyless Christians saying how great their religion is. Quitting without holiness will allow you to join their group. But there are also a lot of Christians quitting habits and embracing holiness. These Christians are joining a group of Christians who are headed for purpose, freedom, and joy.
Hebrews 1:9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”
The Joy Habit
#1 Consider saying 5 times daily: I will live in a way that increases my joy.
#2 Consider saying 5 times daily: Holiness starts to lead to joy.
#3 Working toward holiness makes quitting easier.
#4 Always have 1 or 2 quitting habits as goals. Working on them steers you toward holiness, and fighting lawlessness increases gladness.
Finally, complete all the daily steps listed on day one.
Day 18
Here are the next 3 verses to pray over for 20 minutes:
Job 28:28 ESV And he said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”
Ephesians 5:18 ESV And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
Matthew 10:28 ESV And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Sin always causes temptation to be strong.
1 John 3:8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.”
Based on these passages, we must work daily, and hourly on the habit of turning from thoughts of ______. Based on these passages we need to spend more time in prayer to allow the Holy Spirit to fill us more so that we can fight sin. Consider praying:
“Father, help me to turn from thoughts of ______ and fill me with your love.
Second, the bigger sin is:
James 4:17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”
Many reading this are too caught up in habits to do a lot of good. In that case, set a time and place to pray about doing good, finding your purpose, and doing God’s will.
Third, it is hard to do good when sin, darkness, and maybe even depression rule you. That is why the Bible constantly talks about fighting sin.
Fourth, it takes time to overcome habits and sin. God wants to see us planning and trying. For hardheaded people like me, God just chips away at my wrong (When I allow Him to).
Fifth, miracles do happen. I rarely talk about them because they usually happen long after we have established new habits. But they do happen if you keep trying.
Sixth, one of the most important miracles is realizing… Light and joy are slowly starting to enter our lives again. At some point, we want to keep seeing that increasing. At that point, we are close to being done for good.Finally, complete all the daily steps listed on day one.
Day 17
Here are the next 3 verses to pray over for 20 minutes:
Proverbs 23:31 ESV Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.
Romans 13:4 ESV For he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.
Proverbs 8:13 ESV The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.Quitting probably takes longer than you think. Forming new habits probably takes longer than you think. It takes 66 days on average to form a new habit. Some people are so obsessed with quitting and with new habits, so they think about forming new habits “All the time.” That leads to more rapid success. Others who are completely determined to quit still struggle after 126 days. Let’s look at 3 people who are trying to quit. To start, they are each using 3 techniques. #1 Daily Bible reading. #2 Learning the habit of turning from tempting thoughts. #3 Learning new activities to replace the high-risk activities that caused them to fall so easily.
Mike
Mike has signed up for a “Through the Bible in a year app. To inspire himself to do it every day he has memorized the verse: “Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I should not sin against thee.”Mike has printed out many turn from temptation articles.” He spends 5-15 minutes per day studying them, and he puts them on his lap when he watches TV, or is in any tempting situation at home. He says 5 times per day: “I will work on this habit every day. I will form this habit even if it takes “All year.” Mike has a list of 7 activities that he will go to instead of doing high-risk activities that he used to do. He says 3 times per day: I will do my best to enjoy this new activity, but it is not for fun. I am doing this activity so that I will quit. I will praise the Lord while doing these new activities. I commit to doing things God’s way.
Lisa
Lisa has decided to read a chapter in the Old Testament, and in the New Testament daily. She has a time and a place where she will read. Lisa has memorized 3 prayers from turn from tempting thoughts articles. She has set an alarm on her phone for every 30 minutes. With each alarm, she prays one of the prayers. Lisa has a list of 5 activities to do to replace high-risk activities. She has them listed in her phone so that she can access them immediately.
Ralph
Ralph is totally determined to quit. He says quitting prayers constantly all day long. But he loses a lot of momentum when he slips up the next day. Next Ralph tries reading a chapter of the New Testament the next day. But, he is a bit discouraged when temptation overwhelms him again. Finally, Ralph tries sports as activities to replace high-risk activities. But it is the same old story.
What I failed to mention earlier is… Mike, and Lisa also fell after one day. They are both completely addicted, and they have multiple other problems in life. But both of them went back to their new habits after falling. Mike says: I am going to do these new habits all year. I don’t care if it kills me.
Lisa says: I am going to plan even more, and set even more alarms in my phone. I will keep trying no matter what. Finally, both Mike and Lisa are doing some smart things. I like their odds. Ralph is bouncing from one miracle quitting technique to another. He is very confused and frustrated because nothing he tries ever seems to help.
6 months later Mike is 62 days free and Lisa is 19 days clean. Even more importantly, both are starting to understand that God’s ways are best. They are more motivated than ever to do things His way. They have finally established some new habits, and the new habits are starting to help.Finally, complete all the daily steps listed on day one.
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