THE BEST SPIRITUAL WAY TO FIGHT TEMPTATION

[Gordon 7]

When Biblical David thought wrong, disaster plagued him. But when he thought right he was a hero and blessings followed him. When David was thinking right it was because he fed his mind with truth.

I will continue with my notes from Rick Warren's video: “David fed his mind with truth in the morning. Psalms 119:147 “I rise early, before the sun is up; I cry out for help and put my hope in your words.” The Word starts our day with an attitude of hope. Or, we can start with an attitude of hopelessness. Psalm 119:97 Oh, how I love your instructions! I think about them all day long. Psalm 16:7 I will bless the Lord who guides me; even at night my heart instructs me.”

In the early morning, all through the day and even at night, David was thinking about God's Word.”

My comment: If David focused on the Bible morning, noon, and night; the least we can do is to read one of the verses for quitting every hour and have Bible study every day.

Rick continues: “Romans 7:23 “But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.” Satan wants to control your mind. He constantly plants sinful thoughts in your mind. But you have the power to accept or reject any thought.”

My comment: When satan plants a sinful thought pray: “Father, I worship You and only You.”

Pray: “Father, You are high and lifted up. I will focus only on You.”

Pray: “Father, show me Your glory, and teach me about satan's mind tricks.”

When you pray these prayers and prayers like it, you are rejecting that thought and, you are punching satan in the face. He likes to play games with your mind. He hates being punched in the face. When you pray and praise God at all times you are punching satan as effectively as a heavy-weight boxer who is winning a world championship.

Lastly, focus on the Word, reject sinful thoughts, think right, live right, start finding joy.

 

[Gordon 7]

Someone noted in this thread that frustration made them fall. Their tip has caused me to write about overcoming frustration many times since then. If you share what causes you to fall you may be inspiring articles that help others.

Secondly, we will all try to give you tips to help your specific situation (if we can).

Thirdly, it is vital to get to the root cause of whether sin is involved in the situation. For example: You hate your job. You get frustrated, and that causes depression and you fall.

Instead, ask God how to handle this situation. Pray: “Father, show me how to change so that I don't get so frustrated with this situation.” Next, get wisdom from the Word. The Bible says: "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ."

Fourthly – purpose. Are you available for the Holy Spirit to work through you at work? When someone seems down, or when the Holy Spirit guides you, simply say something. If they say their life or situation sucks. You can say: “My faith really helps me through things like that.” If they show interest allow the Holy Spirit to speak through you. Simply start telling them how prayer, Bible study, and your relationship with Christ have helped you. If they need something special, the Holy Spirit will tell you what to tell them.

Lastly, go to war with what causes frustration. Pray constantly about these triggers and do internet searches to learn how to fight the things that cause you to fall.

Study, pray, and fight frustration. If you consistently do that, the Holy Spirit will start to show you clearly how to overcome.

 

[Gordon 7]

Over the course of one month, porn always increases our pain. With addiction, instead of 5 bad days per month, we have 19. Or instead of 7 bad days, we have 24.

I wrote Sunday about work and I want to expand on that.

For example, your boss hates you, and once again today, he rips you to shreds. You now have a choice of falling or fighting. The problem with falling is that falling is what causes the 19 or 24 bad days per month. While fighting is what causes you to have more and more good days per month.

Fighting

We fight temptation by digging into the Word and by prayer. In this case, we pray: “Father, please show me why I keep having this problem.” Then we study some more and pray some more. At some point, God will give you some direction. The direction may be to show you what it is like to be a boss with a bunch of people who really don't really want to be there. Who cause him/her trouble left and right. The direction might be to memorize this verse: "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord."

So, in this situation, you fight and make these changes and your boss still treats you like dirt. But now you understand 2 things better. #1: What life is like from the other person's perspective. How have you treated them? As a Christian, how should you treat them?

But, more importantly, you have decided that you don't want to solve your problem in a sinful way that causes you to have 19 or 24 bad days per month. You are willing to work on solving the problem, fighting the way Christ wants you to fight, and allowing today to be a little bit bad, but also a massive learning experience because you spent extra time fighting addiction instead of falling.

Flip the switch today. It is not uncommon for a person who goes to war with sin to have 19 or 24 good days per month.

Lastly, falling kills your pain like heroin kills a heroin addict's pain. It dulls it for a few hours and then increases it for a few weeks, months, or years.

Instead, fight, attack, dig into Scripture, get your life back, and start increasing your number of good days each month.

 

[Gordon 7]

Loneliness

Firstly, don't blame yourself for loneliness. Instead pray: “Father, take away my spirit of lust and give me a Spirit of courage and energy.”

Sometimes I sit around eating too much sugar and fatty foods which causes me to want to sit around some more (because now I have no energy). I am currently praying a lot about what I eat because I need more energy so that I can do more activities.

I Pray: “Father, please increase my self-control in eating.” Next, I am planning a better diet. Don't beat yourself up if you don't follow your plan perfectly. Work on it, pray about it and realize that everything is connected.

Realize that the more pumped up we get about the goal of being able to increase in new activities, the easier it will be to quit porn, be healthy, go to war with loneliness, and starting to find fullness of joy.

When I put it that way, it is easier for me to say, “No sugar today.” I want all these improvements badly. Just saying what I want pumps me up.

Pray: “Father, help me to turn from sin, and give me the strength for new activities.”

I love this prayer because sin steals our courage, energy, motivation, and our ability to enjoy normal life activities.

Lastly, pray: “Father, show me my purpose.” Finding your purpose is way easier if you are lonely. God has a million great things He needs to be done for people who are just like you (they are everywhere). Read Rick Warren's “Purpose Driven Life” and start to pray about purpose.

To find your purpose simply go to war with sin and find something you can do for God. Once you really go to war with sin, prayer will become a joy in your life. Once prayer is a joy, you can spend enough time in prayer to really be led by the Holy Spirit. At that point, He will show you exactly what He needs to be done.

These 3 prayers can change everything. Pray them often with complete sincerity every time you feel lonely. Pray – fight -change.

 

[Gordon 7]

Satan will be right there fighting with you if you are determined to replace what he wants you to do with new activities.

Pray: “Father, help me to get active.”

Satan is even more upset if you decide that sin is the problem.

Pray: “Father, show me how fighting sin will improve my life.”

Psalms 23 starts: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” Wow! When we do things God's way we will not “want” for anything.

Satan says to skip your daily Bible reading, skip going to church. But if you listen to him you start to cut God's promises out of the Bible. One after another.

Satan reminds you that you struggle to spend time in prayer. Here is the thing. We need to thoroughly repent of all sin first. We need to have a perfect plan to change first. Then... spending time in prayer will be the highlight of our day.

Here is what to do if you are determined to learn how to pray, but the truth is – you have no idea how to do it. Read a chapter in the Bible. Pray about it or anything on your heart. Read one article from Nofap, pray about it for 5 minutes. Read another article from Nofap, pray 5 minutes, read 1 or 2 of the verses for quitting, pray 5 minutes about them, rinse and repeat for an hour.

Five-star spiritual activities are spectacular for quitting. These include daily Bible study, prayer, getting together with other believers, studying Nofap, and helping others. Make it a priority to do your spiritual activities first. Then, make it a priority to add practical activities. For most people, both are needed.

 

[Gordon 7]

Psalms 23 KJV “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

When David was young, the Lord was his shepherd. He followed, obeyed, prayed, stayed in scripture and he did not want for anything. Then David got older and way busier. When he got busier, he struggled with his ability to follow the shepherd.

2 “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.”

Consider asking the Lord to help you to slow down. To lead you beside the still waters. Pray: “Father, help me to be calm, to be pure. Fill me with Your peace.”

If you are busy, consider owning the New Testament on CD. That way you can listen to a few chapters of the Bible while you are running around.

Then at home, you can quote verse 2 and pray: “Father, help me to lie down in green pastures.” We pray this to get our minds off of the rat race so that we can focus on the will of God. I am always praying things like that (to refocus on what God wants me praying about) because I am always distracted.

3 “He restoreth my soul.”

When we reserve a block of time for God he restores our soul. When we skip this time it is like burning money. Because we are burning ourselves out and we are burning our joy up. Choosing whether we spend this time with God is often the crossroads for addiction.

I look at spending time with God as one of the most important things. Why? Well... read the whole 23rd chapter. Living that way sounds like it leads to a great life.

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

We need Jesus to lead us so that we can have a great life. Pray: “Father, please lead me.” The places (and thoughts) He will lead us to are way better than the places/thoughts we want. Trust Him and believe that the paths of righteousness will make this chapter a reality for you. More tomorrow.

 

[Gordon 7]

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;


When the Lord is our shepherd, we can ask for great courage, and we will get it.


“Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”


Like David, I want God pushing me in the right direction. Pray: “Father, direct me with Your rod and staff. I know that Your way is best.”


5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.


Young David was always determined to obey and to be in God's will. Young David would be in the LG commercial saying “Life is Good.” Sinful David would be in the icy hot commercial.


6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.


David was convinced about the greatness of following God. We learn a lot about repentance, passion and a love for God from David.


Lastly, we follow God through obedience and being in His will. When we follow God, goodness and mercy will follow us.

 

[Gordon 7]

A farmer sowed his seed.

Matthew 13:7 Other seeds fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.

Lust is a weed that grows and chokes the life out of us. Pray: “Father, take away this spirit of lust so that I may live.”

8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.

We fight lust with scripture and prayer so that we will produce a great crop, grown from good soil. Pray: “Father, help me to flee from lust and help me to care about souls.”

Matthew 13:12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.

When we obey and follow Christ, good things happen.

Matthew 13:44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

If pleasure is our treasure, we are doomed. Pray: “Father, take away my love of pleasure, and show me Your will.” If being in God's will is our treasure, we will live an abundant life.

45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

Only a few people go around looking for the fine pearls that God wants them to look for. And if we don't look for the pearls we will be looking at something else. Will you be that person who sells everything, buys the pearl, and produces a great crop?

 

[Gordon 7]

Last night I watched a baseball game. The announcer was telling a story about how he encouraged a player who had struck out, grounded out, and basically helped the Cubs lose the game. He told him to not worry about the past, to keep his head up, and to keep up the quality at-bats because the hits will come again.

There are three groups of people fighting porn/lust. The first group is people who are studying Nofap, taking notes, studying those notes, taking time in prayer, fighting by using the Word, and basically going all-out in their war towards freedom. The second group is people who are reading Nofap, thinking about it, praying a little, and strongly considering ways to quit. The third group is people who badly want to quit.

Now, one would think that a lot of people would quit from group 3, people who badly want to quit. Nope, not many at all. One would also think that a lot of people would quit from group 2, (people who are starting to change). A few more, but really, not many at all. The truth is, that almost all the people who quit come from a group just like group one.

Group one people will consistently do the things recommended at this site. They will make up their own top ten list of things they need to do to quit, and they will try to do those things every day. And if they don't like tips 4 and 6, they will do them anyways because THEY ARE GOING TO QUIT THEIR HABIT NO MATTER WHAT.

What makes a great major league baseball player? Talent? It helps, but there are a million talented kids in the minor leagues. A great baseball player is someone who has some talent and who strikes out and keeps trying. They ground out, and try even harder. They fly out, and go back to their notes and rework their technique some more. They fail and fail and fail and never stop working.

A great baseball player is someone who keeps changing until they can make it to the major leagues. Someone who always works and never quits.

Pray: “Father, help me to do whatever it takes to quit this habit.”

Lastly, joining group one will be one of the best decisions you ever made.

 

[Gordon 7]

In an earlier article, I mentioned how my little (he was much bigger) brother got stronger, and eventually, I stopped wanting to wrestle him. With lust, we grow strong in fighting satan by memorizing key verses.

1 John 2:15-16 ESV
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

Pray: “Father, change me, help me to not love the world.”

When we keep reading verses like this one over and over again, we are showing God that we are committed to loving Him.

2 Corinthians 10:5 ESV
“Take every thought captive to obey Christ.”

If we read this verse every hour to get it “in us,” it will remind us to change. Have a list of 5-7 things that you can think about safely. When bad thoughts emerge, pray to turn rapidly from sin and get out your list so that you can start thinking about the good things.

Romans 8:6 “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” “We set our minds on the Spirit by obeying, worshiping, and praising God.” This verse reminds us that we could be living an abundant life.

1 Corinthians 6:19 ESV
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own.”

This is a key verse for quitting. Sometimes this verse makes me scared to sin. Also memorize Proverbs 1: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom.”

Satan will attack, but you can get way stronger when these verses are in you. Then, just blast him with a few of these verses when he attacks.

When we attack, and attack, and attack... he don't like that at all.

When my brother got stronger, I did not want to wrestle him so much anymore. Satan is the same way. While he won't give up, he does spend most of his time wrestling weaker opponents.

Fight, attack, win.

 

[Gordon 7]

Matthew 12 says: When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.

44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it “empty,” swept, and garnished.

The house is us – our spiritual condition. Unclean spirits sometimes enter and sometimes harass people. To fight this condition we must have our house “full.”

I will give advice based on a point system. For each tip, I will rate it from 1 to 10, with 10 being the most effective in filling up our house.

Firstly, filling ourselves with scripture, daily Bible study, meditating on scriptures to solve sin problems, and memorization. Rating = 10.

Secondly, consistently working to be filled with the Holy Spirit = 9.

Thirdly, consistently working to help others and spread the Gospel = 9.

Fourthly, going to war with all sin = ? We must win this battle because if we don't, then #2 and #3 will be very weak. When we win this battle the number will be high. But when we always try to do #2, 3, and 4 consistently (all three), they also become a 10.

Fifthly, prayer = ? When we pray about what we want, the rating will not be so high. When we pray intensely about tips 1-4, the rating will be quite high.

Sixth, to plan, prepare, and study your journal filled with tips for overcoming lust = 8-9.5. Eight, if you are ignoring other sins, and 9.5 if you are going to war with lust and fighting all other sins.

Seventh, have a long-term focus. Addictions fun/thrill is short term and it leads to depression. Pure living leads to joy. Secondly, consistently reminding yourself that you will live 1 million years and that treasures in heaven are vitally important =10.

 

[Gordon 7]

I am a Boston Celtics fan. Their young center said, "I will do anything that is good for the team." That fire is one of the reasons the Celtics are going deep into the playoffs.

Darren Wray noted the following:

“God wants His people to serve Him with fervency. The word fervent comes from the Greek word zeo. It means “to be hot to the point of boiling.” How do we become on fire for God? By allowing Him to burn inside us. That won’t happen if we only speak to Him periodically or read a Bible verse occasionally.

Some Christians are not fervent because their relationship with God is superficial. They jump in the fire for a short time and then jump out. Nothing much happens because they don’t spend enough time in the fire.

Becoming fervent is not a complicated process. You just have to spend enough time with Jesus. When you put a pot of water on the stove, nothing happens immediately. Over time, the flame causes the water to boil.

Being fervent is not so much about what you do. It’s more about how long and where you position yourself. Like the pot of water, if you sit on God’s flame long enough, the things of God will begin to bubble up. The passion, zeal, and excitement for God will start to flow in you and ultimately pour out of you.

Whether you’ve been born again for one day or 30 years, you need to be on fire for God! Decide that you’re not going to be spiritually apathetic. Allow God to boil your water and stir you up. Then serve Him every day with excitement and passion!”

We must be on fire for God or we will never get the excitement we need without a sinful substitute. When we are on fire we become a vessel used by the Holy Spirit to change the world. Commit to being on fire today. From now on find your excitement and purpose from the Holy Spirit Himself.

 

[Gordon 7]

Many have a goal of quitting porn/lust. I am always saying that what you do is just as important as what you don't do in the process of quitting. Here is why.

Matthew 25:31-46 The Sheep and the Goats

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

We fight sin so that the Holy Spirit fills us and leads us! We turn aggressively from sin so that the Holy Spirits fire is on us, enabling us to help others. We pray to care about souls so that the Holy Spirit empowers us and makes helping and leading others possible.

Any day that we don't have a passion for God we should read these verses. Any time we are tempted to lust we should remember these verses. Because... the people in the first half of this section did God's will. Verse 46 is key. They fought to be righteous. In that fiery condition, they were able to help others.

Without passion we are at risk, we are slaves to sin, and we are living our life without purpose.

With passion, we allow Christ to become a burning fire within us. And when that fire is red hot, lust becomes a mild problem at worst, and a forgotten problem at best. When we have a passion for Christ, we finally start to see things the way He see's them.

Pray, “Father, fill me with passion.”

Lastly, use your passion to work overtime to overcome lust. Then, use your passion to help others.

 

[Gordon 7]

Sin

Sin kills our joy. An example is an alcoholic (Dan) who drinks 16 drinks per day. After a week of partying, he quits and asks God's forgiveness. The Holy Spirit partially returns and he gets a bit of joy. But the next day life gets hard and he is drinking again.

Part of the reason he could not resist was because his joy level was low. Drinking now seemed like the only way to stop his depression.

If you put yourself in this position like he did, you just need to dry out from sin and take the pain for a while until life starts getting good again.

But if we stay clean for 3,6, or 9 days, and start to do things God's way we start to realize that God's joy is beginning to increase in us. Every day that we go to war with sin gives us more power and joy.

Now we need to fight to keep that increased joy level. Fight to get more of the Holy Spirit back in us.

Remind yourself that when you stay clean, life's simple pleasures bring you joy.

Let's check back in with Dan the drinker. After he fell again he couldn't even enjoy TV or a walk in the park. His only fun was to drink more and more.

There was a famous anti-suicide song out 10 years ago called choose life. It helped a lot of people.

This week: Choose joy. Let that joy build in you. Be highly aware of that joy. Value it. Even more importantly, value the Holy Spirit filling your more and more as you progress.

Be determined not to lose the great things that you have found. Choose the Long-term joy that makes everything else better. Reject the sin that is short term fun, that kills our ability to enjoy the simple things in life, that causes destruction.

Choose Jesus, choose joy.


Part 2


There are 4 beliefs about sin. The first is that sin is sort of bad and we can't stop anyways. The second is that some sin is bad and that we should stop those sins. The third is that we believe that sin is bad and we are trying to stop. The fourth is that we know that all sin is bad, and we know that life will be better if we stop.

God knows that sin is bad. God knows the destruction it causes. God knows that life will be better if we stop. He does not tell us how to live based on some arbitrary system that He came up with. He knows how it will end. He knows the destruction.

Satan knows that his only chance to run over us is to appeal to our poor math skills. Will we trade in a great month, serving God in fullness of joy for one day of sinful pleasure? Will we trade in 30 days of blessing, for one day of sinful pleasure which leads to a ruined month?

Some people skip over my articles about having a passion for God, for being on fire for Jesus. But the problem with that is, in that condition your math skills will be bad. That passion and fire gives us the strength to fight. Gives us the clarity to remember that when we are on fire, doing things God's way, we will have a lot of great days in the month. And when we do have a challenging day, we continue to fight, believing and knowing that life will be better for the month if we overcome.

Today, analyze whether all sin is bad. Analyze whether it is smart to trust what God says about sin. Analyze whether to believe everything He says about it's destruction. Analyze whether He is always right.

Pray: “Father, I believe that You know best how I should live. Please lead me in a better way.”

If you are not firmly in the camp of the fourth belief about sin, print this out and study it every day this week. Sin was worse than Adam and Eve thought, worse than what David, Samson and Cain thought.

When we start to know, what God knows about sin, we will start to make progress.

 

[Gordon 7]

If you are out and about when tempted, quote Scriptures to yourself. Corechristianity.com said: “When Jesus was tempted by the devil, the devil quoted the Bible to Jesus hoping to trick him by sounding good and pious. Jesus’ response was to quote Scripture right back at the devil. (Matt. 4:5-7).
Just as importantly, take preventative action. If you know certain situations will bring you into temptation (going to a bar, going online by yourself, watching certain movies, being around certain people, etc) take preventative action and avoid those things. Like Joseph who fled from Potiphar’s wife when she tried to seduce him, we must sometimes simply run away or avoid the things that tempt us.

Rest: We are more susceptible to temptation when we are exhausted. When we are tired we are weakened and so more vulnerable to the deceptions of the devil. Rest is very important for our spirituality, and we must be extra vigilant when are tired, asking the Lord for extra strength to resist temptation.”

Snap It

Wear a rubber band on your wrist and try these six ideas about what to say. Every time you have a lustful thought, snap it and say: #1 “Father, Your ways are best.” On your next lustful thought Pray: “Father, show me what to think about.” Thought #3 Say: I believe that pure thoughts will lead to a great life. #4 Pray: “Jesus, I thank you for the cross.” #5: Say three things you can give God thanks for. # 6 Pray: “Father, take away this spirit of lust and fill me with your love. #7 Quote Scripture.
Free your mind and you will be free.

 

[Gordon 7]

We have spiritual goals. Overcoming lust, pleasing God, helping others, etc. But before we can reach these goals it is helpful to pause, pray, and think about our choices before we make them. Example: An old favorite “risky” movie is on, or Jonny is having a bunch of perverted friends over and you are invited, or you have the opportunity to go somewhere where lust just might overwhelm you.

When we are being spiritual we decide we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that we can do God's will. But when we are in one of the three examples above we make the choice based on our own mood. Instead, pause and ask this question; which do I want more – increased joy for the month and a clean movie, or a risky movie? Which do I want more, the influence of Jonny's perverted friends, or should I reach out to new friends who will help me grow spiritually?

Next, pray about what or who is influencing you in these decisions. Pray: “Father, show me why I want to go to this risky place.” Many of us want to take it to the limit with borderline situations, places, or movies/TV. But God wants us to be pure, to be filled, to be vibrant so that we can shine Jesus' light everywhere in a very dark work.

I believe that God is wanting an exciting, fruitful life for all of us. But when we make risky choices (even if we don't fall) we have traded in God's best for...

Finally, when we have choices we should make them based on the Word of God and on intense prayer. The Bible says to “present your body a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable before God, which is your reasonable service.”

If we make choices based on this verse plus prayer, then God will give us an exciting, fruitful, overcoming life.

 

[Gordon 7]

The tendency of fire, if left by itself, is to go out. Passion works the same way. We need to stoke it. Paul told Timothy “stir up the gift of God” (2 Timothy 1:6). Listening to great preaching will stir our minds to greater passion. This is easier now than in any previous generation. It is likely that many churches have gospel meetings and lecture series within driving distance of where we live. With the Internet, we can easily listen to archived sermons of great ministers living, and dead. If your fire is burning out, go to a gospel meeting in your area tonight; or get online and listen to your favorite preacher.

Secondly, we try to activate the Holy Spirit by changing our thinking. When a lustful thought hits say: “Father, I worship only you.” Next, try to fight off your next lustful thought by thinking about how to increase in Christian love for people. Next, think about how Jesus would think. Pray: “Father, please give me Your thoughts.” For more on how to change thoughts see Snap It.

Thirdly, we try to activate the Holy Spirit by being willing to help somebody. Maybe you are a train wreck right now, and all you can do is to pray to care about souls. Or, the best you can do is to show a little Christian love to someone or just help them out in some small way. The point is, by doing the best that you can do right now... you are going in the right direction.

Ten years ago I couldn't do anything right for God. But I was trying, praying, and studying the Bible, and I was willing to do something.

Fourth, we try to activate the Holy Spirit by focusing on His name. It starts out with "Holy." Simply trying to live a pure life changes everything.

Fifth, we try to activate the Spirit through time in prayer.

In conclusion, there is no mechanical way to activate the Holy Spirit. But if we are not trying to start that fire, it likely won't start.

Try these tips and see what happens. At worst, these are fantastic distraction activities. At best... life is about to get really good.

 

[Gordon 7]

We search and chase for pleasure thinking that it has some answers. We think increased pleasure will lead to happiness. Instead, pleasure in excess always ends badly.

Bibleask.org noted the following:

“Solomon the wise wrote, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:2). Solomon stated his experience with the material things of life: “I said in my heart, “Come now…therefore enjoy pleasure”; but surely, this also was vanity… I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards. I made myself gardens and orchards… I made myself water pools… I acquired male and female servants… Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces…”

“So I became great and excelled more than all who were before me in Jerusalem… Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure…Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done… And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 2:1-11).

By the word vanity, Solomon tried to show that external experiences cannot fulfill the inner hungers of the heart. Material blessings, do not grant true happiness. A sincere approach to God is not made through the external senses, but through an inner relationship with Him. For God is spirit (John 4:24), and must, therefore, be approached by man’s mind not senses. Only in such a relationship can man find fulfillment and joy.

The word vanity is used also of “idols” as things vain and without value, and of their worship (2 Kings 17:15; Jeremiah 2:5; 10:8). Some say that in Ecclesiastes there is not a word against idolatry, yet the word vanity in there is one commonly used of idols and their worship. Solomon stressed that anything man may strive for instead of his Creator and listening to Him is “vanity.”

The Whole Duty of Man
Therefore, Solomon concluded, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13,14). Thus, anything man may seek in place of God and obedience to Him is “vanity.”

Doing God's will leads to purpose and joy. Chasing anything else is just like chasing the wind.

Pray: “Father, take away my love of pleasure and help me to love Your will.”

 

[Gordon 7]

Overcoming Depression
It is ten times harder to fight off temptation if you can't get out of a depression. The first step towards success is to change your emotions. This is done by giving thanks. Firstly, think about what Jesus has done for you and thank Him. Don't rush through this. Remember, part of all of our problems are caused by the fact that we don't spend enough time with Jesus.
Next we give thanks for things like homes, cars, jobs, and especially people. Note: If your wife, brother, sister, don't seem perfect - you are probably correct. But I am not perfect either.
When I give thanks for my wife, brother, sister, and friends great qualities - I realize. I am lucky to have them.
My dad was a broke preacher with a tiny church. But he "always" gave thanks for everything. When we got a flat tire he thanked God. One vacation we had 5 flats (I'm really not making this up - it was when radial tires were not yet perfected in about 1973). I watched him very closely on flat #5. He gave thanks yet again. Not only that, he proceeded to spread the gospel to the guy who fixed the tire - and he got saved.
The Bible commands us, "In everything give thanks." My dad made this a daily, hourly habit. I never remember him being depressed - even for one day.
So if you want to be happy like my dad was, take up a new challenge and do what he did. He focused on hells flames and treasures in heaven. He made his thoughts Biblical thoughts.
Jesus saw his effort. And neither depression nor addiction ever ruled his life.

Part 2

Yesterday I had a bad day. It did not take me long to realize that a big part of the problem was that I was not exactly doing things God's way. But, despite my struggles, I tried to be in God's will and do something to help others. Doing that did lift me out of depression a bit. Then later I started working on my “wrong road” issue in prayer. That helped me see that I had set up a bad day yet again by going my own way.

I believe that doing God's will is very important. But I still believe that other things are very important as well and that gets me and all of us in trouble yet again.

We often believe that things like pleasure in excess, money in excess, things in excess, drink in excess, and many other things in excess are very important. But, the more we study Solomon's writings that “All these things are vanity,” the easier it gets to start doing God's will which starts to lead to joy.

Instead, we can choose to start to know God's will. We can take important Bible verses and we can #1 read them, or #2 study them, or #3 meditate on them, or #4 memorize them. We can do the same with Nofap articles, and the more often we get to #3 and #4, the quicker we will be free forever.

Pray: “Father, please show me which verses I should study, meditate on, or memorize.”

Pray: “Father, please show me which Nofap articles I should study, meditate on, or memorize.”

My dad always had a pretty good idea of what God's will was, and he was almost never depressed because he was willing to try to do it. Learn how to know God's will, and live a great life as my dad did.

 

[Gordon 7]

Biblical Paul was a great example of purity and courage, and he practiced moderation. The great question is... can we increase our pleasure through excess? I would say that people who don't drink or who drink with careful moderation are the ones who end up with the best lives. That the people who eat only a half piece of cake, or who only focus on money until they have enough, or who only buy stuff when it is really needed. They are the ones on the road to finding happiness.

Why does the Bible say “Let your moderation be known to everyone.” Probably because excess leads to sin. Probably because moderation allows us to be fruitful which leads to fullness of joy.

Pray: “Father, help me to be moderate.”

Practicing moderation with drinking, eating, money, TV watching, stuff, and everything else gives the Holy Spirit more space. When we give Him more space he changes us.

When we focus on purity and moderation we can then start down a road towards lighting up the world as Paul did.

Pray: “Father, fill me with Your courage so that I can do what you want me to do.”

Many of us would be willing to be moderate for the next few weeks if we knew that the Holy Spirit would shine through us to help 5 people, 6 months from now.

Really, that is why we quit and change. So that the Holy Spirit can light us up to shine brightly in a very dark world.