Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2021 5:02:54 GMT -7
Hello, my name is Dominic. I am glad I have found a place where Christians can meet and try to recovery from porn, masturbation and all other forms of sex addiction. Satan has really bound us up but Christ is able to set you and I free. I just wanted to share my story with you really quick.
Age 5 was sexually promiscuous with a neighbor hood girl that led to a life-long secret habit of porn and masturbation which lead to all other kinds of sexual acting out. I don't want to talk about that part because if I were to give a list of it, it might tempt you and I don't want to do the devils work of giving you forbidden knowledge. I will mention only consequences
feeling shame
feeling isolation
feeling like this is something that only have had
knowing that I was sick in my mind, heading down a road to be a serious criminal even by worldly standards
lost of my wife for a time
lost of my children
feeling like I'm not a real Christian, fake, hell-bound who might hear from Jesus that I never knew you depart from me
feeling sick to my stomach
feeling demon possessed
total demonic attacks such as unable to change my thinking, feelings, etc
spent so much money on sex
tested for AIDS/STDS multiples times
loss of work for depression and not able to work
lying to women about me
multiple relations and lying
feeling like there is no hope
feeling like an animal without control
feeling like a child of the devil doomed to hell
feeling like I'm the worst and fake Christian
feeling like I'm never ever going to heaven but will burn in hell forever for my sins
Today, I'm not the same person anymore. If you were to look at my last day of acting out (27 February 2021) you might say "that is not many days and you have not got this thing beat yet". Yes, you are right. You might think "Well, I don't want to listen to you since you only got less than two weeks of no porn and masturbation, i would prefer someone who has way more time like years and years" Yes, you are also right, I agree.
I am ashamed of myself from my last time I acted out. At that time, I was watching YouTube videos which lead to my acting out. I had put soo much time to myself online, and feel into sin. I lost years of sexual sobriety which is why I want to try to be even more serious about this and try again. I'm not saying "Look at me and see how my sobriety date is good so you can trust me" no, I don't want to approach you like that.
What do I have that is worth sharing? This.
I know how difficult it is to stay sexually pure in this world and I want to surround myself with others like me.
I have given my soul, mind, heart, spirit, and my all to the Lord Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and choose to serve Him, despite myself. God wants me to learn how to control my body in self-control by His Holy Spirit so I aim to learn that by reading the Bible, prayers, fellowship
I identify myself as a Christian so I submit to the authority to the Lord Jesus and try to follow His teachings
I have learned more about myself that I am not self-righteous as before. I still struggle with pride and I know it's wrong, but since my last fall into sin, I'm more humbled at my own weak state that I want to help others like me and still get help because I'm not there yet.
I'm still married and by God's grace, my wife has forgiven me, even I am not deserving of it, it shows how God can change a women's heart to forgive her husband who has fallen into sexual immorality. I trying my best to please my wife by not making her upset or do anything that will cause her to lose her trust in me. I know she might not ever fully trust me, and she is right for doing that, I have proven unfaithful over and over adn I need her "untrustworthyness" to kind of guide me to earn it back. Why should an old sex addict like me automatically have a right to his wife's trust especially after I keep breaking her heart.
I'm involved in a ministry to help other guys to break free from their sexual addictions. It's still in the making and I haven't worked out all the logistics but I desire to have like a group of a few guys to meet with online and pray, share, and have accountability and break out of our isolation and be the church like Jesus wants us to be. I need God's help and I need you too. I'm not a Pastor or missionary just a guy who works, but on his free time, wants to be in ministry now. I believe God has given me a desire to help others as God has helped me. Believe me, I am not anyone special but just like you. I'm not holier or better than anyone. I get beat up and have big mouth, often argue, and have all my own issues of pride and self-righteousness too. I'm trying to be real with you. I know I need to break out of my own isolation and I feel if we did then it would benefit both of us, small group settings.
Enough about me now....
Here is my deeper passion.....
I want to know Jesus for real
I want others to know Jesus for real.
But here is the problem,
the longer I struggle with porn and masturbation, the ministry of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people around us, is not done, if you and I think about it, we are not giving the others around us the life saving message of Jesus Christ, who came to save us from our sins and the wrath of God. That is where I'm aiming at. Not only that but....
Since I have also doubted my own salvation....and probably rightly so since I had lived a double-life for so long, I'm not going to get into that, but think about this.
'Not everyone who calls me their Lord will get into the kingdom of heaven. Only the ones who obey my Father in heaven will get in. On the day of judgment many will call me their Lord. They will say, “We preached in your name, and in your name we forced out demons and worked many miracles.” But I will tell them, “I will have nothing to do with you! Get out of my sight, you evil people!” '
Matthew 7:21-23
my.bible.com/bible/392/MAT.7.21-23
Now, I have had dreams of going to hell, and panic attacks (I'm also in counseling for my OCD and fears and also on medication), and since I was not able to stop watching porn and masturbating for many years, thus breaking the rule of adultery in Matthew 5:27-30
' You know the commandment which says, “Be faithful in marriage.” But I tell you if you look at another woman and want her, you are already unfaithful in your thoughts. If your right hand causes you to sin, chop it off and throw it away! It is better to lose one part of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right eye causes you to sin, poke it out and throw it away. It is better to lose one part of your body, than for your whole body to end up in hell. '
Matthew 5:27-30
my.bible.com/bible/392/MAT.5.27-30
I often thought, if my porn and masturbation is my "right eye" making me sin and my "right hand" making me lust after a women not my wife, then if Jesus says those people who do that are going to hell, then I must conclude that I am going to hell.
and I would reason, but what about all my church going, my bible reading, ........
this drives me insane, but sane enough to cry out to God in desperation for a new heart according to Psalms 51
' Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.'
Psalms 51:10
my.bible.com/bible/1171/PSA.51.10
when I realize what Jesus has done on the cross for me......
He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to
sins, should live unto righteousness. By His wounds you were healed.
1 Peter 2:24 MEV
God makes me cry out "Lord save me"
and it's not a fake cry because
'The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.'
Psalms 51:17
my.bible.com/bible/1171/PSA.51.17
and if you and I are broken.....
God says
He will not despise you.....
and further more
'Everything and everyone that the Father has given me will come to me, and I won't turn any of them away. '
John 6:37
my.bible.com/bible/392/JHN.6.37
God says that He will not turn you and I away.
Do you believe this?
I do. I hope you do too.
I don't know if I'll ever look at porn or masturbate, I hate that I do that.
Here is another issue, the flesh we live in.
So know you heard of what Jesus has done for you and I......
'Now, brothers, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which you
have received, and in which you stand. Through it you are saved, if you keep in
memory what I preached to you, unless you have believed in vain. For I delivered
to you first of all that which I also received: how Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures, was buried, rose again the third day according to
the Scriptures, '
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 MEV
what about the new life....where does that happen? How does that happen?
Here.
But He gives more grace. For this reason it says: God resists the proud, but
gives grace to the humble. Therefore submit yourselves to God. Resist the
devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to
you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Grieve and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your
joy to dejection. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will
lift you up.
James 4:6-10 MEV
Admit your pride, you might already have done that already when you confessed your sins to God, and get humbled. What does that even look like?
With asking God for help in prayer and reading His Word, we can be like this...
'God blesses those people who refuse evil advice and won't follow sinners or join in sneering at God. Instead, they find happiness in the Teaching of the Lord , and they think about it day and night. They are like trees growing beside a stream, trees that produce fruit in season and always have leaves. Those people succeed in everything they do. That isn't true of those who are evil— they are like straw blown by the wind. Sinners won't have an excuse on the day of judgment, and they won't have a place with the people of God. The Lord protects everyone who follows him, but the wicked follow a road that leads to ruin.'
Psalms 1:1-6
my.bible.com/bible/392/PSA.1.1-6
Where do I find my happiness? I admit, I love video games, I love movies, I love lots of things....so according to this "they find happiness in the Teaching of the Lord" and " they think about it day and night"
so here why some say read the Bible, not like you are doing homework, but like you will die one day and need instructions on how to life your everyday life, and ask God to be filled with His Holy Spirit and make you obedient to obey it. God will do it if you ask Him.
'Young people can live a clean life by obeying your word. I worship you with all my heart. Don't let me walk away from your commands. I treasure your word above all else; it keeps me from sinning against you. I praise you, Lord ! Teach me your laws. '
Psalms 119:9-12
my.bible.com/bible/392/PSA.119.9-12
Now let's be honest, I was at a point in my life that I used to think "well, I am trying to read the Bible and the Bible is too boring".... Well, how about now? You have hopefully received God's forgiveness of sins through knowing Jesus Christ and heard about what he did for you on the cross. He took on your sins and received all your judgment for it..... How about now? Would you want to know about this God?
The Bible from Genesis to Revelations explains Him right directly to you. You don't need to wait next Sunday to hear about Him, because you can hear about Him right now. Why? Is Jesus Christ and His Teaching "that" important?
do you wear a seat belt?
do you eat food three times a day? snacks too?
do you spend time doing other "entertainment" (video games, movies, etc)....
Yes, Jesus Christ's teaching are more important than all of those, yet, I find myself 'not' reading the Bible sometimes, falling after those entertainment things, and my heart gets "worldy happy" and now things of the world become more interesting than things of God, and a backsliding event is about to take place, unless it's dealt with.
What God is showing me about Jesus and Christianity is that it's not about rules and outwardly appearance but inward heart changes, inward thought life changes, and it will determine your outward changes.
we think so we act.
we lusted so we acted out.
we don't think lust anymore so we will not act out anymore.
if we did act out in lust, we have to confess our sins honestly to God, and to another brother (like these forums) and pray for each other. and make a committment "not" to do it again, this committment is to God, your Lord and Savior, not to a person here. We love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength and love our neighbors as ourselves, and with God, we can do this.
Last thing I am learning too, we can't use God's grace as a license to sin. That is talked about here.
'Some godless people have sneaked in among us and are saying, “God treats us much better than we deserve, and so it is all right to be immoral.” They even deny we must obey Jesus Christ as our only Master and Lord. But long ago the Scriptures warned that these godless people were doomed. My dear friends, I really wanted to write you about God's saving power at work in our lives. But instead, I must write and ask you to defend the faith that God has once for all given to his people. Don't forget what happened to those people the Lord rescued from Egypt. Some of them did not have faith, and he later destroyed them. You also know about the angels who didn't do their work and left their proper places. God chained them with everlasting chains and is now keeping them in dark pits until the great day of judgment. We should also be warned by what happened to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and the nearby towns. Their people became immoral and committed all sorts of sexual sins. Then God made an example of them and punished them with eternal fire. The people I am talking about are behaving just like those dreamers who destroyed their own bodies. They reject all authority and insult angels. Even Michael, the chief angel, didn't dare to insult the devil, when the two of them were arguing about the body of Moses. All Michael said was, “The Lord will punish you!” But these people insult powers they don't know anything about. They are like senseless animals that end up getting destroyed, because they live only by their feelings. Now they are in for real trouble. They have followed Cain's example and have made the same mistake that Balaam did by caring only for money. They have also rebelled against God, just as Korah did. Because of all this, they will be destroyed. These people are filthy minded, and by their shameful and selfish actions they spoil the meals you eat together. They are like clouds blown along by the wind, but never bringing any rain. They are like leafless trees, uprooted and dead, and unable to produce fruit. Their shameful deeds show up like foam on wild ocean waves. They are like wandering stars forever doomed to the darkest pits of hell. Enoch was the seventh person after Adam, and he was talking about these people when he said: Look! The Lord is coming with thousands and thousands of holy angels to judge everyone. He will punish all those ungodly people for all the evil things they have done. The Lord will surely punish those ungodly sinners for every evil thing they have ever said about him. These people grumble and complain and live by their own selfish desires. They brag about themselves and flatter others to get what they want. My dear friends, remember the warning you were given by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They told you that near the end of time, selfish and godless people would start making fun of God. And now these people are already making you turn against each other. They think only about this life, and they don't have God's Spirit. Dear friends, keep building on the foundation of your most holy faith, as the Holy Spirit helps you to pray. And keep in step with God's love, as you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to show how kind he is by giving you eternal life. Be helpful to all who may have doubts. Rescue any who need to be saved, as you would rescue someone from a fire. Then with fear in your own hearts, have mercy on everyone who needs it. But hate even the clothes of those who have been made dirty by their filthy deeds. Offer praise to God our Savior because of our Lord Jesus Christ! Only God can keep you from falling and make you pure and joyful in his glorious presence. Before time began and now and forever, God is worthy of glory, honor, power, and authority. Amen. Offer praise to God our Savior because of our Lord Jesus Christ! Only God can keep you from falling and make you pure and joyful in his glorious presence. Before time began and now and forever, God is worthy of glory, honor, power, and authority. Amen. From Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and the brother of James. To all who are chosen and loved by God the Father and are kept safe by Jesus Christ. I pray that God will greatly bless you with mercy, peace, and love! '
Jude 1:1-25
my.bible.com/bible/392/JUD.1.1-25
and here
'What should we say? Should we keep on sinning, so that God's gift of undeserved grace will show up even better? No, we should not! If we are dead to sin, how can we go on sinning? Don't you know that all who share in Christ Jesus by being baptized also share in his death? When we were baptized, we died and were buried with Christ. We were baptized, so we would live a new life, as Christ was raised to life by the glory of God the Father. If we shared in Jesus' death by being baptized, we will be raised to life with him. We know that the persons we used to be were nailed to the cross with Jesus. This was done, so our sinful bodies would no longer be the slaves of sin. We know sin doesn't have power over dead people. As surely as we died with Christ, we believe we will also live with him. We know that death no longer has any power over Christ. He died and was raised to life, never again to die. When Christ died, he died for sin once and for all. But now he is alive, and he lives only for God. In the same way, you must think of yourselves as dead to the power of sin. But Christ Jesus has given life to you, and you live for God. Don't let sin rule your body. After all, your body is bound to die, so don't obey its desires or let any part of it become a slave of evil. Give yourselves to God, as people who have been raised from death to life. Make every part of your body a slave that pleases God. Don't let sin keep ruling your lives. You are ruled by God's undeserved grace and not by the Law. What does all this mean? Does it mean we are free to sin, because we are ruled by God's gift of undeserved grace and not by the Law? Certainly not! Don't you know that you are slaves of anyone you obey? You can be slaves of sin and die, or you can be obedient slaves of God and be acceptable to him. You used to be slaves of sin. But I thank God that with all your heart you followed the example set forth in the teaching you received. Now you are set free from sin and are slaves who please God. I am using these everyday examples, because in some ways you are still weak. You used to let the different parts of your body be slaves of your evil thoughts. But now you must make every part of your body serve God, so that you will belong completely to him. When you were slaves of sin, you didn't have to please God. But what good did you receive from the things you did? All you have to show for them is your shame, and they lead to death. Now you have been set free from sin, and you are God's slaves. This will make you holy and will lead you to eternal life. Sin pays off with death. But God's gift is eternal life given by Jesus Christ our Lord.'
Romans 6:1-23
my.bible.com/bible/392/ROM.6.1-23
Please do think that I am preaching to you like I'm not in need of it, not true. I am guilty and one of the worst so I have to keep reminding myself of who God is, what God wants, and my identify in Christ.
We need God so much and not just for quitting porn and masturbation but to live like this.
'God's Spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled. There is no law against behaving in any of these ways. And because we belong to Christ Jesus, we have killed our selfish feelings and desires. God's Spirit has given us life, and so we should follow the Spirit. But don't be conceited or make others jealous by claiming to be better than they are.'
Galatians 5:22-26
my.bible.com/bible/392/GAL.5.22-26
and not like this.
'People's desires make them give in to immoral ways, filthy thoughts, and shameful deeds. They worship idols, practice witchcraft, hate others, and are hard to get along with. People become jealous, angry, and selfish. They not only argue and cause trouble, but they are envious. They get drunk, carry on at wild parties, and do other evil things as well. I told you before, and I am telling you again: No one who does these things will share in the blessings of God's kingdom. '
Galatians 5:19-21
my.bible.com/bible/392/GAL.5.19-21
because it will end like this...
'From heaven God shows how angry he is with all the wicked and evil things that sinful people do to crush the truth. They know everything that can be known about God, because God has shown it all to them. God's eternal power and character cannot be seen. But from the beginning of creation, God has shown what these are like by all he has made. That's why those people don't have any excuse. They know about God, but they don't honor him or even thank him. Their thoughts are useless, and their stupid minds are in the dark. They claim to be wise, but they are fools. They don't worship the glorious and eternal God. Instead, they worship idols that are made to look like humans who cannot live forever, and like birds, animals, and reptiles. So God let these people go their own way. They did what they wanted to do, and their filthy thoughts made them do shameful things with their bodies. They gave up the truth about God for a lie, and they worshiped God's creation instead of God, who will be praised forever. Amen. God let them follow their own evil desires. Women no longer wanted to have sex in a natural way, and they did things with each other that were not natural. Men behaved in the same way. They stopped wanting to have sex with women and had strong desires for sex with other men. They did shameful things with each other, and what has happened to them is punishment for their foolish deeds. Since these people refused even to think about God, he let their useless minds rule over them. That's why they do all sorts of indecent things. They are evil, wicked, and greedy, as well as mean in every possible way. They want what others have, and they murder, argue, cheat, and are hard to get along with. They gossip, say cruel things about others, and hate God. They are proud, conceited, and boastful, always thinking up new ways to do evil. These people don't respect their parents. They are stupid, unreliable, and don't have any love or pity for others. They know God has said that anyone who acts this way deserves to die. But they keep on doing evil things, and they even encourage others to do them.'
Romans 1:18-32
my.bible.com/bible/392/ROM.1.18-32
our state is very severe and only Jesus Christ is able to help us, get freed, changed heart and loving others, in humbleness and truth. Nothing thinking of self but others better than ourselves. Jesus lived out in you through you to minister to others.
'God did this because he wanted you Gentiles to understand his wonderful and glorious mystery. And the mystery is that Christ lives in you, and he is your hope of sharing in God's glory. '
Colossians 1:27
my.bible.com/bible/392/COL.1.27
Age 5 was sexually promiscuous with a neighbor hood girl that led to a life-long secret habit of porn and masturbation which lead to all other kinds of sexual acting out. I don't want to talk about that part because if I were to give a list of it, it might tempt you and I don't want to do the devils work of giving you forbidden knowledge. I will mention only consequences
feeling shame
feeling isolation
feeling like this is something that only have had
knowing that I was sick in my mind, heading down a road to be a serious criminal even by worldly standards
lost of my wife for a time
lost of my children
feeling like I'm not a real Christian, fake, hell-bound who might hear from Jesus that I never knew you depart from me
feeling sick to my stomach
feeling demon possessed
total demonic attacks such as unable to change my thinking, feelings, etc
spent so much money on sex
tested for AIDS/STDS multiples times
loss of work for depression and not able to work
lying to women about me
multiple relations and lying
feeling like there is no hope
feeling like an animal without control
feeling like a child of the devil doomed to hell
feeling like I'm the worst and fake Christian
feeling like I'm never ever going to heaven but will burn in hell forever for my sins
Today, I'm not the same person anymore. If you were to look at my last day of acting out (27 February 2021) you might say "that is not many days and you have not got this thing beat yet". Yes, you are right. You might think "Well, I don't want to listen to you since you only got less than two weeks of no porn and masturbation, i would prefer someone who has way more time like years and years" Yes, you are also right, I agree.
I am ashamed of myself from my last time I acted out. At that time, I was watching YouTube videos which lead to my acting out. I had put soo much time to myself online, and feel into sin. I lost years of sexual sobriety which is why I want to try to be even more serious about this and try again. I'm not saying "Look at me and see how my sobriety date is good so you can trust me" no, I don't want to approach you like that.
What do I have that is worth sharing? This.
I know how difficult it is to stay sexually pure in this world and I want to surround myself with others like me.
I have given my soul, mind, heart, spirit, and my all to the Lord Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and choose to serve Him, despite myself. God wants me to learn how to control my body in self-control by His Holy Spirit so I aim to learn that by reading the Bible, prayers, fellowship
I identify myself as a Christian so I submit to the authority to the Lord Jesus and try to follow His teachings
I have learned more about myself that I am not self-righteous as before. I still struggle with pride and I know it's wrong, but since my last fall into sin, I'm more humbled at my own weak state that I want to help others like me and still get help because I'm not there yet.
I'm still married and by God's grace, my wife has forgiven me, even I am not deserving of it, it shows how God can change a women's heart to forgive her husband who has fallen into sexual immorality. I trying my best to please my wife by not making her upset or do anything that will cause her to lose her trust in me. I know she might not ever fully trust me, and she is right for doing that, I have proven unfaithful over and over adn I need her "untrustworthyness" to kind of guide me to earn it back. Why should an old sex addict like me automatically have a right to his wife's trust especially after I keep breaking her heart.
I'm involved in a ministry to help other guys to break free from their sexual addictions. It's still in the making and I haven't worked out all the logistics but I desire to have like a group of a few guys to meet with online and pray, share, and have accountability and break out of our isolation and be the church like Jesus wants us to be. I need God's help and I need you too. I'm not a Pastor or missionary just a guy who works, but on his free time, wants to be in ministry now. I believe God has given me a desire to help others as God has helped me. Believe me, I am not anyone special but just like you. I'm not holier or better than anyone. I get beat up and have big mouth, often argue, and have all my own issues of pride and self-righteousness too. I'm trying to be real with you. I know I need to break out of my own isolation and I feel if we did then it would benefit both of us, small group settings.
Enough about me now....
Here is my deeper passion.....
I want to know Jesus for real
I want others to know Jesus for real.
But here is the problem,
the longer I struggle with porn and masturbation, the ministry of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people around us, is not done, if you and I think about it, we are not giving the others around us the life saving message of Jesus Christ, who came to save us from our sins and the wrath of God. That is where I'm aiming at. Not only that but....
Since I have also doubted my own salvation....and probably rightly so since I had lived a double-life for so long, I'm not going to get into that, but think about this.
'Not everyone who calls me their Lord will get into the kingdom of heaven. Only the ones who obey my Father in heaven will get in. On the day of judgment many will call me their Lord. They will say, “We preached in your name, and in your name we forced out demons and worked many miracles.” But I will tell them, “I will have nothing to do with you! Get out of my sight, you evil people!” '
Matthew 7:21-23
my.bible.com/bible/392/MAT.7.21-23
Now, I have had dreams of going to hell, and panic attacks (I'm also in counseling for my OCD and fears and also on medication), and since I was not able to stop watching porn and masturbating for many years, thus breaking the rule of adultery in Matthew 5:27-30
' You know the commandment which says, “Be faithful in marriage.” But I tell you if you look at another woman and want her, you are already unfaithful in your thoughts. If your right hand causes you to sin, chop it off and throw it away! It is better to lose one part of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right eye causes you to sin, poke it out and throw it away. It is better to lose one part of your body, than for your whole body to end up in hell. '
Matthew 5:27-30
my.bible.com/bible/392/MAT.5.27-30
I often thought, if my porn and masturbation is my "right eye" making me sin and my "right hand" making me lust after a women not my wife, then if Jesus says those people who do that are going to hell, then I must conclude that I am going to hell.
and I would reason, but what about all my church going, my bible reading, ........
this drives me insane, but sane enough to cry out to God in desperation for a new heart according to Psalms 51
' Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.'
Psalms 51:10
my.bible.com/bible/1171/PSA.51.10
when I realize what Jesus has done on the cross for me......
He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to
sins, should live unto righteousness. By His wounds you were healed.
1 Peter 2:24 MEV
God makes me cry out "Lord save me"
and it's not a fake cry because
'The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.'
Psalms 51:17
my.bible.com/bible/1171/PSA.51.17
and if you and I are broken.....
God says
He will not despise you.....
and further more
'Everything and everyone that the Father has given me will come to me, and I won't turn any of them away. '
John 6:37
my.bible.com/bible/392/JHN.6.37
God says that He will not turn you and I away.
Do you believe this?
I do. I hope you do too.
I don't know if I'll ever look at porn or masturbate, I hate that I do that.
Here is another issue, the flesh we live in.
So know you heard of what Jesus has done for you and I......
'Now, brothers, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which you
have received, and in which you stand. Through it you are saved, if you keep in
memory what I preached to you, unless you have believed in vain. For I delivered
to you first of all that which I also received: how Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures, was buried, rose again the third day according to
the Scriptures, '
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 MEV
what about the new life....where does that happen? How does that happen?
Here.
But He gives more grace. For this reason it says: God resists the proud, but
gives grace to the humble. Therefore submit yourselves to God. Resist the
devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to
you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Grieve and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your
joy to dejection. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will
lift you up.
James 4:6-10 MEV
Admit your pride, you might already have done that already when you confessed your sins to God, and get humbled. What does that even look like?
With asking God for help in prayer and reading His Word, we can be like this...
'God blesses those people who refuse evil advice and won't follow sinners or join in sneering at God. Instead, they find happiness in the Teaching of the Lord , and they think about it day and night. They are like trees growing beside a stream, trees that produce fruit in season and always have leaves. Those people succeed in everything they do. That isn't true of those who are evil— they are like straw blown by the wind. Sinners won't have an excuse on the day of judgment, and they won't have a place with the people of God. The Lord protects everyone who follows him, but the wicked follow a road that leads to ruin.'
Psalms 1:1-6
my.bible.com/bible/392/PSA.1.1-6
Where do I find my happiness? I admit, I love video games, I love movies, I love lots of things....so according to this "they find happiness in the Teaching of the Lord" and " they think about it day and night"
so here why some say read the Bible, not like you are doing homework, but like you will die one day and need instructions on how to life your everyday life, and ask God to be filled with His Holy Spirit and make you obedient to obey it. God will do it if you ask Him.
'Young people can live a clean life by obeying your word. I worship you with all my heart. Don't let me walk away from your commands. I treasure your word above all else; it keeps me from sinning against you. I praise you, Lord ! Teach me your laws. '
Psalms 119:9-12
my.bible.com/bible/392/PSA.119.9-12
Now let's be honest, I was at a point in my life that I used to think "well, I am trying to read the Bible and the Bible is too boring".... Well, how about now? You have hopefully received God's forgiveness of sins through knowing Jesus Christ and heard about what he did for you on the cross. He took on your sins and received all your judgment for it..... How about now? Would you want to know about this God?
The Bible from Genesis to Revelations explains Him right directly to you. You don't need to wait next Sunday to hear about Him, because you can hear about Him right now. Why? Is Jesus Christ and His Teaching "that" important?
do you wear a seat belt?
do you eat food three times a day? snacks too?
do you spend time doing other "entertainment" (video games, movies, etc)....
Yes, Jesus Christ's teaching are more important than all of those, yet, I find myself 'not' reading the Bible sometimes, falling after those entertainment things, and my heart gets "worldy happy" and now things of the world become more interesting than things of God, and a backsliding event is about to take place, unless it's dealt with.
What God is showing me about Jesus and Christianity is that it's not about rules and outwardly appearance but inward heart changes, inward thought life changes, and it will determine your outward changes.
we think so we act.
we lusted so we acted out.
we don't think lust anymore so we will not act out anymore.
if we did act out in lust, we have to confess our sins honestly to God, and to another brother (like these forums) and pray for each other. and make a committment "not" to do it again, this committment is to God, your Lord and Savior, not to a person here. We love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength and love our neighbors as ourselves, and with God, we can do this.
Last thing I am learning too, we can't use God's grace as a license to sin. That is talked about here.
'Some godless people have sneaked in among us and are saying, “God treats us much better than we deserve, and so it is all right to be immoral.” They even deny we must obey Jesus Christ as our only Master and Lord. But long ago the Scriptures warned that these godless people were doomed. My dear friends, I really wanted to write you about God's saving power at work in our lives. But instead, I must write and ask you to defend the faith that God has once for all given to his people. Don't forget what happened to those people the Lord rescued from Egypt. Some of them did not have faith, and he later destroyed them. You also know about the angels who didn't do their work and left their proper places. God chained them with everlasting chains and is now keeping them in dark pits until the great day of judgment. We should also be warned by what happened to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and the nearby towns. Their people became immoral and committed all sorts of sexual sins. Then God made an example of them and punished them with eternal fire. The people I am talking about are behaving just like those dreamers who destroyed their own bodies. They reject all authority and insult angels. Even Michael, the chief angel, didn't dare to insult the devil, when the two of them were arguing about the body of Moses. All Michael said was, “The Lord will punish you!” But these people insult powers they don't know anything about. They are like senseless animals that end up getting destroyed, because they live only by their feelings. Now they are in for real trouble. They have followed Cain's example and have made the same mistake that Balaam did by caring only for money. They have also rebelled against God, just as Korah did. Because of all this, they will be destroyed. These people are filthy minded, and by their shameful and selfish actions they spoil the meals you eat together. They are like clouds blown along by the wind, but never bringing any rain. They are like leafless trees, uprooted and dead, and unable to produce fruit. Their shameful deeds show up like foam on wild ocean waves. They are like wandering stars forever doomed to the darkest pits of hell. Enoch was the seventh person after Adam, and he was talking about these people when he said: Look! The Lord is coming with thousands and thousands of holy angels to judge everyone. He will punish all those ungodly people for all the evil things they have done. The Lord will surely punish those ungodly sinners for every evil thing they have ever said about him. These people grumble and complain and live by their own selfish desires. They brag about themselves and flatter others to get what they want. My dear friends, remember the warning you were given by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They told you that near the end of time, selfish and godless people would start making fun of God. And now these people are already making you turn against each other. They think only about this life, and they don't have God's Spirit. Dear friends, keep building on the foundation of your most holy faith, as the Holy Spirit helps you to pray. And keep in step with God's love, as you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to show how kind he is by giving you eternal life. Be helpful to all who may have doubts. Rescue any who need to be saved, as you would rescue someone from a fire. Then with fear in your own hearts, have mercy on everyone who needs it. But hate even the clothes of those who have been made dirty by their filthy deeds. Offer praise to God our Savior because of our Lord Jesus Christ! Only God can keep you from falling and make you pure and joyful in his glorious presence. Before time began and now and forever, God is worthy of glory, honor, power, and authority. Amen. Offer praise to God our Savior because of our Lord Jesus Christ! Only God can keep you from falling and make you pure and joyful in his glorious presence. Before time began and now and forever, God is worthy of glory, honor, power, and authority. Amen. From Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and the brother of James. To all who are chosen and loved by God the Father and are kept safe by Jesus Christ. I pray that God will greatly bless you with mercy, peace, and love! '
Jude 1:1-25
my.bible.com/bible/392/JUD.1.1-25
and here
'What should we say? Should we keep on sinning, so that God's gift of undeserved grace will show up even better? No, we should not! If we are dead to sin, how can we go on sinning? Don't you know that all who share in Christ Jesus by being baptized also share in his death? When we were baptized, we died and were buried with Christ. We were baptized, so we would live a new life, as Christ was raised to life by the glory of God the Father. If we shared in Jesus' death by being baptized, we will be raised to life with him. We know that the persons we used to be were nailed to the cross with Jesus. This was done, so our sinful bodies would no longer be the slaves of sin. We know sin doesn't have power over dead people. As surely as we died with Christ, we believe we will also live with him. We know that death no longer has any power over Christ. He died and was raised to life, never again to die. When Christ died, he died for sin once and for all. But now he is alive, and he lives only for God. In the same way, you must think of yourselves as dead to the power of sin. But Christ Jesus has given life to you, and you live for God. Don't let sin rule your body. After all, your body is bound to die, so don't obey its desires or let any part of it become a slave of evil. Give yourselves to God, as people who have been raised from death to life. Make every part of your body a slave that pleases God. Don't let sin keep ruling your lives. You are ruled by God's undeserved grace and not by the Law. What does all this mean? Does it mean we are free to sin, because we are ruled by God's gift of undeserved grace and not by the Law? Certainly not! Don't you know that you are slaves of anyone you obey? You can be slaves of sin and die, or you can be obedient slaves of God and be acceptable to him. You used to be slaves of sin. But I thank God that with all your heart you followed the example set forth in the teaching you received. Now you are set free from sin and are slaves who please God. I am using these everyday examples, because in some ways you are still weak. You used to let the different parts of your body be slaves of your evil thoughts. But now you must make every part of your body serve God, so that you will belong completely to him. When you were slaves of sin, you didn't have to please God. But what good did you receive from the things you did? All you have to show for them is your shame, and they lead to death. Now you have been set free from sin, and you are God's slaves. This will make you holy and will lead you to eternal life. Sin pays off with death. But God's gift is eternal life given by Jesus Christ our Lord.'
Romans 6:1-23
my.bible.com/bible/392/ROM.6.1-23
Please do think that I am preaching to you like I'm not in need of it, not true. I am guilty and one of the worst so I have to keep reminding myself of who God is, what God wants, and my identify in Christ.
We need God so much and not just for quitting porn and masturbation but to live like this.
'God's Spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled. There is no law against behaving in any of these ways. And because we belong to Christ Jesus, we have killed our selfish feelings and desires. God's Spirit has given us life, and so we should follow the Spirit. But don't be conceited or make others jealous by claiming to be better than they are.'
Galatians 5:22-26
my.bible.com/bible/392/GAL.5.22-26
and not like this.
'People's desires make them give in to immoral ways, filthy thoughts, and shameful deeds. They worship idols, practice witchcraft, hate others, and are hard to get along with. People become jealous, angry, and selfish. They not only argue and cause trouble, but they are envious. They get drunk, carry on at wild parties, and do other evil things as well. I told you before, and I am telling you again: No one who does these things will share in the blessings of God's kingdom. '
Galatians 5:19-21
my.bible.com/bible/392/GAL.5.19-21
because it will end like this...
'From heaven God shows how angry he is with all the wicked and evil things that sinful people do to crush the truth. They know everything that can be known about God, because God has shown it all to them. God's eternal power and character cannot be seen. But from the beginning of creation, God has shown what these are like by all he has made. That's why those people don't have any excuse. They know about God, but they don't honor him or even thank him. Their thoughts are useless, and their stupid minds are in the dark. They claim to be wise, but they are fools. They don't worship the glorious and eternal God. Instead, they worship idols that are made to look like humans who cannot live forever, and like birds, animals, and reptiles. So God let these people go their own way. They did what they wanted to do, and their filthy thoughts made them do shameful things with their bodies. They gave up the truth about God for a lie, and they worshiped God's creation instead of God, who will be praised forever. Amen. God let them follow their own evil desires. Women no longer wanted to have sex in a natural way, and they did things with each other that were not natural. Men behaved in the same way. They stopped wanting to have sex with women and had strong desires for sex with other men. They did shameful things with each other, and what has happened to them is punishment for their foolish deeds. Since these people refused even to think about God, he let their useless minds rule over them. That's why they do all sorts of indecent things. They are evil, wicked, and greedy, as well as mean in every possible way. They want what others have, and they murder, argue, cheat, and are hard to get along with. They gossip, say cruel things about others, and hate God. They are proud, conceited, and boastful, always thinking up new ways to do evil. These people don't respect their parents. They are stupid, unreliable, and don't have any love or pity for others. They know God has said that anyone who acts this way deserves to die. But they keep on doing evil things, and they even encourage others to do them.'
Romans 1:18-32
my.bible.com/bible/392/ROM.1.18-32
our state is very severe and only Jesus Christ is able to help us, get freed, changed heart and loving others, in humbleness and truth. Nothing thinking of self but others better than ourselves. Jesus lived out in you through you to minister to others.
'God did this because he wanted you Gentiles to understand his wonderful and glorious mystery. And the mystery is that Christ lives in you, and he is your hope of sharing in God's glory. '
Colossians 1:27
my.bible.com/bible/392/COL.1.27