Dead to Sin and Alive in Christ

You make a good point. If we say we are followers of Christ, but there is nothing to back this up with our actions, there is no evidence we are transformed.

 

Brothers and sisters,
It is with a heavy heart that I confess to you that I have relapsed. After just over 4 years I PMOd. Goes to show that you can never let your guard down. It started with Tick Tock. In restricted mode the inappropriate images would still come up. I let myself say that I will skip them but didn't and P-subs led to my relapse. It made me realize that these sites, and especially Instagram are just a place where the enemy is trolling hoping to hook one. A gateway drug if you will.

 

Thanks,
I deleted Instagram and Tiktok. Repentance and replacement.

 

I did it again. Pray for me.

 

Brothers and Sisters after my recent relapse I have been led to study of joy vs. happiness. Here is a summary of what I have discovered. I am not the best writer.
Happiness/Joy
Psalm 16:11
'You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.'

Psalm 16:11

Being with the Lord is the ultimate in all joy, peace, and pleasure, we do not know it fully until heaven. We can however begin to experience some of this on earth, in faith, as we chose to be in His presence and walking obediently with him. In thy presence is fulness of joy; literally, satiety of joy - enough, and more than enough, to satisfy the extremest cravings of the human heart. From the Bible Hub Commentary. Definition: the quality or state of being fed or gratified to or beyond capacity.

Pleasure and happiness, in this world, are fleeting, selfish, tied to favorable or conjured circumstances and are self-serving, sometimes at the expense of others. We expend a lot of effort and sometimes resources to facilitate pleasure and happiness. PMO

Joy , on the other hand, originates from our relationship with God, is enduring, does not rely on our circumstances and benefits others. Jesus, Others, Self. Joy can be triggered by the fortune of another, joy in worship, praise, service, and thanksgiving for what Christ has done.

Happiness is merely external, fleeting, and is only achievable on earth. Joy, on the other hand, is internal, selfless, sacrificial, and a spiritual connection with God.

My sins have not brought me happiness, but they have brought me pleasure. I like pleasure. I am still very much attracted to pleasure. Pleasure can be great fun. And not all pleasures are sins. There is much pleasure to be found in righteousness. But the difference is still there. Sin can be pleasurable, but it never brings joy and works counter to the fruits of the spirit.

It seems silly that anyone who knows the difference between joy and pleasure would continue to trade joy for pleasure. The reason we do is the short term results of pleasure are tempting and feel great at the time.


To be happy, seek satisfaction in Gods perfect love, do not worry about what others think, do not compare yourself to others. You will not crave the world’s attention. You will stop trying to impress them with sinful behaviors. Fear God and not man. Care what He thinks. When our feelings do not align with who we are and who is with us, we must continue in faith and remind ourselves who we are and be grateful. Feelings are fickle and deceitful. I have to re-program my mind to think differently. Seek Joy not PMO. I was programmed to be critical, negative, pessimistic, and obsessed with selfish pleasure seeking.

Characteristics of Joyful People
They foster a few close friendships.
They are connected to their local church.
They have God’s forgiveness and eternal life and they are grateful for this.
They are generous cheerful givers.

God delights in His son because his son is perfectly wise and now in Christ God is perfectly happy with us because when he looks at us he sees His perfect son Jesus.
I must be grateful for the people in my life
Memories are a choice. If you hold onto painful memories you will not be happy. Like when God choses not to remember our sins we are to remember the best and forget the rest.

What do you have your eyes on?
If your eyes are on the world you will be distressed.
If you look within you will be depressed.
If you look at Christ, you will be at rest. Corey Tinboom

 

It is my understanding that grace is constant for those who have put their faith and trust in Jesus. However, our shield of faith can corrode and we forget the beautiful gift of grace we have received. Then we may start to fall into temptation.

 

Had a relapse.

 

Other than when these slip ups occur, there is not much else to talk about. I repent and continue in my relationship with the Lord. I am not going through a low point emotionally or relationally. I do feel remorse and disappointed after. I yielded to temptation and am having a hard time quitting again. I am refusing to let it keep me from returning to the source of all joy and peace despite my failings. I’ll keep posting here if something changes.

 

Our emotional dungeons are double locked. Example, if you turn to alcohol, drugs or immorality/PMO, as an escape from grief, regret, remorse, anger, betrayal, fear, failure, broken relationships, or health issues, the vice that is the escape becomes the double lock into this prison forever. The escape compounds the emotional hurt and helps to perpetuate it, keeping you there. Jesus has unlocked both doors. We should work through the core issues with the help of God, the body of Christ, and even professional counseling.

 

The other thing I have recently noticed is that taking every thought captive means EVERY thought. Your new life starts with new thinking, different choices. What you think determines the way you feel. The way you feel determines the way you act. If we stay tuned to the holy spirit and check ALL OF OUR THOUGHTS with HIM, we can be transformed by the renewing of our minds. I noticed this because I was seeking the Joy of the Lord, see above journal entry. I noticed that I would have days where I was completely downcast or upset for no apparent reason, it was a normal day, without any significant problems. Then I realized that this, "bad mood" was actually an aggregation of many unchecked negative thought patterns. For instance, I would become frustrated with someone or some circumstance at work, outside of my control. I realized that many of these negative thoughts were speculative in nature, made up in my mind. I am now trying to catch all of these before they perpetuate in my mind and get me down. This is how the enemy is constantly attacking us, it is a constant battle, but we have the armor of God and God himself with us.