One huge key to quitting addiction is to fill your life with light. Reading the Bible gives you light. Spending time every day in prayer gives you light. Nothing can grow or live without light. The food we eat every day can only live if the light continues to shine. Jesus' light (like our car lights) shows us where we need to go. Psalm 119:105 - "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Biblestudytools.com said: “We are self-centered and self-driven without Jesus. We come to the end of ourselves and our efforts and become overwhelmed by the natural darkness in our hearts. No one has “a good heart” in a natural state. We all fall short. Jesus came so we would experience the power of the Holy Spirit. God’s loving embrace through the wisdom of His word and our relationship with Him shed His light on others living in darkness. Jesus gives us the vision to see who we are in Him. Only the light of the world can show us who we are and guide us responsibly through life. When we live our lives reflecting the Light, it allows others to see His love.” But we need to know what keeps us from the light. We can read the Bible and pray and still struggle. Because the problem is sin. Sin blocks off the light and then we live in darkness. So we add a third key to what keeps us in the light: Fighting sin. To fight sin we pray for help from Jesus on overcoming it and then we do everything we can to stop doing it. But remember, what we stop doing is the boring half of the equation. Being a Christian is about what we do. The commands about sin are only there to explain what is going wrong. They explain what we end up doing when we don't do what Jesus wants us to do. My daughter is a beautician. Every single person she meets hears about Jesus. Everyone who knows her marvels at how she treats everyone and how she is an example of Jesus' love. She is filled to the max with light. But your purpose is not to be exactly like her. Your purpose is to find out what Jesus wants you to do. Matthew 5:14 - "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” If you want your life filled with light pray multiple times every day: “Father, show me what you want me to do.” The next thing to do is to be available to do something for Jesus now or in the very near future. It may very well be something small. But when you pass that test it will be bigger. And when you start to do what Jesus wants you to do you will start to experience light in your life. Pray, “Father, take away my spirit of lust and fill me with Your light.” I can honestly say that the #1 reason I don't want to fall today is because I don't want my light to go out. I hate the darkness. I have experienced the light and I love every minute of it. Here is the link for more information: https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/i-am-the-light-of-the-world.html
Don't allow anger and frustration to lead you into darkness. Practice rapid repentance because these emotions lead us rapidly back to addiction. Pray: "Father, take away this spirit of anger, and fill me with Your love."
Monitor whether you are living in the light. If you see that darkness is descending on you - panic. Spend extra time studying overcoming addiction, extra time reading Scripture, and spend some intense time in prayer. Insist on living in the light. I have made a permanent decision that I want the great light of Jesus shining through me. I will pray to turn aggressively from sin so that it keeps shining. If you are struggling with lust, the verses for quitting are the best way to turn on the light. If your war with sin is going well, ask the Holy Spirit to fill you today. Ask Him to show you what living in the light is really like.
Spend more time with people. If you are doing well, let Jesus' light shine through you towards them. If you are struggling, find people who will shine Jesus' light onto you. If you are confused as to why you continue to struggle, ask God to show you what keeps pushing you over that hilltop onto that slippery path. Consider praying: "Father, show me exactly what triggers me, and when it starts to happen. Why does it start to happen?" Secondly, give thanks for what is good in your life and try to be positive today. Negativity often raises temptation, positivity often lowers it. Thirdly, the Bible always talks about righteousness. Why? James 2:17 says, “Faith without works is dead.” When we focus on living "right," light will fill us and we can start to do good works. Consider praying: "Father, help me to focus on living right." "Father, show me what You want me to do." Fourthly, truth. Believe the Bible as written. Don't explain what verses mean. Just study the verses and let Jesus show you what they mean. Lastly, Bibleorg.com noted: “How can we produce the fruit of light? As with any fruit, it is produced in the right environment. What is the right environment? Essentially, it is our relationship with Christ. John 15:5 says, “‘I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” We must make our home in Christ through prayer, his Word, fellowship with the saints, worship, and service. As we do this, the fruits of goodness, righteousness, and truth are produced in our lives." Yesterday, I talked about wearing a rubber band and snapping it when a lustful thought hit. Then quoting Matthew 6:22: “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light." Why? Because Jesus is the "Light of the world." Many underestimate what that means. When we grab onto how great this "Light" really is, everything will change.
My Aunt was special. Everyone who knew her wanted what she had. She simply had a lot more light than everybody else. My Uncle and Aunt's motto was Holiness unto the Lord. They had it on a big plaque in their dining room and in other places. She was dedicated to prayer and the Holy Spirit worked through her. My Aunt never had a TV and always went to war with sin. I never knew anyone who thought that she missed out on anything in life. Everyone I knew just thought that she was a great woman and that she lived a great life filled with joy helping lots of other people. My Aunt thought and prayed a lot about spiritual gifts. "Spiritual gifts: 1 Corinthians 12:7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. My Aunt's life was an explosion of spiritual gifts. Pray for 15 minutes then read over these gifts. Which ones are of interest to you? In 1 Corinthians 12:31 Paul encourages Christians to “eagerly desire the greater gifts”. We should each pray and ask God to give us spiritual gifts so that we can use them for the greater good of the body of Christ. Do you want light and joy in your life? To get it pray earnestly about the gifts of the Spirit.
We all know people who are filled with light. Think of someone from your church or greater family who is like that. I knew several people who were filled with light who I knew were different than other people. I also had another aunt who was filled with light. No matter what happened to her, she was always happy and positive. Everybody liked her and everybody knew she had something other people did not have. I also had a family friend who was filled with light. She always took an interest in me. She always had something that people, including me, were looking for. One day, when I was 14 she paid for my brothers and me to go to a Christian camp. The preacher at that retreat was filled with a bright shining light. I was not a Christian, but he talked in a way that I knew something was different. When he gave an alter call, I went forward. When I got saved it was like electricity going through me. I felt like I was filled with Light. Of course, I was back to my old sinful ways within a month or two, and my light dimmed badly, but I remember the day perfectly, because on that day I knew the truth and nothing will ever change my mind as long as I live. Second, all of these people have something in common. They all go to war with sin and they all try to help others and be in God's will. Today, do everything you can to be a bright shining light. Bad habits shrink when exposed to The Light. Expose yourself to the Light (Jesus) as much as possible. Then be a shining light in a very dark world.
Peter walked on water. I knew someone who also walked on water (spiritually). My Aunt was divorced, broke, and raised two kids alone. And, she was completely filled with God's joy. How? Because her God was big, huge, mighty, powerful, able to do anything. For every minute that I knew her she always kept her eyes and thoughts on Jesus. Consider praying: “Father, show me how to walk on water.” When we pray that prayer it may allow us to hear God's voice. He might say, “Be positive,” or, “You can't be depressed while you are praising me,” or, “I love you.” Some will scoff at me acting like God will show any repentant person personal time. But the truth is, I don't know exactly what you need to hear today. The exact thing you need to change today may only be available if you give God a chance to communicate with you. Second, my aunt had the habit of practicing rapid repentance. That is step one to walking on water. She always dug into the scriptures (step two). She was constantly in prayer (step three). She always tried to do God's will (step four). Third, if my aunt was still alive and read an article like this... She would pray that prayer a hundred or more times until she would hear from God. Like Jacob, she would wrestle with God until she found God. That is step five in walking on water (Spiritually). Five steps. Walk them out and see what happens.
