s20070930m_How To Break Free of An Addiction
HOW TO BREAK FREE OF BAD HABITS—PART 1 OF 2
WHAT IS A BAD HABIT?
It Is The Addictive Physical And/Or Psychological State Of Continual Slavery To Something.
17These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. … 18 … 19 …they are slaves of depravity (destructive habits)—for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. 2 Peter 2:17-19
26In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. Romans 8:26
THE HOLY SPIRIT HELPS ME BREAK A BAD HABIT WHEN I:
B When I Begin [TODAY]
14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15…, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16… . 17Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins. James 4:14-17
R When I Refuse [TO PLACE BLAME FOR THEM]
" 20At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” 22In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. Job 1:20-22
E When I Examine [MY LIFE TO SEE IF IT IS WORKING]
38Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come? 39Why should any living man complain when punished for his sins? 40Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord. 41Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven, and say: 42“We have sinned and rebelled and you have not forgiven. Lam 3:38-42
A When I Act [BY OFFERING CHRIST MY BODY]
11In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. 14For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. Romans 6:11-14
K When I Keep [TEMPTATION AWAY FROM MY HEART]
9“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. 11‘Give us this day our daily bread. 12‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]’ Matthew 6:9-13 (NASB)