Carry Your Cross: Overcoming Addiction
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Introduction
Introduction
Story
I was the summer of grade 3, I recently moved to a small town in brooks, I made friends with the teenagers in my neigherhood and we moved skateboarding all summer long. One day they invited me to there home and they showed distrubing pornographic material and it shocked me to my core, i left but years after another group of friends exposed me to more content and my curious let let me to investiagte this and this let me go a dark addiction. I remember the addiction got so bad, i remeber there was a picture of jesus in my mothers room and i kneed beofre him asking him to remove this from my life. I remember I made this vow to God if he freed me from this addiction, i will help others get free from theres . in 2015 i started my healing jourmey which God taught and give me tools on how to defeaut addiction and By Gods Grace he has give me freedom from this addiction.
The Why
My intentions tonight is to share with you the tools that helped me find victory from addiction and your addiction might be different then me maybe Your Addiction might not but novels and music, weed, online shopping, gaming, social media, Food these tools are timeless and helpful. My desire is to help you see whats beneath the addiction and not deal with the symothns but the roots. I want to highlight to you where your volunteerable for the enemy attacks but help you gaurd against them.
Story
I remember in the beginning of my jourmey, I believed in my will and desire to please God was suffiecent and I actually loved the Lord but the first tool i learned your will alone isnt sufficent if your ignoarant. Many christians I speak to Love God want to please God but there completely blind to how he attacks them and they have no defence in place.
Qoutes
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” Sun Tzu
Transition
We need to become aware of the enemies tactics and we need to gaurd against them, build a refugee with the Lord.
Guarding Our Minds
Guarding Our Emotions
Guarding Our Enviroment
Guard Ours Mind
Guard Ours Mind
Story
In junior high, i was in school and on my way to the washroom i the read this poster that read this thoughts, lead to action and actions lead to habits. It left a s impact on me after i got saved and i started my journey to freedom from addiction i remember the first big breakthrough came when i had this realization, Majority of my life i wanted to be be free from porn but God said he wanted to free me from Lust. He helped me see that my war wasnt with porn but with lust. Jesus dindt say dont watch porn in matthew 6 he said dont lust lust which is a thought. Thoughts create actions, actions create habits.
Teaching
Modern science, Cant actually tell us where thoughts come from becuase there non material thing but the ancients understood where they came from.
Jesus say, he said all evil flows from the heart, which is a persons the thoughts, will and emotions.
The Enemy knows this thats why he is called the father of all lies, From the beginning his weapons have been discpetive thoughts. He plants thoughts in peoples mind that lead to dealth.
Thats why proverbs says Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
Story
I started doing research on lust and tying to understand what lust excaltly is, and what I found our lust isnt having a sex drive, lust isnt finding someone beauitful or attractive, lust isnt even being tempted but lust is when we etertain sexual thoughts or imaginations towards someone or something. He taught me doenst matter if i dont want to watch porn but if i am etertain thoughts in my mind that are evil eventually that will come out.
Qoute
Lust feels like love until its called to make a sarcifee
Story
I sat down and started writing down a list of things i was doing or thinking that had to go that was affecting my thought life, it came down to what i allow into my mind through audio and visual and to carefully sensire them. I stopped watching certain shows and movies or i skipped parts of the movie, i stopped listening to certain music and if certain thoughts came into my mind i would not etertain them and i walked in freedom for almost two years from pornography. Just by gaurd what i heard and saw and thought life. I replaced it was skipping parts, studing scripture and not allowing evil thoughts in my mind that were truth or Good.
Transition
I hyperfocused on my thought life and it worked but it wasnt complete.
Guard Your Emotions
Guard Your Emotions
Story
One day I remember i got in a heated arguement with family and i remember leaving feeling so much shame and guilt. All of a studden i felt a wave of temptation and i remember falling into sin. I was confused becuase it had my guards and i protected my thought life but whenever i felt shame and guilt i would fall into sin. One day in the morning, i had a vision of a wall and the wall was well built and strong but it had one hole in the lower corner and i saw a serpent going through that hole everytime to attack me. I build a strong wall for my thought life but i was volunteerable emotionally.
Teaching
After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
The enemy knows when your most vunteerable to temptation, he comes when your feeling discouraged, lonley, sad, hungery, purposeless, he understands humans and i gaurd my thoughts but i didnt guard my emotions. He will come to attack you when your emotionlly volunteerable. I spoke on this last week david fall into sin when he stopped engaging in his purpose he probably felt purposeless, Jesus was tempted when he was hungry, elija was tempted to quit ministry when he was discouraged. Ambhram slept with hagar when he lacked faith and felt hopeless.
Story
I sat down with my emotions and i investigated what i felt and why i felt it and How doesnt God want me to have respond to that emotion. . Many times its hard for us to be aware of our emotions becuase it hard or you think weak. If your not emotionally aware your emotionally volunteerable. Many times its not the feel thats wrong its the response to that feel that is fuelling your addiction. Love demands were emotionally aware of ourselfs and we respond in a emotionally mature way toward God and anothers.
Qoute:
"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable." (C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves)
Transition
You have to be volunteerable to God, yourself and others.
Guard Your Enviroment
Guard Your Enviroment
Story
It was 2016, i was walking in the vanguard hallways and me and pastor sam were heading towards our classes, i cant rememebr everything we were talking about but right before we went our separate ways he made this comment which has had a profound impact on my life. He said he who does’nt put himself in sitations where he has to excerise self control has the most self control. Is your enviroment making temptation easier or harder.
Teaching
Removing or limt
Things from your phone, computer, games and place them all in the living room
If you look at the mirror and speak poorly of yourself and limit or remove the mirror
Reomve or limit your Social media accounts
Remove certain food and replace them healthy alternatives.
Replace it
Story
Many people specilaly struugle with pornography and video game addiction, there is a deeper hunger is for purpsoe.
Prayerful make a meaningful and purpurseful schedule that is daily and specially your day offs.
Story
Many people who devolop social media or internet addiction are trying to fill a deeper hunger for community.
Fill it with community
Visit family
Visit friends
Community
People who devolped addictions aslo tend to isolate and the reaosn is sin brings shame and shame brings hiding so we how to learn to turn to God with our shame instead away and turn towards community not alway.
Qoute
Sin grows in darkness but if we bring it to the light there is forgiveness and fellowship
Transition
I want us to seat with God and bring things to the light and ask him this?
Application
Application
Where am i volunteerable for the enemy and how should i build a refuge for my thoughts, emotions and enviroment?