I had written this to a man who asked for prayer when struggling with strong temptations.
You can learn a lot from falling, and over time you will learn you don’t have to fall. One big lesson is to trust to look to Jesus when feelings say look to what you reached to before salvation. If you are not saved, you might not like a sinful lifestyle but more likely you don’t like the consequences of a sinful lifestyle. You might like getting drunk, but not the arrest for DWI. You might like the illicit sex, but not the emptiness when the morning hits. You might like the drugs but not the arrest for stealing to get the drug money. When you get saved, the power to turn from sin is there and the motive to live clean is there. What I find is at times, the circumstances of life will overwhelm you and the FEELINGS of where you were when you were back in that old life can resurface. You can give into the feelings and God can snap you out of them but usually it is too late at that point. When you cross the point of no return and give into whatever the temptations are, the devil can beat you down for years for just a few minutes of dumb decisions.
The point of this post is to get us to remember when we tend to forget all we know.
I have learned a lot by not quitting, but I also forget what I learn during the trials. My prayer for me and others is to remember WHO we are (redeemed, cleansed, new creatures and BELOVED!) when feelings SCREAM otherwise.
First, fellowship will always be a help….temptations will lessen when we get to church, not quit opening our mouths for the Lord and find someone to minister to. The problem is when we are beat down in sin or being beat down by bad thoughts or desires we often don’t want to be around people. The devil is a roaring lion and he often tries to isolate one from the herd to devour. Stay with the pack but follow the Lord as he leads.
When temptations cease, we need to remember that they might be gone, but they tend to leave for a season.
I want to reach out here with some victories. First, I want to contribute and see God can use me whereever I am at. Second, by reaching out being honest with both my struggles and my victories it will produce some accountability. When tempted do I really want to give in and embarrass my testimony? It is harder to give in when I have weaved a web of accountability and when I am sharing my victories over the bear and lions, I just might remember the Lord when the giants taunt me.
Here are some things i have learned (and again something i need to REMEMBER as I still have fallen and forgot the lessons !!!)
1) journal when God becomes real again. Read and reread the journal daily to remind you that it is worth it not to give in. giving in brings immediate relief but quickly you beat yourself up with a “how could i be so foolish yet again?!
2) the key maybe, is staying close and keeping the heart clean before the triggers hit. if you know you are weak during the holiday months, prepare accordingly. increase accountability, church attendance, bible reading etc BEFORE the point of no return.
3) ponder the path of thy feet. try to look “ahead” of the temptations. know the desires and feelings will come and go but if you can ride it out, the results will be worth it.
4) RUN and change directions. Temptations can hit suddenly, especially if you are simply scrolling down your newsfeed in Facebook or have to log on to the internet and suddenly see a half-naked woman on an internet ad even on a normal website like CNN. For example, you bored, and find yourself flipping through TV looking for a hockey game. Suddenly the channel before the hockey channel has a love scene going on. You pause 5 seconds and think is this PG TV or if this was cinemax, and the desires to want more kicked in. Your mind can start to reason, it’s probably not a Cable channel, they won’t show anything and it is that moment when the debate hits. You can keep feeding the flesh, because you messed up already by going on the TV and rationalize, just this one time. The feelings will say keep watching. But if you quickly turn it off and find something else to do there won’t be the regret and harassment from the devil until baseball season starts. Go outside, phone a friend, get on an exercise bike for 15 minutes. You might be in a battle of your own making perhaps but with a simple redirection, you could soon find zero desires the rest of the night. And zero regrets. But if you stayed channel surfing it would have been disaster.
5) Realize that urges and temptations REVEAL something is wrong in our heart. yes, we need Jesus and to be near him. Yes the devil can be hammering us at the moment. But often Jesus uses human beings to meet some sort of need. For example, when i am rejected and hurt and isolated, the temptations and fantasies kick in and they are hard to shake off. And often i welcome them as long lost friends.
However, if I deal with the conflicts and the rejections etc before I get to the point they linger and i stew on them and have my pity party, then the fantasies stay away. We tend to beat ourselves up for falling but we often neglect the many steps that happened before what led up to the fall.
5) Connect with God. As stated, having a journal helps. I find having a bible reading goal is good because it keeps me on track, it provides some direction and stability, and I get an idea of how much bible reading I need to feel “full” spiritually. For me it is daily Proverbs, couple Psalms, OT 2-4 pages and NT 2 to 4 pages PLUS praying to others.
6) When I am thankful I am less irritable. and when I am less irritable I am less likely to give in to the lies. Find things to thank God about. Write them down. In your journal. And review them often.
7) “Remind me who I am” (Jason Gray song). Keep claiming, quoting, learning what GOD says you are. I am accepted in the beloved, I am washed, I am a new creature, God is finishing the work he started, I have a new heart with new desires, a new direction, and a new destiny. This is faith. the feelings can say, “mike you are the same weak hopeless addict loser and you can’t keep from falling, you will fail, it is hopeless you might as well quit!” and faith tells our feelings to take a hike.
Jesus said HE is able to keep me from falling.
**Journaling and regular review…..as much as I “know” above, I can in the moment have 100% spiritual amnesia and forget all God did, all God wants to do and WHO I AM now. **
** And places where you can find accountability are great because you see you are not alone — no temptation has taken you except which is common to man**
Keep me in prayer too!!! Especially I can remember the way out during the temptations and when my hour of temptation hits as much as I can recall the “answers” during another’s hour!!!
Don’t quit. Don’t give in, don’t give out, and don’t let trials and temptations make you doubt.
Journal the victories and you will want to shout!!!!
-Mike