debrakay

This is what I wrote on this subject back in April and I am still nicotine free. We had my husband's memorial service over Memorial Weekend and there were a few smokers around me but the desire for me was gone. In the past I would have joined in thinking "just a few is fine" but not this time. I felt that little tap on my shoulder from Holy Spirit saying, "You surrendered. Remember?" "Yes, Lord. I do remember and thank you for helping me give this up for the rest of my days." Surrendering to our wants and desires is truly a test of our endurance, our faith, and our trust in God. We are weak and only He can give us the strength to do something we know is not good for us. Those of us who walk with Him on a daily basis and have the Spirit of God living with and in us feel His presence all the time. We have no doubts about Him or His love for us. We know He lives in this earthly temple with us. How cool is that?! I for one wish I would have taken better care of this temple for the past 69 years. But since I know that I am on the downhill slope of life I really need to do my best to take care of myself so I can serve Him even more now that I am rolling down that hill. I have kids, grandkids, great grandkids and lots of friends and family around me that need to hear His name and all that He expects from us, His children to do. I like to talk and I LOVE to talk about Him! It's hard to give up something we like. I like to spend money, but I also know I should be practical and have some for giving, some for emergencies, and some to pay the bills. At this point in time, I have very few needs but the "wants" are still there but I am on a limited income, so I have to be a good steward over what I have been blessed with. Giving up drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, gambling and anything we are addicted to is a sacrifice. My heart breaks for men with pornography addiction. Addictions that cause guilt are terrible for believers and unbelievers. One of my sayings for years has been, "Anything that you do that controls you and you do not control it, is a problem." As Christians we are told that if something we are doing is a stumbling block for others, we should get rid of whatever that is, especially if it is someone we love and are close to. Jesus said in Matthew 18:9 that if anything causes you to sin, tear it out. In Mark 9:42 He tells us that if we cause one of the little ones to sin, we are hanging a millstone around our neck. He is cautioning us to live a life apart from worldly lusts. Worldly actions. If we are not a part of this world and are actually children of God, then we need to separate from this world more and more and more and more. This is where I am now. During my husband's service we played the song "First Things First" by the group Consumed by Fire with photos of his life. I chose this song back in September when he passed as I knew it was how he felt at the end of his life, and I feel too. I am returning to my first love with all my heart, soul and mind. Jesus. More than when I first came into His arms, and He called me "Daughter". I have been a good follower for 40 years, but the smoking (off and on) was an issue that I no longer wanted to carry with me. Freedom is a good thing! Surrender to Jesus is a very good thing!

@farouk I do but I will have to get back to you on this. I have an appointment to get to but I really would like to give a bit of insight on this. I am at day #76 today for the umpteenth billionth time but I know for a fact this is the last time for me! (I wrote myself a note to come back and comment)

I am probably one of few who seem to have epiphany moments off and on throughout the years. At least I feel like I am in a small camp on this matter. The word epiphany has meanings such as; an appearance or manifestation especially of a divine being, a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something, an intuitive grasp of reality through something (such as an event) usually simple and striking, an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure; a revealing scene or moment. Today my epiphany is this: Sometimes I think I should just be quiet. But then I think again and out jumps, "Nope. It ain't gonna happen." I guess you would have to live in my brain to understand this kind of thinking. How about you?

I was just reading an article a few days ago from 2021 that stated 51% of those who call themselves Christian do not believe in the Holy Spirit. That floored me. They also do not believe Satan is real. It seems to be that in 2023 this percentage has grown which explains to me why it is now hell on earth. Jesus died so that we could be forgiven of sin and then he left the planet so the Holy Spirit could come and reveal the Father's plan to us. I don't get it that they don't get it but the deceiver is really doing his job on human beings in this day and age. It is beyond sad but Jesus also told us the path is very wide but the gate is very narrow.

You are very sweet and kind! There is hardly a day that goes by that I do not read a Psalm. When I first started my walk with Jesus 40 years ago it was the Psalms that brought me closer to his heart. They still do.

He lives 150 miles away so I did not get to support him. The first one was the "All is well" in honor of Grandpa before he passed. For 21 years he has grown up with Grandpa always saying "all is well" because of health conditions. The Corinthians verse was a surprise to me but that is a verse our family has always spoken out. I believe his newest is a cross with a verse from Philippians but I'm not sure. I just texted him for a photo but that could take days. It's the weekend!

So....my story. I have a 21 year-old grandson who loves the Lord. He is fairly quiet and not one who jumps into conversations like his Grandmother (me). He is now on his 3rd tattoo which I do not have a photo of yet but blends in with these. When he is questioned about his tattoos it opens the door to share Jesus. We just lost his Grandfather 8 months ago and "All is well" is what Grandpa said all the time since complaining is not a great conversation starter.

Great question @backontrack and of course you will get a different response from every single person. Jesus spoke about those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit in Mark 3:28-29 and that those who do this will not be forgiven and are in danger of eternal damnation. He goes on to say that person has an unclean spirit. Blaspheme means to speak evil about. I believe that if one denies the power of the Holy Spirit and turns away from the Holy Spirit they also denying the Father and Son. That person is turning their back on all God has done in their lives. They no longer believe God the Spirit lives in them and deny him. I have no idea if you can deny, come back, deny, come back, and so on. Born again believers know the Spirit is inside of them, guiding, leading, teaching and comforting so to deny him after he has lived with them is pretty bad. Kind of like being unfaithful in a marriage but there can be reconciliation and forgiveness in that instance. Jesus says the one who blasphemes the Spirit is "in danger of eternal damnation". He does not say that person is damned forever, so I like to think he knows the heart of the fool who speak evil and denies then comes back repentant. He is God so I never put him in a box of my thinking. He can and will do as he pleases in everything no matter what I think. The Holy Spirit is breathed by the Father into us when we knowingly accept Jesus as our savior and are baptized into the kingdom of God as his children. The Holy Spirit is God in us and He works in us and through us on this planet. He is as much God as the Father and the Son so by speaking evil about Him is speaking evil against them also. Wishy-washy Christians are a real mess and the Lord has a hard time using them for saving lost souls which is what we are transformed to do on earth. Basically, my answer your question is, "Only God knows if a person can lose their salvation" and he also knows the truth inside the heart of each and every one of us. He knows how foolish we are. He knows how bad we are. He knows how selfish we are. He knows our every thought. He knows whether we deserve salvation and be able to receive this gift worthily. He knows if we should be cut down and thrown into the fire. He knows if we will be saved for all eternity. Sorry, I have no cut and dried answer.

@FJK Thank you for your words of encouragement. It is sometimes difficult to get others to understand that our calling in life is not the same as their calling in life and that each of us have different ministries. It's not easy to stand on the street with a sign that says "Repent or perish!" Even our Christian brothers and sisters will mock and ridicule us for the gloom and doom speeches. But we persevere for Christ's glory!

Thank you for this reminder too Jayne. Living Water for a dry and thirsty land! Even with my 40+ year walk with Jesus I find days that are hard to walk in. We persevere for His glory!

Matthew 8:26 (NIV) He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

Today I am again struggling with how to be salt and light in a dying world. I have spent hours in scripture seeking how the Lord intends for us to speak to those who are continually living in their sins and disobedience. Not just the unsaved but those who confess to be saved also. I know how to be a light and shine his love but I struggle with the salt part. In Luke 13:3 and 5 Jesus said; 'I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. ' then he went on to tell them about the tree that did not bear fruit, that there would be one more chance for the tree before it was thrown into the fire. Many times he spoke of those who would not repent and what would happen to them. I think this was his saltiness for the people. Repent or die. How are we to be salt in a world that is decaying? I know how to be light and spread the love of Christ and his gift of salvation but how are we suppose to effectively be the salt? Salt is a preservative and keeps food from decay. It also adds flavor to the food. The word of God is food for the hungry. I have people in my life who do not want to hear about the salt and only want to hear about the light. I would love to hear from those who have figured out how to balance both the salt and light of Jesus. 'I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. ' Luke 13:3 https://my.bible.com/bible/111/LUK.13.3

I would think so. Jesus is talking to the Pharisees about when the kingdom of God would come and how in the times of Noah and Sodom that all people were destroyed but for this particular time, he reminds them, "whosoever seeks to save his life will lose it and whoever loses his life will preserve it." We lose our lives to Jesus when we choose Him as savior and redeemer and He then saves us in "the end" whether it be our end of life or the end of all life. There is a last book of our Holy Bible and one day it will come to pass. He told us during life we will all have trial and tribulations, but Revelation is specific there will be one final tribulation for all of mankind. Some will not have endure it as it says in Matthew 24:22 that the days of the great tribulation would be shortened to spare the elect (eklektos aka chosen). In Luke 17:30 he says, 'Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. '

Thanks @farouk for the encouragement. It's been 23 days and zero nicotine so I'm getting close to the 30 days for it to be entirely out of my system. I was around my adult son and DIL for 11 days and they both smoke but it did not bother me at all. I guess I never thought of tattoos being an addictive thing but I guess maybe there is adrenaline involved with the needles and pain and we know natural adrenaline is addictive. I have one small flower tattoo to commemorate my first trip to Hawaii over 30 years ago. That was plenty for me and now it looks like a dried flower. Young people think they are so cool now but wait 50 years. Wrinkled tattoos are not the same kind of artwork they were.

'I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. ' - Luke 17:34-36 1 Corinthians 15:52 (KJV) - in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. These are the verses I like to contemplate when thinking about how the Lord will make His appearance at the end of times. I am not too concerned with the details but only want my lamp lit and my oil ready for Him. I have an awesome story about watching my husband's spirit pass from this life to the next when he died in September if anyone would like to hear about it.

I've been watching them for most of the winter. I was so sad when they lost the first set of eggs. They were so diligent and even with all that snow! I hope they can have success this time!

This is certainly a tough topic to weigh in on but I will try since my first marriage was a marriage from hell and my second marriage was a marriage from heaven. So I like to say. My first marriage was at age 19 to a 20 year old Catholic boy who hated the Catholic church he was raised in. God had no place in his life. He was my first boyfriend and I was so in love. I was 6 months pregnant when we married at the assistance of his parents. My parents wanted me to abort the baby in early 1973 when Roe v. Wade was just legalized. I said no. My 50 year old daughter is now a beautiful, loving, born again, follower of Jesus Christ as are her 4 children and 3 young grand children. This is the best part of the story and the marriage along with the son I had in 1980. My ex was a drug and alcohol user but was rarely a physical abuser to me. But the emotional and verbal abuse was terrible especially when I was born again at age 21. During our 10+ years together we separated numerous times but finally in 1982 we split for good when he told me one day when he was straight and sober that he was going to kill me if I didn't get out of the house. I packed up the kids and never looked back. It was so hard being a single mom and working full time. After a year I met a nice Christian man and we married. He passed away in September after almost 40 years of good marriage. My second marriage I know was the hand of God moving in my life and the lives of my children. He raised them as his own with God in the mix. He was a father to them because their own biological father was and is still lost in his world of selfishness, drugs, and alcohol. My ex still does not have God in his life and 50 years later has not changed or grown one bit since I met him at age 17. The children and grandchildren know he has troubles but know the trouble is all self inflicted. We all pray for him but there is nothing we can do for him. He chose and still chooses to turn his back on God and his family. There are some people who we can do nothing for and there comes a time when we have to wipe their dust from our feed and move on. There is the scripture that says we should not cast our pearls before swine. I will say prayers for this little family but unless the husband is willing to change and walk with God there may be no hope for reconciliation or stability. Granted, we have a God who can do the impossible but we have to discern what he means for those impossible, selfish, people.

It never ceases to amaze me how the Lord moves. I have pretty well be off of Worthy since September when my husband of 40 years died. But for some reason this morning I felt a nudge to get on again and see what everyone has been talking about. I clicked on a couple of other discussions and I found the arguments, I mean discussions, were still going on in "those" threads. Then this one popped up so I read through most of the posts and decided, well this is something I know about. I have battled nicotine for 50 years, off and on. I once quit for 19 years but then a bunch of people close to me died and I started again. I have never been a heavy smoker, mostly just a few a day to calm my jangled nerves, or so I liked to tell myself. After that I quit and started again a half a dozen times. I was off of nicotine until my husband died but started again as I tried to figure out who I am as a widow and a single, old woman. But a month ago the Holy Spirit told me to surrender it. So I quit again. This time feels different. I am getting close to being 7 decades old and I want to be around to see my grandchildren and great grandchildren grow, Lord willing. Nicotine is very addictive and the producers put extra chemicals in it to make it even more addictive. I know God made the tobacco plant for medical purposes but of course we humans tend to take what He means for good and turn it into something bad. We harm ourselves by our selfish desires to take and have what we what regardless of the damages it may cause. Personally, for me, I can never go back as when I said I would surrender nicotine to Him I have to do it. I need to do it. I am on the last couple of decades of my life and I still have a lot to say and do for Him. I know the struggles of those who still use but in their hearts and minds want to be free of it. Giving up anything that harms us is good but it is a very hard thing to surrender and never go back. Only by the power of the God are we able to overcome any addictions. Like everything else good and bad in life, it is a daily walk. I'm saying prayers for everyone in this thread who has a nicotine addiction they want to break!

I tend to believe that "sexual immorality" is called by many, many different names and more so in our time. It is all sexual sin. This scripture pretty well tells it like it is in the eyes of God. Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. I Corinthians 6:18

I agree with you OMan. As Christian brothers and sisters we are to bring the sin of others to their attention on a one-on-one conversation. This is the judgement we are allowed between those who are followers of Jesus and part of His church. If they choose to listen wonderful. The word judgement is often confused with the word condemnation. Only God can condemn. Christians can judge (but not condemn) other Christians in a loving and quiet manner. In I Corintians 5: 13 we are also told to "put away from yourselves the evil person" whether they be inside or outside the church. A pastor and church denomination that choose to follow "some" of the inspired word of God's scripture and not "all" of His scripture will be held accountable for leading others astray and off the path of righteousness.

How sad it is that even the shepherds (pastors/teachers/priests/leaders) of the flocks of Jesus followers are blinded by the schemes of the devil and lead their own congregations on the path of darkness. Praise God for those who do not follow the blind.

'The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you. ' - Luke 17:5-6 Faith the size of a mustard seed is enough to qualify and save as I discern it.

When I was young my choices were sometimes foolish and selfish. Now that I am older I have figured out that my main choices need to be made after prayer and meditation with the Lord. Since my husband passed away 2 weeks ago I see this today so much more. I will not be making any major choices in my life without a word from the Lord. So far I hear the Holy Spirit saying to take each day and savor the 40 years of memories and times with Jerry. To be still and not try to do everything all at once. To enjoy my time with the Lord and pull even closer to Him. I am not a blubbering mess of grief and tears because of the Lord's comfort and peace that my best friend is now pain free and healthy! How can I be sad that he is right were we long to be, in the presence of the glory of the Lord! Life choices will come at a later time for me when I learn how to be a single person. This is the first time in 68 years that I do not have a husband, child, parent, sibling, friend or any one else living with me. I have 2 cats. It's going to be a learning experience but I'm not afraid or concerned since the Holy Spirit does live here with me and will guide me as the days and months pass. A whole new time of life does not have to intimidate us but can bring us closer to the Lord as we walk new paths. I chose to live by the words: 'For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord , “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ' Jeremiah 29:11

I have never read that statement or ever read it in scripture. Do you know where it came from? I figure if Jesus ate then we would get to also regardless if there is a stomach or not.