Smoking getting me down

[lifeszero]

3 hours ago, RustyAngeL said:

It's not sinful but as is said in this forum, Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.  It is very harmful to your health and I know you know that.  We are cast our cares on God because He cares for you.  If your a believer, a born again Christian than ask yourself if smoking is harmful to your testimony?  Is staying healthy and giving God the glory worth trading for smoking?  This is a personal decision and it is between you and God.

Blessings

RustyAngeL

My body has taken a bit of beating, but I still look 32 years of age even at 41. Even though I have smoked for 25 years, for some reason I've done no damage to my lungs or other organs.

[lifeszero]

2 hours ago, Willa said:

I quit smoking 48 years ago after smoking for 3 years, but today I have COPD.  The doctors attribute it directly to smoking.  It does great damage to the lungs that apparently is irreversible.  My son works in monitoring radiation.  He told me to day that you inhale radiation when your smoke--greater than background radiation.  When I was taking anatomy and physiology I was told by a geneticist that the carbon monoxide that is inhaled kills the phagocytic cells in your larynx and lung membrane so that they are unable to kill foreign cells.   So much more has been discovered since then.  Were you to see the autopsy of the lungs of a smoker they would be black.  This is what convinced our son to quit.  

To my knowledge there is nothing in the Bible that pertains directly to smoking.  But common sense should tell you that you need to quit.  Use whatever methods you need to do it, but remember that nicotine patches etc when used together with cigarettes can and do cause heart attacks from too much nicotine.  This is also one of the problems of unregulated e cigarettes.  You don't know how much you are getting.  We quit cold turkey when we were told the smoke was endangering the health of my unborn baby.  

Ask God to give you both the will and the ability to do His good pleasure.

Blessings,

Willa

My guilt has been dealt with on the cross, it's really a question of competence and incompetence.

[lifeszero]

2 hours ago, Kan said:

You have a great sense of humor. 

I don't think that it's just the cigarettes that get to you. That's too simple.

I'm pretty sure that you are craving to be comforted on other levels, not just the feeling that nicotine gives you.

If I am a sinner, then I know that God has been working closely with you ever since you were born, but we don't really believe that our whole life is of interest to Him, including how we face daily challenges. That's just typical of all sinners.

He remembers all the things that we have experienced and felt, and while we forget, He does not forget what has made us who we are.

Of course we have been dreadful, but we haven't had it easy either, besides we are samples of what Christ came to save. 

As someone said before, talk to Him, tell Him what's on your mind, be totally honest, and tell Him that you are sorry for not recognizing His love for you, and that He is now welcome in your life, especially for the sake of your loved ones.

And if we feel under any pressures, (because we will - seeing that Jesus makes us face some of our defects and troubles within) tell Him the truth, and don't forget to thank Him for what good He does to us, that we are completely unaware of.

 

 

I guess smoking helps with panic, there must be a way the Spirit can deal with that.

[Ezra]

15 hours ago, lifeszero said:

I can't work out if smoking cigarettes is sinful, can someone help me get around the perpetuation of mans wacky inventions.

Smoking is not strictly a sin, but since it affects your health and your testimony, not-smoking is the avoidance of the "appearance of evil". Tobacco does have many beneficial properties (according to research) but not in cigarettes. The other aspect is that since is it a very expensive habit, it is also a misuse of funds which could be put to better use in the Kingdom of God.

[Ezra]

1 hour ago, lifeszero said:

I guess smoking helps with panic, there must be a way the Spirit can deal with that.

The Holy Spirit can certainly keep you from having panic attacks.  Panic is generally the result of facing a situation which could be disastrous. Committing that to the Lord is the first step. Sitting down and spelling out the situation on paper and analyzing is the second step. When you examine a problem closely, you will often find the solution when your mind is at ease. And as military strategists have discovered, the best defence is a strong offence. When you face your fear head on, you can overcome it (knowing what God has already revealed in His Word).

[lifeszero]

32 minutes ago, Ezra said:

The Holy Spirit can certainly keep you from having panic attacks.  Panic is generally the result of facing a situation which could be disastrous. Committing that to the Lord is the first step. Sitting down and spelling out the situation on paper and analyzing is the second step. When you examine a problem closely, you will often find the solution when your mind is at ease. And as military strategists have discovered, the best defence is a strong offence. When you face your fear head on, you can overcome it (knowing what God has already revealed in His Word).

Fear is a biological safety mechanism that God gave man to ensure proper learning development. Without it one can not have a relationship with life.

I do not face fear but learn why I fear.

[Kan]

2 hours ago, lifeszero said:

I guess smoking helps with panic, there must be a way the Spirit can deal with that.

Yes, it is also possible that even if you have lost the dependency on cigarettes, that the underlying panic will appear again. In which case there is another cause to it. You might find that if you are not addicted to one thing it may be another, like food, gambling, cyber games, anything. Addictions are usually a result of trying to escape pain, be it physical, mental and emotional or spiritual. 

The panic might be occasional, or you may have an underlying sense of dread or apprehension which is always there. Whatever the case, your mind incorporates whatever you are dealing with, and you naturally try to send the whole thing into a habit/activity which you can manage, but which unfortunately ends up managing you. 

We normally don't like to be controlled by anything, but subconsciously, we tell ourselves that it is better to have an addiction than to suffer. Which is true of course.

But Jesus knows better of us, and will press us, through life's circumstances among other things, to overcome our weaknesses. "All things work together for good, to them that love the Lord."

I am pretty sure that the uneasiness which you feel is not your fault, and that it can be helped if the underlying cause is somehow recognized.

Part of our healing in this life comes from having a better knowledge of ourselves, why we do and say things, so that we can be accountable for what we do to others. Saying that the problem lies with "not being spiritual enough" in whatever way, may be another way of trying to escape from what really has caused you to feel trapped, uncertain and unsafe.

But telling the Lord about the things that concern you, as you go along, is a way of saying "thank you, I appreciate what I don't realize you are doing for me and the world."

 

[Ezra]

2 hours ago, lifeszero said:

Fear is a biological safety mechanism that God gave man to ensure proper learning development. Without it one can not have a relationship with life.

Right.  But when fear develops into anxiety, and anxiety into stress, and stress into panic, then it is fight or flight. So there is healthy fear and unhealthy fear. And the proof that it is unhealthy is that one resorts to an unhealthy habit -- smoking (or drinking, or drugs, or what have you). These are all escape mechanisms which provide temporary relief, and also have serious side effects.

[lifeszero]

4 hours ago, Kan said:

Yes, it is also possible that even if you have lost the dependency on cigarettes, that the underlying panic will appear again. In which case there is another cause to it. You might find that if you are not addicted to one thing it may be another, like food, gambling, cyber games, anything. Addictions are usually a result of trying to escape pain, be it physical, mental and emotional or spiritual. 

The panic might be occasional, or you may have an underlying sense of dread or apprehension which is always there. Whatever the case, your mind incorporates whatever you are dealing with, and you naturally try to send the whole thing into a habit/activity which you can manage, but which unfortunately ends up managing you. 

We normally don't like to be controlled by anything, but subconsciously, we tell ourselves that it is better to have an addiction than to suffer. Which is true of course.

But Jesus knows better of us, and will press us, through life's circumstances among other things, to overcome our weaknesses. "All things work together for good, to them that love the Lord."

I am pretty sure that the uneasiness which you feel is not your fault, and that it can be helped if the underlying cause is somehow recognized.

Part of our healing in this life comes from having a better knowledge of ourselves, why we do and say things, so that we can be accountable for what we do to others. Saying that the problem lies with "not being spiritual enough" in whatever way, may be another way of trying to escape from what really has caused you to feel trapped, uncertain and unsafe.

But telling the Lord about the things that concern you, as you go along, is a way of saying "thank you, I appreciate what I don't realize you are doing for me and the world."

 

Are you praying for me? Because I feel something.

Should I pray for you too?

[lifeszero]

1 hour ago, Ezra said:

Right.  But when fear develops into anxiety, and anxiety into stress, and stress into panic, then it is fight or flight. So there is healthy fear and unhealthy fear. And the proof that it is unhealthy is that one resorts to an unhealthy habit -- smoking (or drinking, or drugs, or what have you). These are all escape mechanisms which provide temporary relief, and also have serious side effects.

Fear is fear.