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Post by belikejob on Jul 17, 2006 14:37:17 GMT -5
Yeah, I've been posting a lot throughout the board, and that's been helping. My vacation ends this Wednesday and then I'm back to work. I'll be a lot more busy which always helps. Great job fleeing temptation today. I haven't run into many triggers lately (which is not the norm), so I guess no news is good news. Stay strong.
BLJ
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Post by 1Cor10 on Jul 18, 2006 14:08:34 GMT -5
Glad to hear you're doing well. Be strong brother.
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Post by belikejob on Jul 18, 2006 14:46:37 GMT -5
This is a reply that I made on the Christian support thread. I just wanted to put up these important links to these important questions on my journal. Hopefully they can help someone out there as much as they've helped me. BLJ ------------------------------------- Hey valjean, It's nice to have you back! Let me tell you first that, in my opinion, it's possible be a Christian, have a great prayer life with the Lord , read your bible, and STILL-- struggle with sin. I can relate to where you are coming from where intellectually, things make sense... but it takes even more effort to change old habits, and to incorporate it into your everyday living. Of course, we all need to read the bible, pray more, go to church, and just be better people in general (every little bit helps)... however, according to the bible, that's not what saves us. In it's most simple form, the answer to the question of salvation is this... "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life"--John 3:16 I'm not that great with words, and the question, "How do I tell if I'm a Christian or not?", is a VERY important question. So, instead of babbling on and making no sense at all (which I'm pretty good at) ... I looked up some links on the website www.christiananswers.net to give you a more in depth answer. I have gone to this website a lot to help me find answers in my own struggles with my faith and Christianity. I've found answers to just about any question I can think of. You could read for years on this website and still not be finished. A lot of things on there continue to strengthen my faith whenever I get a chance to look at the site. Hopefully these links can help you find what you've been looking for. If you find something on there that helps, and you know someone who could also use it, please pass it on. Also, if anyone has anything else that can help in any way, or any thoughts on what you read on the site, please don't hesitate to post it. Thanks and God bless. Stay Strong BeLikeJob The Gospel - www.christiananswers.net/gospel/gospel1.html How can I be sure of my salvation? - www.christiananswers.net/q-dml/dml-y005.htmlAm I good enough to go to heaven? - www.christiananswers.net/q-comfort/heaven-goodenough.htmlHow can I deal with sexual addictions? - www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/sexaddictiontips.htmlHomepage - www.christiananswers.net/
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Post by 1Cor10 on Jul 19, 2006 13:55:00 GMT -5
BLJ, How are you today my friend? I'm well, but busy this afternoon. Going to post here while I eat lunch and then I've got to get running. An interesting thing occurs to me from the 100 days thread. You work recovery better by being here a lot and posting a lot. You help organize and support broadly. I recover better by making more visits, but brief ones. I discovered early on that I could get wrapped up in board drama and didn't want that. I think that you may well be on to something though with helping yourself by helping others. I know you've helped me for one. Be well Brother, I'll probably check back in in the morning.
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Post by belikejob on Jul 19, 2006 17:01:01 GMT -5
I had a hard time today. I posted on the emergency help thread to clear my brain. It was the myspace monster... I found a WHOLE LOT of old friends that I haven't seen in YEARS. It was so good to write to them and then to hear back from them, but while I'm on there I always run into triggers. I had today off work so I was on there a lot longer then I usually am, so it wore me down. I started to feel very weak so I decided it was time to leave. Probably should have left earlier so I didn't get to the point that I started felling weak. Sigh... I have to figure something out, but after finding all of these friends that I haven't seen in so long, I don't want to just stop getting on there, because I really want to keep in touch with all of them. What do you think?
I try to help others as much as they help me. I don't like to get wrapped up in the drama either... You've helped me out a lot too man. Thanks for everything. God bless.
BLJ
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Post by 1Cor10 on Jul 19, 2006 18:00:29 GMT -5
Brother, I can't tell you whether or not to go to myspace. That said, I had an old friend who's a porn addict and not willing to quit. He used to send me porn pics when I was using. I can't be around him anymore and it sucks. Glad you made it through man.
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EaglesWings
New Member
"And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."- Eph 6:17
Posts: 27
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Post by EaglesWings on Jul 20, 2006 8:42:47 GMT -5
Hey BLJ, how've you been? I've been taking it one day at a time...learning from my mistakes and correcting them where I see fit. About myspace, is there some way you can just have a bunch bookmarked links to your friends' personal sites and you just promise yourself not to leave from the security of them? Or are they also giving you triggers? I'm not sure what else you could do. I'm keeping the TV off all week because of my problems with having the TV on. That means I have to sacrifice the shows that I watch on a daily basis. It sucks, i know...but I also know that I'll be better off because of it. Can you get their email addresses off myspace and email them or something instead of going on? That's the only thing I can think of. It's your call. I hope you're doing well and staying strong! Let me know how you're doing. Take care, bro.
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Post by MrOuch on Jul 20, 2006 12:30:31 GMT -5
BLJ, Remember Matthew 5:29 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. There are a number of places that I used to like to go on the web, that I just won't allow myself to go to today. They have too many triggers and I won't expose myself to them anymore. If you want to keep up with your friends try e-mail as EaglesWing suggests. But if MySpace is too tempting, gouge it out and throw it away. In the end, it isn't worth the price.
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Post by 1Cor10 on Jul 20, 2006 16:44:27 GMT -5
Bro, how are you? You've got me a little worried.
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Post by belikejob on Jul 20, 2006 22:22:07 GMT -5
Hey guys... Thanks for the replies. Sorry I took so long to get back to reply. Had a long day at work and then my wife and I just got back from the store. Anyway, I'm doing a lot better. I've finally made a decision... I've decided to stop going on myspace. I was trying my best to justify toning it down, and being more disciplined by getting on there just once a day. But, I think it's still not enough just to tone it down... It's crazy... when I was driving home from work today, this part in the bible kept running through my head--- But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.--- Matthew 5:28-30--Then I get home, sit down to check the board, and see this from MrOuch... BLJ,
Remember Matthew 5:29
If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
There are a number of places that I used to like to go on the web, that I just won't allow myself to go to today. They have too many triggers and I won't expose myself to them anymore. If you want to keep up with your friends try e-mail as EaglesWing suggests. But if MySpace is too tempting, gouge it out and throw it away. In the end, it isn't worth the price.
------- If that isn't God screaming at me to wise up, then I don't know what is. It's true, I may be able to control myself perfectly from here on out... but when it comes down to it, there's just too much bad history there and it's caused me to lust too much in the past. I have to 'gouge it out and throw it away'. I feel a lot better now. I know I'm making the right decision. I really don't think what happened today was a coincidence... I KNOW that it was God telling me what I needed to do... Praise God! Still trying to flee sexual immorality and... BeLikeJob
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Post by MrOuch on Jul 21, 2006 8:18:45 GMT -5
BLJ,
What a crazy world, huh! Talk about coincidence. We had a terrible storm here Tuesday that knocked out the power. I hadn't been able to check in with this board for a few days because of this. Power came back on yesterday (Thursday) afternoon to our house, although many in our neighborhood are still without power today. That's when I sent my message.
Maybe the big guy was helping the Power Company get us online. Or maybe it was just coincidence. Either way, glad to hear you're doing better. Glad to hear you're still trying to "Be Like Job."
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Post by 1Cor10 on Jul 21, 2006 11:06:15 GMT -5
BLJ, how you feeling today? Still riding the euphoria of knowing you just had a big win in the fight? Hold on to that feeling. Remember that when the dark times hit. Remember how good it felt to do this right.
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Post by belikejob on Jul 21, 2006 17:24:05 GMT -5
Hey MrOuch... whoa! That adds even more of a - factor to what happened... That's really awesome. I can't help but smile at the way God works. Hey 1Cor10, yeah I'm feeling good, but humbled at the same time. I'm happy to have won the battle, but at the same time it really opened my eyes to how dumb I can be by thinking it's ok to let tempting things around me... and then to try and justify those things, thinking I'll be strong enough to resist temptation when the time comes . I can't allow myself to play with fire... Sooner or later I'll get burned. The audio bible came today. I'm excited about it. I'll let you guys know how it is. God bless. BeLikeJob
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Post by 1Cor10 on Jul 21, 2006 20:06:41 GMT -5
Let us know how it is. You're doing great Brother.
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Post by Valjean on Jul 22, 2006 8:56:44 GMT -5
Hey BLJ just want to say that your faith, commitment to success and ensuing victory over this cruel addiction is a real inspiration to me.
I too have chosen to give up myspace, I didn't use it particularly frequently, but I always came away from it triggered one way or another. I thnk we've both made the right decision on that one.
Great to see you and the sober six moving on up that table!
Best wishes, Mike
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