I Don’t Believe in Defeat.

[saved1]

There is no difficulty you cannot overcome. A wise and philosophical man once
said to me, when asked how he overcame his difficulties, “How do I get through a
trouble? Well, first I try to go around it, and if I can’t go around it, I try to get under
it, and if I can’t get under it, I try to go over it, and if I can’t get over it, I just plow right
through it.” Then he added, “God and I plow right through it.”
An effective method for making your mind positive in character is to eliminate certain
expressions of thought and speech, which we may call the “little negatives.” These negatives
clutter up the average person’s conversation, and while each one is seemingly unimportant
in itself, the total effect is to condition the mind negatively. When this thought of
“little negatives” first occurred to me, I began to analyze my own conversational habits
and was shocked by what I found. I was making such statements as, “I’m afraid I’ll be
late,” or “I wonder if I’ll have a flat tire,” or “I don’t think I can do that.”
These are “little negatives” to be sure, and a big thought is of course more powerful
than a little one. But it must never be forgotten that “mighty oaks from little acorns
grow,” and if many “little negatives” clutter up your conversation, they are bound to seep
into your mind. It is surprising how they accumulate in force, and before you know it,
they will grow into “big negatives.” So I determined to root those “little negatives” out
of my conversation. I found that the best way to eliminate them was deliberately to say a
positive word about everything. When you keep asserting that things are going to work
out well, good results do occur.
On a roadside billboard I saw an advertisement of a certain brand of motor oil. The
slogan read, “A clean engine always delivers power.” So will a mind free of negatives.
Therefore flush out your thoughts, give yourself a clean mental engine, remembering that
a clean mind, even as a clean engine, always delivers power.
So to overcome your obstacles and live the “I don’t believe in defeat” philosophy,
cultivate a positive-idea pattern. What we do with obstacles is directly determined by
our mental attitude. Most of our obstacles are mental in character.
“Ah,” you may object, “mine are not mental, mine are real.” Perhaps so, but your attitude
toward them is mental. What you think about your obstacles largely determines what
you do about them. Form the mental attitude that you cannot remove an obstacle and you
will not remove it. But when your mind becomes convinced that you can do something
about difficulties, astonishing results will begin to happen. All of a sudden you discover
that you have the power you would never acknowledge.
I played golf with a man who was not only an excellent golfer but a philosopher as
well. As we went around the golf course the game itself drew out of him a gem of wisdom
for which I shall ever be grateful.
I hit a ball into some high grass. When we came up to my ball I said in some dismay,
“Now just look at that. I certainly am in the rough. I have a bad lie. It is going to be tough
getting out of here.”
My friend grinned and said, “Didn’t I read something in your books about positive
thinking?” Sheepishly I acknowledged that such was the case.
“I wouldn’t think negatively about that lie of yours,” he said. “Do you think you
could get a good hit if this ball were lying out on the fairway on the short grass?” I said I
thought so.
“Well,” he continued, “why do you think you could do better out there than here?”
“Because,” I replied, “the grass is cut short on the fairway and the ball can get away
better.”
Then he did a curious thing. “Let’s get down on our hands and knees,” he suggested,
“and see just how this ball does lie.” So we got down on our hands and knees, and he
said, “Observe that the relative height of the ball here is about the same as it would be on
the fairway, the only difference being that you have about six inches of grass above the
ball.”
Then he did an even more whimsical thing. “Notice the quality and character of this
grass,” he said. He pulled off a blade and handed it to me. “Chew it,” he said. I chewed,
and he asked, “Isn’t that tender?”
“Why, yes,” I replied.
“Well,” he continued, “an easy swing of your number-five iron will cut through that
grass almost like a knife.” And then he gave me this sentence, which I am going to
remember as long as I live, and I hope you will also. “The rough is only mental. In other
words,” he continued, “it is rough because you think it is. In your mind you have decided
that here is an obstacle which will cause you difficulty. The power to overcome this obstacle
is in your mind. If you visualize yourself lifting the ball out of the rough, believing
you can do it, your mind will transfer flexibility, rhythm and power to your muscles and
you will handle that club in such a manner that the ball will rise right out of there in a
beautiful shot.
All you need to do is to keep your eye on that ball and tell yourself that you are going
to lift it out of that grass with a lovely stroke. Let the stiffness and tension go out of you.
Hit it with exhilaration and power. Remember, the rough is only mental.”
To this day I remember the thrill, the sense of power and delight I had in the clean
shot that dropped the ball to the edge of the green.That is a great fact to remember in
connection with difficult problems—“the rough is only mental.”
Believe that Almighty God has put in you the power to lift yourself out of the rough
by keeping your eye firmly fixed on the source of your power. Affirm to yourself that
through this power you can do anything you have to do. Believe that this power is taking
the tension out of you, that this power is flowing through you. Believe this, and a sense of
victory will come.:1:

Norman Vincent Peale

YouTube - Lynyrd Skynyrd-Free bird (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np0solnL1XY)

[saved1]

How to heal the emotional, mental and spiritual trauma of suddenly losing everything.
Page includes additional support links.

http://www.guideposts.org/personal-growth/advice-finding-hope-after-catastrophic-loss?cid=ir_nl_5.14.2011_finding-hope-after-catastrophic-loss&utm_source=WhatCountsEmail&utm_medium=Inspirational%20Roundup+ir_nl_051411%20[1]&utm_campaign=ir_051411%20-%201

[saved1]

Paths to happiness
Rise Up Over Depression

There are things you can do on your own to confront depression:
1. Arm yourself for the battle.
I read encouraging passages of Scripture and try to memorize them (Isaiah 61:3 or 40:31,
or Psalm 34:17, for instance). I also read from a favorite book, My Utmost for His Highest,
by Oswald Chambers. Or I listen to inspirational music, sometimes singing along. Of
course, I don’t feel like turning on the music. But this is a battle.

2. Try to pinpoint why you are depressed.
For instance, I miss being a wife, and I think that if I were a wife again, I wouldn’t be
depressed. But I must remember that I was a wife for 25 years, and there were often times
when I felt depressed then. I explain to myself that people, circumstances and things
don’t make one really happy. Joy comes from choosing to believe that God is working in
my life in all circumstances.

3. Do something for someone else.
Dr. Karl Menninger of the famous Menninger Clinic once said there’s one sure way to
avoid having a breakdown, a solution so simple that almost no one will believe it works.
You simply walk out your front door and find someone—anyone—who needs help, and
you help him or her.
Reaching out, reminding ourselves that we’re not alone, is the first step back. We
may not be immune from ever feeling depressed, but our powerful God is always standing
ready to help us fight the battle against it. After all, He promises us that “sorrow and
mourning shall flee away” (Isaiah 51:11).

[saved1]

To become a successful positive thinker, here are some ideas to think about:

1. To every disadvantage, there usually is a corresponding advantage. Consider the old truism that behind the darkest clouds the sun is shining. In the toughest situations there is always some value that is inherently good. The positive thinker will look for the good, for the advantage, and will therefore do far better with the difficulty than the negative thinker will. What you deeply think and visualize has a strong tendency to happen. So always think positively, believingly, expectantly, hopefully.


2. It isn’t what is happening but your attitude toward what is happening. Let’s assume a big, hard fact, and here are two men of equal intelligence facing it. One man says. “This is an overwhelming difficulty, more than I can handle.” So he is defeated by the fact. The other man says, “This is a tough situation, but with God’s help, I can handle it.” And he proceeds to do so successfully. It is the attitude toward the fact that is crucial—more so than the fact itself.


3. Develop a positive mental attitude toward the bottom. I have often had to deal with glum and discouraged people who have said, “I’ve hit bottom and there is no hope.” To one such man I replied, “Congratulations. Having hit bottom, you can go no lower; the only direction is up. So start thinking up.” He did, and after a time new ideas came that helped him to move up well above the bottom.
:cool:

[saved1]

"The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers."
— M. Scott Peck

[schell08122008]

Thank you Saved, this rang the truth for me. Last night I went past my discomfort zone, social phobia and fear. I went to a different meeting, a late one. After the meeting I was invited out for coffee. The fear really reared up! I hate going out..the anxiety intensified..I really want to be a part of life and be with people in recovery to learn how to behave appropriately again sober, so I went. I actually was able to enjoy conversation AND actually laughed! Needless to say I was appropriate and had a great time. Peace to you Schell

[MajestyJo]

A lot of depression and sadness is part of early recovery and the grieving process of losing our best friend, alcohol along with letting go of old behaviors and patterns that no longer serve us in recovery.

I have known several girls in NA and CA who went back out because the doctor put them on anti-depressants and they went back out to get thin. A don't like how they make me feel, they feel like someone has there BIG hand on top of my head preventing me from being me. For me, they are mood altering. That doesn't mean they are good for others, if you have a chemical imbalance, they they are very much needed. It is medication that should be taken without alcohol in the system.

There are different kinds of depression. It is important to talk to your doctor. Talk things out, be honest with him. It is one thing to look at how you are feeling, it is another thing to look at the reason behind it and getting to the root cause.

After the break up of my last relationship, I had a whole lot of things surface. I ended up going for sexual assault counselling at 15 years sober. A lot of things I had written and talked about in my 4th & 5th steps. Yet the relationship triggered the feelings, and I had to address the situation(s) again. Ironically, the relationship wasn't a sexual one but was the most intimate one I had been in. He was bi-polar. He was angry when I told him that I didn't need him in my life. He was there because I wanted him to be a part of my life. It wasn't enough for him. He ended up relapsing after being sober 7 years.

I have spoken at anniversaries at Dual Recovery Anonymous meetings. DRA is for those who have mental issues besides alcoholism. I have not been to a pychiatrist to be diagnosed although I have been told that I do have PTSD and ADD. To me they are just other labels, and nothing that this program, my God and I can't work through a day at a time. I figure if I have PTSD it is mild compared to soldiers of war although I went through my own hell with 2 abusive marriages, 4 rapes and seeing my brother killed when I was 3, along with a few other things that added compounded interest.

Quitting was never an option. To quit for me, is to die!

[saved1]

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
SYMPTOMS, TREATMENT, AND SELF-HELP
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/post_traumatic_stress_disorder_symptoms_treatment. htm#signs

Bing Health. content provide by Mayo Clinic.com
http://www.bing.com/health/article/mayo-125600/Posttraumatic-stress-disorder-PTSD?q=post-traumatic+stress+disorder

Psychological trauma
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_trauma

[saved1]

The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.
Luke 18:27
This text shows how to do an “impossible” thing. Size up your problem, pray about it, do all you can about it. If it seems impossible, don’t give up, but affirm, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” Keep relaxed. Don’t worry. Avoid getting panicky. Never think, “This can’t be done.” Declare “It can be done, it is being done because God is doing it through me.” Affirm that the process is in operation. The final outcome may not be entirely what you now desire. But, handled in this manner, the solution will be what God wants it to be.
Courtesy of PealeCenterforPositiveThinking.com

[saved1]

God Will Help You With Your Sin Areas
One of the most frequent type emails we keep receiving on a regular basis is people writing in asking how they can get victory over specific sin areas they are still are engaging in. When many of them write in, they have been battling certain types of sins for many years. They would get a little victory with the Lord, but then several months later they would always fall right back into the same sin area.
By the time they usually write into us, they are beat up, worn out, tormented, and some of them are even afraid of losing their salvation with the Lord. They feel God is going to eventually give up on them and cast them off forever since we do have verses like this in our Bible.
What we always tell these people is to not give up, that they have not lost their salvation with the Lord, and that God will not give up on them as long as they stay in the battle and do not give up on Him. The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit will not wrestle with a man forever, but this verse is also telling us that He will wrestle and try to get someone cleaned up and delivered as long as that person does not give up and throw in the towel on the Lord.
I want to use this article to go a little deeper into this subject matter for those of you who have been engaging in different sin areas where you are having a very hard time in getting pulled out and cleaned up by the Lord. What I have learned over the years with the Lord is that He will roll up His sleeves and get right down there in the trenches with you to help deliver you and get you pulled out of these sin pits.
I have seen God do this so many times with so many people, that I have a slang expression for it when I see it occur – and that slang expression is “trench warfare.” God will get right down in there in the trenches with you, and He will stay with you for as long as it will take to get the job done and get you pulled out and delivered. And sometimes these types of deliverances will take years to get done, not weeks or months.
Many of these people are also afraid to reach out for help from other Christians for fear they will be judged and criticized for being in these sin areas for as long as they have. As a result, they keep a lot of this to themselves. Many judgmental type Christians will start bashing these type of people, as they think they should not be in these types of sin areas for as long as they have been in them.
But again, what I have seen from first hand experience with the Lord, is that some people will need a certain amount of time to get fully delivered with the Lord, and many of these types of cases are deliverances that are more slow and progressive, which means they will not happen overnight.
Here are some of the specific sin areas that I have seen where the Lord dealt with these people over a certain period of time, and in many of these areas that period of time was years, not months or weeks.
Pornography
Alcoholism
Drug usage including pot
Homosexual lifestyle
Some type of criminal activity
Heavy addictive gambling
Psychics – we have seen some Christians get hooked on going to psychics
Verbally and/or physically abusive behavior toward their loved ones
Cigarette smoking
Fornication
Adultery
Promiscuous lifestyle
Aberrant sexual type activity
I know some people will not consider cigarette smoking an actual sin, but the reason I have listed it with the other sin areas is that this vice is so deadly, that it can eventually kill you. I have also seen God move so many times on people who smoke, that I have to include this vice in this type of an article.
As we all know, internet pornography is also a major sin area that many Christians are still engaging in these days, including many pastors. Last statistic I heard was that 50% of all Christian pastors are still hooked on internet pornography, along with 50% of the men, as well as a certain percentage of the women.
If you look very closely at all of the above sin areas, the one common thread they all have is that they can all lead to very addictive behaviors where you keep repeating the same behavior over and over again. They all bring with them a certain amount of physical and mental stimulation, a certain amount of arousal and pleasure, and that is why it is so hard for some Christians to pull completely out of these types of sin areas.
Our own natural will power and emotional strength is limited and that is why some people will need the strength and power of the Holy Spirit Himself to finally break these kinds of addictive behaviors off of them once and for all. If you try and do this solely out of your flesh, you may not be able to succeed unless you have above average will power, which some people do have.
Some people can simply use their own natural will power and simply pull out of these addictive type sins once they receive the conviction of the Holy Spirit upon them. But others will not have that kind of strong will power and as a result, they will pull in and out of these sin areas trying to break free from them. Just when they feel they have finally broken free, something else will happen and they will then fall right back into the pit. They will wrestle with both themselves and with God trying to break free from these different sin areas.
To those of you who are still in the trenches, still wrestling and battling with these types of addictive behaviors, I want to use this article to try and give you some basic information and knowledge that will really help you finally get total victory over these different types of heavier sin areas.
And again, I want to reiterate that God will stay with you as long as you will stay with Him. Do not ever give up if you are caught in one of these kinds of heavier sin areas. Even if it takes a matter of years, the Lord will stay with you and finally deliver you if you just will stay the course with Him and not give up and throw in the towel and walk off His playing field.

1. Bible Verses on God’s Mercy and Patience

The first thing you are going to need, especially if you have been in one of these sin areas for quite a long period of time, is to realize that God the Father is a very patient and merciful God.
Many Christians are afraid of God the Father due to all of the heavy judgment action they have read about in the OT. But if you read the rest of the verses about God the Father in the OT, you will also see that He has a very loving, merciful, tender, and patient side to His personality.
Though God is obviously capable of great wrath and anger if provoked, the Bible also tells us that the Lord is slow to anger, which means it does take quite a bit to get Him to blow. God does not get as easily mad as many of us do when we lose our patience and tempers down here on this earth. God has a much longer fuse than we do, and this is why you should never be afraid to approach Him if you need help in this kind of an area.
Again, I have seen God the Father show great patience and great mercy when working with people who have fallen into some of these kinds of addictive behaviors. I have seen Him get right down there in the trenches with these people and stay with them for years if need to be to finally get them delivered and cleaned up once and for all.
If you are one of those Christians who are battling some of the above sin areas and you have other judgmental Christians ripping on you and telling you that you are on your way to hell, do not listen to them. As long as you are being open and honest with both yourself and the Lord, He will continue to stay with you and work with you until He gets you fully delivered from the specific sin area you are caught up in.
Many times when God delivers someone, it will be a more slow and progressive type deliverance. God can obviously do the quick and instantaneous type deliverances whenever He wants to, and those are always spectacular and mind-blowing when we do see them. But these slower and more progressive types of deliverances are just as spectacular and mind-blowing, if not possibly more so, as the battle is longer and much more fierce and intense as versus a quick and sudden type healing and deliverance.
Now here are some very important Bible verses you will need to have so you can see that God the Father really does have this patient and merciful side to His personality.
“… But You are God, ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abundant in kindness …” (Nehemiah 9:17)

“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.” (Psalm 103:8)

“But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.” (Psalm 86:15)

“Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness …” (Joel 2:13)

“The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.” (Psalm 145:8)

“The Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting …” (Psalm 100:5)

“For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him … But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him.” (Psalm 103:11,17)

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” (Galatians 5:22)
Especially notice in three of the above verses it says that God is slow to anger. And if God is slow to anger, this means He has a great deal of patience within His personality.
Also notice the last verse on the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit. One of the nine fruits is longsuffering, which is another term for the word “patience.” So not only does God the Father have maximum patience in His personality, but the Holy Spirit Himself also has maximum patience in His personality. And the Holy Spirit will be the One who will eventually deliver you, as the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit is the One who will actually put to death the deeds of the body. If you were not aware of this specific verse from our Bible, here it is:
“For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” (Romans 8:13-14)
Notice this verse specifically says that the deeds of the body will be put to death “by the Spirit.” And all of the heavy sin areas mentioned above are definitely “deeds” of the body that God would like to put to death once and for all.
Now here are some key definitions on what the word “longsuffering” means from some of the different Bible Dictionaries:
Forbearance, patience
Patient endurance and steadfastness under provocation
Forbearance under ill-will, with no thought of retaliation
Patience, endurance, steadfastness and forbearance
Forbearance under suffering and endurance in the face of adversity
Ability to endure persecution and ill-treatment
Notice the key words of patience, endurance, and steadfastness. This means that God will have patience with you, along with staying steadfast with you and enduring the trial with you. In other words, God will stay with you for as long as it will take to get the job done, which in this case will be to get you fully delivered from the heavy sin area you may be caught up in.
Again, if there are any of you out there who have been battling with some of these heavier kinds of addictive behaviors and you are afraid that God is going to abandon you and cast you off forever, do not let that kind of fear get a hold of you and keep you from moving forward with God. Demons love to put that kind of fear on people so they think they may have lost their salvation with the Lord – but do not fall for it!
If you keep working with God, God will keep working with you. And sooner or later you will get the victory with the Lord if you do not give up and walk away from Him.

2. Be Led by the Holy Spirit as to What Steps to Take to Break the Addiction

This next step is going to be very, very important. Depending on exactly what you are involved in and how long you have been involved in it, the Holy Spirit may start to give you some specific steps He will want you to take on your end. And if you start to receive those specific steps from Him, it would be our very strong recommendation that you listen to Him and do exactly what He is telling you to do, as each one of these steps will be a major part of your healing and deliverance.
This step right here is why many Christians do not get a quick deliverance from the Lord – because they are not taking the initial steps He is wanting them to take.
Depending on what you are addicted to, God may want you to work with a medical doctor, a Christian counselor, or some type of support group to help get you over the hump.
Many people who are hooked on drugs, alcohol, gambling, and pornography sometimes have to get together with a good Christian counselor and/or possibly a good Christian support group depending on how heavy their addiction is. They may need the help and support of other Christians to help them get through it.
What God will do is work through these other people to try and help you out. This it is why it is extremely important that you take whatever steps the Lord is leading you to take. Do it God’s way right at the beginning and you will then get to the finish line much quicker.
God the Father is the Master Strategist and He knows exactly what He is doing and exactly how to handle each one of these kinds of heavier situations.

3. Be Willing to Enter into a True Sanctification Process With the Lord

One area we always lead people to when they write in on these kinds of dilemmas, is to lead them into a true sanctification process with the Lord. We have one very special article alone on what the sanctification process is all about with the Lord and how to enter into it with Him.
I cannot tell you how many emails we have received from people over the last 4-5 years who did the special prayer that was in that article and then were willing to work with the Lord in the areas that He was wanting to work with them on. Over a period of time, they all said that God changed their personalities for the better and that they would never go back to the old person they used to be before they started this sanctification process up with the Lord.
Sanctification with the Lord is truly the thing that will cause major and dramatic changes to occur within your personality over time with the Lord – and it will also help you get victory over any sinful habits you are still engaging in, like some of the ones mentioned above at the top of this article.
Once you give the Lord a full, solid, green light to start this sanctification process within you, He will then enter you right into it. And from there, both He and the Holy Spirit will start to work with you on exactly what it is they want to add into your personality, and exactly what it is they want to remove from your personality so you can then become the true sanctified saint that God is wanting you to become in Him in this life.
Here is the direct link to this article if you would like to enter into this holy process with the Lord. The title of this article is “Sanctification” and it is the very first article listed in our Sanctification Section.
“Sanctification”
Again, if you really want God to pull you out of any heavy sin areas you are still engaging in, it would be our very strong recommendation that you also add this sanctification process in as part of your daily walk with the Lord.
This one step alone could completely turn the tide for you and get you fully delivered from your heavy sin area, since you are giving both God and the Holy Spirit a full, solid, green light to change you from the inside out!

CONCLUSION

As I said at the top of this article, I have seen God get down into the trenches with so many people in the different sins areas they were engaging in, that I have labeled it “trench warfare” when I do see it occur with Him.
I know some Christians will look at the above sin areas and will think to themselves that there should be no excuse for any true Christian to still be wallowing and engaging in these types of heavier sins, especially since we all now have the Holy Spirit living on the inside of us.
However, though we all know that these types of activities are definitely sins in the eyes of God since the Bible tells us so, what happens with some people in these types of sin areas is that a mental stronghold can form out in that person’s mind and thinking. Also, with drugs and cigarettes, a chemical dependency can occur where the body itself will become addicted to the behavior.
And once that stronghold forms out, either in the mind and/or the body, it will take the power of the Holy Spirit to finally break it off them for good. The Bible tells us that the anointing of God will break the yoke of bondage. And these types of heavy sin areas definitely have a yoke of bondage to them.
The Bible also tells us that our spirits and flesh will war against one another, and all of the above sin areas are sins of the flesh. Combine the war that goes on between our spirits and our flesh, and then the fact that some people will have a strong mental stronghold form out once they start to engage in some of this kind of heavier activity, and you will now have a person who will need a full scale deliverance from the Lord.
One man I know hooked on pornography took 5 years to get a full and complete deliverance from the Lord. And the Lord stood completely by His side for those 5 years until it was finally broken off him.
Another girl I used to work with was horribly addicted to cigarettes for over 25 years. She asked God for His help to break it off her and it took a good 10 years before it finally got broken off her for good.
What would happen is that God would move in on her in waves. She would be off the cigarettes for 1-2 months, but then all of a sudden she would fall right back into it. But finally at the 10 year mark, God made another strong move on her and this time she really grabbed a hold of His power and finally broke this bad habit off her for good. She has not had another cigarette for over 4 years now.
What got these people eventually delivered was their tenacity and their willingness to stay with the Lord, no matter how long it was going to take to break free from their addictions. And in each one of these cases, God stayed with them the whole time and continued to work with them until they finally broke free from their addictive behavior. God did not bail out on them and leave them to fend for themselves. He stayed right there with them the whole time until the victory was finally secured.
When you see God stay that long with someone, especially on a heavier type of sin area, this is where you really see the love, mercy, and patience that God really has not only with them, but with the rest of us as well, since the Bible tells us that He is no respecter of persons.
Again, if there are any of you out there who are still caught up in any type of addictive sin area, and you are finding yourself having a very hard time in breaking completely away from it, try taking steps #2 and #3 above to see if that will not turn the tide for you.
I cannot stress enough how powerful the sanctification process is with the Lord. If there is one thing that is going to change you from the inside out, including breaking off these kinds of addictive behaviors, it will be allowing the Lord to enter you into a true sanctification process with Him.
Once you give God the Father and the Holy Spirit a full, solid, green light to begin this sanctification process on the inside of your being, the Holy Spirit will waste no time in starting to change you at a pace that will be very comfortable for you to handle. God will not overwhelm you or push you past your own personal limits in this realm.
And once the Holy Spirit starts to move on the inside of your being to change and transform you into the kind of person God wants you to become in Him, nothing will be able to stand against His power and might, including any type of addictive behavior you may still be caught up in.
The Holy Spirit can take out any type of bad and negative qualities you may still have operating in your personality if you will just give Him your permission to do this type of work on the inside of your being, and then be willing to work with Him on it once He starts it up with you.
I know the above two steps may sound a bit simplistic and almost too easy, but I have seen them work over and over again with so many people with the Lord. Once again, if you are caught up in any one of these heavier type of sin areas, and you have not been able to break free from them using your own natural strength and will power, try giving the Lord a chance.
Here are the 3 basic steps you will need to take to get God to move in on you and deliver you from your specific stronghold areas.
Simply cry out to the Lord and approach Him in prayer, asking Him to deliver you from the specific sin area you are still caught up in, as everything always starts out with a good, strong, heartfelt prayer to the Lord.

From there, go the extra step and ask God to enter you into a true sanctification process so the Holy Spirit can begin the job of changing and transforming you from the inside out into the kind of person God wants you to become in Him.

And once you put those two special requests before the the Lord, make sure you obey any specific directions and instructions you may receive from the Holy Spirit.
Once you fully surrender the entire matter into God’s hands, God will then start to move to help you out and get you eventually delivered. What I cannot tell you is exactly what steps God will be asking you to take for Him, and how long it will take before the final deliverance comes. Each of these cases will be unique and different.
That is why we as Christians should be very careful on how harshly we judge other Christians who are still engaging in these types of heavier sins. As long as we know they are really working with God to break free from their addictive behaviors, we should also pray for them as well. Some of these people will also have demons attached to them as a result of being in some of these heavy sin areas for too long, and that could also be compounding the problem and making it harder for them to pull out of it.
Bottom line on all of this – God can fully deliver anyone from any kind of heavy sin area they are still caught up in if that person will just properly approach the Lord in good heartfelt prayer and from there, be willing to be guided by the Holy Spirit as to exactly what steps they will need to take on their end.
Our God is still in the deliverance business, and there is nothing that He cannot break someone free from if that person will just work with Him on it and do exactly what He tells them to do. It really is that simple and that easy.
-Mike
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