D is for derEk-E #2

We are all in a battle whether we acknowledge it or not

E ngaged in battle; every hour of every day we are fighting three effective nemies:  The flesh, the world, and the Devil. The most exceptional Christians still struggle with these enemies daily.

 

I must humbly confess:  many times have I fallen; many times have I failed.  Oft do I stumble; oft do I fall. I try’n rise up; I get shoved down.
Oft do I need a helping hand… every now and again. 

 

I would be surprised if many of you did not have a similar story.  So, why?  Why do we do it?

 

Well, I don’t have all the answers, but based on biblical teachings and my own personal experience, here are a few reasons why we regress:

 

1. Lack of Focus

   • We loose our heavenly focus and begin to get caught up in the temporal things of this world.

2. Lack of Discipline

   • We stop reading our Bible and going to church.  We loose interest in small group studies and stop sharing the gospel.  Ultimately this will lead to a lack of interest in all things Godly. 
     

3. Lack of Consistency

   • Compromise can be good, but not when it comes to sin.  It is like a tiny snowball rolling down a powdery white mountain.  Soon it gets bigger and bigger and you are giving in to sins you would never have dreamed of giving into, doing things you never dreamed you would.
     

4. Lack of Spiritual Growth

   • This ties into Lack of Discipline.  If you never go to church, never read your Bible, and never fellowship in small groups with other believers, you will never grow.  You will shift like the grimy green waves in the salty sad sea; you will believe strange and unbiblical doctrines because you don’t know any better. Just as ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law, such is the case with sin as well.

I am by no means above failure nor am I perfect.  I have found, however, that when I am involved with a small group study, attending church regularly, reading my bible daily and focused on things that have eternal significance, I stumble and fall less frequently.  You never know what is waiting, lurking in the darkness to trip you up.

 

Currently listening to: Loreena McKennitt - Fulll Circle (Mostly Classical - S K Y . F M)

D is for dErek- E

The way we see ourselves depends on what mirror we use.

 

 

03:15PM 

 

Eventually there comes a time when living a lie takes an
motional toll.  To help me cope with my fears and insecurities I developed a proclivity towards unhealthy addictions. 

 

I began traversing a dangerous path that would lead to three addictions:  nicotine, naughty pictures and knowledge.

 

EXAMINED 

 

Firstly: nicotine.  It began with chewing tobacco in middle school, then cigarettes and dip in high school.  It helped ease my nerves and let me escape from my problems, even if for a moment.  Although I haven’t really smoked as a habit in many years, hardly a stressful situation goes by that doesn’t cause me to wish for a smoke or even a black and mild. 

 

Secondly: Naughty Pictures.  Pornography to be exact.  I have already done an extensive series on porn in this blog, so I won’t go into too much detail here.  What I will say is that Playboys turned into Penthouses and Penthouses themselves turned into hardcore movies, which turned into internet porn: the crack/cocaine of porn addiction.  I will let this humorous yet very true picture make my point for me….

If you can’t read it, it states: “What has been seen cannot be unseen”.  I have said it before and I will say it again, porn is a degenerative addiction that slips and slopes into a swamp of sub-human smut. 

 

Thirdly: Knowledge.  “But wait” you cry “How is this a bad thing?”  Well, on the surface, it isn’t.  But as Demtri Martin says here, when used as a coping mechanism for dealing with insecurity, it can become a hindrance to developing happy healthy social habits.  When solving puzzles and having knowledge becomes your way measuring self-worth, (instead of measuring yourself by the intrinsic worth that you were fearfully and wonderfully created,) it is an addiction. 

 

Lucky for me, when I was eighteen years old I was deployed to Falls Church, VA with my National Guard unit; I realized that my entire life, which I had so carefully plotted out, was turning out nothing like the picturesque utopia in my mind.  It is during this time that I began to examine my external circumstances; this lead to a sustained introspection, a true reflection on who I really was.  And I didn’t like what I saw one bit. 

 

It was time to Reconsider my Rationalizations and Realize the dystopia my life had become.  I needed to be Reconciled and Redeemed.  The next post will be brought to you by the letter R.