The Lord is my Strength
Whatever weight we may have to lift, it is good to
know that our older brother Jesus is there to give us His strength to
lift it.
Plan Of Salvation - Answer to Life
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Plan of Salvation: Rebirth is the Answer to Life’s Most Important Question
Plan of Salvation -- We think life’s most important question is “Are you going to heaven when you die?” It is not a question of how good you are, whether you go to church, or how much money you give to charity. God says, in order to go to heaven, you must be born again (John 3:3).
Plan of Salvation: How can we be Born Again?
The plan of salvation is right in the Bible. God gives us His clear plan for being “born again.”
First, we must acknowledge God as the Creator of everything, and accept our humble position in God's creation. "You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created." (Revelation 4:11).
Next, we must realize that we are sinners. “For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
Because we are sinners, we are condemned to death. “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). This includes eternal separation from God.
But God loved each of us so much that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus, to bear our sin and die in our place. “God demonstrates His love toward us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Although we cannot understand how, God said our sins were laid upon Jesus and He died in our place. Jesus became our substitute.
In the Bible, a jailer asked his prisoners, Paul and Silas: “’Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ So they said, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.’” (Acts 16:30-31).
It’s very clear in the Bible, believe in Jesus as the one who bore your sins, died in your place, was buried, and whom God resurrected. It’s Christ’s blood and resurrection that assures us of everlasting life when we call on Him as our Lord and Savior. "For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved." (Romans 10:13). “Whosoever” includes each and every one of us.
Therefore, if you understand that you are a sinner, and you believe that Jesus Christ came as the one and only Redeemer of sin, then you understand the plan of salvation. The question is – are you ready to implement the plan, by receiving God’s gift of His Son, Jesus Christ? If so, believe in Christ, repent of your sins, and commit the rest of your life to Him as Lord:
- “Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.”
If you decided to receive Jesus today, welcome to God's family. Now, as a way to grow closer to Him, the Bible tells us to follow up on our commitment.
- Get baptized as commanded by Christ.
- Tell someone else about your new faith in Christ.
- Spend time with God each day. It does not have to be a long period of time. Just develop the daily habit of praying to Him and reading His Word. Ask God to increase your faith and your understanding of the Bible.
- Seek fellowship with other followers of Jesus. Develop a group of believing friends to answer your questions and support you.
- Find a local church where you can worship God.
Did you become a follower of Jesus today?
Love Addiction - Dependence
You are here: Love >> Love Addiction
Love Addiction – The Issue
Love Addiction is just like any other compulsion except that it has to do with relationships. Because of the ‘love’ part of the addiction, people often don’t understand the dangerous gravity of the situation. In fact, Hollywood tends to make light of this problem in sitcoms and movies because a true-love relationship just isn’t marketable. Glorified love is the stuff upon which movies are created! But no matter how comical Hollywood makes it, love addiction is no laughing matter to the addicted person or their partner.
A person who is excessively attached to another person most likely carried those habits over from past relationships. The conditions in such past relationships left the person feeling inadequate or mentally and/or physically abused. Romantic relationships are not the only type that cause such habits to develop; they can also stem from any of the following conditions: lack of nurturing or attention during childhood, isolation or detachment from family, hidden pain, early abandonment, unrecognized early needs, fears of rejection, pain, and lack of love or hope.
A love addict has a fear of change. They will attach themselves to another person as to obtain that person’s identity for themselves. Having a very low self-esteem and lacking self-identity, the person chooses a mate or friend they would like to become. Crimes of passion, murder, suicides, and stalking, bloom out of these relationships. Homosexuality is another byproduct of this problem, as it’s easier to take on the identity of someone of the same sex. A love addict also has the need to control the relationship. They will use sex to get their own way or in exchange for love. He or she confuses sex for love.
When a person tries to break up with a love addict, the situation becomes very intense and could result in stalking. The break-up adds to the addicts already overloaded emotional system. The love addict is not afraid to be as outlandish in actions as possible.
Love Addiction – The Characteristics
The following are some of the obvious traits of this addiction:
- Is unable to trust in relationships
- Has an inner rage over lack of nurturing in childhood
- Battles with depression
- Tolerates high-risk behavior
- Has other addictive or compulsive behaviors
- Questions values and life all the time
- Has a frantic personality
- Denies problems
- Confuses wants as needs
- Replaces ended relationships immediately
Psychological imbalances and childhood problems that are magnified to a point of self-destruction need professional counseling. It is necessary to free the addict to love in a healthy relationship.
Love Addiction – What is Love to you?
The most beautiful expression of that kind of love which we all seek is found in the Bible -- 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. Here, the Bible elegantly defines love in this way: ”Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Love will last forever.”
Find out who God is and you will find that true relationship you’ve searched for your whole life. Once that is settled, He will give you just the right person with whom to have a healthy, heart-based love.
Christians and Porn - The Spiritual Implications
You are here: Love >> Christians and Porn
Against his better judgment, the faceless man stretched his hand toward the goddess and noticed a quiver in his wrist. His fingers twitched as they ran along the strap of her gown. His breath came in hushed gasps as he tried to keep quiet. He could not risk waking his wife or kids. He trembled, mesmerized by her magnificent mouth, deep dark eyes, and long neck. The goddess ran her manicured fingernails along his outstretched forearm, tantalizing his senses and luring him into a state of seductive longing. Cold, musty air blew up the staircase from behind the goddess and hit him in the face sending a chill down his back. She smiled shyly and took another step backward, beckoning him with tempting flirtation to follow her down into the basement.
She wore a near transparent nightgown; he eyed her closely as the silky material bent around the curves of her perfect body with every move of her hips. She took another step backward and he followed, slowly. The staircase was made of wooden planks, and a candle lantern hung from the wall halfway down the corridor. "Come on baby," she licked her lips and breathed deep."Let me take you there again. Let me make your dreams come true." She took another step back.
Another blast of stale air came from below and jolted him from the euphoric state. He suddenly hesitated as fear, shame, guilt, and regret flooded his conscious mind. Pulling his hands away from her, he glanced up the stairs and saw the glow of the hallway above. He’d been to this basement -- more like a dungeon -- before; he drank the waters of pure ecstasy with the goddess time and again. She was so good. She let him do the things of fantasy to her body, and she always told him what he wanted to hear. But he loved his wife and two kids, and being with the goddess was, at some level, a betrayal to the friends and family he adored. He felt guilty for wanting the goddess. He felt shame and regret for how many times he’d been with the goddess. Lust and longing fought hard against shame and guilt, and the more each tugged at his heart, the more his knees felt weak. He looked back at the goddess, hoping she’d help him make a decision.
In times past when he fought the urge to flee the goddess, she would step closer to him, rub her body against his and beg him not to leave. She’d kiss his neck and whisper sweet promises about how good she’d make him feel. She’d caress his face and hair with her long fingers. Eventually, he’d turn and follow her into the dark basement and she’d let him have his way with her. But this time something was different. As he fought the urge to leave, she remained still, choosing to not aid in his decision. With a coy smile, she leaned against the wall and dug at the cuticles in her fingers. She was neither happy nor sad, but simply indifferent toward his struggle. This time, she didn’t care.
Christians and Porn - The Attempt at Resistance
“You know you’re going to follow me,” she finally said, her abruptness catching him off guard. “So follow. Your resistance right now is nothing but a fake show of will toward the Creator God, or your own conscience. He knows your heart, I know your heart, and you know your heart. It’s as black as the basement below. Come, join me. You’ve done this hundreds of times and always kept it secret. Your wife and kids will never know. Or you can leave, but real men don’t waste time in the struggle, they make big boy decisions.”
He shook his head and turned to face her. She was right; his struggle was a weak show of will rooted in guilt and shame, and it had no chance of pulling him out of the dungeon. He couldn’t say ‘no’ to her, the goddess. She smiled, and even as she did her already breathtaking feminine features seemed to bulge, pulling the little night gown tight around her torso. He lost his breath and stumbled forward but she caught him and pulled him in tight. She could feel his heart beating wildly as he rested against her, lost again in the euphoria of lust. She secretly rolled her eyes in mockery of his weakness.
She then took him by the hand and they walked the final two thirds of the long stairway together. The basement ceiling was so low that he had to stoop slightly to move about. The floor was a single huge slab of cold concrete, and a few dim candle lanterns hung from the walls around the large room, casting a sinister hue. The musty smell was strong, and it did an unpleasant number on his stomach. The basement was empty, except for a small cot made of metal that sat in a corner. On it was a thin stained mattress. Each stain on the mattress was a moment of climax; hundreds, even thousands of memories were made on this bed of passion. Excitedly, he began walking toward the cot, ready to ravage the goddess’ body in every way possible, but she gripped his hand tight and refused to budge. He turned and looked at her, puzzled.
“If you let me, I’ll take you places you’ve never even dreamed of going.” She said, her eyes now harder, fixed on his. She eased forward and wrapped her slender arms around his midsection. Whispering in his ear, she said, “A place where foreplay feels better than ejaculation on that old ratty cot.”
His heart thumped like a bass drum as she nibbled at his ear. Lost in desire, he let his hands explore; then, she stepped back and tugged his shirt slightly, inching him toward the far wall and away from the old cot. He followed her as though he was sleepwalking, caught up in a high that refused to allow his good judgment to maneuver. Her hands followed his arms until she reached his wrists where she squeezed tight, and continued leading him away from the cot toward a gaping hole in the far wall. He’d never been to this side of the dungeon before.
Christians and Porn - The Journey to Darkness
The goddess was strong; her tight grip surprised him. Though something was not right, he couldn’t shake the feeling of being high, and lacked the strength to focus on what was going on around him. One after the other he stepped, following her in the direction she pulled. Through blurred vision he could see a curve on her mouth, but not the curve of a temptress. It was not seductive at all, rather malevolent. It was the smile of perpetration, as though she knew that soon she would be devouring him like a starved animal to a hunk of meat. It was that curve upon her lips that began the awakening in him. He opened his eyes as terror gripped his every nerve. Where was she taking him?
The goddess was leading him toward the far wall and something was definitely wrong, though at first, he could not put his finger on it. On this end of the basement, the musty smell was much more potent. The reek of rot and a bitter cold hung in the air all around him. He tugged and fought against the goddess’ grip, but she would not let go. Her facial expression didn’t even change as she continued methodically walking backward, leading him toward danger. He jerked and turned with all his might, so hard that he felt a bone pop in his left wrist. He tried to let out a scream, but couldn’t find the breath.
Reaching the arched opening in the wall, the goddess suddenly stopped moving and let the hard smile leave her face, though she kept her grip tight on his wrists. She stood there expressionless for some time. Her chest was now almost flat, the curves of her body all but gone. She stood before him as a woman still, but much older and more mysterious. The man also stopped struggling to free his hands, but his eyes were fixated on the arched opening in the wall behind her. Something ancient and terrible lived past that opening; he could feel it. At that moment he was more frightened than he’d ever been before. He didn’t know it, but he was standing at the gateway to Hell.
“Won’t you come in with me?” she asked, her voice now low and dark.
“I will not,” he said, shaking his head. A tear formed at the corner of his eyes as he continued, “I cannot. I cannot go there with you goddess. Please, I have a wife. I have kids. I cannot go there goddess. I don’t even want to go back to the old cot. I just want out.”
“It’s too late.” A new, dark and demented voice came from behind the opening. As it did, the woman arched herself backward, pulling him further toward the gateway. First the crown of her head touched the opening and disappeared. Then her face and neck entered the blackness, and it too disappeared behind the dark gateway that seemed to swallow light whole. As she arched further, the man began to fall forward. He fought wildly, now screaming and begging her to let go. When only her forearms were outside of the cavernous hole, she suddenly lunged forward, back out of the hole and that momentum sent him to the ground, flat on his back with her on top, straddling his torso.
The creature that emerged from that gateway had the forearms of a woman, but the rest of it was a hideous mess of rotting flesh and ligaments and bones. It reeked like death. Insects crawled in and out of its mouth and eyes. It bent down, as if to kiss the man when another being emerged from the gateway. This one was small, the size of a seven or eight year old at most, and had hairless, smooth, pasty white skin. Its white eyes stuck like daggers from his head.
“Wait Jezebel, this one is mine.” It said.
The creature on top of the man snarled and sputtered, then obeyed and let go of the man’s wrists and moved to the side. As it did, the naked bald devil mounted the man in a sexual position and began tearing his clothes off. After exposing the man’s chest, the devil opened its mouth wide and took a powerful bite out of his stomach flesh. The man screamed in agony, a gurgled, throaty scream. The devil continued to eat, ripping organs and stomach and intestines out as he did. He gave the scraps to the creature that had once been so beautiful to the man’s eyes. As the torture continued he slowly stopped fighting the pain and became calm in the moments before his death. As he calmed, this faceless man was given a face. And that face morphed into another. That face morphed into another and another. Slow at first, then faster, the faces morphed from one to another.
The last thing the man saw above the bobbing bald head of the devil eating his insides was a bright pink flashing neon sign above the archway to hell. It said, “Pornography.”
Christians and Porn - Freedom from Sin
If you are a believer in Christ and are struggling with an addiction to porn, there is hope and help for you! The power of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 3:16) and the cleansing of God’s forgiveness is available to you (1 John 1:9). The renewing capacity of God’s Word is at your disposal (Romans 12:1-2). Commit your mind and eyes to the Lord (1 John 2:16). Ask God to strengthen you and help you to overcome pornography (Philippians 4:13). Ask God to protect you from further exposure to porn (1 Corinthians 10:13), and to fill your mind with things that are pleasing to Him (Philippians 4:8). These are all requests that God will honor and answer.
Do not despair! An addiction to internet porn is not an “unforgivable sin.” God can and will forgive you. Seek His help daily in prayer; ask Him to fill your mind with His truth and block unwanted thoughts and desires. “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20).
Coping With Separation - Find Comfort and Hope
: Life Challenges >> Coping With Separation
Coping with Separation - Pain and Separation
Coping with separation can be one of the hardest experiences life hands us. Pain and separation can be synonymous. In order to cope with the pain, we often seek to understand what caused the separation, and sometimes we blame ourselves. But the truth is, all of us will experience some kind of separation in our lives.
Separation is defined by Webster as: to part, disjoin, scatter, detached, solitary, secluded. Clearly, there are numerous types of separation that we may be facing. Separation may be for a moment, or a lifetime. Coping with Separation - Short and Long Term
Coping with separation for a short time may involve you or a loved one leaving on a trip, going to war, or moving away to attend college. Although these circumstances are difficult, the hope of the person's return makes the separation much easier for us to handle. While it is painful, short term separation is usually natural and is a pain that we can overcome. For example, as children grow, they move away from their parents, often starting families of their own. They have separated from their original home, yet they are still part of the family. They may be apart physically, but families can stay consistently connected through phone calls, e-mails, and visits.
Dealing with separation on a long term basis is more painful. Perhaps this separation will never be resolved due to divorce, death, or ex-communication. Feelings of being excluded, exiled, or locked out often accompany this separation. Long-term separation often results in intense emotional pain that is difficult to overcome. If we are separated due to exclusion or exile, we often feel rejected or discriminated against. These feelings can be crippling if not dealt with effectively. Coping with Separation - Comfort in Embracing and Inclusion
When coping with separation, our need to be loved and accepted intensifies. While counseling is extremely helpful, we can learn to cope with hurtful separation ourselves. By understanding how we define the circumstances, and learning to select and embrace what is important to us, we learn to cope. Is it possible to continue loving a person or situation that has excluded or rejected us? Yes, but it is a matter of decision. In other words, we can continue to love in spite of personal pain if we consciously choose to forgive the one who has hurt us, and if we choose to love them anyway. Does this mean the relationship will be restored? Not necessarily, but we can learn to cope with the pain and even be comforted by our understanding and selection of priorities. Coping with Separation - God's Love is the Answer
In the beginning of time, coping with separation was initiated by God. Man chose to separate himself from God by disobedience (see Genesis chapter 3). God loves His creation and does not want to be separated from it. God desires fellowship and a personal relationship with us; His priority is to love man. The Bible tells us that God is love (1 John 4:7-8). We learn love from God and we manage our pain through love.
Coping with all forms of separation is put into action by love. God loves us in all circumstances. Romans 5:8 says, "God demonstrates His own lovetoward us, in that while we were still sinners (separated) Christ died for us." John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish (be permanently separated) but have everlasting life."
If you are hurting right now because of a painful separation, God's unconditional love can help resolve much of the pain you are experiencing. It is not necessary to stop loving something just because we are separated. We often love someone, yet due to actions or circumstances, we find that relationship is not possible. Because it depends on certain conditions being made right, the relationship is conditional.
God's love for us is unconditional, but if we are to enjoy our relationship with Him, we need to resolve or meet certain conditions. Pride, anger, or lack of humility often prevent us from reconciling and reinstating the relationship. When separation is caused by death or unresolved issues, such as lack of repentance or reconciliation, there will be grief.
Are you hurting right now because of a separation that is unresolved? Why not take that pain to God? If you've never had a relationship with Him before, you can begin one right now. Just tell Him you are sorry for the things you've done that have hurt or disappointed Him. Tell Him you long to turn your life around and live according to His will for you as revealed in His Word, the Bible. Coping with separation of any kind is possible, but first requires that we end our separation from God. That is His desire. Is it yours? He's only a prayer away.
Fix me, fix you.
My heart broke. It always does.
I always end up picking the pieces and fix my own self. I’d like to think that I’m a good fixer. I just can’t believe how other people would expect “someone” to fix them. Maybe it is something that I have not experienced yet. Maybe, just a deep resounding maybe.
My heart broke. I just stare and sigh.
There are a lot of things that would break my heart. I always end up picking the pieces and fix my own self. I want someone to fix me. I’d like to believe someone out there would. Till then, I will just keep on believing.
My heart broke.
Fix me.
