How?!!? – part 2 The Secret Revealed
Well…are you ready to learn the secret?
Are you ready to learn how you can overcome?
Are you ready to learn how you can let it all go?
Okay, here it is. The secret to how you can overcome is…you can’t!!
Okay, so I know you were expecting a big formula, or some super awesome great pearl of wisdom that you would write down when you read it this wicked angelic musical chord would strike and the room would light up and suddenly all the mysteries of your life would make sense and you would be forever changed and never struggle with any kind of temptation or sin again because you finally knew “the secret”. Sorry. I didn’t mean to trick you. If you knew me at all you would know that I have no angelic chord striking pearls of wisdom. All I have is what the Apostle Peter gave to the lame man at temple gate, Jesus. If you wanted me to give you something that would instantly change you, somehow, into a person that didn’t struggle with temptation or someone who didn’t have to, everyday, fight to stay on the path that Christ set for us, than your on the wrong planet. It doesn’t exist. There is no magic formula.
All my life I waited. I waited for “the moment”. Every addict knows about “the moment”. Even if you’re not an addict, you still know about “the moment”. We’ve all waited for it. We all believe in it. We’ve all heard the stories of people who have come across it. We know people that its happened to. “The moment” is the part of your life when, all of a sudden, it all makes sense. Its that point when, it all changes forever and you never struggle with your affliction again. It could be a phrase someone says, or a song that comes on the radio or a pastor’s sermon that hits you just right, or a passage of scripture or even a big booming voice from heaven. And when it comes, you change, and never have to worry about that thing that held you down. You never have to struggle with it again. So we wait. We hope. We expect. And when it doesn’t happen, we anger. We rage. We depress. We suicide. We run. We cry. We quit. All because of “the moment”. Sadly, “the moment” doesn’t really exist. No formula, no angelic chords, no “moment”. I waited all my life and never found it. I’ve talked to people much older than me who are still waiting. They will still be waiting years from now.
So what is the real secret? What is the real answer? Its that same answer that everyone shouts out in every gathering at TXC when they don’t know the real answer. Its the answer every little girl or little boy learns in Sunday school. You guessed it. JESUS. He is the answer my friend. No where in the bible does it say that we will not have struggles. No where in the bible does it say that life is easy. No where in the bible does it say that we will not have to fight each and every day to live a life pleasing to God. If your bible says that than you’re reading a very poorly translated version. Jesus said “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, for I have overcome the world”. No where in the bible does it say that you will overcome. No where. If YOU could overcome your troubles there would be no need for Jesus. If YOU could win the day, than Jesus is worthless. If YOU could do it yourself than Jesus has no meaning. YOU can’t, HE CAN. YOU can’t, HE WILL. YOU can’t, HE HAS. YOU can’t, HE IS. 1 John 5: 5 says “Who is it that has overcome the world, only he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God”. 1 John 4:4 says “…greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world”.
Wanna know how you can overcome, stop trying to overcome and get to know the one who can…Jesus. The best advice I ever got on my journey to freedom form addiction was “stop trying”. Simple, yes. Stop trying. Maybe some of us are trying too hard to overcome our problems. That is one of the most brilliant plans the devil could ever put into action. To cause us to try too hard. See, if we’re trying really really hard, we start to take our eyes off of Jesus and end up in a mess that we will never get out of. The wisest man who ever lived said in Proverbs 4 “…let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you…” and Hebrew 12 say “let us fix our eyes on Jesus…”. Jesus is the answer. Jesus is the secret. Jesus is the cure. Jesus is the medicine. Jesus is the fix. Jesus is the bandage. Jesus is the ointment. Jesus is the missing piece. Jesus is the healing. Jesus is the joy. Jesus is. Forget your addiction, if even for one moment. Forget it. Let it go. I’m honestly in tears as I write this because my heart breaks for those of you who are still trapped by something that Jesus already set you free from. Paul tells us in Galatians 5;1 “It is for freedom that Christ HAS set us free”. He HAS set you free. Not will, or could, or might if you are good enough or try harder to overcome addiction, but HAS. Its already done. Let the world freeze for a moment, a moment long enough for you to see Jesus in his Word. A moment long enough to see that his Word says he doesn’t care what you’ve done in the past. A moment long enough to see that Jesus loves you simply because he made you. All throughout his Word he is telling you that you are beautiful and wonderfully made and that he loved you before you were born, he loved you after you were born, and he even loved you in those moments when you thought no one was watching you while you were doing horrible things. Yes, he even loved you then, and he still loves you now.
Jesus once spoke to me a message so clear I can still hear it. I asked him, in a moment of desperation, “how do I get past this, how do I let go of this, God how do I beat this?” He told me, “You can’t, I can” He said to me “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be given to you…” I still hear it, “seek me first”. Forget the addiction. “Seek me first”. Forget pornography. “Seek me first”. First. Not after. Not second. Not later. First. Alpha. First. Now.
I do not look at pornography any more. I am free. I am a new creation in Christ. I do not say it to boast in myself but to boast in Jesus. I can only tell you that, when I finally took my eyes off of my problems long enough to see Him and how much he still loved me. It has not been easy. I have been tempted many times. I will still be tempted in the future. Satan hates me. And he hates that I have changed. But I love Jesus. I love that he loves me. I love that his Word tells me that in every page. I love that I didn’t have to try to win my freedom, but it was given to me as a gift from a loving God. Every day that I fix my gaze on him, and put him first, is a day where I will remain free. Not free from struggle, not free from temptation. Free from addiction, free from chains, and free from the hold Satan once had on me.
I am free.
Join me, won’t you?