09 Turkey, Tx Reflections

I had a lot of fun with friends at Turkey and I was really sad to once again say goodbye until next year. But even more important I learned and was reinvigorated about God. Multiple speakers spoke about addictions and it really spoke to my heart. The definition most people believe about addiction is just a small portion of what the definition is. Addiction for example could be addiction for cokes. Little things that we don’t really view as addictions. We hypothesized that God doesn’t judge addictions differently. He views “little” and “big” addictions the same. They are all sins. So we shouldn’t judge other people for their addictions. We shouldn’t be looking to criticize others about their addictions. Look in our own lives and I’m sure we can find multiple addictions if we really thought about it. Well anyways our main speaker was really enthusiastic and his message was powerful. He encouraged and strengthened my resolve to conquer all my addictions once and for all. We can’t do it alone (I know I’ve tried). We need God’s help if we ever are to succeed. That requires prayer, Bible reading, and asking him what his will is daily. If you fail again as I have so many times don’t be discouraged and give up. Don’t be ashamed and not talk to God. That would be the worst thing to do. Go to God in prayer and ask for forgiveness and for the strength to succeed in the future. But we can’t just rely on God to do it all. We can’t blame him when we fail. Who is making the decision? Whose fault is it really? God’s great gift to us is free will. We have to have the resolve to push through the hard times. The times when it is really a big temptation. When those times come upon us don’t be apathetic, do something about it. Fight back, go on the offensive! Get on your knees immediately, pray to God to deliver you. Ask for his guiding hand and for him to send Satan away. Another way to be on the offensive is to be wise in your actions. Don’t do something that you know will tempt you. Do things that are pleasing to the Lord. One area of our lives affects the others more than we could imagine. Be prepared for the Devil, don’t be delusional into thinking that once we ask God for strength then the temptation will magically disappear and we won’t be tempted anymore. Just remember that God cares for you. He loves you more than we can comprehend. He wants you to succeed! I pray for us all that we will fight off the demons that plague us and overcome our addictions. Once we do that our relationship with God will be greatly strengthened and will become much more unhindered. Thanks to all the speakers at Turkey for these thoughts I am echoing.