This summary can be printed out and reviewed daily as a reminder of the truths taught in this course.
Day 51 - Live For Pleasure!
Lots of verses listed above, but for good reason. Today's lesson spoke about worldly "cures" for sexual temptation versus it being a heart problem. Picturing a police officer with a stop sign and handcuffs is not an effective way of getting you to stop sinning. Filling your heart with joy and love to where it is satisfied is the cure. We sin because we are looking for that full satisfaction. Where else can we get that satisfaction and fullness except from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!? If we motivate our hearts with joy and love, that of our Savior, we will abound in pleasure! As John Piper says, we must be "Christian Hedonists". We SHOULD live for pleasure, true pleasure! If we live for pleasure in God, we find the joy that will fill us so we never need anything else! Go to the verses above and let yourself be filled with the joy about which they speak...
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Day 52 - Happy Are The Helpless
Today we learned what it means to be "poor in spirit" and why we are blessed when we are helpless, not when we help ourselves. Being "poor in spirit" can be defined as: Bankrupt in Self; Self-worth is nothing without God; All I am, have, and do is worthless without God; I understand my total inability before God. God blesses those who are poor in spirit.
Why it is important: a) This spiritual poverty is in reality the foundation of all graces; b) Emptiness Precedes Fullness; c) Self must be done with for Christ to be wanted; d) A starving heart will give all to have the Bread of Life.
The 4 ways in which He blesses: 1) God is near to the poor in spirit (); 2) God will not despise the poor in spirit (); 3) God dwells with the poor in spirit (); 4) God esteems the poor in spirit ().
Additional rewards and blessings of those who are poor in spirit: 1) God thinks on and delivers the poor in spirit (); 2) God hears and does not despise the poor in spirit (); 3) God spares and saves the poor in spirit (); 4) God gives success to the poor in spirit ()
Poverty of spirit brings about a: 1) Weaning from self (, ); 2) Delighting in God's glory (); 3) Seeking God's fingerprints (, ); 4) Seeing the best in others and the worst in yourself; 5) Praying like a beggar and praising like a son; 6) Serving like a slave.
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Day 53 - The Power Of The Word
Coming to freedom in Christ is a wonderful thing that needs daily work to maintain. You must apply scripture and not just know it by heart. As said in 2 Timothy, all scripture is inspired by God and good for many things. 1. The Word of God within the course will convict of sin and reveal our depravity, expose our vileness and make known our wickedness. 2. The Word of God within the course will make the addicted Christian sorrow over sin as many come to the course with a stony heart. 3. The Word of God within the course leads to confession of sin. 4. The Word of God within the course will also produce within you a deeper hatred of sin. 5. The Word of God within the course will produce a forsaking of sin. 6. The Word of God in the course produces a fortification against sin.
Every day you have to start the day sitting at the feet of Christ, recognizing your weakness. Every day you must prepare for battle, and the best way is to have the Word of God in your heart. Always be ready and well-prepared.
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Day 54 - Do Everything To Stand
By
Day 54 you should be walking in consistent victory
over sexual immorality. Those that
aren't have at least two things in common:
1) They have not done all they can to
rid their lives of the source of pornography. 2)
They are not following
the advice of godly mentors who can see what needs
to be done to extract them from the grip of
lust.
We need to put on the armor of God daily, but
we also have to do all we can to stand, as it says
in Ephesians 6:13. What have some done to
stand?
- Removed Cable TV from home
- Moved the computer from the "dungeon of
privacy" to the open living room
- Removed TV from their home
- Refused to take cash or credit cards with them
when having to drive by an old favorite strip club
or movie house
- Spend all night in prayer, begging God for
grace to overcome
- Lock up the VCR and gave
wife the key
The key here is to do ALL YOU
CAN to stand. What
are you doing to
stand?
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Day 55 – Don't Look Back!
Worldly teaching
would have us look back to figure out where we've
come from so we can battle where we are
today. This process of dredging up past hurts
and possible abuse is supposed to heal those wounds
by exposing them to treat them. But
this quote from the course hits it on the head:
"However, the Bible nowhere instructs us to return
to our past to understand how to get out of sexual
sins in the present. In fact, quite the opposite,
we are instructed 'Brothers, I do not consider
myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing
I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining
toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the
goal to win the prize for which God has called me
heavenward in Christ Jesus' "
The Bible teaches us to look ahead and to
not look
back. Sexual abuse is neither to be minimized
in any way nor to be laughed off as
insignificant. We are to treat it with
compassion because "Christ in us has
compassion for the hurting". Don't forget
about the past, but do realize that God is in
control and offered us His Son on the cross as
proof of understanding your pain. We
have "the unique ability to run to Jesus when
plagued with guilt, discouraged by consequences,
or accused by the enemy. We can pour out our hearts
to our Father and ask for help in time
of need. Christians have the ability to turn to Scripture in
these times.
- If we are feeling guilty we can read
- If we are sad about the lasting consequences
we can read
- If we are being accused by the evil one we
can read "
The way to be healed is to look upward to
Jesus, the only One who can save and heal.
Keep your eyes on Jesus while you press forward, and let
Jesus truly set you free as He has set others
free. Amen!
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Day 56 - Normal Sexual Relations
(Though geared towards
married people, singles can get much out of
today's lesson if tucked away in the mind for the
future.) For most of us, "normal"
sexual relations have been far from it for some
time. By now you are hopefully beginning to
enjoy what true normalcy is in an intimate relationship with
your spouse. "Marriage can be a deterrent to sexual
immorality." We long for intimacy and unmet needs
can lead to temptation. A normal and healthy
sexual relationship with your spouse keeps
your needs, and the needs of your
spouse, met to keep you both from temptation and
it leads to
a better relationship overall. The
only reasons to deprive a spouse of sexual intimacy
(according to ): 1) Mutual consent, 2)
For a time, 3) To seek the Lord together.
To begin normal sexual intimacy again, take
your time and take it slowly. Don't be
afraid to take intimacy in small steps. Set
a goal and keep working towards it, working with
your spouse toward meeting that goal. There
were many helpful tips and Scripture verses in
today's lesson, so we recommend reviewing the
lesson if you need more information on how to
approach this sensitive topic with your
spouse.
We also recommend "The Excellent Wife" by
Martha Peace.
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Day 57 - Cut His Head Off
Today we talked about how sin is like Goliath, out to destroy us. Goliath was huge, merciless and bent on total destruction of God's people, mocking them all the while. We need to be like little David, standing up to sin because we know that God is on our side in this battle and will provide us with sling stones that will easily fell the enemy. David came against Goliath with only the Lord Almighty as his primary weapon. Our human, physical weapons against sin are nothing more than small rocks. It takes the power of the Lord to make them truly useful against the sin that tries to master us in our lives.
Note that David not only felled Goliath with a sling stone, but then he used Goliath's own huge sword against him and cut off his head! We cannot stop with just holding sin at bay in our lives with God-empowered stones. We need to be aggressive and get on the offensive, ripping out the sin from our lives and cutting off its head. When you finally get a moment of victory over the sins of P&M, take advantage of it and tear out anything that would lead you into that sin again. Get radical, get accountable and get rid of it for good. Also, as the course said: "Jesus took the devil's own weapon, death, and used it to destroy the devil!" By dying on the cross, sin is dead for eternity. The battle is already won. You must turn to Jesus, and see that He fights for you, and from a position of already having won. Then give your battle to Him.
So where are you today? Are you calling on the Lord to fight the battle for you? Or are you simply tossing small stones at a foe who has destroyed others much bigger than you? If you are calling on the Lord and finding victory today, are you taking the steps to cut off its head, destroying it from your life for good? Are you walking in victory and wanting to help others get free from the giant Goliath in their lives by becoming an SCF mentor?
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Day 58 - Final Exam
Today was a review day, with many questions to help you see how far you've come. We pray you will go back to today's "lesson" for a handy, concise set of reminders of key points of the entire course.
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Day 59 - Your Testimony
Today is the day you got to share your testimony with us and others. We pray you have taken a good look back at who you were and who you've become over the last 60 days and will share with us how God has moved mightily in your life!
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Day 60 - Feedback
Today was the day we heard from you about your opinions of the entire course. We pray you felt comfortable giving us honest input about every aspect of the course. This course was built prayerfully and continues to change as we are led to change it. But it is your feedback that either reinforces what we have done in obedience to our Lord, or points out areas where we may be lacking in godly direction. Thank you for helping improve our ministry!
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