Bondage - There’s so much to say about this whether it be a sickness, alcohol, drugs, sex, religion, food or whatever the case may be, God can and will deliver us from any addiction and sin IF we ask him. Psalms 34:17 says “The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles”. God hasn’t forgotten his covenant with us; the blood of Jesus redeemed us and because of that the enemy will keep you down with anything and everything that will kill you. I John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full”. Doesn’t being full of Christ sound better than full of some kind bondage!
So what does Bondage mean anyway, well its means being a slave
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One of my family members had lived her life for the Lord for quite some time and even attended Bible College and then later in life stopped attending Church and doing what the world does and thought there was no hope for her after that because in her mind she had done too much wrong in life which was a bondage that she was in! The devil constantly beat her up with that mindset telling her that she had done too much wrong and that God wouldn’t forgive her and take her back in his loving arms. I encouraged her to never stop seeking the Lord no matter the enemy was telling her! A while later she was delivered from that mindset - Praise God! She knows the Lord would never forsake her because Hebrews 13:5 tells us so. I’ve seen many people get into religious bondage to meaning various groups set rules for people and if they don’t abide by those religious rules and rituals then they 're under pressure or suppression causing them to be in bondage. Bondage is a terrible thing and is constantly hindering people, in the back of their minds they are beaten up and tormented. Jesus remains the only answer and is our deliverer! The enemy knows if we are living in fear of not been accepted by God any more then He can torment us with that. That’s why 1 John 4:18 says “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made …show more content…
Once we confess Him as Our Lord and Savior and Believe in Him then we are not dominated by the sin nature any longer. Sure we will fail from time to time because we are human and not God, and that’s when the devil tries to step in and confuse us or tempt us with something that Lord has delivered us from. Always remember this scripture in 1 Corinthians 10:13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” Very Clearly He says He will make our way of escape. Isn’t that great? One time after I was just delivered from alcohol I met a person who invited me to ride 4 wheelers and hang out, so I thought yes that sounds fun because my son was 12 at the time and loved riding his 4 wheeler. He used to ride a lot before I had chemo treatments. I would take him and my girls sometimes too with other friends and family members so I wanted him to continue to do what he loved doing as a kid, even when I didn’t feel like
Gerald May’s book Addiction & Grace: Love and Spirituality in the Healing of Addictions is a wonderful book that addresses grace, freewill, and forgiveness around addictions. The reader should keep in mind that the book is written from May’s personal views and experience. May (1988) states that he is “neither a trained theologian nor a scriptural scholar [and] this book is full of my own theological assumptions” (p. vi). The book is written to help the reader understand how addiction keeps one’s focus on things other than God. The reader learns about the struggle with sin and how the conflict creates awareness to addictive behavior. While the book offers some great understanding regarding addictions and spirituality, it is also based on a reflection of May’s own personal view and experience with addictions.
Who could be better at helping one heal than Christ, who suffered every sin, and felt every emotion during the Atonement? Through Him, a victim of abuse can find forgiveness- and forgiveness can heal deep wounds and replace them with the love of Christ. In 3 Nephi 12:44, one of my favorite scriptures, Christ said “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who despitefully use you and persecute you.” By letting the Atonement and words of the prophets into their hearts, victims of abuse will be able to stop the cycle and truly heal. It’s my testimony that abusers will have to answer to Christ for the horrible acts they have committed, and that Christ, in his perfect love, will extend healing to those who have been hurt by the unrighteous use of agency by
Gerald May does an incredible job of integrating spiritual concepts and theology into the treatment of addictions in his book Addiction and Grace. He clearly asserts that all humans are born with the desire for God’s love. This desire is what gives our lives personal meaning. Addiction is defined as any personal attachment that takes an individual’s focus away from God. As human beings, we all have addictions; personal attachments that can be viewed as positive or negative. Addictions are not limited to substance abuse (i.e. drugs, alcohol, and food). Addictions can also include behaviors (i.e. love, work, family, exercise). It can be difficult to view loving someone as a negative addiction; however, Gerald
This is then followed by insightfully examining the treatment process, specifically through grace as a key focus of overcoming addiction. May focus heavily on desire as the main cause of addiction. He sees addiction as a way to fulfill a universal need that all people have. The text focuses on how we all have this need we want met and that we desire to have more in life. The author looks at how through our desire we all fall victims to addiction because of the fall.
NLT). We are not to walk away from sin we are to run! God makes it clear. Sin is not a bargaining tool that we allow certain sins to be more deadly than others are. Sin is sin.
We are all sinners. Although one may try hard not to sin, all humans eventually succumb at some time or another to sin. While people may not able to avoid the fate which awaits them, the power of free will allows people to decide how they will respond to sin. While some may respond with guilt and regret, others may react with a sense of redemption and a renewed sense of responsibility.
As a surrendered life to Christ, my intentions on earth are good. However, I live a human life, wretched and sinful by the simplest measures perhaps unrecognizable to most, yet blatantly known to God. In this truth I find comfort. I know that no matter how hard it gets when attempting to behave as Jesus would have me in the face of any and all adversity, “God gives me Grace!” He already knows my heart and my failures even before I experience them. He set up a way for me to be redeemed and to overcome through His son, Christ Jesus. He did this for me through grace, and He offers His love and blessings to me regardless of me. I can’t buy God’s grace. I can’t gain God’s grace by doing good deeds. God freely grants it to me, and you, simply because He loves us, who are undeserving of His love. This act of grace is nearly unfathomable as a human being! My entire being melts to ground at His feet where I wade in pool of gratitude for this benevolent undeserving gift, His grace. The moment we start to think that we deserve His grace because we are good or righteous, is a moment when we are seriously misguided and in danger. We are not perfect. We are not God. The best of us are like filthy rags when compared to His holiness. “…all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” Isaiah 64:6
you must not live of it, you must avoid it and stay aimed towards salvation. Even John
“He said not:Thou shalt not be tempested, thou shalt not be travailed, thou shalt not be afflicted Thou shalt not be overcome” (144). Although as St. Julian reported, “As long as we be meddling with any part of sin we shall never see clearly the Blissful Countenance of our Lord” (149). It is important to stay clear of any sin and to flee from it when we find it creeping into our lives. “Though we be highly lifted up into contemplation by the special gift of our Lord, yet it is needful to us to have knowledge and sight of our sin and our feebleness”
Part 1: Choose one or two of the Spinoza´s Fourth Part of Ethics and explain the sense of the proposition. Add to your explanation an example and finally your own critical assessment of Spinoza 's position.
“The image of God in which humans were created is obscured and distorted by sin.” If this is true we then we are slaves to sin. In the Old Testament God delivered the Israelites from physical slavery in Egypt by Moses. In the New Testament God has made it possible for our deliverance from sin through Jesus, the second person of the trinity. Jesus is described as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. ( John 1:29 NIV) Hence, the freedom found in Christianity marks the start of a new freedom from sin’s bondage and for fellowship “with God and others. “God, led by his/her concern for our good and his/her desire for a relationship of mutual love and trust
According to Sharpe (2015), “when truly deep suffering comes into their lives, Christians will often pray to God for healing or rescue” (para. 2). Based on this fundamental belief in the Christian worldview, it is imperative that every human encounter suffering as this brings a person closer in their relationship with God. The Christian worldview holds a belief that God has a purpose for everything that happens in a person’s life, whether it is joy and happiness, pain and suffering, and life and death. This can be seen throughout the Bible such as “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’” (Jeremiah 29:11, New International Version), and in Ecclesiastes 3 “A Time for Everything.” These core Christian beliefs should cause a person to look past the suffering that he or she is facing, and try to see what kind of positives can come from the current suffering that a person is
Right now try to imagine watching a friend get married to someone who they don’t love and maybe not even like. Now imagine having to cook, clean for them and take care of your kids all day every day until you die. In "The Story of an Hour", Chopin introduced, to the world, Mrs. Mallard. To her, her life is terrible but she is constantly portrayed as a heartless woman who seems to be overjoyed by her husband’s death. Mrs. Mallard although viewed as inhumane, is actually more humane than most people would want to believe. While her actions seem questionable or even maybe harsh; but they are far from what is perceived. What readers need to think about is what it was like for women during those times. “The story itself presents a valid argument in favor of Louise as she is portrayed as the oppressed wife finally set free after her husband's death.” (Marquand) In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, she uses the feeling of bondage and true freedom through Mrs. Mallard, to show how women can be trapped in a restrictive relationship because of society's beliefs.
In the novel Of Human Bondage, the reader comes across a truly magnificent quote on page 627. This quote is: "He had lived always in the future, and the present always, always had slipped through his fingers." In and of itself, this is a very powerful quote. However, it can be given even more power and significance if a person can relate this quote to their own life and experiences. I myself, after reading this quote, was instantly able to identify with it.
Because we “all fall short of the Gospel,” according to the Holy Bible, we are in constant need of God’s grace through salvation that is extended to everyone, but is more bountiful to those who have already accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior. (At least this has been my own personal observation during the development of my own Christian faith.) Because we “fall” daily, we constantly need a savior to “wash” us, “cleanse” us, and restore us. Because of the hope that Jesus Christ brings to us daily, because “Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning,” according to the Holy Bible, in the book of Lamentations, Chapter 3, Verse 23. We as humans are always striving to find our purpose and fulfill it. So when we fall, we have a great need to know that there is hope and restoration through Jesus