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Twelve Stone Ministries, 615 Sandpiper Drive, Leesburg, FL (2026)

07/05/2023

VERSE OF THE DAY: In that day you will say: “Give praise to the Lord, proclaim His Name; make known among the nations what He has done, and proclaim that His Name is exalted. (Isaiah 12:4)

12/03/2021

Check out my page. Its been awhile since I posted one of my mini-sermons, go to my page to see my most recent one.

11/30/2021

It has been quite awhile since I have posted one of my mini-sermons. This is my recent one and I pray that it may bless someone.

The Missing Link

I want to preach today about something that seems to be almost forgotten in the church these days, “Repentance” without it there can be no real relationship with God. John the Baptist came preaching, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand” (Matthew. 3:2)
Jesus came preaching, “Except you repent, you shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3). The apostles went everywhere preaching repentance and forgiveness of sin in Jesus Name.
Do you realize that less than 2% of those that come down to church alters to find Christ are ever found in the church again. Something is wrong…and that something is that they were not truly born of God because they were not brought to the place of true repentance.
Many people have come to the altar and accepted Christ as their Savior and ask for forgiveness of their sins, they appear to have gone through some kind of religious experience, yet were not born again.
True repentance is a change in the way we think about sin, it is a change in the way we feel about sin. Godly sorrow, such as God requires, can only come from seeing sin as God sees sin. To the truly repented person sin is hated, repugnant, abhorrent, abominable.
If a person is still desirous of their sin and believe that it brings happiness and could never think of forsaking it, then that person has not truly repented. They may at the moment feel bad about their sin, but there is a big difference between being convicted of sin and repenting of that sin. The difference is being saved and being lost.
The heart never goes out to God in true repentance without a change in the way you feel about sin. A man may see sin as God sees sin and yet never really repent of their sin. Until he repents, he will never feel about sin like God feels about sin.
When a person makes the decision to come to the altar, they see sin as God sees sin. They can see that such deserves an eternal punishment in hell, but the feeling about sin has not changed. These people still love sin and for this reason they are in and out, up and down, and never spiritually stable. Their opinion of sin has changed, they know sin is a terrible thing, and it deserves eternal punishment in hell, yet they still love it, so they are always falling back into the practice of it. If your repentance is genuine, there is in your mind a conscious change of both views and feelings in regard to sin.
When repentance is genuine, the desire to repeat sin is gone. This does not mean that you will never slip, but the desire to sin is gone.
That’s what Paul meant when he addressed the Corinthians, “If any man be in Christ, there is a new creation old things are passed away and all things become new.” (2Cor. 5:17)
That doesn’t mean the person is perfected in their actions, rather they are perfected in their desires. If you truly repent, you no longer love sin. You do not abstain from sin because of the fear of God’s punishments, you abstain from sin because you hate sin. This is the position of a truly born again person.
A Pharisee named Nicodemus ask Jesus, “What must I do to be saved?” Jesus answered him, “You must be born again, no one can see the Kingdom of God unless they have been born again.”
GOD BLESS
Pastor Dave

05/06/2019

I wrote this story nearly ten years ago and shared it with my congregation. I never realized that in the course of these past ten years I would see this story played out in real life…in my life.

My prayer today is for all families affected by this terrible disease of addiction.

BUT THERE IS HOPE…THERE IS GOD

He is the Healer and He is there for you…as we walk through the darkest valleys of our life He is there, we may not see Him, we may not feel Him, but He is there!
And He is waiting for YOU…take His Hand

THE FRUIT OF LOVE

There was a young girl who grew up in Traverse City, Michigan. To this young girl her parents was too old fashioned, they over-reacted to her nose-ring, to her music, even to the clothes she liked to wear.
It seems as if every time she turned around, they were grounding her for something.
She boiled inside at their strictness…”I hate you” she screamed at her father when he knocked on her bedroom door just after they had argued.

That night, she acted upon a plan that she had mentally rehearsed over and over in her mind…she quietly climbs out her bedroom window and runs away from home.
Her plan was just to run away, but she had never thought about where she would go. She remembers a trip she took with the youth group at church last year.
A trip that took them to watch the Tigers play in Detroit, and she also still had a clear image of what she had read in the Traverse City News.
The increasing gang activities, drugs, violence, murder…the newspaper said were taking control of the City of Detroit…her fear sent chills up and down her spine.
But she thought to herself, Detroit would be the last place her parents would look for her…California, Florida…maybe, but never in Detroit.

Her second day there, she met a man driving the biggest, shiniest car she had ever seen.
He offers her a ride, buy her lunch, and arranges a place for her to stay. He gave her some pills that made her feel really good, better than she had ever felt before.
She decides, she was right all along, her parents had just wanted to keep her from knowing about all this fun! The good life continues for her…for a month, two months…a year.
The man with the big car…she calls him “Boss”…he teaches her things that men like. Since she was only 16, men paid a premium price for her.
She lives in a penthouse suite, orders room service whenever she wants, so much money…she can buy whatever she wants.
Life, she thought, could never be better than this.

Sometimes she thinks about her parents back home, but their lives seem way too boring, how did she ever live back there?
One morning she gets a brief scare…she sees her picture on the back of a milk carton, with the inscription: “Have You Seen This Child”
But then she remembers, she has dyed her hair blond, and with all the makeup and jewelry she wears, nobody would ever mistake her for a child!
She doesn’t worry because most of her friends are runaways too….nobody squeals on someone else on the streets of Detroit…

After that first year, the silent signs of illness appears, and it amazes her how quickly the “boss” turns mean and ugly.
“These days I can’t mess around with a sickly has been” he growls at her, and before she knows it, she’s thrown out on the streets…abandoned with without a penny to her name.
She still turns a couple of tricks a week, but nobody is paying much for her now. A couple dollars here, and a couple dollars there…all the money goes to support her crack addiction…there’s none for food.
The bitter cold of winter comes and she finds herself sleeping on the exhaust grates outside the department stores in an attempt to keep from freezing to death.
Cold, hungry, sick…withdraw pains wracking her body from the lack of drugs her body has come to depend upon to survive.
She tries to relax and sleep, but a young teenage girl at night on the streets of Detroit can never relax her guard. Dark bands circle her eyes, her cough worsens.

Then one night, as she lie awake in the snow, listening closely for footsteps that might warn her of danger…everything about her life suddenly becomes so much different.
She no longer feels like an elegant woman of the world, but rather begins to feel the reality of being a little girl, lost in dark, cold, frightening city.
She begins to sob uncontrollably, her pockets are empty, she is so awfully hungry…and she is desperate for a fix.
She pulls her legs tight underneath her and shivers under the pile of newspapers she has covered herself with.
Suddenly, something jolts her memory, and a single image fills her mind…an early morning in May in Traverse City,
A million cherry trees bloom all at once, and her golden retriever dashing in and out of the rows of blossoming trees in chase of an old tennis ball.

“OH MY GOD!” she cried aloud, “WHY DID I EVER LEAVE HOME?” pains stab at her heart, my dog back home has more than I do right now…she thinks to herself.
Shaking uncontrollably from the sobs of her sorrow…she knows in a flash that more than anything in the whole world, she wanted to go home.
She begs for enough change to make a phone call…three straights calls, and three straight connections with an answering machine.
She hangs up each time without leaving a message…she doesn’t know what to say.
With her last quarter, she dials the number one more time…and this time she leaves a message, “Dad, Mom, it’s me, I was wondering about maybe coming home.”
“I’m catching a bus that’s coming up your way, and it should get there around midnight tomorrow. If your not at the bus station, I’ll understand and I’ll just stay on the bus.”

She hung up the phone and headed down the dark street in search of money to pay for the bus ticket.
She pulled three tricks that night and collected the $25 dollars she needed for the ticket.

It was a seven hour ride to Traverse City, during the ride her mind begins to tell her what a dumb idea this is.
What if her parents are out of town and don’t get the message she left. She begins to think maybe she should have waited until she could actually talk to them on the phone.

Will they even want to see her, how mad will her dad be?
She was thinking even if her parents were home, they had probably wrote her off as dead a long time ago. Maybe she should have given them more time to get over the shock.
Over and over she rehearsed what she would say to her father…over and over she tried to prepare a speech:
“Dad, I’m sorry, I know I was wrong…I’m sorry for hurting you and mom…Daddy please forgive me?”
Her throat tightens, a lump builds up in her throat…tears clouds her eyes.
Suddenly, the bus driver announces “TRAVERSE CITY BUS TERMINAL” “FIFTEEN MINUTES, THAT’S ALL WE HAVE HERE FOLKS.”

She sat there in her seat, staring at the bus floor…15 minutes to decide the rest of her life.
She takes one last look in her compact mirror, and wonders if her parent would notice the cigarette stains on her fingers…and heads for the terminal.
Not knowing what to expect, she slowly enters the door of the terminal,
And there standing in the middle of the terminal facing her, were a crowd of about 50 people…
There were her brothers, her sisters, her aunts and uncles…there was her grandpa and her grandma…and even her great-grandmother…
All of them were wearing silly party hats and blowing silly party horns. There was a huge banner that read “WELCOME HOME SWEETHEART” taped across the entire wall of the terminal.
And there in front of them all was her Dad, he runs towards her and grabs her in his arms…tears flooding from her eyes she begins her memorized speech…
“Dad, I’m so sorry…” but he interrupts her, “Hush, my beautiful child. We have no time for that now…you will late for your party…there’s a banquet waiting for you at home!”

I close the message today with this word that I want you to take with you:
We can do nothing to repay God’s Love…we love Him because He first loved us.
Our love is expressed through placing God first in everything do, everything we have, and everything we want.
THERE’S A BANQUET WAITING FOR YOU TOO!

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have Everlasting Life.”
John 3:16

GOD BLESS YOU ALL...PASTOR DAVE

03/02/2019

PIMPING PREACHERS

I’m going to be reading several verses of the New Testament this morning. If you want to write them down now, you will have a heads-up knowledge of where I’m going.

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits…” (Matthew 7:15, 16)

“For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” (Matthew 24:24)

“But there were false prophets also among the people, Even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, Even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.” (2Peter 2:1)

“For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.” (2John: 1: 7)

“BELOVED, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (1John 4:1)

“Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.”
(Colossians 2:8)

“ For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. (2 Timothy 4:3,4)

If we focus on these scriptures, it’s very clear to see that false prophets and false teachers exist, and they are in the church today.

I going to refer to these false prophets, and false teachers as Pimps, why? Because they share the same characteristics!

I’m going to entitle this morning’s message:

“THE PIMPING PREACHERS”

And I have no respect for those who “fleece the flock” and
rob Christians of the ability to worship in Spirit and in Truth!

Now, I’m not saying that everyone who preaches is a “Pimp”.

But, I’m saying those who INTENTIONALLY add or
subtract from the word of God ARE!

So then, what are the distinguishing earmarks of these “Pimps”?

1) Those who willingly and secretly bring in destructive heresies in order to change your focus away from truth, and move it toward covetous attitudes of material prosperity.

2) Those leaders whose greed has lead them to manipulate and deceive the children of God for money.

3) Those holding to man made tradition, which binds and looses unbiblical doctrine on the children of God, which is a different Gospel than that of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

These Pimping Preachers will use “False Doctrine” which manifest’s itself as twisted man made doctrines,

that is usually taken out of context to force or threaten the flock to give more money for their ministry.
(Malachi 3?)

Anyone familiar with the “Pimping Game” knows that in order to become an accomplished pimp. The pimp has to gain the trust of his prostitutes.

In the church these prostitutes are deceived Christians who give with wrong motivations.

The deceived and immature believer thinks that this “anointed pimp” is the source of their blessings and only through this pimp/preacher is he or she safe from harm.

In other words, only through the anointing of this pimping preacher can the blessings of God flow.

These pimping preachers will usually give you a point of contact: handkerchiefs, miracle oil, special anointed spring water or some small trinket,

they may even tell you to simply place your hands on the television.

Of course, this is all for a price; or as they like to say, a love gift or a seed that will bring about 100 fold blessing.

I am convinced that these conniving pimps are the same type of cunning moneychangers that Jesus drove out of the temple during his ministry.

Some of these pimps, and I’m going to name names, include such snakes as Peter Popoff, Robert Tilton, Benny Hinn, and Cashflow Dollar just to name a few.

Brothers and Sisters you can see what we have in the pulpits today!

These are not preachers, their pimps!

If you were to study the nature of a pimp, you would then understand the nature of these false preachers.

A pimp is a weak, emaciated effeminate man who, because of his own weak and perverted nature, refuses to be productive on his own.

He has no work ethic, he lives as nothing more than a parasite and leaches off of women and men who see themselves as rejected, lonely and unable to function as whole people in society.

They believe in order to keep his approval they must give him more money.

They work themselves to death in order to bring him material possessions, presenting those things to him as their god.
(The seed becomes mammon)

The media has already exposed many of these fake “faith healers” and those who use fake “words of knowledge” or “prophecy” in order to extort money from people.

These types of false prophets are not easy to recognize with their consistent reading of Gods word, and seemingly Godly appearance.

It’s becoming more difficult to discern the Pimping Preachers in the pulpit today, because he uses deception to lubricate the mindset of an unlearned flock.

This lubrication which is a mixture of truth and lie is so subtle that the baby Christian falls into a trap and fails to recognize the deception.

As a result, they begin to follow the blind, which leads to what some like to call a “Misplaced Loyalty Syndrome.”

In this abusive system fear laced with deception becomes the primary lubricant to control the flock.

Scare tactics and physiological manipulation involving the misuse of Malachi 3:8-11 and 1Corinthians 16:1-2,

which are usually taken out of context telling Christian that they are under a curse if they don’t tithe and that all the money goes to the so call “Storehouse” which they say is the “Church”.
It becomes one of the deceptions of choice to control the flock.

The “Church” is not the “Storehouse” spoken of in Malachi! One who reads Gods word can plainly understand this truth.

The pimping preacher doesn’t want you to read the truth so he fails to guide you the obvious context of the scripture.

This is in order to maintain control and limit your personal discernment;

his objective is to hinder and suppress a Berean mentality, which we are encouraged to possess and utilize in the Word of God!

His control has to be constantly maintained in order for him to fleece the flock effectively.

So he uses willfully ignorant leaders in the church “The Click” to challenge any member who questions or challenges his prosperity doctrine or his authority.

And “The Click” is not limited to only leaders. But also members who are the yes men and women that insulate him and protect him from his flock.

This click labels anyone and everyone as unspiritual or as having a rebellious spirit, especially those who question and challenge unbiblical doctrine.

The members of the “Click” are usually deceived members themselves, who have been hand picked and placed in positions of authority by the Pimp and not God.

These members are usually what the world calls “Holier than thou” because of their hypocritical attitudes.
They are so proud of their position in the church and glorify in the fact that they receive the praises of men.

The Word of God says they have already received there reward.

They continually seek approval from a blind guide whose main objective is to silence the flock through fear and intimidation.

A common way this is accomplished is by setting up an institutionalized church system where disloyalty to or disagreement with the pastor or leaders is portrayed as the same as disobeying God.

Questioning the pastor on doctrinal statements becomes equal to questioning God. After all, the Pastor is the authority, and authority is always right.

WRONG!

This type of mentality only causes people to misplace their loyalty in a leader or church organization.

The Loyalty should be to the Word of God!

There is no hierarchy in the body of Christ, every one has a function,

the pastor has a function, the deacon has a function, the elders as a whole has a function,

the usher has a function, the choir members have a function.

Everyone is hopefully anointed for their function! One member in the body of Christ is not more important than another. We all have a function.
Romans 12:3-6 says, “ For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to grace that is given to us…….”

Far too many children of God have this BLIND loyalty for their church and pastor.

Please do not misunderstand me! I believe people should be loyal to their pastor, but no more loyal than he is loyal to you and to God.

Too many Christians are willing to LOOK THE OTHER WAY because they just LUUUV their pastor,

If the truth be told, they love the way he doesn’t preach about their sinful life;

they love the way he doesn’t preach about fornication and homosexuality;

they love the fact that he doesn’t expose their lack of sexual morality and carnality because they enjoy the doctrine of self- gratification,

and just like a battered wife that protects the abusive husband, the deceived baby Christian protect their pastors who are void of truth.

They think he loves them, but all he’s really doing…is using them!

It’s all about the pimp keeping his control!

Listen, if your doing this…then you’re an immature Christian!
This is NOT loyalty, it’s sin.

Loyalty is being steadfast and patient with your pastor through the hard and difficult times and when he makes mistakes, but it is NOT covering up for him!

If he is wrong and unrepentant, you need to confront him and his “Click” or leave that church.

It’s wrong and sinful to condone anyone’s sins, and that includes your pastor.

Some believe in their pastors so much that they really don’t care what he does with money.

But what if he’s a pimping preacher? What does that say about our level of maturity in stewardship?

There are Christians that have loyalty for pastors that pass all understanding.

I remember sharing a scripture with a brother regarding tithing, and his words really amazed me!

He stated,” I don’t care what the bible says! My pastor said, if I don’t tithe, I am going to be under a curse!

Isn’t it amazing how some Christians place their pastors, before the Word of God.

And this Fear of the Curse of Malachi begins to gains control of their mind and they begin to give…but out of compulsion and fear.

1John 4:18-19 states “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us”.

But in saying all of this…I am in no way saying WE ARE NOT TO TITHE OR GIVE LOVE OFFERINGS.

I AM IN NO WAY AGAINST TITHING OR GIVING…CHRIST IS ALL ABOUT GIVING!

HE GAVE EVERYTHING HE HAD FOR YOU AND I!

I JOHN 4:8 SAYS; “GOD IS LOVE”.

AND GOD GAVE THAT LOVE TO US!

TO TAKE GOD’S MINISTRY TO A DYING WORLD AND SHARE THE GOSPEL WITH LOST SOULS TAKES FINANCING.

AND THAT FINANCING COMES FROM WITHIN THE CHURCH, THROUGH YOUR LOVE.

GOD IS LOVE…HE GAVE THAT LOVE TO US…LET’S SHARE THAT LOVE AS JESUS DID!
“PROVE ME, AND SEE IF I WON’T OPEN THE WINDOWS OF HEAVEN, AND POUR YOU OUT A BLESSING YOU WON’T HAVE ROOM TO RECEIVE.”

OR MAYBE YOU DON’T NEED A BLESSING…THEN DISREGARD EVERYTHING I’VE SAID THIS MORNING.

BUT GOD BLESSES THOSE WHO BLESS OTHERS!

_____________________________________________________

IN CLOSING THIS MORNING THIS MORNING, I WANT TO SAY HEED THE WARNINGS OF GOD.

THERE IS NO FEAR IN LOVE…AND GOD IS LOVE!

WAS THE MESSAGE THIS MORNING HARSH?

YES IT WAS…IT IS A VERY CONTROVERSIAL AND UNPOPULAR MESSAGE.

BUT ONCE AGAIN, AS THE APOSTLE PAUL ADMONISHED THE BEREANS, I ADMONISH YOU;

“STUDY TO SHOW THYSELF APPROVED”

GOD BLESS
PASTOR DAVE

06/12/2018

GUIDE FOR OVERCOMING ADDICTIONS AND HABITUAL SINS
June 12, 2018

Can you relate to these words, “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (Rom 7:19)?

However, “For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted” (Heb 2:18). He is “one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb 4:15).
Christ is able to help everyone overcome temptations, habitual sin, and addictions. There is always a way to escape from temptation (1 Cor 10:12–13).

The apostle Paul revealed, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Gal 5:16). Walking by the Spirit means living by faith that produces a life filled with the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22–24).
To begin walking in the Spirit, one must believe to become obedient to the Gospel (Rom 6:17; 2 Thess 1:7–9).
The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the Gospel that saves believers (1 Cor 15:1–4).
Each confessing believer must die with Christ repenting of their sins, be buried with Christ by baptism in His name, and be raised with Christ into the newness of life (Rom 6:1–7; Col 2:11–13). This is when God raises the believer with Christ and saves the believer by His grace (Eph 2:4–6).

(1) Realize the resulting feelings and results from irresponsible behavior.

Interview:

• Will giving into temptations help you stop sinning and help you grow closer to God?
• “What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed?” (Rom 6:20–23)
• Do you feel shame, guilt, resentment, anxiety, stress, and selfish about giving into sin (2 Cor 7:9–11)?
• Do you need someone to help guide you to stop giving into these desires that dominate your mind and body (Rom 6:12; 8:5–6)?
• Do you perceive that sin is ruling over you and controlling you?
• Are temptations common to everyone (1 Cor 10:12–13)? Will desires tempt you again (Jas 1:14–15)?
• What will ultimately happen if you continue this sinful behavior?
• Do you believe that your behavior is keeping you from growing closer to God?
• Do you want God to help you change and live a holy life?
Scriptures:
• “What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death” (Rom 6:21).
• “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear” (Isa 59:2).
• “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom 6:1–4; cf. Heb 10:26; 1 John 3:4–9).
• “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20).

Other Scriptures: Mark 7:20–23; 8:36–37; 10:26–28; Luke 12:5; Rom 1:28–32; 3:23; 6:23; 1 Cor 6:9–11; 2 Cor 5:14–15; Rev 19:20; 20:10.

(2) Recognize that thinking must change behavior.
Interview:
• When you face temptation, are you aware of self-degradation, shame, guilt, resentment, and anxiety that results from this behavior?
• Are there any parts of your behavior that you do not regret? Do these parts appear to be sinful?
• What assumptions have you made that turn you toward this temptation?
• What reasons do you give to allow yourself to give into your urges?
• Will you pray to God to help you face and cope with these urges?
o “Heavenly Father, Help me to realize that this evil will not stop if I keep giving into these temptations. Holy Father, help me to see that I am able to escape and endure temptation. Give me strength. In Christ’s name, Amen.”
Scriptures:
• “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38; cf. Matt 26:41; Luke 22:40, 46).
• “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Cor 10:12–13).
• “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts” (Rom 6:12).
• “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death” (Jas 1:14–15).
• “Therefore subordinate to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (Jas 4:7–10; cf. Acts 17:26–27).

Other Scriptures: Luke 4:1–13; Rom 2:5–11; 6:16–23; 7:13-25; Eph 4:17–24; 2 Tim 2:24–26; Jas 1:14–16; 1 John 2:16–17.

(3) Set your mind for the way of escape.
Interview:
• Do you give more time to the thoughts of others than to God?
• How much does God love you (Rom 5:8; 8:35–39)? How does God’s love compare to everyone else in your life?
• How much does God value you (Luke 12:6–7, 22–31)?
• What would the Lord have you to do about your problem behavior? What does the Word of God say?
• Do you believe that God will not to allow temptations beyond what you are able (1 Cor 10:13)?
• Will enduring urges and resisting temptations help you overcome sin (1 Cor 10:13)?
• Will surrounding yourself with temptations help you escape them (Rom 13:13–14, 1 Cor 15:33)?
• Must you start avoiding temptations to prevent from giving into them? Will you have to end some friendships and disconnect from negative influences?
• What can you do to cope with your desires? Do you find that prayer and worship help you to cope with your desires?
Scriptures:
• “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Gal 5:16).
• “And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof” (Gal 5:24).
• Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. […] Jesus answered them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin'” (John 8:31–34).
• “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Cor 10:13).
• “Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in or**es and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Rom 13:14).
• “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.'” (1 Cor 15:33).
• “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Rom 8:5–6, cf. 12:2).

Other Scriptures: Luke 9:23–24; Rom 6:1–15; Gal 2:20; 5:16–24; 1 John 3:4–9.

(4) Come to a new life with God in Christ.
Interview:
• How will you thank God when you are overcoming this sin?
• How do you feel about Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection (Gal 2:20; 2 Cor 5:14–17; Col 2:12–13)?
• What good things will replace sin when you overcome temptations (Gal 5:16–24; Eph 4:17–32)?
• What are some ways that life will improve when you endure temptations?
• How do you feel about living a pure and holy life without sin pulling you away from God?
• How will overcoming sin change the way that you view life with God?
• How would you describe the purity and peace of conscience when these sins stop?
• Will you then encourage and help others to do the same?
Scriptures:
• “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled” (Col 1:21; cf. Eph 4:17–19).
• “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,” (Titus 2:11–12).
• “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again” (2 Cor 5:14–15).
• “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit” (Gal 5:22–25).
• “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Rom 8:31–32).
• “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Rom 8:37).

Other Scriptures: Matt 11:28–30; Rom 8:1–39; Eph 1:3; Phil 4:8; Heb 2:16–18; 4:15–16; 2 Pet 2:9.

*Prayerfully study these Scriptures daily, set your mind on the Spirit, and thus walk by the Spirit. May God bless everyone reading this and struggling with an addictive sin to allow the Word of God to overcome this sin from within the heart.
GOD BLESS
PASTOR DAVE

Twelve Stone Ministries

07/05/2023

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