Does Being A Christian Mean You Can't Have Anymore Fun?

Wow, it took over 35 years for me to finally get it. I must say there is no joy in the dissipation of life as I lived it for the last 14 years, since I was 21. I know now that drinking smoking, and lust are gone from me by the grace and mercy coupled with LOVE from Jesus. This did not come easy at all, i fought tooth and nail to keep it as my refuge instead of the Lord Jesus. Through struggle, pain sorrow, terrible loss and tragedy I snapped out of my confusion in thinking it was OK to compromise my walk with the Lord, that it was OK to drink a beer or smoke occasionally, and that always led to more and more. Life sucked, being drunk might have been fun for the short time but the hangover and two day recovery was terrible. I lost marriages and friends and jobs and even went to prison because of my rebellion and behavior and choices made in using alcohol and drugs to alter my state and dull the pain when the easy answer was in the Lord. I have never been at peace like I am now in the Lord, abiding in Him and He also in me. My pastor advised me recently to use what he calls "life Scriptures". These scriptures are what he affirms daily in his walk, they are powerful, the word of the Lord is sharper than any two edged sword. I have been in an epic battle with the devil and the demonic, I would let my guard down and drink and smoke and this was terrible,the attacks got worse.

God's patience is remarkable as I should have died years ago through using drugs and drinking. What is fun to most people? I know the Lord says before you build you should calculate the cost. The cost is worth every penny. I have spent to long worried about what others think and being bold for the Gospel was not always in play for me. My bosses are firm non-believing types. They use fowl language and speak of hookers and all kinds of evil. I am stuck in the middle of this each day. But in this God has been doing some HUGE works in me. I don't care anymore if I get fired for standing for my faith in the Lord. I love Him and am willing to die for Him, I have calculated the cost and am willing to pay with my very life, the life that is now and has always been His. The Lord says " If a man tries to save his life he will lose it, but if a man gives up his life for me, he will find it". There has never been in my entire life, even the time my son was born the joy I feel in writing this and knowing beyond doubt that I am committed to the Lord, totally trusting and totally committed. James 4:7 says "Submit yourselves to the Lord, resist the devil and he will flee from you". The Lord has given me His truth and the way out and I will fight the good fight and I consider it Joy in doing so. Not all the drinking and drugs or any relationship with a woman can fill the whole like the Lord has and does in my life.

There is no greater joy than abiding in the Lord, a lamp cannot light up unless it has a power source. When I was neck deep in sin I severed the cord that connected me to the source. God never left me but I forsook Him. What a stupid thing for me to do but I forgive myself as the Lord also has forgiven me. I pray more and more for the work the Lord is doing instead of the problems that I am struggling through. The Lord says He knows what we need before we ask, I still share the pain and the struggle and He wants me to do that but I pray for the solutions, NOT the problems and it's awesome what the Lord is doing. I have some huge weight from the enemy on my shoulders, a weight I would not wish by biggest enemy to carry but "greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world" and "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength".

Some of the scriptures that I affirm every day are "Seek ye His kingdom and His righteousness first and all these things will be added to you" and "To who He began a good work in, He will be faithful to complete that work" and "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart" and "Commit your way to the Lord and your plans will succeed". Of course the Lord also says to abide in Him and if you love Him you will obey His commands and if you do He will pray the Father and the comforter will come and you can ask anything and he will do it if you ask in His name. Please don't confuse what I said into thinking you can ask for fame or fortune or the like and you will get it. The difference between a carnal Christian and a spirit filled one is when you abide in Christ you seek what He seeks and are of the same accord. If God intends for you to have fame and fortune you will have it but everyone is different. I have way more peace now than ever before in my life, God is indeed blessing me with success, I am not rich but He is blessing me. I include Him on every deal I work and in all that I do. It's awesome. He is my everything, I will not be moved by the devil or the people he tosses in to throw me off course because I am sober, focused on the Lord and never going to take my eyes off of Him, never will I ever allow the cord that connects me to God to be severed by behavior well within my power to avoid.

God only created the laws and ordinances to protects us, not to make us unhappy and bored. There is so much joy in the Lord and and abundant love that is truly the most amazing love you could ever receive. No drug or foreign substance can fill that void in your heart, it did nothing but destroy in my life. God is my everything, I encourage you to allow Him to be the same for you. Pray without ceasing and resist sin and watch and see the hand of the Lord in your life do amazing things. I don't love the Lord because of what He does for me. I love Him for what He already did for me, He sacrificed His only begotten son so that I could be forgiven and so I could live life and more abundantly.