Results 1 - 3 of 3
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | A believer who smokes? | Mark 7:18 | 6 days | 124715 | ||
Dadda, I agree with the arguments of how much better life would be if you dumped that nasty habit! The Lord literally delivered me from smoking in 1985...I never had a single nicotine fit! My wife continued to smoke after I was delivered. I never craved a smoke from her while she continued to smoke. She was delivered in the same manner a short time later. I discovered food tasted great! My taste buds were liberated! My wallet was liberated! I quit when a carton cost only 12 bucks. Now don't get me wrong and I hope others on the board don't take offense to this but I've found many of those who are quick to jump on the smoker for not caring for the temple of God will stuff themselves at the restaurant after church with fried chicken and mashed potatoes and then go for the extra large dessert...and never think about how they are defiling the Lord's temple! A person who does nothing to control weight, BP, cholesterol, yadayadayada...will be quick to let you know how sinful smoking is! That is because it has become the PC sign as to ones spirituality. It has become the sign to the churched and unchurched as to whether or not you're saved. On that ground, it would probably be a good thing to quit...most see it as an appearance of evil. Should you quit? I say you should! For your health! For your taste buds! For the stinch on your clothes and your person that you are unaware of until after you quit! When a person gets saved and starts to fellowship with my church, I don't push them to quit smoking...I let the Lord do that! I do try to lead them into the Word and into a closer walk with the Lord! But I don't put my rules on them. Go to a country church and it isn't strange to stand around in the parking lot after church and 1/2 the people are smoking while they decide where to go eat. Small town churches don't make the big deal of a cigarette the way churches in larger communities do! I don't want you to walk away from this post thinking 6days says it's OK to smoke! I hate cigarettes and wish they were never invented! But I know for myself, there are bigger spiritual issues in most of our lives than whether or not we puff on a cigarette! Quit smoking because it's nasty! Quit sin because you want to serve Jesus! |
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2 | A believer who smokes? | Mark 7:18 | Dadda | 124718 | ||
Thank you all for your comments. The Lord will deliver me from this burden as someone has said. Whether I was trying to find an excuse to smoke or not, I really dont think I was. People who do not smoke, are caught in societies view of it being harmful. It was still harmful in the 1940's and no one said anything to a smoker, because most were smokers. I understand the scriptures saying my body is tabernacle. I also understand that in His time God will shape me to what he wants me to be. I do not hide my smoking, nor do I smoke around people who are offended by it. Being a hypocrite is not a concern, because I admit fully that I smoke. Yes I have a family, and yes I do smoke outside, and out of cars that they are in. As someone pointed out, there are larger spiritual issues. If they body were held to be a tabernacle all the time, no one would eat french fries from McDonalds would they. As Hank pointed out, the first person to tell you that smoking is bad, is the person who has to put down the fried chicken they are eating to tell you. EdB, I'm not trying to find answers in the Bible to justify my smoking. I'm trying to find opinions about what smoking is considered in the Believer community. I admire all of your bluntness, and frankness on every issue you all address here. I dont exactly pray for God to remove this burden, more that I pray for God to impose His will on my course of life. Not my will but His be done. Some one said that I was trying to die before my time. I thought only God knew the amount of days there were to a mans life. In that case, smoking would have nothing to do with it would it? Neither would drinking, nor what you ate. Its nice to see that hypocrisy is still not dead, in the world of believers. Please forgive that I posed this question. Thank you for all your feedback. I appreciate every point of guidance all of you here provide. | ||||||
3 | A believer who smokes? | Mark 7:18 | EdB | 124729 | ||
Dadda I speak from experience. I smoked for nearly 20 years. I know the cost! I know what is like to wake up with smokers cough, I know what is to loss some sense of smell and taste, I know what it is to suffer horrible colds in the winter, I know the shortness of breath, I know how I smelled to others, I know how it must have been for my wife to kiss me (someone correctly likened it to kissing a full ashtray). I also know how I tried to justify, excuse, deny, reason, and defend my smoking. I proudly proclaimed I was in the open and therefore I was no hypocrite. I beat my chest and proclaimed I knew a man that lived to be one hundred and smoked two packs a day. I fearlessly stated no man lives forever, yet now I regret all the wasted time. I also know what it like to be smoke free for over twenty years. I got my taste back, I now smell things I never knew had an odor, I don't stink like foul smoke around others, I got my breath back, I know a cold in winter does not include that deep chest wrenching cough, and best of all my honey says my kisses are sweet! And last but not least I get to keep that 4 plus dollars each day in my pocket. In other words, "Been there done that got the T-shirt to prove it." Dadda your looking to justify and you need to be looking to quit! Your killing yourself!!!! EdB |
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