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I asked myself: Why did I stop gambling?

I replied to myself: I hate the feeling of losing!

I asked myself: What did I gamble again?

I replied to myself: I don’t think I will lose

I saw in my life: I did not win in gambling.

I may not lose every time I gamble but I will lose in the end every time I gamble.

I have many wins but I have lost back everything I win plus everything I had.

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Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. It is a positive can-do attitude in the face of adversity or misfortune.

Beside health issues, I have a serious mental problem in gambling. I like to sink into the self-pity and self-beating mode and focus on my misfortune and gambling loses. After years of doing these, I have learnt to move on with life and just do my best with the handicap.

The big difference was learning to get thing done despite the imperfection. It means I remain broken and make mistake, but I repeat lesser wrong-doing and increase doing the right thing by the power, grace and mercy of God and the Holy spirit.

My gambling problem remains, this thorn remained in my flesh but there are more peace, joy and gratitude in my life now. I had to be, my life used to be dark but I can see some light, hope and direction in my life now.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tq_ubh8oXa0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CwSs0eh-rA

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1. Even though Daniel was an old man, he refused to take the easy way out and abandon God. The threat of an agonizing death did not change his trust in God. He chose trusting God over disobeying him, even if it meant death.

2. Daniel is a type of  Christ, a godly Bible character who foreshadowed the coming Messiah. He is called blameless. In the lions’ den miracle, Daniel’s trial resembles that of Jesus before Pontius Pilate, and Daniel’s escape from certain death is like Jesus’ resurrection.

3. God was not concerned with man’s laws. He saved Daniel because Daniel obeyed God’s law and was faithful to him.

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Dr. Charles Stanley Sermons 2018 – “Focus on God, not your problems “

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgxaG4ge75w

King Darius was ruler over Babylon and had appointment several men to help him govern and lead. Daniel, the leader of advisors, was a man who believed in God and followed the Lord’s commands. The other men did not like Daniel and did not want him in charge, so they devised a way to get rid of Daniel.

These men knew that Daniel served the God of Israel. They told King Darius to make a new law in which people could worship and pray to only the king and if they worshipped or prayed to other gods, they would be thrown into the den of lions. The starving lions would eat and kill the law breaker.

Daniel knew the new law but committed in his heart to remain steadfast in his prayer and praise to the Lord. Daniel prayed three times a day with his windows open. When the men saw Daniel and brought accusations against him to King Darius, the king was devastated because he favored Daniel. The king knew he could not change the law and Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den. 

 

Daniel 6

1 It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, 2 with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel. The satraps were made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss. 3 Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. 4 At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. 5 Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.” 6 So these administrators and satraps went as a group to the king and said: “May King Darius live forever! 7 The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or human being during the next thirty days, except to you, Your Majesty, shall be thrown into the lions’ den. 8 Now, Your Majesty, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.” 9 So King Darius put the decree in writing. 10 Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. 11 Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help. 12 So they went to the king and spoke to him about his royal decree: “Did you not publish a decree that during the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or human being except to you, Your Majesty, would be thrown into the lions’ den?” The king answered, “The decree stands—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.” 13 Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, Your Majesty, or to the decree you put in writing. He still prays three times a day.” 14 When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed; he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him. 15 Then the men went as a group to King Darius and said to him, “Remember, Your Majesty, that according to the law of the Medes and Persians no decree or edict that the king issues can be changed.” 16 So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!” 17 A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel’s situation might not be changed. 18 Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep. 19 At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. 20 When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?” 21 Daniel answered, “May the king live forever! 22 My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.” 23 The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. 24 At the king’s command, the men who had falsely accused Daniel were brought in and thrown into the lions’ den, along with their wives and children. And before they reached the floor of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones. 25 Then King Darius wrote to all the nations and peoples of every language in all the earth: “May you prosper greatly! 26 “I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. “For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end. 27 He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.” 28 So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

 

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Help me God! Help me put to death those thoughts that will push me to self-destructive behavior.

Etc. when I was fasting, hungry, stress, worried or anxious. have too much cash or too little cash, accuse of something I did not do…I have so many fuse that can cause me to detonate.

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Matthew 16:24-26 (ESV) – Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus

24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

My Thought:

My priority is in a mess now. My finance and work security have taken over God. I have lost my focus on God.

My Feeling:

I feel very insecure and anxious if my debt remain, it made me very nervous and affecting my work.

My action:

I eat to self-medicate; I eat to feel good.

My action plan:

Help me God! I need to focus on You. Help me God! Help me to carry my burden and responsibilities and put to death any evil thought to fight or flight.

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I will run out of giving what I have given. I am running out of money. 

Occasionally this has to happen to test our faith,

to test our gracious giving whether it is real or not. 

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Devil’s talking

I should not be hungry, I should eat now, I should not deny myself.

I should not be poor and broke, I should have money, I should have more.

I should not be rejected, abandon and lonely, I should be love and accepted 

I should not be doing a lowly, humble and hard job, I should be doing a respectable, well – paid and easy job.

Gambling is not wrong. I did not hurt anyone with my money.

I can do everything that I want.

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We have a real and serious problem. We cannot afford to let our guard down one single day.

We can resist the temptation this time but it is no guarantee the next time we face another temptation.

We need to be vigilant all the times. I thought it was OK but it was not OK!

I let my guard down when I over-estimated myself and under-estimated the power of gambling.

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Hi RG,

Many things is new to me except my gambling which has stay with me for more than 30 years for a man more than 50.

I do not claim to have stayed gamble free but hope to do so one day because I have a real gambling problem. I have stop gambling many times but I have not been able to “stay gamble free.” for long.

I first landed in GT way back in yr2008, the longest I stay gamble free was one year ever since. Every time I get into gambling problem, I return to this place. i have no intention to leave this place now.

My self belief and self confident over gambling have failed me every single time. My many years experience in sport punting have always got me into deep trouble.

There will always be a time when I can spot a win, if I can resist this temptation now and not gamble, I could not guarantee that I can resist the same temptation next time, the bigger I win in a single bet, the more I will lose back. I found that out the hard and painful ways every single time when I start gambling because I never and cannot stop at one gamble.

What works for me was following direction and this direction must not come from me, I have tried 12 steps recovery program, and professional counselling in the past, I am trying to follow the teaching in the bible now. All these fleeing from temptation is new to me! lent fasting is new to me, It has given me hope to do the same thing to gambling. 

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I shall continue this road until the day I die. It is slow and difficult, full of trial and error, lot of repercussion and consequence for bad choices and foolish act. It will keep happening until I learn my lesson. May God ‘s will be done.

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I read this on line and copy it to remind me of my problem gambling.

Sin starts as a thought or temptation before it fully manifests into the action of sin.

To flee from temptation means that we flee from sin before we ever get to the point of committing it.

God does not tempt us to sin. Rather, “each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” (James 1:13–15).

This is why Jesus exhorted His disciples to: “Pray that you may not enter into temptation” (Luke 22:40; see also Matthew 6:13 and 26:41). We flee from temptation so that we do not enter into sin. 

Many times, fleeing from temptation begins within our own minds. We are instructed to think in this way:

We are to make no provision to gratify the sinful desires of our flesh, and this includes the open door for us to be tempted by sin (Romans 13:13–14; Titus 2:11–14). 

Sometimes, fleeing from temptation is an actual physical act. We see this in the story of Joseph when his boss Potiphar’s wife made inappropriate sexual advances toward him. Joseph “would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her” (Genesis 39:10). Joseph was wise about his boundaries, and even so, she kept trying. Finally, one day: ” she caught him by his garment, saying, ‘Lie with me.’ But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house” (Genesis 39:12; see also 1 Corinthians 6:18–20). This is a dramatic example of what it looks like to flee from temptation, and it also showcases how persistently the Devil will try to tempt us, even when we do our best not to allow ourselves to be tempted (1 Peter 5:8). James 4:7 says: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” 

When we see a natural disaster such as a forest fire or a hurricane on the way to us, we flee. How much more should we flee when we see temptation coming to attack our soul?!

We cannot put our confidence in our fleshly ability to resist temptation; our confidence and strength are in Christ, and He provides us with the tools we need to flee from temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13; Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 6:10–18).

Jesus Himself resisted temptation, so He can personally empathize with our struggles (Hebrews 2:18). 

When we flee from temptation, we should run to God and pursue the things of God: “righteousness, faith, love, and peace” (2 Timothy 2:22).

When we fail to flee temptation and fall into sin, we should immediately turn our gaze back to Christ in repentance, seeking His forgiveness: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:15–16; see also 1 John 1:9).

It is a true act of wisdom to see temptation coming and instead of choosing to entertain it, choose to flee from it (Proverbs 22:3–5; Galatians 6:9). 

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I must not test my confident and ability to gamble, I must run away from temptation of gambling the way we run away from forest fire and other natural disaster.

In the past I have trusted my flesh, that I can manage and control gambling after some period of abstinence from gambling but it failed every single time.

For me, gambling was a progressive illness, and it is very deceiving. In the beginning, I can control and stop gambling when I want but the ending is alway the same ,” my self will alway run riot”.

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There is some underlying message in this movie I watch last night.

The leading actor was called a loser in life by another character; he was also accused of being addicted to losing and easily manipulated.

I did not understand why he burn his 2 million in winning in the movie – it was self-destructive! it was foolish and even suicidal.

Why did he gamble on 2 skiers down a mountain slope and water droplet down a window pane, did he do it out of boredom, thrill or habit ? – maybe he doesnt care about winning or losing anymore, he just want to gamble.

When he burn his million in winning, it reminded me of myself losing away my big winning blindly, carelessly and irresponsibly and I had to continue my high risk gamble more after that. It is very impulsive and compulsive in behavior.

Bottom line – all the trouble start with the first bet

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