I’m not sure when I’ve been in such a steep learning curve as I have been experiencing these past few days/weeks. It’s as though God is wanting me to finally learn once and for all what living in His Holy Spirit is about/like. Making a 24 hour commitment to sobriety has been the start to this. Keeping myself reminded that my strength is only for now, not for “the rest of my life”. That’s too overwhelming and it has never worked! I’m also learning that it is in the present 24 hours that I can rely on the Strength of God’s Holy Spirit. It is also in the present that I can say to the tempter that I surrender this temptation to Jesus Christ who lives in me. I can also call/text letting my accountability know that the struggle exists. I am learning that to live by the Spirit’s Power within me I am to make decisions built on what I Trust and not what my own adrenalin wants me to–be strong within myself. This only works for a short period of time and then I fall again.

I honestly feel as though today I’ve awakened to the truth that I’ve dealt with temptation as though I fought it like I did when I was a child–with fear and repeated failure. This is fighting in the flesh. It’s time to put into practice what the new creation Earnie is learning: Praising God that I am weak in the flesh and know this plus admit this. This allows me to then surrender my weakness to Christ–“for when I am weak He is strong!”

II Corinthians 12:10–“That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong!.”