Holy Week

[gregp136]

Let me start by saying I was born, raised and am a practicing Roman Catholic (If I practice enough, I should eventually get it right). And today is Palm Sunday, which carries a lot of meaning at the beginning of this roller coaster week.  On Sunday Jesus rides into Jerusalem, all the praise from everyone, and then he sets up the whole body and blood thing on hole Thursday, only to be crucified on Friday, but wait, he rises on Sunday!  

Wow, what a ride.  

I do not wish to offend anyone, but this year, no surprise, I see the parallels to quitting smoking.  

A part of me has to die in order to get to the resurrection.  There is lots of pain involved, but we won't get there without the pain and struggle.  But the resurrection makes it all worth it.  It is the promised land!

And so we live with the roller coaster, and have little death and resurrections throughout the days of our quits, but slowly the death decline, and the resurrections increase.  It is at hand, and only by accepting the pain of leaving the nicotine behind will we reach the resurrection in the morning!

[MePlus3]

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Cor 5:17 

This took me back to this verse! You hit it head on we have to die to that addiction to truly experience the resurrection of freedom! Great blog! There's another verse in Matthews I think it is that this remind me of I'll be right back!

[MePlus3]

¹⁶ “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse.¹⁷ Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” Matthew 9:16-17 

We can't have freedom if we are practicing the same behavior of feeding our addiction! The addiction is the old wineskin while freedom is the new. a new attitude  (or quititude) could act as the new wineskin while freedom is what we're pouring into it as we stack our days!

[Chuck-2-20-2011]

With understanding comes peace. You're doing great!

ONWARD TO FREEDOM!!!

[JustSharon]

"It is at hand, and only by accepting the pain of leaving the nicotine behind will we reach the resurrection in the morning!"

Oh so true and so true to God's word. Greg you always write such inspiring blogs. For a newbie yourself, I find that you will not ever relapse one day at a time, with such faith and belief. I was raised in the Catholic church but left it many many years ago. I became a believing Christian and try to live by the word of God. I don't do church, but I read and practice my faith. It's wonderful the parallel you made. I will be bookmarking your page!

[gregp136]

"For a newbie yourself, I find that you will not ever relapse one day at a time"

That is very very scary, JustSharon‌.  I am very susceptible to relapse, as are we all.  That is why I am working so hard here!

[JustSharon]

What is scary Greg?

[gregp136]

It is scary to think that I might let my guard down, and if I do that, I will risk losing my Quit!

[JustSharon]

It's very scary to me too Greg that I have relapsed so many times over the last year that I've been here. I'm hoping in my heart that my mindset is different now. What's new for me is refusing to look forward. I'm staying in the day as best I can. I used to peek into the future at a "forever quit" but found I could not promise anything past the day I am in. I don't have the scripture handy, but I know that God tells us to live for today because tomorrow has enough trouble of it's own. So, I'm doing what is best for me and that is God's word.

[MePlus3]

Matthew 6:34
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.