Did Everyone Smoke?

[Saintscruiser]

I don't know about ya'll, but I knew smoking was the only sin between God and myself that I never took care of. I felt bad about it, but not bad enough to quit. I never asked for forgiveness since I didn't intend to quit. What about everyone else here? How did you feel about it being between God and you? As our evangelist once said, "Smoking won't send you to hell, but you'll smell like you've been there." I wasn't a very good example to young people and God knows how badly my son rode me about quitting. And we all know what rebellious ninnies we can be when you're getting nagged. Even though I'm still on nicotine, I cut out the bad and offensive stuff. I was able to ask God for His forgiveness. That felt so good, ya'll. I was so out of control after Mom died of lung cancer. I was tied to cigarettes tighter than a wound up rubber band. I remember at one point in May when I told God that I knew I was out of control and I needed help. I had never done that before. Then some weeks later I saw a commercial for a free e-cig. I was amazed, so I asked my husband if he'd research it for me online since he's a master at that. I was expecting to get something in the mail. Nothing came. So 2 weeks later, I asked him about it. He honestly didn't think I was serious. He said he'd do it. Again, two weeks went by and nothing. So I approached him again and told him I'd do it. He was shocked. He did the research and I finally placed an order around the 20th of July. I was excited about it.

We read all the instructions and lit up, so to speak. I was completely off cigarettes within 2 days. It wasn't a complete walk in the park since then as I had residual movements that I didn't even know I had like reaching for my cigarettes and there were days I missed it terribly. I have not smoked 3,753 cigarettes. No one is more shocked than me. Thank You, My Savior and King, as it was only by Your Hand that I've come this far with encouragement from my husband and this wonderful board. AMEIN.

What is everybody's story. SG, since you're a pastor, I'm very interested in how you came to being here. And, all of you wonderful people too! I remember when I was still able to go to church and I'd sneak those few puffs in in between Wednesday night supper and Prayer Meeting. We'd go to Mom's car. I bet when we opened the doors that we looked like a Cheech and Chong movie, with smoke pouring out. Definitely not one of my brightest moments.

 

[angelique510]

That is wonderful Saints.

Me, I have a several hundred dollars worth of e-cig stuff on the shelf and I'm back to smoking. I was doing OK until we moved this past summer. During the stress of the move, and cigarettes being so much more convenient when on the road and living out of boxes - I went back to smoking and haven't stopped.

Smoking is kind of low on the list of sins I need to work on, but it is still on the list. Please pray with me that God makes me truly want to quit smoking. It's true, until we want to quit, nothing is going to make us quit.

~A

 

[LisaLisa]

Here's my take on it from a spiritual point of view, vaping is no different then smoking cigarettes or a pipe. Big difference from a health point of view, but not a spiritual point of view.

Being addicted to something, whether it's smoking or vaping, is the same thing. I personally don't think either is a "sin", it's only a sin if it becomes your God.

When you love something more then God, that's when it's a problem.

 

[LisaLisa]

That is wonderful Saints.

Me, I have a several hundred dollars worth of e-cig stuff on the shelf and I'm back to smoking. I was doing OK until we moved this past summer. During the stress of the move, and cigarettes being so much more convenient when on the road and living out of boxes - I went back to smoking and haven't stopped.

Smoking is kind of low on the list of sins I need to work on, but it is still on the list. Please pray with me that God makes me truly want to quit smoking. It's true, until we want to quit, nothing is going to make us quit.

~A

I've fallen off the wagon too ANgelique. My last order of liquid was so strong that I can't even inhale it, and the stress and chaos of our move to GA left me vulnerable. I"m now smoking and vaping the really strong liquid that makes me cough.

I'm also praying for the strengh to give up the smokes again, and go back to vaping 100%. I was doing sooooo good there for a while, then one bad day and that was all it took.

I remember a long time ago I had managed to quit smoking cold turkey for 7 years! Yes, 7 years! One incredibly bad day at work was all it took........bam.......I was hooked again.

I need to find a health store around here and buy a bottle of plain VG so I can cut the strength down a bit
It's a tough road for sure..........i'm in the same boat and struggling same as you.

 

[angelique510]

Check Walmart or Michael's crafts. You'll find VG in either the cake decorating isle, or in lotions.

~A

 

[LisaLisa]

Check Walmart or Michael's crafts. You'll find VG in either the cake decorating isle, or in lotions.

~A

We don't have either here, I live up in the rural mountains! LOL! We do have a health food store tho, I'm going to check it out next time I go into town.

 

[Southern Gent]

I can remember a short time ago that the front steps of the church looked like the building was on fire. No one even thought about smoking being a sin until it became pc not to smoke. Then everyone started yelling sin. I am actually a non smoker, not because I didn't like it but because of the pc shift concerning it. I have used the little Skoal pouches for several years until I found the ecig.

 

[Jason_in_nc]

I don't see smoking any different than drinking a lot of soda, over-eating, or eating poorly. It's all in that same basket of not taking proper care of the bodies that God has given us. I think God deals with each of us differently and individually on these issues.

A pastor I know used to smoke cigars (as I do/did) even as a pastor. Then one day he felt convicted about it and told God that if he didn't want him to smoke, to let him know it VERY clearly. From that moment on, he couldn't smoke a cigar without throwing up almost immediately. So it was pretty easy for him to quit.

This same pastor's father was a deacon and very godly man, but he chewed tobacco every day of his life.

I've personally never felt "convicted" about it myself. I had the obvious health concerns, but never really conviction. Maybe it's because it really is just a guilty pleasure for me and not so much an addiction. I might smoke like a freight train this week, but hardly smoke or vape at all the next week or two. I'll do the same thing with food. I'll get on a burger kick or a seafood kick or a salad kick from time-to-time.

I've actually spent quite a bit of time on my porch rocking in a chair, smoking a cigar or pipe, WHILE praying or thinking on spiritual things. I have even, on more than one occasion, asked God that if he could grant me one such guilty pleasure, it would be to allow me to smoke without experiencing any of the negative health side-effects that smoking can bring.

I was reminded of mentioning that to God last night as I took a drag on an e-cig. It was a little humbling to think that here I was "smoking" while avoiding most all of the negative side-effects of smoking. No, I don't think e-cigs were invented because I asked God for a safer smoke. But I was humbled just the same.

Sorry for rambling!

 

[chimney55]

I've been smoking anywhere from 1 PAD to 3 PAD for 37 years. I've never felt convicted by the Holy Spirit that it was a sin, but I've gotten plenty of "conviction" over the years from non-smokers whether (Christians or otherwise). I've tried several times to quit, but it wasn't because of conviction. Even with "stop smoking aids" I was never able to go more than 3 days without a cigarette in 37 years. Because I didn't want to quit. This summer, because of health and financial problems, I started crying and praying that God would take away the desire to smoke. I asked that He would make me want to quit. Cigarettes had become my "god"! Nothing at first, and then someone asked me if I had ever checked out e-cigs. I hadn't, but the conversation didn't leave me. A few weeks later, I started researching them. I bought a kit from a gas station (which wasn't satisfying at all, but it gave me a clue that it was a possibility.) Within 2 days of making that purchase, I found ECF and ordered my first 510. Soon afterward, I got an eGo battery and lots of juices. I haven't gotten completely off the "stinkies" yet, but I've cut down to a level that I haven't seen in a long time!! I see this as an answer to prayer from a gracious God.

 

[Saintscruiser]

Then I don't know what happened to me! Ya'll are right. Angelique, I hope I didn't make you feel bad. I feel really bad about this thread now. My fingers just don't know when to shut up, sometimes. You smoke if you want to and that takes care of that! Lisa, you too! I guess I'm a different hair pin. Big reveal there! And now, I know why I don't feel guilty about e-cigs. Nicotine is an addictive drug. I've had to be on heavy duty drugs for the past 17 1/2 years and I consider nicotine as just one more. But, I'm not addicted to these drugs. I have gone for days without having any and there was no side effects. So that is why I don't think of it like a cigarette. Smoke and mirrors.

Now I am interested in why it's bothered me so badly.....not constantly, or anything but it would bother me. Back to Scriptures....whatever I think is sinful for me, is. I smoked 42 years. This has been going on and off with me for many years. It was like I'd had so many concessions to make in my life, I felt I was owed. Maybe my mom's death has had more to do with it than I realize. She'd cough all the time. There was one moment a few months ago that my cough sounded just like hers. That unnerved me. Coughing and fibromyalgia don't go together, I can tell you. I have enjoyed not coughing. I have enjoyed not putting holes in my clothing, and carpet burns by the side of the bed. I have done nothing to clean them up as I want to be reminded. I was putting all of the lives in the house at risk. You guys aren't out of control like I was. Do I want to go back and relight up? Sometimes......and that is honest. But I plead the Blood of Jesus over myself.

Sorry for the thread guys. Forgive me.

 

[LisaLisa]

Nothing to be sorry for SC, not at all. You're doing great, you really are. Keep up the good work sister!

 

[chimney55]

Back to Scriptures....whatever I think is sinful for me, is. I smoked 42 years.

I'm not sure that I agree with this part, SC. Sin is disobedience to God--anything that gets in the way of your relationship to God. I personally don't think that the act of smoking is a sin--certainly not the unforgivable one! A lot of people will try to make you feel that it is unforgivable and so will the enemy. My moment came when I came to realize that I would go further out of my way to smoke than I would to spend time with God. That I was panicky if I couldn't spend time smoking, but didn't feel that way about God. By the grace of God, this is changing, although slowly. I'm still smoking analogs but much fewer than before. Maybe I'll never give up analogs completely, but I won't let it become another "god" for me.

 

[Saintscruiser]

I'm not sure that I agree with this part, SC. Sin is disobedience to God--anything that gets in the way of your relationship to God. I personally don't think that the act of smoking is a sin--certainly not the unforgivable one! A lot of people will try to make you feel that it is unforgivable and so will the enemy. My moment came when I came to realize that I would go further out of my way to smoke than I would to spend time with God. That I was panicky if I couldn't spend time smoking, but didn't feel that way about God. By the grace of God, this is changing, although slowly. I'm still smoking analogs but much fewer than before. Maybe I'll never give up analogs completely, but I won't let it become another "god" for me.

The Lord layed cigarettes on my heart many times and I didn't obey. Like I said....I felt owed because of my diabilities. I used to make a terrible joke that I'd take a drag, inhale, and the Holy Spirit coughs. For me, I was disobedient. Not everything is the same for everyone. But, "whatever the reason his heart or his shoes, he stood there on Christmas Eve hating the Whos." - Dr. Seuss. I guess it was the disobedience I was tripping over. I still have the nicotine, but lost the tar and carcinogens. I guess cigarettes had become my Isaac. Cigarettes had become my god.

Now....lets talk about my food! Not so fast, there partner. That's next. Nooooooooooooo!

 

[lmrasch]

There's nothing wrong with your thread SC....God speaks to all of us about different things in our lives, we're not to follow the crowd in all things, what is sin to you may not be sin to someone else. There are guidelines we follow in scripture and what is easy for one person not to do, may not be so easy for someone else. We all need to be obedient to the Holy Spirit's conviction...we don't always know the reason why He is calling us to do something that He hasn't called another to do, but His purpose is sure.
I have to remember this when it comes to all my brothers and sisters in Christ who have not overcome certain areas that I have, perhaps the Lord has helped them to overcome areas that I have yet to conquer. God looks inside and uses his vessels in different ways....that's why we are not to judge someone else. We ARE to pray and encourage one other, that is helpful to the body.
I smoked a pack and a half a day, found e cigs in July and haven't looked back. Yes, there have been days of temptation, such as when my dad had his heart attack a week ago. I went outside the hospital to vape while my son smoked...I asked him for a cigarette. He said NO! LOL! I said, hey it's no big deal I just need one right now...he said they were menthols, that was the end of it for me...I HATE MENTHOLS! I am grateful that he was smoking those instead of the beloved Camel Lights that he usually smokes, those were my brand. I know for sure God helped me stay the course that day...cigarettes had already done a number on my lungs with COPD, so staying away from them is fantastic.....I PRAISE GOD FOR MENTHOLS, LOL!

 

[chimney55]

The Lord layed cigarettes on my heart many times and I didn't obey. Like I said....I felt owed because of my diabilities. I used to make a terrible joke that I'd take a drag, inhale, and the Holy Spirit coughs. For me, I was disobedient. Not everything is the same for everyone. But, "whatever the reason his heart or his shoes, he stood there on Christmas Eve hating the Whos." - Dr. Seuss. I guess it was the disobedience I was tripping over. I still have the nicotine, but lost the tar and carcinogens. I guess cigarettes had become my Isaac. Cigarettes had become my god.

Now....lets talk about my food! Not so fast, there partner. That's next. Nooooooooooooo!

I didn't mean to imply that you were wrong. You're right for you. I am just putting in my worth. And speaking of "food", I'm now on a day where I can taste the stuff that I vape, and I'm enjoying "MOUNDS of happiness" right now! This is the most unique way that I've found to "inhale" candy!

 

[Saintscruiser]

Yeah...the smell enhancer....it's a blessing AND a curse. Last night, I smelled the can of dog food when my husband was feeding the babies. I WAS IN THE NEXT ROOM. And one of our adorable babies has the worse poots ...... at least when I smoked I could cover it up somewhat. Now I gag....cough, cough. My husband just laughs at me through the shirt he pulls up over his nose! Food does taste better, I will say. And I can now breathe a little deeper, too. AND the money I'm saving goes to paying for a housekeeper to come in once a week. Hooray!

 

[Mr.Stick]

Man, I smoked 4 packs a day not but a year and a half ago. Two or three a day before that. Now, if I have a really bad day (week), I'll pick right back up where I left off. I never saw it as a sin, per se, but certainly as a sign of weakness, or as a crutch. On that note, now I use my PV to help me hobble around more than tobacco. I've still got my crutch, but a crutch ain't a bad thing if you have a bum leg.

 

[Saintscruiser]

Man, I smoked 4 packs a day not but a year and a half ago. Two or three a day before that. Now, if I have a really bad day (week), I'll pick right back up where I left off. I never saw it as a sin, per se, but certainly as a sign of weakness, or as a crutch. On that note, now I use my PV to help me hobble around more than tobacco. I've still got my crutch, but a crutch ain't a bad thing if you have a bum leg.

Hello Mr. Stick. I was just thinking about you as I made a long post. I just knew you'd see it and call me a fibber. Today isn't so bad, Praise God.

Congrats on using the PV to cut down. You know John Wayne smoked 5 packs a day. But the good news is that he is a Christian so we'll be able to run into him in Glory.

 

[HyOnLyph]

That is wonderful Saints.

Me, I have a several hundred dollars worth of e-cig stuff on the shelf and I'm back to smoking. I was doing OK until we moved this past summer. During the stress of the move, and cigarettes being so much more convenient when on the road and living out of boxes - I went back to smoking and haven't stopped.

Smoking is kind of low on the list of sins I need to work on, but it is still on the list. Please pray with me that God makes me truly want to quit smoking. It's true, until we want to quit, nothing is going to make us quit.

~A

If I may say so, I'm sure glad you've hung around even if you have gone back to analogs. I deal with women everyday that feel their guilt so deeply that they run from the very source that could help them overcome their pain. I haven't been here that long, but from what I've seen, You are an awesome person and a great addition here... AND you have a very kind and loving heart. So stick around. We need you.

 

[HyOnLyph]

SC... I'm really liking this thread... thank you for starting it. It's filled with so much grace and understanding. You guys are very cool.

I think there are enough sins listed in the Book for us to deal with ... without us creating new ones to feel guilty about. I watch a few hours of TV nearly every night. I do it to "escape" for a while. I could build models, read novels or run marathons for the same reason. I guess you could argue that if I escape into anything but Jesus, I'm sinning. You might be right... I don't think so, but I'm willing to be wrong.

Over the years, I've come to believe that God is more concerned about our guilt than he is our "sin". I think that when we focus on our own sin, and allow ourselves to feel guilty, (sort of a self-condemnation) God looks at us and says in such a kind loving voice..."Oh nooo. Please don't go there. I love you too much for that. Let go of the guilt. Just know that I love you... love yourself... love me... love others."

It's amazing. Sometimes our guilt is the only thing that keeps us from victory. When we let go of the guilt... the Holy Spirit moves in us and the problem is handled.