Addiction

 

Proverbs 3:5 “Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your insight or understanding.”

God is saying your confidence needs to solely be in Him; not in yourself, your family, or your past. You cannot find confidence in the bottom of a bottle or a bag of chips. Nor will you find it in any type of sexual experience. You can’t find it on a shopping spree and most certainly won’t find it having an affair. 

When we are putting our trust, confidence, sense of relief, or understanding in anything other than the Lord we are having an affair on God. The Bible states that God is a jealous God who wants to be on the throne of our hearts. That is the only way He can help you or me. 

You must and need to allow God to be God because relying on anything other than Him will only lead to catastrophic results. It will lead to emptiness and sin. 

God has called us to a life of joy, abundance in all good areas, and health and Godliness. We are made in His image and He wants us to behave in a way that demonstrates to the rest of the world that you and I are in fact, His children. 

The way a child acts is a direct result of the parent. If a child is spoiled and acts in a wild manner, that is due to the lack of discipline from the parents. If a child is dirty and wearing beat-up clothing, that is a reflection of the parents. So, the way we choose to behave is a direct result of God. Inwardly and outwardly. 

Proverbs 3:11-14, “My son, do not despise or shrink from the chastening of the Lord [His correction by punishment or by subjection to suffering or trial]; neither be weary of or impatient about nor loathe or abhor His reproof. For whom the Lord loves He corrects, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights. Happy (blessed, fortunate, enviable) is the man who finds skillful and godly Wisdom, and the man who gets understand [drawing it forth from God’s Word and life’s experiences], For the gaining of it is better than the gaining of silver, and the profit of it better than fine gold.”

When God is pressing upon you to change, fix, or get reestablished in a certain area of your life that means He loves you. It means He sees an opportunity for you to grow and become more like Christ. After all, becoming just like Christ is God’s ultimate goal for our personal lives. 

This scripture also states that you are to use your own life’s experiences in combination with the Word of God to gain understanding and to be on the path of righteous living. 

Don’t let the word “righteous” scare or fool you. It simply means to be blameless in the eyes of God. Once you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior you have been made in right standing with God. 

We must also address the scripture that states the night is as noonday to God. He is the all-seeing eye and He already knows every single small and large detail that has happened to you and acts you and I have chosen to partake in. 

You might be asking, “Well, if God knows everything then why did He allow such a horrible situation or experience to happen in my life? If God is a God of love and sees everything then why wasn’t any sort of justice achieved?” 

God does not work on your timeline. Just because a favorable or preferred outcome has not happened yet does not mean it never will. You may have put a time restriction or requirement on the Lord, but we must remember, God is the inventor, creator, and controller of all time. Perhaps you wanted something to happen by Jan 1st, 2011, but it didn’t. But that doesn’t mean it won’t happen by June 1st, 2019. 

God also sees the big picture. The Bible says His ways are above our ways and His thoughts are above our thoughts. We do not perceive or comprehend the entirety of the plan He has for us. Difficult circumstances can be allowed in our lives because God is allowing that situation or fire to refine you so God can promote you and use you in His plans for your life. 

A bigger calling requires a longer and more precise refining process.

God does not bow down to your commands. He is the Creator and Master of the Universe. He spoke the entirety of the world into existence and He did it without your help. He is not going to consult you if you like or agree with His plans. 

He has spiritual laws that He abides by, prophecies to fulfill, promises to keep, Satan to ultimately defeat and plans that must be put into place. You can either agree with it or not but it will not stop the plans that God has from coming to pass. He gave you free will to be exercised. You can either accept Him and His plans or you can deny it. 

Jeremiah 29:11-14 “For I know the thoughts and plans I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome. There you will call upon Me, and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear and heed you. Then you will seek Me, inquire for and require Me [as a vital necessity] and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will release you from captivity and gat eh you from all the nations and all the place to which I have drive you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I caused you to be carried away captive.”

Proverbs 3:6 “In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.” 

If you are acknowledging Him in all of your ways and that becomes your choice, you are no longer choosing to live in a life of addiction. Because sinful addictions and self-deprecating behaviors are not of God. We were created to be addicted to God, not to anything else.

Some helpful tips and advice:

• Talk to God. Come boldly to the throne. He already everything that has happened. Pour your heart out to Him. Cry. Squeeze out everything to God that you have been carrying around in your heart. Lift that weight.
• Forgive. Ask God for forgiveness. Receive it. Then forgive yourself. And next forgive any other person, entity, organization, a situation that you have withheld forgiveness from. Let it go. Freely forgive all. Drop that weight. It’s the only way to total freedom and healing.
• Christian Counseling. A scriptural and scientific proven method of healing is talk therapy. You need to discuss these things with a trusted, certified, biblical third party. 
• Ask the Holy Spirit into yourself and the situation. He is your help and comforter and wise counsel and all things to you. The Bible says that as God heals you the Holy Spirit will seal you so those pains cannot come back again. 
• Stop believing lies presented by the enemy. Whatever the devil is telling you the exact opposite is true. The devil is a liar. Know the truth. 
• Fill yourself with the Word of God. Listen to podcasts, buy DVDs, go to church, listen to KLove, Read books about the Bible, READ THE BIBLE.
• Clean up. Start cleaning the physical world around you. Declutter, put away the laundry, throw out old food in the fridge, disinfect the bathroom, sweep, wash the windows, pull the weeds, put the shoes away, give away or sell items you never use. Get organized.
• Celebrate the victories. 
• Know your triggers and have a plan on how you will handle it in advance. It won’t sneak up on you. Outsmart yourself. Put failsafe in place.

Dr. Caroline Leaf has some amazing scientific research and insights into addiction. She has studied it for years. She is a neuroscientist. 

She explains that 86% of the time drug addicts completely get over addiction through choice. Addiction is not a chronic disease, a result of suppressing issues that result in a chaotic mind which leads to addiction. The cycle repeats itself. 

She explains that the most powerful thing an addict can do is to choose. But, if you’re complacent you won’t change. You have to do the work. Addiction follows choice.

Pray and meditate on the Word. Ask the Holy Spirit for divine interaction and help.

Focus on the love of God. His love heals.

Bring your thoughts into captivity under the authority of Jesus. Plead the blood of Jesus on your mind and thought life.

Whatever you think about most will grow

Change your brain with the Word of God.

Recovery is a project of love and mind.

Deal with your issues directly with God. Ask the Holy Spirit to assist, comfort, reveal issues that need to be forgiven, and resolved and heal you. 

According to the Word of God - you are not an addict— confess and receive forgiveness and surrender to God

Pursue peace. Your brain has to obey your mind.

Follow Jesus- build your relationship with Him. 

Remember Paul, in Galatians, he murdered Christians was still able to forgive himself and receive forgiveness from God and preached the Gospel, and wrote 2/3 of the New Testament. 

Let that encourage you and be the deciding factor that you can recover and do great things with God!