Enemies of the Mind – Part 9

Eph 2:10

(10) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Are you being controlled by something in your life? Are you giving your power to something unspiritual and earthly? Let’s examine this next verse to shed more light on the subject:

(1Co 6:12) “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be enslaved by anything.”

1- It is possible for a person to be controlled by

a. His desires

b. Habits

c. Customs

d. Traditions

e. Things

f. People

2- Whatever gets into your mind and controls your lifestyle other than Christ is from Satan: It is wrong! You need to battle these thoughts! Remember 2Co 10:4-6

2Co 10:4-6

(4) For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.

(5) We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

(6) being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

3- The balance is brought on by Christ, our Pattern!

a. Self-discipline

b. Confession – coming into the light

c. Transformation

This is the pattern every Christian needs to follow for there to be growth and spiritual maturity!

We need to watch our habits:

1Ti 4:16

(16) Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

A “habit” is a pattern of behavior done frequently:

1- Reading the sports page when you open the paper – immaterial; amoral

2- Biting your fingernails – some consider it a bad behavior, but not immoral

3- Missing church services frequently – considered immoral behavior, could have eternal consequences (Hebrews 10:25)

Faithful Christians develop good spiritual habits that enable them to grow into mature Kingdom citizens:

1- Reading the Bible every day

2- Being at every assembly of the saints

3- Meeting with each other frequently other than assembly services

4- Praying every day

Act 2:42

(42) And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

These are all spiritual disciplines or devotions necessary for Kingdom Citizenship, amongst other good spiritual habits commanded by the New Testament.

In order to keep away from bad habits you must have good habits in their place. Bad habits are what you do in absence of good ones.

What motivated us to develop good habits? Notice I said “develop”. Yes, we need to work at developing them. It takes practice to be disciplined and good habits are a sign of healthy discipline. Bad habits are a sign of idleness and laziness.

Some habits can degenerate to such a degree that they can become compulsive. Compulsive behavior becomes so strong that you may literally feel out of control. You are being driven by the compulsion itself and you feel you cannot stop. At this point your appetites control you. You are on a sin binge. On top of this, your guilt keeps piling up on you so that you feel corralled, between a rock and a hard place, cornered! Life feels miserable… You call out to God... “Can I break out of this addiction???”

THE FORMS OF ADDICTION

Psychological addiction: pattern of activity that is related to learning, practice, memory, experience, etc., for example, an addiction to stealing.

Chemical addiction: actual physiological and chemical changes in the nervous system, such as happens when you ingest drugs. This type of compulsive behavior can be harder to break.

1- Drug addictions

a. Mild drugs: negligible addictive properties. Most of the addiction you may feel can be psychological in nature.

i. Caffeine

ii. Aspirin

iii. Theobromine (chocolate)

b. Dangerous drugs: high addictive properties, both chemical and psychological. Addiction to these drugs can not only deprive you of a good life of earth but of the eternal one in Heaven as well (1Co 6:10).

i. Amphetamines

ii. Tranquilizers

iii. Marijuana

iv. Alcohol

v. Tobacco

c. Severe Drugs: The addiction caused by this category of drugs is virtually enslaving. They plunge you into an earthly hell which is a preview to the real one you will experience if you decide to bow down to any of these.

i. Cocaine

ii. Opium (Heroin)

iii. Morphine

2- Abuse of prescription medication: just because a drug is prescribed by a doctor, making it legal in our country, doesn’t mean it is free from a dangerous chemical or psychological addiction. The pages of warnings that come with those drugs and the careful instructions are there for a reason: if you fail to follow them carefully and sensibly, you may end up hurting yourself!

a. Some of these may be necessary to manage certain physical or mental conditions, I am not talking about that situation

b. I am addressing the abuse of prescription medication:

i. Depending on medications instead of spiritual discipline

ii. Trying to “cope” with your situation by abusing sleeping aids or other OTC drugs or even those prescribed by your doctor.

iii. Forcing your doctor to write you prescriptions for your hypochondria.

iv. Being so undisciplined in your spiritual walk or so careless in your daily life that you drive your health away and are forced to depend on medications to get “better”

1. Staying up too late – not sleeping adequately

2. Not eating healthy

3. Not practicing good toiletry habits like washing your hands or brushing your teeth

4. Not wearing sunglasses adequately or not protecting yourself from common dangers, i.e., buckling up, observing the speed limit, knowing your safety hazards.

c. Some think they are justified in their abuse of drugs since it is medically prescribed, yet they fail to understand:

i. Solutions to spiritual problems don’t come in pill bottles

ii. Many doctors are so busy they also resort to prescribing some medication and sending you on your way. (Give example of my physician vs. my cardiologist)

iii. Unfortunately, many doctors have become the pushers of the drug companies, by faults in our medical and legal system, and innocent people become the victimized drug abusers without clearly desiring that.

d. The Kingdom citizen must be very careful not to fall in the quicksand pit of drug prescription abuse. Use only when absolutely necessary, for matters of life and death!

3- Obsessive Spending: Spending binges are an all too common way of trying to deal with some of the frustrating events of life. Financial mismanagement and excessive debt just cause your burden and your anxiety to grow out of control plunging you into depression.

a. The use of “plastic” has become an addiction

i. Maxed out credit cards

ii. Debt collectors on your back

b. Bankruptcy and money problems can lead you to marital and even spiritual bankruptcy as well.

c. Not knowing how to manage your time and money is a flaw that has already crept into other areas of your life.

d. Only those who can truly manage their time and money know how to be generous with both.

e. It may not be easy to get rid of your credit cards, but you must repent and repay!

i. Learn to only depend on the Lord

ii. Learn to give of yourself and rely of waiting on the Lord!

4- Gambling: One of the easiest addictions can start out innocently enough: “I’ll just see if I can get my dollar or quarter back…”

a. The dream of “hitting it big” can give you an adrenaline rush

b. Casinos are known to oxygenate the are and cater to your fleshly instincts to get you to spend

c. Gambling can drain not only your bank account, but your focus and your spiritual drive: it will left bills unpaid, contributions to the church defaulted and relationships unfulfilled in its wake

d. Gambling comes ins various forms:

i. Casinos

ii. Lottery games

iii. Auctions: Some may not know when to stop bidding because they just want the item and will pay anything. Winning in an auction gives you the same feeling of “hitting it big” in the casino and on the stock market. Only bid on items you know check out and present a huge savings for you and your family.

iv. Stock Market: modestly trading and wise investing are good habits. When you decide to let your stakes and your desires depend on the market, however, you are gambling and you are out of control! Be careful and get much advice from your spiritual leaders on your investment strategies!

5- Sexual addictions: Easily becomes a compulsion for people who’s focus is out of place. Jesus spoke of the man who “looks on a woman to lust after her” (Mat 5:28). The word “looks” in the Greek is a present tense form that suggests lingering sexual interest, such as our word “ogling”. This king of persistent lingering leads to more powerful and destructive sexual practices.

a. It is normal to be attracted to the opposite sex.

b. God gave us the way to fulfill this need in a spiritually edifying way (1 Co 7:1)

c. Other forms of gratification that are contrary to Scripture can lead you to certain spiritual or even physical death in this life:

i. Any sexual intercourse outside of marriage

ii. Any sexual gratification outside of marriage

iii. Any ogling onto people who you are not married to

iv. Any thoughts (Job 31:1) that you allow to linger on in your mind concerning gratification outside of marriage. (look upon; gaze, think upon: all have to do with gathering intelligence in the Hebrew form of the word)

d. Sexual sins are progressive (2Peter 2:14). People who are addicted to sinful sexual practices cannot cease from practicing progressively worse sins.

e. Almost all violent offenses originate from unsatisfied sexual lusts in the hearts of men and women (Romans 1:26-32). The infamous Ted Bundy, who was featured on Focus on the Family, made a poignant statement: “…All the men I know who have committed violent acts like me were deeply involved in pornography…”

f. It will do you well to imitate Job’s conviction to keep your eyes were they need to be so that your mind can focus on the Heavenly things!

BREAKING ADDICTION

1- Confess and renounce: (James 5:16) Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. (1John 1:9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

a. Acknowledge you are dirty and that you have a problem. The worse situation you can be in is if you think you don’t have a problem. Thinking you have no sin is dangerous and deceitful (1John 1:6, 8, 10). It will cause you to fall (1Co 10:12)!

b. Don’t be concerned with how you will look to others – they cannot judge you!

c. Test your reliance on the Lord! Not confessing your sins because you may be embarrassed only emphasizes that you are depending on people and not on the Lord.

2- Make it a habit to pray: (Luke 22:40) On reaching the place, he said to them, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation."

a. Prayer is part of our daily armament (Eph 6:13-18)!

b. It is the greatest form of rehab God has given us! But you need to be diligent!

c. When Jesus was tempted all He did was just pray harder (Luke 22:44) “He prayed more earnestly…”

d. If you are trying to get out of an addiction you have not even begun to be cured unless you are praying earnestly and dedicatedly for your situation.

3- Avoid sin and others who sin – One rotten apple can spoil an entire barrel! (1Co 15:33) Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character."

a. Avoid circumstances that will cause you to regress into sin!

b. Avoid getting a credit card!

c. Avoid going to a liquor store!

d. Avoid watching those TV shows!

e. Avoid parking with your girlfriend!

f. Avoid those that may lead you back into sinful practices!

g. Avoid the false brother/sister!

h. Avoid your worldly friend who tries to get you into sin!

i. Avoid the workplace/boss that tries to get you to steal and lie!

j. Don’t leave a forwarding address when you flee from sin!

4- Walk in the light! Associate with the spiritually strong and mature! (1John 1:7) But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

a. Hang out with those who will always talk to you about the Lord and His ways

b. Fellowship with those who lead you to Christ

c. Always be in any service or activity sponsored by the church

d. Get to know a brother you admire because of his spiritual maturity

e. Strive to serve others and imitate the Jesus you see in others

f. When your life is full of spiritual service you don’t have time to pay attention to Satan’s schemes!

5- Devote yourself to being in the Word (Psalm 119:11) I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. (2Tim 3:16-17) All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

a. The word is your offensive weapon in your spiritual battle (Eph 6:17)!

b. Hiding the word in your heart means committing the Bible to memory. How many of you exercise and train yourselves by memorizing Scripture? This is a life saving habit!

c. Jesus was always able to answer to Satan’s temptations using the Word hidden in His heart (Mat 4:1-11) “…it is written…”

d. Letting the Bible teach you, correct you and rebuke you is part of being trained to become a man of God, thoroughly equipped for every good work!

i. Accept that teaching, correction and rebuke from those who are quoting Scripture at you… it is the Lord speaking!

ii. Don’t think you already know what good works to do, it is the world of God, the good work, that you are being trained for, not your own works!

iii. Training involves daily exercise (Acts 17:10-11)!

Addiction can be overcome. If you resist Satan He will flee from you!

James 4:7

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.