During our trek to freedom from
our addictions, we have discovered that we have an enemy who is constantly
feeding us lies, forever holding onto us with the heavy burden called addiction.
God wants to free us from those lies! "That they will come to their senses and
escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his
will." (2 Tim 2:26 NIV)
The truth can only be found in God and His Word, the
Bible, which we can claim by faith to lead us to total victory. Faith is just
this: The belief that what God says is Truth! It is taking Him at His word, and
it is renouncing the lies that the evil one envelopes us with!
But what if we are too weak to resist the evil one?
These urgings that we are experiencing are coursing through our very veins,
filling us with that insatiable hunger for what is impure. How can we resist? It
seems impossible!
That's the whole point; we cannot do this on our own!
Too often we underestimate the power and scope of the
evil one's influence. Jesus constantly prays for us: "My prayer is not that you
take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one."
(John 17:15-16 NIV)
Did we notice in that text, that we can't protect
ourselves? It is God who protects us from the evil one.
Too often we forget that "the one who is in you is
greater than the one who is in the world." (1 John 4:4 NIV) and that He is the
only One who can give us victory through faith - the belief that He can and will
do what He says! "We are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am
convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the
present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything
else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is
in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom 8:37-39 NIV)
But we need faith. Only then will we be able to
exclaim: "For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Cor 12:10 NIV) and "I can do
everything through him who gives me strength." (Phil 4:13 NIV)
We can be assured that God will come through for us.
He guaranteed it in His Word: "No temptation has seized you except what is
common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what
you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that
you can stand up under it." NIV
We can only do it, "through Him who gives us
strength!"
We have to stand firm and follow Jesus' example. When
tempted, let us boldly declare: "Away from me, Satan! For it is written:
'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'" (Matt 4:10 NIV)
We need to sort out our thoughts and identify the ones
unworthy of our attention. These we need to label as "lies", and throw them out!
Why should we waste our time with deceit? "The weapons we fight with are not the
weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish
strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up
against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it
obedient to Christ." (2 Cor 10:4-5 NIV)
The secret is simply to believe in Truth, and utterly
reject what is not. It's all a question of faith! "Take up the shield of
faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one."
(Eph 6:16 NIV)
Faith in the Truth is our only weapon to 'extinguish
all the flaming arrows of the evil one", including addictions!
We are in a spiritual battle and only when we realize
this will we experience freedom!
I had found an unbelievably beautiful picture online,
taken from the top of Mont Erable in the Parc National des Hautes-Gorges de la
Rivière Malbaie (Quebecers sure like long, extended names!). I knew that my
wife, who must be part mountain goat, would love to climb this mountain, and for
this reason I took her there. But before we could set out on our hike, we were
confronted by a park ranger who, for some reason, thought it
was her
job to discourage us from our climbing expedition! Maybe it was our graying hair
and glasses?
She urged us to take the "middle-of-the-road" approach
(Weren't they a music group from the seventies?)
and
follow the path
through the valley. She was so convincing that she almost persuaded me! Then I
remembered that the ultimate goal of this trip was to take in the view from the
top of Mont Erable! I hadn't come here for a relaxing stroll! I had come to
fulfill my wife's insatiable desire to climb! A leisurely walk down a road
simply would NOT fit the bill!
On the way up the trail, the vistas only gave us a
glimpse of what we would see from the very top: sheer beauty from above! I would
have missed it if I had believed the park ranger and followed her advice. It's
true the trek was difficult. In fact I came down the mountain limping, and
my
wife's left shin was bleeding. But if we had the
opportunity to do it again, we wouldn't hesitate to take this same steep path
back to the top of Mont Erable!
Truly "I can do everything through him who gives me
strength." (Phil 4:13 NIV)
Good-bye addictions. You are way too dull for me!
Rob Chaffart
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
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