**************************************
INCREASINGLY
MORE AND MORE, PEOPLE ARE FINDING THAT THEY'RE ADDICTED TO SOMETHING OR
OTHER -
WITH FOOD, SEX, DRUGS AND EMOTIONS COVERING MOST OF THEM (PSYCHOLOGISTS
LIST
HUNDREDS)
BASICALLY
IT'S SOMETHING THAT YOU CAN'T
CONTROL BECAUSE IT CONTROLS YOU.
PEOPLE
NEARLY GO INSANE TRYING TO GET RID
OF THEIR ADDICTIONS ONLY TO FIND THAT THEY'VE REPLACED IT WITH ANOTHER.
LIKE A
WHEEL THAT GOES ROUND AND ROUND, ADDICTIONS ARE A VISCIOUS CIRCLE THAT
ARE
ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO GET RID OF. MOST PEOPLE START READING THE "NEW
IDEA" FOR ANSWERS, THEN BUY POPULAR BOOKS AND THEN GO TO PSYCHIATRISTS
ONLY
TO FIND THAT THEY
CAN'T
HELP EITHER.
************
IN THIS PAPER WE'LL:
1.
FIND OUT WHAT
ADDICTIONS
REALLY ARE
2.
WHERE THEY COME FROM
3.
HOW TO GET RID OF THEM FOREVER
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"AND
YE ARE COMPLETE IN HIM... "
(Colossians
2:10)
"MONKEY
ON THE BACK"
Talk
to anyone who knows about addictions,
who had one, who knows someone that's got one, and truly "Monkey on the
back" is a good description. No matter what, a monkey on the back will
not
let go.
ADDICTED PEOPLE START LOSING FRIENDS Why does this happen? Very simple.
As
addicted people are obsessed about themselves and constantly thinking
how they
can satisfy their craving, friendships wane as the focus goes on the
addicted
person. Friends simply get crowded out of the picture and in the end
the
competition is too great.
ADDICTED
PEOPLE LOSE MOST OF THEIR MONEY
Addictions
cost money.
Addictions are like a forest fire that gets out of control.
Addicts
start borrowing
from friends, neighbors or relatives and soon the cycle gets out of
hand and
very often the money doesn't get paid back.
ADDICTED
PEOPLE LEAD DOUBLE Lives
There
is the public face
and then there is the face that no-one sees. Addicts feel that they
have two
people living in them. Each one telling the other what to do.
ADDICTED
PEOPLE FEEL WRETCHED ABOUT THEMSELVES
Because
addicts have no control
over themselves they are slaves to their craving/s and there are few
slaves who
enjoy their position of being dominated.
ADDICTED
PEOPLE ARE LIARS
Many
addicts will deny this
one but this only goes to show that it is true. They even lie that
they're liars.
Over
the years as the addiction has grown, addicts have
"compensated" for their condition. In the early stages they say,
"Well, it helps me get through the day. After all, I have a responsible
position and I do work hard."
This
soon changes to fit
into some medical condition they saw on TV or read in a book or heard
about.
Then
they're under doctors
orders for the condition. Pretty soon they're off to some specialist
who finds
that it's psychological and that's a relief for them because then
there's an
actual label which can be applied and the condition becomes legitimate.
ALL
ADDICTIONS STARTED OUT WITH LIES. Homosexuals are chronic and habitual
liars -
always covering up, being secretive and making excuses about "something
in
the `genes' so that it really isn't their fault at all and they were
made like
it".
ADDICTED
PEOPLE ARE ETERNAL OPTIMISTS
This
is nice way of saying
"They live in fairyland". They are always hopeful of a cure but deep
down secretly don't want to find one otherwise they'd be cured and then
probably wouldn't have the support and the attention of those around
them.
ADDICTED
PEOPLE COMPENSATE IN OTHER AREAS
Addicts
start making
excuses both to themselves and others and start making allowances.
Responsibilities to family go by the wayside and many addicts
become
`invalided'. This word comes from the word in-valid.
ADDICTIONS
ARE IDOLS IN PEOPLE'S LIVES
How
is this possible? The
idol in your life is what you think about most - food, sex, drugs.
ADDICTED
PEOPLE
PLAY VICTIM OR PERSECUTOR
Addicts
want attention one
way or another - sympathy or domination is all the same.
OBVIOUS
& NOT SO OBVIOUS ADDICTIONS
You
may have been reading this paper and
feeling sympathy for the type of person mentioned here - perhaps even
feeling a
touch sanctimonious or just thankful that you don't suffer the way
these
"poor wretches" are. Many people have addictions and you wouldn't
even know - they keep it locked down real tight. These addictions live
in a few
rooms of their mind that no-one is allowed to enter, not even
themselves in
some cases.
WHERE
DO
ADDICTIONS COME FROM?
The
Bible says:
"For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts,
adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness,
deceit,
lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:" (Mark
7:21-22)
"The
heart is
deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"
(Jer
17:9)
"Now
the works of the
flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication,
uncleanness,
lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations,
wrath,
strife, seditions, heresies, envyings ...." (Galatians 5:19-21)
"But
we are all as an
unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we
all do fade
as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."
(lsaiah
64:6) "There is not a just man upon earth that doeth good, and
sinneth not "(Eccles. 7:20) "Every man at his best state is
altogether vanity."
(Psalm
39:5)
DON'T
BE SURPRISED AS TO WHERE ADDICTIONS COME FROM?
WE DON'T GET ADDICTIONS, WE ARE ADDICTIONS !!!!
EVERY
PERSON ALIVE IS AN ADDICT - CHRISTIAN OR NON-CHRISTIAN
If
you are a Christian,
have you died and gone to heaven yet? Have you been given a glorified
body
without sin yet? If not you are living in a body of flesh and although
you may
be saved, your flesh is warring against the Holy Spirit in you.
Are
you doing everything
that the Lord wants you to. Do you pray enough, read your Bible enough,
preach
enough, witness enough (ALL THESE ARE ADDICTIONS for not doing what we
should
be doing).
Do
you think about and
dwell in God's word enough? Do you get caught up in life's affairs
often and
temporarily forget about God? Are you, sometimes reluctant to share
your faith?
IF
SO, YOU HAVE AN
ADDICTION IN GODS' EYES and WE ARE ALL ADDICTS. We all seek to do our
own
pleasure and will ALL of the time. Because some of us are saved we tend
to
think that we are immune from the flesh, but this is called THE
ADDICTION
OF DECEPTION.
CHRISTIANS
FALL INTO THREE CATEGORIES
1.
MANY HAVE OBVIOUS ADDICTIONS
2.
MANY HAVE ADDICTIONS THAT ARE NOT SO
OBVIOUS AND CAN HIDE
3.
THE REST HAVE ADDICTIONS THAT THEY'RE NOT
EVEN AWARE OF.
As
we stand before the
Judgement Seat of Christ (for those who are saved) and we stand before
His
purity and holiness, we shall see what sinful, addicted liars we
were... &
we were saved by His grace.
WHAT'S
THE SOLUTION?
Many
people have run off to get `delivered' and that doesn't work; others
have tried
little tricks out of the New Idea and that doesn't work; others have
tried to
forget about it and that doesn't work; others try praying harder and
that
doesn't work; others try fasting and that doesn't work; others read the
Bible
more and that doesn't work; others get counseling and that doesn't work
.....
ARE YOU GETTING THE PICTURE - ANYTHING THAT WE TRY WILL NOT WORK!
The
Lord
God left his people in the wilderness to humble them (Deuteronomy 8:2).
God
allows addictions to humble us and to show that we have a body of
flesh. He
wants us to go to Him broken and totally devoid of any plan of rescue
for
ourselves - just like when you got saved. You called out to Him and
said:
"God save me I'm a sinner, I deserve your wrath in hell forever. I
can't
save myself. I believe Jesus died for my sins. I need Jesus as my
Saviour.
Thank you for saving me."
It's
no
different now! Everyday must be the same. Your sanctification is
just your
justification in action.
EVERYDAY
MUST BE THE SAME AS WHEN YOU FIRST GOT SAVED AND YOU CALLED OUT TO
JESUS IN
HELPLESSNESS TO BE SAVED. GOD DOESN'T GIVE OUT A LITTLE HEALING HERE,
OR A
LITTLE BLESSING THERE, OR A LITTLE DELIVERANCE HERE OR THERE ... HE
ONLY GIVES
JESUS. NOTHING ELSE WILL WORK! "FOR IN HIM DWELLETH ALL THE FULNESS OF
THE
GODHEAD BODlLY. AND YE ARE COMPLETE IN HIM... (Colossians 2:9-10)
Psychology
By
Harley Hitchcock
www.
AustralianBibleMinistries
.com
