DRUGS: FREEDOM OR SLAVERY?

Freedom or Slavery?

…for by what a man is overcome,
by this he is enslaved II Peter 2:19

I read that verse and decided to dig a little deeper for understanding. I checked with my friend, Mr. Webster, to clarify some meanings.
Overcome: to get the better of in
Competition; to master; prevail over; or surmount; to win.
Slave: a person having no freedom or personal rights; one dominated by some influence.

Let’s imagine a person “enslaved” to some sort of drugs. What is he like? Well, from what I’ve read or heard from those with whom we have counseled, he is a driven person with one passionate goal–to satisfy a burning need. This desire may be so all-consuming and powerful that in seeking to meet this craving he is in danger of harming others or himself. His whole body is screaming out for satisfaction–the sense of well being that this “force” inside him will bring about when he is “high”–when he is “overcome” by this urgency–this frantic need. When this happens, he has the feeling that all is well. He is confident. He has no fear. He does things he normally wouldn’t do. His will has been “anesthetized.” He has no control. He is “enslaved” to this drive.

Lord, I know that other things can control me–it doesn’t have to be a substance that abuses my body like drugs or alcohol. It can be anger or pride or depression, any number of things, and when I am under the “control” of these things I am “enslaved” to them. I might lash out with hurtful words to someone I dearly love, or do things that I know are wrong. It seems as though my will is anesthetized! I do what I don’t really want to do. I am under the domination of something or someone.

Now, let’s think about a person enslaved to Jesus Christ. What is this person like? He has this burning passion to know Jesus and to bring honor to Him and that passion may be so all-consuming and powerful that he gives himself and all he possesses completely to fulfilling that passion. When this person is under the control of this inner “force” there is confidence, there is no fear, there is a peace that is inexplicable to others. He does things that he normally wouldn’t do–kind things, loving things, thinking of others and how to encourage them. This “inner force” controls him.

There is this profound difference: A person enslaved to drugs has lost control of his will–the desperate craving of his body controls him. A person enslaved to some pattern of behavior, such as pornography, greed, hateful words, or jealousy–is under the control of that action. The man enslaved to Christ chooses to become enslaved. He chooses to place himself under Christ’s control. He gives up his personal rights. His love for Jesus gives him a new love for others and for their well-being. His will has been committed to Christ and it is with our “will” that we make decisions. You’ve never made up your mind to do or say anything! Your mind suggests to will- what to do- and will makes the decision.

So after “digging deeper,” what do I do? Well, I examine myself and ask the Holy Spirit to guide me in this very personal examination. What controls me? What influences me to the degree that I do things I deplore–things I am ashamed of–things not in keeping with my decision to be under the control of the Lord. And when I comprehend, when I become aware of these “deplorable” actions, then I tell Christ, “I don’t want to do things like this. I want You to control me. Thank You for giving me that option–freedom, or slavery. I love You.”

Lifetime Daily Devotional,  youversion.com

Seeing God in the Storm

Seeing God in the Storm

Thou hast been a defense for the helpless, A defense for the needy in his distress, A refuge from the storm, A shade from the heat.
Isaiah 25:4

Will your imagination work today?
Can you close your eyes and be very still
for just a few minutes . . .
placing yourself in the pictures God paints?
He wants to speak to you.
Lord, I am helpless.
I am in distress, so very needy;
I am in a raging storm and the magnitude
of the storm
frightens me.
And oh Lord, I am exhausted because
of the heat
the scorching sun
the endlessness
of a barren
forsaken desert.
You tell me, Lord,
that You are a defense
for the helpless
and for the needy;
that You are a
refuge and
a shade.Lord, I run to You and cling to you,
that You may be ALL of these
things in my life.
Thank You.
He will be as real to you as you allow Him to be.

Lifetime Daily Devotions, YouVersion, March 26, 2013

Each day we go through life worrying and burdened down by the hustle and bustle,

there are times when we feel like God has forsaken us and we just want to give up.

The Storms in our lives are just raging on with no end, “Where are you Lord, Cant you see that I need you?”

Things become overwhelming, can I tell you that it is at this very moment that Jesus will come through for you when you realize you can do nothing of yourself.

He has you in His hands, He has the world in His hands. Psalm 73:23, “Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand” 

If you are going through a storm in your life, you can praise the pain away. This song was introduced to me this morning, I hope it blesses your heart.

Praise His Name – By Sheri Easter

Lions, Bears and Giants

Lions, Bears, and Giants

The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.
1 Samuel 17:37

“Hey, you guys. Don’t be afraid. I’ll fight this Philistine giant.”

But David was young. David was not even a warrior, and certainly not an experienced warrior. Saul felt it necessary to mention these things after David had so fearlessly declared that he himself would fight Goliath.

But David persisted. “When I am taking care of my fathers sheep, and a lion or a bear comes and grabs a lamb from the flock, I go after it with a club and take the lamb from its mouth. If it turns on me I catch it by the jaw and club it to death” (1 Samuel 17:34,35 tlb).

If David had not experienced lions and bears, he would not have been prepared for his confrontation with Goliath.

David spent many quiet, lonely hours perfecting his slingshot techniques, figuring out just what size and shape of stone went to the mark most accurately, how far away he could be from his target and still hit it dead center.

If he hadn’t spent those quiet, lonely hours practicing with his slingshot, learning all of those “insignificant” things, would he have been ready to meet the giant?

David was by himself. He didn’t have the company and the encouragement of others.

But if he had not learned to stand alone, how would he have handled the rejection from Saul and from the people in his kingdom?

David saw the heart of God and came to know the love of God as he watched over his flocks, leading them, caring for them when they were hurt, agonizing over one little lost lamb.

The day-by-day routine brought him to an ever-deeper understanding of Gods love and of Gods ways.

David met and killed the giant that ridiculed his God and terrorized his nation.

And as he watched the round stone find its mark, and felt the earth shake when Goliath fell, it was etched indelibly on David’s mind and heart that his God was able.

* * *

I see all of this, Lord. You were deliberately training David for what You knew would come. Strange. I can see this in the life of David, and yet I always struggle with the things that come into my life. Whats that old proverb about hindsight?

The “things” seem so insignificant at times, Lord, so commonplace, so useless. Are You training me? Will I ever be able to see that my encounters with the “bears and lions” were training sessions? That because of them I was more equipped to meet the “giant” that You knew would appear on my horizon?

Thats what you call a rhetorical question, isn’t it? A question that doesn’t need an answer. I know that as I jump over the one-foot hurdle, in the process I’m preparing for the two-foot hurdle. I guess I want the thrill of seeing the giant fall and feeling the ground shake beneath my tired feet. . . .

No problem, Lord. Im not planning on going AWOL. Im not going to resign from the training program. (You wouldnt let me, would You?) I know that eventually I’ll be a pole-vaulter…of Olympic class. I know that bears and lions lead to giants, and that by Your strength…giants fall.

Lifetime Daily Devotional,  Youversion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC_1GR3Re3Y&feature=youtube_gdata_player

The Wealth of the World

As young adults what would, stereotypically, blow all of our minds? Being offered the following for free:

Food galore, whose supply will never end, a fancy house to call your own (if you could call a mansion a house), and your dream car (fill-in-the-blank). Isn’t that why we all enter those contests to win this or that amazing prize? Isn’t that why we buy lottery tickets? Isn’t that why we love it when roll-up-the-rim to win! comes around? (Don’t try to deny it).

We love the idea of having it all. And it’s not necessarily because we want to wow others with our material things, but because we want to wow ourselves with them. I’d be giddy with the first item alone! The best present a student could EVER receive.

Reality Check

Do you know what those things actually are? The food is made of water, probably a lot of chemicals, normal white sugar, plant and animal enzymes. I could break it down further, but it just gets more unappetizing. The mansion is made of trees but probably not many, concrete, lots of plastic chock-full of BPA, stones, mud, chemicals (paint). It doesn’t matter what the quality of the individual products are, break it down they’re all similar. The dream car is made of a lot of plastic, metal, gas, leather if you’re really fancy. Sure, humans have done some pretty cool stuff with these ingredients. We call it innovation. But at the end of  the day, all will return to the way it was. Our manipulation of multiple objects is temporary and it never lasts.

Bible Story Time

Do you remember the story of the time Jesus spent 40 days and nights wondering in the desert? Now if any human being would be desperate for stuff, you would assume it to be the one who has been fasting for 40 days AND nights. And right after Jesus’ mind and body draining fast of 40 days and nights, under harsh elements and emotional stress, the devil came to visit him. (Isn’t that just like the devil? We put ourselves in terrible situations, and I mean mind-blowingly bad situations, and then he comes around. Like whipped soy cream atop maggot pie.)

When the devil comes to visit Jesus, he sees the poor state that Jesus has been reduced to. The Bible says Jesus was hungry. And the devil thinks to himself, you know, I have the perfect way to fool him into doing my will. “Hey, Jesus, unless you’ve forgotten, you think you’re the Son of God. If you’re really hungry turn the stones at your feet to bread. Eat and be full!” Bread would be really good to a hungry person. But Jesus didn’t take the bait. At the end of the day he knew the Bread would not satisfy him, it came from a stone after all.

Not born yesterday, were you Jesus? Alright then, I have a better option for you.

The devil takes them both into the holy city (Jerusalem), and sets him on the pinnacle of the temple. I’m assuming it’s kind of windy up there, not much room. I’d be inclined to think Satan was about to push me off. And the devil says to Jesus, “remember, you are the so-called Son of God, if you throw your self off, your Father will send angels to catch you”. As someone who strongly believed their death was imminent (and I do believe Jesus did), I might risk falling to my death if I had faith my father would be at the bottom holding a safety net. But he saw right through the empty promise Satan was tempting him with. He wouldn’t tempt the Lord into action but if the devil decided to throw him off then so be it.

Shoot, I thought I’d get you there. I don’t know what it is with near-death experiences, it usually has everyone singing hymns. No worries, I saved the best for last Jesus.

At this point the devil removes Jesus from his perilous position atop the temple, to a different perilous position atop an extremely high mountain. Food, life, now riches was the devil’s plan. He turns and says to him,”look, Jesus, look at all that I own. Isn’t it beautiful, isn’t it glorious? I can give it to you, just worship me. Just this once!” Allow me to translate that into 21st century English.  You have a father who is a brilliant man, and he comes up with this amazing invention that revolutionizes the world, like the cure for cancer. You know he made it, his colleagues know he made it, everyone who reads his blog knows he made it. But before he could publish his findings and therefore prove to the world he made it, someone in his close circle comes and steals the idea and publishes it before he does. Then this man stands next to you and says, I’ll give your dad all the credit, I will tell the world who really found the cure for cancer, just say I’m the best chemist you’ve ever known.

You sit there at your computer, and you think, what gall Satan had! I would never accept that. But really, except for a man or woman of exceptionally strong character, you couldn’t refuse that offer. No one else would know you’d said it, and you’d get what you and your Father have been working for ages at getting back, and is the reason why you’re suffering here on earth to begin with. But Jesus, underneath the glamour, saw the temporariness of the world he was standing on. Yes, it was initially his Father’s creation, but it was no longer destined to last. Jesus would be pledging himself to a dying institution.

Real Life Applications

Look around you, and for every item that meets your eye say, “temporary”. It could be sentimental, expensive, still it’s “temporary”. Look at your body in the mirror, “temporary”. I have a ring that always sits on my pinky from my mom, I panic when I loose it and am overjoyed when I find it, “TEMPORARY”.

Food, money, houses, cars. They are all temporary and are unnecessary in the world you are headed to. So when you’re not making as much money as you want to,  or your family does not have the same financial means as other families, or you’re deep in debt and it’s depressing you. Remember it’s all temporary.

The text referred to is found in Matthew 4: 1-11.