Adam Ford nails it:
faith
Christians, Drugs, Alcohol and Coffee
I was shocked to get this answer from a guy on a mission team when I asked him how he had slept: “Not too well. I normally smoke some weed at night to help me calm down.” His pastor assured me that he is receiving prayer and help to deal with this addiction, so, like all of us, he is a work in progress.
Apart from the fact that marijuana is illegal here, this raises all sorts of questions for me about our attitude to drugs. By drugs I mean any chemical other than food or prescription drugs used to change our state of mind. There are a whole lot of grey areas here, such as anti-depressants which are a boon to people struggling with chemical imbalances but can become over-prescribed to medicate sadness.
Let’s look at some common examples:
- the use of weed to help with sleep
- needing a glass of wine or beer (or two or three glasses) after work to relax
- taking “uppers” to help with long work hours
- needing the cup of coffee to get started in the morning
- smoking
Caffeine, for most of us, is harmless. It stimulates the body a little bit and doesn’t have any long term effects on the body. However it is being used in larger quantities in so-called energy drinks and in many soft drinks. If you regularly “need” caffeine to keep going then there is a problem. If you need coffee before you can face humanity in the morning there is an addiction issue.
Christ came to set us free from every bondage. I like tea and coffee, and I used to drink wine some times. I have never been addicted to any of these things. If I were to start to depend on them to make me feel good, then I would no longer be free. When we depend on anything other than Christ, we are in captivity.
Paul writes in Galatians 5:1:
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
To say that I need anything other than Christ is idolatry. We are saying that God doesn’t really meet our needs, and we will only be happy if we have something in addition to what He gives us in Christ. This of course is the original temptation in the Garden of Eden. Eve didn’t really believe that God had given her all that she needed and much more. We often don’t really believe God’s word either.
Modern idolatry takes all kinds of forms- sex, possessions, sports, entertainment, drugs. In each from there is an element of placing something at the centre of our desires (that’s what worship really means) that is not God. To be dependent on drugs is to bow down to an idol.
Addiction, particularly to drugs which alter our state of mind, is a gateway for spiritual bondage. There is a spirit of addiction which keeps us dependent. If you open your spirit to an evil spirit, there is no room for the Holy Spirit. We are each meant to be a temple of the Holy Spirit, so no unclean thing should be allowed access.
Relying on chemicals, whether legal or not, inhaled, injected, eaten or drunk, holds us back from maturity. We are looking to them and not to Christ for our fulfilment.
If you are struggling with any addiction and you are a follower of Jesus, then you need to repent, ask for grace to overcome and seek help from trusted people. The Lord has the strength to overcome this in you.
Jon Bloom- Ten Reasons to Memorize Big Chunks of the Bible
Ten Reasons to Memorize Big Chunks of the Bible
You can memorize big chunks, even books, of the Bible. Unless you’re part of the very small percentage of us who’ve suffer from a traumatic brain injury or stroke or disability, you really can. And you should. But why should you?
1. Because you have a bad memory.
Don’t say you can’t memorize because you have a bad memory. That’s why you need to memorize. I have a bad memory too. I think it’s worse than average — seriously. I forget names of people I know and see regularly! I have to force my faulty, inefficient brain to drive things that matter most into my long-term memory. This only happens by the process of repeating (memorizing) every day over a period of time. You’d be surprised what you can commit to memory if you have a simple system and put forth some effort. I’ve memorized five New Testament books and am working on my sixth. And that’s because I have a bad memory.
Read the full article here
Who Are You Really?
Great thigs happen when we listen to the Holy Spirit and obey the “still small voice”
Who Are You Really?
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by Jesse Birkey
The other day I was walking through a parking lot and noticed an older woman a little bit ahead of me. As soon as I saw her I heard the Lord speak the word “blessing”. So I asked the Lord if He wanted me to let her know what He thought of her and I had the distinct sense that He did.
So next came the awkward task of chasing down a woman in the parking lot. Always an uncomfortable endeavor. I guess I just have to be confident God will protect me from their urge to pepper spray.
So I approached her and introduced myself. I told her that sometimes God speaks to me things that He would like me to deliver to others. I asked her if it would be okay if I shared with her what I felt God wanted to say. She told me yes but looked a little unsure.
So I began to share with her about the blessing that she is. God gave me words to share with her about how special she is and how much she delights the Lord. He spoke to me about the power He’s given her to influence he surroundings and bring His light into places that are dark.
That’s when she sort of tilted her head and looked at me like she wanted to believe that last part but was having trouble pulling up any evidence it was true. It was then that the Lord began to show me some of the sorrow of her life and the things she wished were different or could go back and do over.
I quickly asked the Lord what He wanted me to do and the response I heard was to again exhort and call out the ability she has to bring change to the atmosphere and people around her through Him. So I did and her smile began to grow.
When I was finished she thanked me and squeezed my hand. The Lord had touched something deep inside of her and we were both blessed.
God has been speaking to me a lot over the last several years about how we can manage His words with love. Part of that is looking for the virtues in people we can call out instead of the bondage or negative things.
I’ve mentioned before that it’s easy to see the bad in people but harder to see the virtues that God wants to call out, nurture and develop. The woman from the story above had lived a long time under the belief that she was powerless to be a vessel of change to the dark world around her.
But instead of only revealing the wrong beliefs and weakness the Lord revealed who He has truly created her to be. Now this doesn’t mean that the Lord will never lead us to reveal the sin that we seem to find ourselves in. I wouldn’t venture to be that black and white about it. But I do think that many times when we think God is leading us to expose He’s really not. What He’s really after is letting the person know who they are in Him and who He is in them.
So let’s try to wait just a bit longer for the words of God to find our hearts as we discern the things in people that may not line up with His heart.
Blessings,
Jesse and Kara Birkey
Roadmap
New Life Narrabri 