[B]Satan's Use of Addiction [/B]

[abigya]

i posted this one thinking it's helpfull after reading the Qestions posted in hear.

Satan's Use of Addiction


How is Satan involved in addiction and why?
But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short (Rev 12:12).
Out of the raw materials that God had created, Satan has built a twisted kingdom that manifests his character. He has an organized intricate agenda, established connections in high places throughout the world, and is successfully moving into positions of authority and control.
Satan is not an evil force or a symbol of negative energy. He is a powerful spirit being. Even though his mind and heart are twisted with pride, he is highly intelligent, hard–working and skilled in the art of deception, politics and diplomacy. A Hitler’s ingenious mind and yet equally depraved heart.
Satan has an insatiable desire to be in sovereign control over every man, woman, and child on this planet. As Children of God, we are not to fear him, but we are to take him seriously (1 Pet 5:8). He is the enemy of our soul and will take any opportunity to develop a control base. But equipped with spiritual armor, we will be enabled to be victorious and free. (Eph 6:12).
We live in a spiritually hostile world! In the last days, as in the days of Noah, the world is becoming increasingly corrupt. Satan's grip is tightening. He is preparing to rise to power as Antichrist. His control will be so complete that no man, woman, or child will be able to buy or sell unless his mark of ownership is on their body. In his twisted thinking, to control is to become a god.
Control Buttons
Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Pet 5:8). He will lull you into a sense of false security before he moves in for the kill. He is a spiritual predator wreaking destruction on unsuspecting prey. For this reason, God warns us to be alert and self–controlled. We are living in a fool's paradise, believing we can flirt with his kingdom and come out unscathed. In turning to this world for fulfillment, we jeopardize our diplomatic immunity that has been purchased by Christ. An immunity that enables us to live holy lives in an unholy world.
How does Satan gain control? By creating and fulfilling need—creating dependency, and providing the sole source of fulfillment. Alcohol, sex, heroin, caffeine, nicotine, even junk food are prime examples of his destructive tools of control.
The list is endless, pornography, sleeping pills, fantasy books, late night infomercials, diets, Donkey Kong, Internet, dating chat lines, even the cable shopping channel. There are therapists who specialize in helping lonely souls overcome shopping channel addiction. People will sit up day and night watching this stuff. It becomes their closest friend, sometimes their only companion.
Any form of stimulation, whether drugs, alcohol, porn Internet or a roller coaster ride, falsely heightens sensory awareness through an increase of adrenaline in the blood stream. Heart rate increases, the body tingles, palms sweat, emotions soar and imagination runs wild. This state is always temporary and results in a stimulation deficit causing a feeling of restless emptiness.
Sex was created by God. It is given to the husband and wife as a wedding gift to enjoy physical and spiritual union. Between married couples it is the dance of love. A sweet incense pleasing to God. In marriage, it is one of the most holy acts our flesh can engage in. But Satan has twisted sex into a powerful destructive lever—a tool of control.
A father gets up in the middle of the night, sneaks to his 7–year–old daughter's room, stealing from her what was being saved for her husband. She will never trust a man again. The silent screams carry her to the brink of insanity.
A wife is anxiously waiting for her husband to come home. Walking through the front door, one look and she knows. Betrayal! He has destroyed her trust. The wound in her heart will infect the rest of her life.
Respected Christian leaders have been caught for the entire world to see. Broken men with broken dreams, teaching God, living in sin. Satan laughs as the world asks, is nothing sacred? Who can we trust? Christian ministers, husbands, wives, teachers, politicians, rock stars, and teenagers have come crashing to the ground because of sex. It is a powerful tool because it has been created by a powerful God.
In the same way, food in its twisted state has the power to control. Sugar, salt, and fat–laced foods are physically and emotionally addictive. The average North American Diet is clear evidence of Satan's agenda. Healthy, nutrient–rich foods, twisted into addictive tools of control.
Cravings are a bent form of hunger. The body hungering for something that is poisonous and like puppets in a play, we dance to its deadly song. Promising satisfaction, only to end in sickness, suffering, and a hellish cycle of dependence.
Culture is in a constant state of evolution. Directing that evolution is the key to power. A force that impacts the unconscious movements of the herd. Man is a creature of habit, we live our lives in patterns. The world is changing and we are changing with it. Changes that affect how we think and feel. It seems we have been caught in a tide, so busy swimming to keep up there is no time to stop, think, and consider the direction life has taken. And as the years roll by, we wonder where the time has gone, too frightened to even consider how meaningless our lives have become.
We are so inundated by change; we simply do not have the time to consider how these changes are affecting us on the inside. What shape they are molding us into. We have become a part of the ebb and flow of an ungodly Kingdom, helplessly drifting on a tide that we know inside is leading to spiritual death. We are warned Do not conform to the patterns of this world (Rom 12:1). Conforming is deadly. It is being recreated into something with which God can no longer communicate.
As painful as it is, we have to wake up and learn how to swim against this powerful tide. Being able to live in the midst of the most powerful, influential kingdom that has ever existed in man’s history.

 

[abigya]

Fasting and Addiction
Fasting cuts away superficiality, getting down to the bone of living. Effective, due to its ability to strip away the props we have become so dependent on to get us through the day. The large coffee double-double, cinnamon Danish, ball game, Budweiser, nacho’s, cigarettes, sitcoms, hours upon squandered hours, and for some, drugs, pornography, overeating and alcoholism. When these props are removed, what remain are the spiritual resources within. If they are bankrupt then during fasting you will come face to face with a profound emptiness only God can fill. It is this very emptiness so many run from or try to offset with material things. Yet this is doomed to failure for we are created spiritual beings, with spiritual longing.
Fasting accomplishes two purposes. First, it will reveal how much the flesh has taken control of emotions, and secondly, it will serve in breaking the flesh’s hold upon the will.
Oh no my dear, I am not like those others, I’m not addicted to anything—until you attempt a fast.
Those who think you live autonomously in this world, fasting is a perfect immunity test, often a rude awakening of how toxic your daily requirements have become. What makes your world go around? Addiction is anything that controls you, and whether it’s food, pornography, coffee, TV or heroin, it taints independence and freedom.
The food industry has perfected the addictiveness of foods adding salt, fat and processed sugar, and millions crave their offerings daily. It is hard to tackle food addiction; after all we must eat, right? A quiet food-fix during a hectic day is only a drive-through away. Availability for the junk food addict is a real problem. Fasting is a great and needed break from eating, allowing the body to balance homeostasis, untangling emotions from the up-and-down roller-coaster ride addiction produces.
If I spend enough quality time with a certain food I start becoming emotionally attached. It’s just the way I am put together. Problem is, in the past I have made bad food-relationship decisions. Years ago I met an All Dressed Hostess Potato Chip in the seedy part of my grocery Store. Had no business being there in the first place. Let’s just say I was needy. Months later, and a painful break-up, we parted company, but the relationship left deep scares. About four inches deep around my waist. Oh, there was that seductive little Peanut Butter Cup. Never was interested until they came out with the three-pack for the price of two, remember that? Thought I was getting a deal, but ended up paying a bigger price later on. Took three years to end that co-dependent relationship. I learned my lesson and went food-celibate for 30 days, getting my emotions settled. Funny, after all these years every time I see Peanut Butter Cup it still feels like I am going to break out in acne.
The good news is for the last few years I have been seeing someone and it’s looking good. We spend our mornings together. Cravings that usually accompany co-dependency is not there, just old fashioned hunger. Real colorful personality too, sweet in the most natural way. I think it’s a healthy relationship, my fruit salad and me. When I wake up, I’m not thinking bacon and eggs, no. An orange, grapefruit, two bananas, half a cantaloupe, grapes, two pears; add a little natural yogurt to taste, and wow!
I have learned something about life. Spent time with the wrong people and you become just a little bit like them. Chose your friends wisely. But greater still this applies to what you cram into every cell, tub and membrane of your body. You will develop emotional and physiological attachments to what you eat daily, especially the foods you turn to when lonely and depressed. They will have the strongest attachment. The great news is if you are willing to go through a period of separation-blues, you can form healthy attachments just like my beloved fruit salad.
Jesus awaits our willingness to surrender our addiction gods. Remember the young Rich Man. Wealth choked his very soul. He truly hungered for the Kingdom; all people do whether they know it or not. And Jesus loved him—gave him the way out of his meaningless existence. Yet it was an impossibility at that moment. The ruler was young and in love with the luxuries money secured. The emptiness within had to ferment longer until it would eat away his pride and independence. Then he would be ready.
Fasting invariably brings to the surface deep-seated fears that affect thinking and decision-making. It does this by challenging that complex human instinct called self-preservation. This instinct has been created in every living thing on earth, including man. But you are a New Creation in Christ, recreated not to be controlled by instincts. Because of a rebirth, you have been recreated into a creature of a higher and grander design than that of your former life.
Recently I was reading about the negative effects of coffee shaking my head at myself and all humanity. “Coffee promotes aging and can cause impotence.” How much would we pay if they discovered a drink you could consume every morning that would slow down aging and increase libido? I would hazard a lot! Yet here I was, eating an almost raw diet, working out in the gym, applying special moisturizing creams to my face after the shower, coloring the gray out of my goatee, the last vestige of hair I own, and paying for and drinking an extract of bean that is known to increase aging and hobnobs with impotency. For what? A meager hour of energy borrowed from the rest of the day so for hours afterward I feel tired. That’s nuts! There is only one thing that causes us to act so irrationally and self-destructive. Addiction.
The problem is addictions take no work on our part, you just drink something, pop a pill, sit back and let it happen. We put so much faith in our addictions, that’s what gives them power. And we are surprised when we discover, Hey, I can live without this, in fact I can live better.
By
Ron Lagerquist