ADDICTIONS!? BETTER KNOW THE TRUTH.

The ideas of the world have thoroughly distorted the truth. God is the ONLY One who can change hearts. "Addiction" is the world's babbling for idolatry. The success rate of people being freed from "addictions" is so low, because there is ONLY ONE name under which we can be set free. The world does not teach THEE answer, but rather some disillusioned idea that we can "free our selves". Heresy. We place an idol in our heart, and God gives us over to it to be destroyed by it. There are spiritual laws in place which cannot be broken. God MUST change a person's heart, and that is done ONLY through the power of the Holy Spirit through Jesus of Nazareth. If we teach ANYTHING other than the truth, we cannot bring anyone to freedom. We may simply change the idol to which they are bound.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God. I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. I will call for the grain and multiply it, and bring no famine upon you.
-Ezekiel 36:26-29

WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?

This verse keeps coming to mind, over and over. There are believers out there who do not speak boldly what God has given them for they fear to offend others. Listen!!

“The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream;

And he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully.
What is the chaff to the wheat?” says the Lord.
“Is not My word like a fire?” says the Lord,
“And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?"
-Jeremiah 23:28-29

God is blatantly saying “Who cares what the world thinks of the Word of God”. The reference to the chaff and the wheat is that those who are being saved is the wheat, and those who are not are the chaff that is to be bound together at the end and burned. What is the chaff to the wheat!? The end of those who reject Christ is certain. Do not let your fear of them inhibit you from speaking the Word of God.

Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

-Matthew 13:24-30

The angels will gather together the chaff and tares of the world, and bind them together to be burned. We are sent out to find those who will believe, speak the Word of God into their life so that they may live, and they too will be saved. We are to find the King’s lost children, something we cannot do with a closed mouth.

Are We Saved By Our Works?

I know many who believe we must add "works" in order to secure our salvation. This is a lie. Of course our works are an outward showing of what is in our hearts, so they are the proof of a repentant heart, but they add NOTHING to what Jesus did on the cross. When He died He said it was finished. The accounting term literally means "all accounts paid in full". I caution you if you believe your actions add anything to the FINISHED work of Christ.

You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
- Galations 5:4

So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
- John 19:30

Grace

You call yourself a "Christian", and you live a life where your faith costs you nothing? You have been led astray my friend, and you do not have what you think you have. Apparently someone unfamiliar with Jesus has duped you into believing a lie. True grace does have a cost. Read the four gospels, the first four books of the New Testament, and then let us reason together. If your being a "Christian" has cost you nothing, I would challenge you to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Food for thought.

“Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession.... Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

“Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: 'Ye were bought at a price', and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.”

― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

Make a Decision, and Push All In.

So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.”

And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?”

So Elisha turned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them and boiled their flesh, using the oxen’s equipment, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah, and became his servant.
- 1 Kings 19:19-21

In these verses Elijah gives Elisha the offer to become his disciple by throwing his mantle on him. When Elisha asks about returning to his family, Elijah's response is that the choice is up to him. Elisha had no intent on ever returning to the life he had once lived. So much so that he killed his entire yoke of oxen, destroyed his farm equipment by using it to cook the oxen, and gave the meat to the people. He then willingly became the servant of Elijah because he wanted what Elijah had to teach him.

Elisha was all in. This same scenario was reiterated by Jesus many years later.

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple."
- Luke 14:26-33

Jesus' words do not need interpretation, obviously. If we are able to read plain English, and have at least an average cognitive processing capability, we are able to discern that Jesus is saying we must be "all in" if we are to be His followers. If we are not His followers, then we do not have salvation. Pretty simple.

Let us make our call and election sure! Leave the old life, the old man, entirely. We cannot take our life and do "patch work" with Jesus. We must start fresh, new, and let go of EVERYTHING that was. We must examine our self. Are we all in? Are we willing to sacrifice EVERYTHING for what we have in Christ? If we aren't, maybe we should read Jesus' words again. There is NO FENCE. There is NO PART TIME POSITION. There is NO ALMOST. The world is saturated with false doctrine. Say this "sinners" prayer, and you will be saved. NO!! Follow Jesus and obey His words, then you will be saved!! Move all in, or know that you are all out!! This is truth. Make a decision!

US MEN ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR FAMILIES

Listen up men. We are the ones DIRECTLY responsible for our families. Period. Here is the skinny. Call it what you want, but here it is. Even though Eve gave Adam the fruit to eat in the garden, guess who was held responsible? The man is the head of the house, and our family is our responsibility.

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

- Genesis 3:6

 That is how it factually went down. Who was responsible?

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—

- Romans 5:12

This verse says NOTHING about Eve. Adam failed to stand up and protect his family. Sin entered the world through Adam’s failure as a man.

Is there really any wonder why the world is in such a state today? Where are the men!?

For I looked, and there was no man;
I looked among them, but there was no counselor,
Who, when I asked of them, could answer a word.
Indeed they are all worthless;
Their works are nothing;
Their molded images are wind and confusion.

- Isaiah 41:28

Because we fail our families as men, because we are selfish boys, God moves His hand mightily against us. The consequences of our failures are dire and severe. God is pretty clear about the consequences.

Therefore I will give their wives to others,
And their fields to those who will inherit them;
Because from the least even to the greatest
Everyone is given to covetousness;
From the prophet even to the priest
Everyone deals falsely.

- Jeremiah 8:10

Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.

- 2 Samuel 12:11

You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall lie with her; you shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but shall not gather its grapes.

- Deuteronomy 28:30

Are there problems in your home? Be a man. It is your responsibility to take care of and lead your family. God will not hold your wife responsible for your failures.

“I will not punish your daughters when they commit harlotry,
Nor your brides when they commit adultery;
For the men themselves go apart with harlots,
And offer sacrifices with a ritual harlot.
Therefore people who do not understand will be trampled.
- Hosea 4:14

THE BLESSING AND THE CURSES WILL CHASE YOU DOWN AND TACKLE YOU

Nobody wants to be cursed. Nobody wants to accept consequences. However, everyone wants to be blessed. Everyone wants the good. This is human nature, after all. When Moses laid out the blessing and the curses of God, he made the Israelites say Amen after each one of them. Amen literally means “So Be It”. He was telling them that if they were going to accept the good, they would also have to accept the bad. This is of the reasons why the Word of God is a “two edged sword”.

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.         

- Hebrews 4:12

This is kind of long, but most people are not even familiar with the curses and blessings. Here is an important note to make. The Hebrew translation for “shall come upon you and overtake you” literally means that they will chase you down and tackle you. We do not have to go seeking them. You will see that this verbiage exists for the blessings and the curses. The blessings are listed here. Moses went over them first.

BLESSINGS

“Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God:

“Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.

“Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.

“Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

“Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

“The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.

“The Lord will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

“The Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways. Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. And the Lord will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. The Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them. So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

-Deuteronomy 28:1-14

 

Now I want you to notice how there are three times more curses than there are blessings. Again Moses made the people say Amen after each curse. The same verbiage of the “chasing down and tackling” applies here as well.

CURSES

“But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

“Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country.

“Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

“Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.

“Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.

“The Lord will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me. The Lord will make the plague cling to you until He has consumed you from the land which you are going to possess. The Lord will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with severe burning fever, with the sword, with scorching, and with mildew; they shall pursue you until you perish. And your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you shall be iron. The Lord will change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.

“The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them; and you shall become troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth. Your carcasses shall be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and no one shall frighten them away. The Lord will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, with the scab, and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed. The Lord will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart. And you shall grope at noonday, as a blind man gropes in darkness; you shall not prosper in your ways; you shall be only oppressed and plundered continually, and no one shall save you.

“You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall lie with her; you shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but shall not gather its grapes. Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat of it; your donkey shall be violently taken away from before you, and shall not be restored to you; your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you shall have no one to rescue them. Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, and your eyes shall look and fail with longing for them all day long; and there shall be no strength in your hand. A nation whom you have not known shall eat the fruit of your land and the produce of your labor, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually. So you shall be driven mad because of the sight which your eyes see. The Lord will strike you in the knees and on the legs with severe boils which cannot be healed, and from the sole of your foot to the top of your head.

“The Lord will bring you and the king whom you set over you to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods—wood and stone. And you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all nations where the Lord will drive you.

“You shall carry much seed out to the field but gather little in, for the locust shall consume it. You shall plant vineyards and tend them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them. You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olives shall drop off. You shall beget sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours; for they shall go into captivity. Locusts shall consume all your trees and the produce of your land.

“The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.

“Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. And they shall be upon you for a sign and a wonder, and on your descendants forever.

“Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you. The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand, a nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly nor show favor to the young. And they shall eat the increase of your livestock and the produce of your land, until you are destroyed; they shall not leave you grain or new wine or oil, or the increase of your cattle or the offspring of your flocks, until they have destroyed you.

“They shall besiege you at all your gates until your high and fortified walls, in which you trust, come down throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you at all your gates throughout all your land which the Lord your God has given you. You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and your daughters whom the Lord your God has given you, in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you. The sensitive and very refined man among you will be hostile toward his brother, toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the rest of his children whom he leaves behind, so that he will not give any of them the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates. The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because of her delicateness and sensitivity, will refuse to the husband of her bosom, and to her son and her daughter, her placenta which comes out from between her feet and her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of everything in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates.

“If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD, then the Lord will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues—great and prolonged plagues—and serious and prolonged sicknesses. Moreover He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in this Book of the Law, will the Lord bring upon you until you are destroyed. You shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of heaven in multitude, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God. And it shall be, that just as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess.

“Then the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known—wood and stone. And among those nations you shall find no rest, nor shall the sole of your foot have a resting place; but there the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and anguish of soul. Your life shall hang in doubt before you; you shall fear day and night, and have no assurance of life. In the morning you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were evening!’ And at evening you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were morning!’ because of the fear which terrifies your heart, and because of the sight which your eyes see.

-Deuteronomy 28:15-67

LISTEN

“For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.

- Deuteronomy 30:11-14

 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

- Deuteronomy 30:19-20