Someone is needing hope right now. Most of us know someone whose life is being destroyed or has already been destroyed by addiction.
My own brother, Tony was murdered at the age of eighteen after a drug deal gone bad. All around us, we hear of lives being destroyed. Overdoses. Suicides.
What the world labels an incurable disease, God calls sin. The hope we have for deliverance from addiction is the same hope of deliverance from any sinful stronghold. That hope is only found in a Person, not a program. That Person is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Is it you God is speaking to?
Look up.
God still loves you even when
your own heart condemns you.
The year was 2001…
The officer across the desk from me wouldn’t give in! No matter how much I tried to convince him to let me smoke one last cigarette, he just sat there staring. Finally, he said he couldn’t understand why people smoked anyway; their lungs must be black.
The words I spoke back startled him—even surprising me in my drunken drug-filled condition. I told him if he thought my lungs were black, he should see my heart!
Does your own heart condemn you too?
Look up
Jesus never condemns us.
“For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. ”
Do you have a picture in your mind of what God looks like? It’s most likely one that has changed through the years.
I asked my four-year-old grandson to help me with this blog series by drawing pictures for each part. I love seeing through the eyes of a child! I told him the first part was about looking up to see God.
“Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. ”
Look up
God loves you right now just as you are!
Nothing can change the fact He created you for His glory.
He still has a plan and purpose for your life.
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
”
Look up
Has your heart ever looked up to see Jesus dying on the Cross for you?
“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
”
Look up
God is waiting now with His arms wide open. Come as you are. Broken and empty. Look up as a child does to a Father. Confess your sins to Him and agree with Him about your sin.
King David, who is called “a man after God’s own heart” prayed this way:
“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. ”
The goodness of God leads us to repentance.
“Have repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
”
Look up
Salvation is the foundation
for deliverance from addiction
because it’s Christ in us
Who is our hope!
You may already be saved like I was, a child of God who had never developed a daily personal relationship with Him. Although I repented each time, I didn’t know how to walk with the Lord and draw my strength from Him.
You can find my story of deliverance 15 years ago here.
Each of our stories are different, but we have the same Almighty God. He knows each of our hearts. With Him all things are possible!
Keep Looking Up
I understand the grief and pain addiction causes. Do you have a prayer request? I would love to pray for you or your loved one. You can email me at JulieHeathWrites@gmail.com. Please join me for Part 2 of this series: “See the Truth.”
