Drugs and Drinking no more, A 40 day program: Day 13
“No horse gets anywhere until he is harnessed. No stream or gas ever drives anything until it is confined. No Niagara ever turned light and power until it is tunneled. No life ever grows great until it is focused, dedicated, disciplined.”
Overcoming Addiction Quote for quitting drugs and drinking habits by Harry Emerson Fosdick (May 24, 1878 – October 5, 1969)
How to find living water to become focused, dedicated and discipined:
www.settingcativesfree.com said the following: ”7When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) 10Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?” 13Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” 16He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 17“I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” John 4:7 – 18
In the above story, Jesus Christ spoke to a woman about two kinds of water:
- “This water,” which would not satisfy and would not quench thirst. The woman would have to keep coming back again and again to get more of “this water.”
“The water I give” which would quench thirst eternally. Then Jesus brought up the fact that the woman had had multiple relationships (5 husbands and a current live-in, 6 total). Obviously, she was finding no permanent satisfaction in these relationships so she had to keep going back to find a new love, each time hoping that this time would be the last. In bringing up her “unquenchable thirst” for different relationships, Jesus revealed to her that she would never be truly satisfied until she began “drinking” from the water He would give her.
List the “water” (addiction) that you’ve been drinking from and how it has left you “thirsty.”
Note: Jesus offered this woman living water. He said that if she drank it she would not be thirsty anymore; in other words, she would be satisfied and not desire one relationship after another. Here is hope for you and me! Here is the method to enjoying freedom from drugs, or any addiction. If you discover how to receive this “living water,” and how to drink it, you will not be thirsty anymore; in other words, you will be free from the craving of and slavery to drinking or drugs. Drugs or drinking, in its essential allurement, promises to quench our thirst. In other words, it promises satisfaction. And honestly, it may satisfy – but only for a time. Pretty soon we discover that we are “thirsty” again, and as the years go by we find that we are really never genuinely satisfied. Right?”
Yesterday we talked about praying to be filled with the Spirit of God. The question is what steps do we need to take to be filled. www.wikihow.com had a Christian expert write the following regarding being fill with the Spirit.
“The first step is to become a believer in Jesus Christ as the Son of God who made the full payment for our sins on the cross. Without this acclamation of faith, one cannot be filled with the Holy Spirit, for biblically, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God and of Christ. This is very clearly stated in the New Testament.”
If you follow a non Christian religion please read the Case for Christ by Lee Strobel. I don’t recommend Christianity because I was taught it as a child. I recommend it because the physical evidence for it is overwhelming and my personal experience has been overwhelming as well. Wikihow.com continued.
“The second step is to confess known sin and seek and receive forgiveness for all sin by reliance on the completed work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The Scriptures teach that God works in those whose lives are free of sin. Keep “short records” with God about sin. Confess sin instantly, letting no departure from God’s will continue.”
Becoming filled with the Spirit is the #1 way to diffuse the triggers that lead to drinking alcohol or doing drugs.
Matthew 5 is about how we can change so that we will start to be blessed by God. www.relijournal.com noted the following
The Sixth Beatitude v8
God blesses those whose hearts are pure,
for they will see God.
The Bible tells us the same thing in Psalms 24, 51 and 119. They also tell us exactly how to make our hearts pure. To become pure is to become holy. Psalm 119:9 reads, “How can a believer keep his heart pure? By keeping it according to the word of God”. If we live by God’s instructions we will keep our hearts pure. We will only find out what God’s instructions are if we read the Bible and talk to him!
This beatitude tells us that if we are pure in heart then we will see God. That means we will see God in Heaven, but it also means that we will see and experience Him now.
But it’s not easy. Use prayer to fight harder. Pray at least 3 times per day “Lord, help me to always be moderate in all things”
If you are doing well renew your focus on fighting to stop doing things that cause you to slip up. You are starting to find some joy in life again. Don’t let little things lead to big disasters. Focus and raise the standards back to where they were the day you were most scared of going back to your addiction again.
Read 1st Corinthians 10, Matthew 10 and Proverbs 3.
Continue to read the Purpose Driven Life
Five star book out on Amazon. How Jonny Quit Drugs is 24 action-packed, true to life adventures Jonny goes on, which give him techniques on how to quit drugs. The Cracked Foundation is story where Jonny is the 2nd fastest sprinter in the Olympics. But no matter what happens, it will never be good enough for his dad. See how Jonny fights through his challenges.
At the end of each story, Jonny talks to his mentor Gordon, who helps him learn from his adventure and learn about his Higher Power. The 24 adventures include: Titanic, Pearl Harbor, the Matrix, the Exorcist, The Magic is in the Work, the Pleasure Principle, Escaping Reality and many others. Gordon reveals to Jonny his code at the end of every chapter. The code teaches you how to be unstoppable, how to make current obsessions become minor temptations and how to fight until you are free.
This book teaches you practical techniques on how to renew your mind while having fun. These vivid stories will help you form new habits that will help you find freedom. Click here to see more. amazon.com/dp/B07YBHKZ4B/ref=
Drugs and drinking are habits that many want to quit. The more quitting addiction books that you read, the faster you will quit.
How Dylan Quit Drinking is the same 24 stories with the focus on quitting drinking. To access that title click here: amazon.com/dp/B07YQ6RMYR/ref=
If you are on track great; if not review day 7.
Copyright 2015 © THR Publishing LLC
Thank you for reading day 13 overcoming the triggers of drinking and drugs
Index
Day one: How to overcome cravings
Day two: Would believing in a higher power be good for you?
Day three: Quitting addiction exercises
Day four: Does God answer pray?
Day five: Starting to understand that we can’t increase our pleasure for the whole month by going back to our addiction
Day six: Planning our day to keep addiction temptation to a minimum
Day seven: We find liberty (or start to find liberty) from addiction when we find Jesus
Day eight: First fruit of the Spirit
Day nine: Benefits of worshipping God
Day ten: Getting rid of negative emotions and overcoming cravings
Day 11: How to be blessed by God and self control
Day 12: Have a list of coping statements