This is another one that has been in my head and nagging me to write about. First of all, the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with addiction, in case you misunderstand the title. It is the answer to addiction. Addictions come in various forms. There is alcohol, drugs, sex which includes porn, cigarettes, social media and a lot more I can’t think of right now. Many of these are escalating as the devil ensnares more of humanity. Unable to cope with crisis, many resort to drugs and alcohol as a form of escape as well as sex and porn. My pastor one time gave a whole sermon on porn which would scrap your soul bare if you were guilty of that. In fact, he did a lot of research and it was amazing to hear that a lot of pastors are addicted to it. Not my pastor, though. He’s totally against it. He said 50% were. He also cited a periodical in which it states that the brain shrinks from too much porn viewing. In other words, satan has effectively captured the minds of many by using sex and pornography, which is the easiest trap for humans to fall into and keeps them there while dumbing down their minds. In essence, a person will become as useful as a bag of carrots.
The devil doesn’t even have to work hard to get his human target ensnared. Sex, being so pleasurable is the easiest tool in his arsenal and the more the hapless person views this filth the deeper entrenched the devil becomes in his mind. Here is a sentence and link directly from the pastor’s notes:
FACT: 70% of men ages 18 to 34 visit a porn site in a typical month.
2014 study in the journal JAMA Psychiatry found. Men who regularly consumed porn had smaller brain volume and fewer connections in the striatum, a brain region tied to reward processing, compared with those who didn’t view porn.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00224499.2015.1025123
Women are not left out either: FACT: 1 out of 6 women struggle with porn addiction 33% watch at least one time per year.
A 2015 study by the Journal of Sex Research demonstrated that “constant novelty and primacy of sexual stimuli as particularly strong natural rewards make internet pornography a unique activator of the brain’s reward system” and “novelty is compelling because it triggers bursts of dopamine in regions of the brain strongly associated with reward and goal-directed behavior.” (2015) Journal of Sex Research
I have not had a problem with porn. There was no desire for it. I did have a smoking addiction which went the way of the dinosaur in 2004 and that I could not accomplish without the help of the Holy Spirit. I had made many attempts at quitting, even wearing one of those patches but I smoked even with the patch on! It was one day in 2004 when I got so fed up that while I was before God in prayer I vehemently vowed not to smoke another cigarette while pounding my fist on my bed. (I was kneeling with my arms resting on the bed while in prayer.) Now I did have a patch on at the time. BUT…I had no desire to smoke while it was on. A week later, I took the patch off and much to my amazement the addiction was gone! I had not smoked since. Oh there were times in certain stress situations where I had the desire but it passed and I never smoked.
Whatever the addiction is it affects the chemical makeup of the brain and gets etched in there. The devil keeps you pretty stupid. Yes, those without God’s Spirit can quit addictions but it is better when you partner with God to get that filth out of your life once and for all. When He cleans house, He cleans it for good! But you have to mean it. God can tell when you are doing in halfheartedly. He can read every intention of your heart and mind like a book with large print.
If the devil can keep the Christian ensnared, he effectively causes a wedge between the person and God with that person’s permission to do it. Because the addiction is more important than the relationship with the Creator. And don’t fool yourself into believing the devil’s lie of “well you can always repent later. Just indulge a little now.” Don’t even try to make a fool out of God. You don’t know Who you are dealing with.
The entire planet is evil and vile and the devil has only a little time left. He keeps you distracted so you will never know how much of a vile cesspool you are living in.
When Christ returns the Kingdom of God will be so radically different than the world we live in now that it will blow your mind and take your breath away. Don’t throw away the precious gift of salvation on such meaningless trash. The Holy Spirit is very powerful and will help you overcome whatever it is you are trapped in. You need to be diligent and sincere in your desire to get sin out of your life and to NEVER return to it. All that crap does not exist in the Kingdom of God. Whatever He says is sin won’t be there…a note to all you liberals who are busy rewriting the Bible to include your current filth that you are engaging in and making it appear as good. Then, likewise, making what God says is good as evil. Don’t mock God because in the end you will never succeed.
Keep in mind your resistance is lower at night which is a weapon the devil uses, too. He trained Hitler very well which is why Hitler had many of his rallies at night. Lighting, music and any kind of special effect was also used.
If you get closer to God the less likely you are to backslide. Yes, you have to spend some serious time with Him. If you are truly devoted then you know you have been living with Him all along. I can talk to Him all day long especially since I am now housebound with two sprains in my right foot. No driving for me! I realized I now have total uninterrupted time with Him. I can speak with Him while I am writing this as He is here with me, too. If anyone told me that God doesn’t exist, I’d tell them they were full of crap because I just spoke to Him a little while ago.
Right now the world is a very dark place and will be getting darker. This post is going to lead into another one on a much broader aspect.
