Breaking The Bondage Of Addictions / More Than Conquerors Lesson 1-3

BREAKING THE BONDAGE OF ADDICTIONS / MORE THAN CONQUERORS

In Overcoming Bad Habits

By Candace L. Miller

Introduction

These seven points or lessons were compiled from notes I have taken during messages preached by faithful preachers over many years. It has been one of the richest tools I have used in Bible study at the local County Jail. It has blessed me by the abundance of Scripture it draws to each point. I have seen the effects of its message bring hope and relief to the faces of my students, as well as new understanding to this teacher. I believe as the Scripture teaches that God’s Word will accomplish the purpose for which it was sent, and will enable the hearers to be “more than conquerors” and join the ranks of the overcomers described in I John 5:4-5.

In these ordered steps of the Lord which will follow, we find the path to true and total victory that God desires in every believer, which is part of His plan for us as He finishes the work He has begun in each of us at salvation (Philippians 1:6). In Romans 8:37 we are assured that “Nay, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” Oswald Chambers, in his work My Utmost for His Highest, explains beautifully the absolute victory promised in this verse:

“Paul was speaking here of the things that might seem likely to separate a saint from the love of God. But the remarkable thing is that nothing can come between the love of God and a saint. The things Paul mentioned in this passage can and do disrupt the close fellowship of our soul with God and separate our natural life from Him. But none of them is able to come between the love of God and the soul of the saint on the spiritual level. The underlying foundation of the Christian faith is the undeserved, limitless miracle of the love of God that was exhibited on the Cross of Calvary; a love that is not earned and can never be earned. Paul said this is the reason that ‘in all these things we are more than conquerors’. We are super-victors with a joy that comes from experiencing the very things which look as if they are going to overwhelm us.

“Huge waves that would frighten an ordinary swimmer produce a tremendous thrill for the surfer who has ridden them. Let’s apply that to our own circumstances. The things we try to avoid and fight against – tribulation, suffering, and persecution – are the very things that produce abundant joy in us. ‘We are more than conquerors through Him’ ‘in all these things’; not in spite of them, but in the midst of them. A saint doesn’t know the joy of the Lord in spite of tribulation, but because of it. Paul said, ‘…I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation’ (II Corinthians 7:4).

“The undiminished radiance, which is the result of abundant joy, is not built on anything passing, but on the love of God that nothing can change. And the experiences of life, whether they are everyday events or terrifying ones, are powerless to ‘…separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Romans 8:39).”

May the Lord bless this endeavor with the power and wisdom of His Word and His Spirit that many who would resist the dominion of iniquity would be delivered from the strongholds of Satan and walk in the Spirit of Truth, forever “super-victors”.

Lesson One

Determination: Born Again and Willing to Die to Self

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32

Determination is the first key principle in being able to give up bad things. Anyone who wants sincerely to give up bad things must first be born again. In John 15:5 Jesus said, “…for without me ye can do nothing.”  Those who have been under the power of depression, anger, bitterness, sexual sins, food, gambling, strong drink, drugs or other addictive substances know that the human spirit is incapable of total and consistent freedom from such bondages. But placing our faith and trust in Jesus Christ the Son of God for our salvation will supply the determination and power to have the victory over any bondage or stronghold we have allowed Satan to set up in our lives. Once we accept the payment for our sins which was made by Christ when He shed His blood for us on Calvary, we can tap into the power of God that raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Then we can say like the Apostle Paul, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Philippians 4:13)

Notice this is not self-determination

We can only be victorious in this life when we put our full trust and dependence on the Lord Himself. Remember Jesus’ words in John 15:5 “…for without me ye can do nothing.” Believe and accept the promise in Romans 8:37: “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” Then act upon the promise.

“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.” (Ephesians 2:8, 9) This same grace that has provided salvation through faith in the finished work of Christ will also supply not only the desire, but the power to do the will of God.

“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13)

Is it the desire or will of God for us to remain in bondage to sin and substance? Let the Scripture answer for us: Romans 8:15, “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”

God freely gives us His grace in order to be victorious. In fact, He wants us to cast our helpless, weak selves upon Him so that He can show His strength through us. Notice what Christ told Paul in II Corinthians 12:9 “And he said unto me, ‘My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness’…”

Victorious Determination

Victorious determination is anchored in putting our full faith and trust in God and His Word. Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

Notice that we cannot lean on our own understanding of things. Our understanding and reasoning is flawed by our sin nature and the worldly influences we have experienced since birth. We are to acknowledge God in every facet of our lives. This process must start daily even before we get out of bed so that we can think, say and do the things that please God throughout the day. Romans 12: 1-2 clarify this principle:

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

The psalmist says “…bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.” (Psalm 118:27) Not only do we have to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, we must bind them to the altar by the power God gives us through His grace and love.

Many things may present themselves throughout the day that are potential hindrances to your determination, but when we roll over on God all the known and unknown troubles of each day, God can go before us like the point man leading his troops. He will establish our thoughts and also bring our ways to pass. Remember Proverbs 3:6? He “shall direct thy paths.” Here are two more verses to help us trust everything to God and maintain our determination:

Psalm 37:5 “Commit [roll over on] thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.”

Proverbs 16:3 “Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.”

The following verses should increase our understanding of how we absolutely need God in order to be overcomers:

Jeremiah 9:23-24 “Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.”

Jeremiah 10:23 “O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.”

I Chronicles 28:9 “And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever.”

We dare not excuse ourselves and just let Satan take us captive at his will or make excuses about our weak and small faith. It is not the amount of faith that we have, but the object of that faith that makes all the difference. We must cry out like the father of the demon possessed child in Mark 9:23-24: “Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”

Lesson Two: Daily Devotions

“Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?” Proverbs 20:9

Jeremiah 17:9 helps us understand why a daily time in the Word is so vital to becoming more than conquerors: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately [incurably] wicked: who can know it?” Verse 10 answers that. “I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, …”

Proverbs 20:27 “The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly.” God uses our own conscience to search our hearts, but more so, He uses His Word.

Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

The Word of God serves our heart’s needs in many ways.

 It is used by God to search our hearts, reveal and cleanse sin. “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.” (John 15:3)

It also boosts our “immunity” to sin. Psalm 119:11, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”

The Word is the major security system we need to protect our hearts from Satan’s attacks and sin’s power. Proverbs 4:23: “Keep [guard] thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”

Just before His arrest, Jesus warned the disciples in Matthew 26:41, “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” He knows the heart’s great potential for sin and how it is a reservoir that overflows with sin.

Matthew 15:17-20, “Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.”

We were born again by the Word of God. In order for us to grow in Christ and to be victorious over any sin we must daily allow God to speak to us through the Word, to strengthen our faith in Him, and to make us “super-victors” over sin’s bondage. Note these verses:

“He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.” (Proverbs 28:26)

Romans 10:17, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”

We are further assured of faith’s power to overcome this world’s deceitful lure in I John 5:4-5, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”

I Peter 1:22-23 “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.”

Concerning the importance of the Word of God, Jesus rebuked the religious leaders of the day when He said, “…Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God.” (Matthew 22:29)

Jesus assures us in John 8:32, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

The person who is truly born again will be hungry for the Word of God because he will want to grow as a Christian. I Peter 2:2 “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:” Ideally, we should have a quiet time each morning before we start the day and let God speak to us through His word. It should also be a time of taking our cares and concerns to the Lord to make sure our hearts are in His hand.

Psalm 143: 8 “Cause me to hear thy loving kindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.”

Lesson Three

A New Birth Means A New Allegiance

 “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” I Corinthians 6:19-20

Bought with a Price: Ye are not your own

I Corinthians 3:16 “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”

II Corinthians 6:14, 17 “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?…Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,”

I Corinthians 7:23 “Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servant of men.”

I Corinthians 10:31 “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”

The message of these verses is not the singular warning about getting new friends after we are saved. The larger message is that when we have been purchased by the precious blood of Jesus Christ we belong to God and “…ye are not your own”. The Holy Spirit now lives within us. This is totally opposite the rule of today which says: “It’s my body, my life, my decision, my moral values.”

We have a new name to uphold and it is God’s name. Psalm 23:3 tells us that “He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”

“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure [steady], having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” (II Timothy 2:19)

Salvation is just the beginning. We have become new creatures and through the Word of God all things will become new: II Corinthian 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” And God will be finishing the work He has begun in us. Philippians 1:6 “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform [finish] it until the day of Jesus Christ:”

Redeemed and Restored

At creation, God created man in His image, but sin marred and distorted that image. The new birth gives God a means of restoring us to the intended image of His Son Jesus Christ. Romans 8:29 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

“The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” (I Corinthians 15:47-49) We should bear the image of, or represent, Christ each day by our behavior wherever we go.

How do we bear the image of Christ? We become a living “letter” from God. Someone said long ago, “You may be the only Bible some people ever read.” The Apostle Paul put it this way to the church at Corinth (II Corinthians 3:2-3). “Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.”

What is the message of your life? Do people read about Christ or are they confused by the message you are writing in word and deed?

We are taught in Romans 13:13-14 “Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.”