Here is a great article from Truby Johnson who discusses how renewing our minds is an important aspect in recovery.  At Christian Help For Addiction Online we not only see Christ as our “higher power”, but as our support system through difficult times.  God didn’t create any zeroes, and we are all special in his eyes.  Reach out to God for healing and pray for strength.  Christian addiction help online will provide our readers with updated information on a timely basis

Every year people attempt to break their addictions using different methods. The challenge to overcome any addiction is a process, but many people are focusing on the wrong thing. In this article we will discuss the first thing you must do in order to crush your addictions for good.

The first thing you must do is renew your mind. Just because you are captured by an addiction, doesn’t mean that you are that person. To put it another way, because you may have been captured by alcohol doesn’t necessarily mean that you are an alcoholic.

I realize that the first thing that alcohol anonymous tells you to do is to state your name and announce that you are this or that. You are not who you say that you are. This is not a play on words! I mean, especially if you are a child of God, you are who God says that you are, who happens to be captured by whatever it may be.

This is not to release you of your responsibilities, but to claim who you really are. Too many people accept that they are what they do. Of course if you are involved in something for years, then you and whatever it may be can become so entangled that you can not tell one from the other. But an addiction can be much different than that.

Most people with an addiction do not want to remain that way. But the addiction has such a hold on them, they can’t seem to escape it. Like quicksand, the more you kick and twist, the greater your chance of defeat. Because you are captured doesn’t mean that this is who you are.

TIP – When you change your mind set of who you are, then you can begin to plan your way of escape. You are not necessarily what you do.

Your mind set is the answer to your break through. When you say that you are who God says you are, then you are free to claim your freedom from that addiction. Until you agree with who God says that you are, and denounce your addiction behavior, you will never break free.

People proclaim everyday that they are an alcoholic, drug addict, gambler, glutton, or etc. and wonder why they remain captured. You are contradicting who God has already declared you to be. Agree with God and change your situation today.

HINT – Do you realize that you can be a prisoner or a slave in your mind even though you have been set free?

This mind set is your first step to freedom. When you begin to renew your mind, you can change any habits, addictions, strongholds,etc. Remember, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” You can change beginning today.

Here is a great article from Truby Johnson that discusses how are mindset is very important in recovery.  Knowing who you are in Christ is extremely important. God didn’t create any “zeroes”, and he sees each and every one of us as part of his special creation.  True, this doesn’t alleviate the difficult times and struggles, but we gain a snbese of hope that there truly is a higher power than can heal us. 

Here at Christian Help For Addiction, we pray that you gain an inner strength to deal with any difficulties you might be struggling with.  Christian addiction help online is unique, in that it focuses not only in God as our “higher power”, but as our support system and compass to guide us through these difficult times.  Enjoy the article.

In summary this process may seem simple, but you will soon realize that you have trained yourself to think in a lot of negative ways. So many people try twelve steps to this, or ten steps to that, but if you do not start with the renewing of your mind, then you will remain the same. This is the time to make that change.

How does a person overcome an addiction? This one can be very difficult, while on the other hand, it can be the simplest thing to do. Though an addiction may have control over a person’s life, there are several ways that we can overcome them. Some simply overcome an addiction by going to addiction groups, while others can seem to just drop the addiction. There were several addictions in my life that the Lord helped me get rid of instantly when I became a Christian. There were however, a few that he did not help me overcome immediately such as; smoking cigarettes and marijuana. Marijuana was an addiction I had to fight to overcome.

A personal relationship with Jesus Christ is the first and most important step in one’s life, when trying to overcome an addiction. Can a person overcome an addiction without the Lord’s help? There are many that do overcome addiction without knowing the Lord, however, most of these do consist of using programs based on biblical founding’s. Alcoholics Anonymous was founded by two men who used biblical principles for overcoming alcohol addiction. Though there has been some debate as to the relationship these two men had with the Lord, the overwhelming evidence shows, that Bill W. and Dr. Bob were in fact, Christian men at the time they formed AA.

Since AA has become less God oriented, many churches have felt it necessary to form their own addiction programs. These programs can be very successful in helping even a lost person overcome their addictions. Church oriented programs seem to stay more in the word of God, they also try to create a more trustworthy atmosphere. While Alcoholics Anonymous uses the term, “higher power, who ever you hold that to be,” church oriented programs use God, period. While bonding is good for both AA and the church, the church also uses the power of the written word of God. The 12 step program of AA can be very effective. However, as a Christian there is a phrase in the both the second a third steps of AA’s 12 step program, that needs to be corrected. The second step states; “Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity,” and the third step states; “Made a decision to turn our will and our life over to the care of God as we understand him to be.” These two steps need to be corrected when using a Christian addiction program. Instead of “a power greater” in the second step, it needs to be replaced with God, and “as we understand him to be” in the third step, needs to be completely removed.

Alcohol is not the only addiction this 12 step program can work on. There are many other addictions that can benefit from this program. Smoking, drugs, sex and over eating are just a few. An addiction can simply be defined as: anything that has control of your life. TV can be an addiction; work, sports, internet, video gaming or virtually anything, can be an addiction if we allow it to be. The key to overcoming these addictions is first and foremost, God. Find a good Bible believing, Bible teaching church, that has an addiction program and get involved in it. Many of these church related addiction programs use a version of the 12 step program Alcoholics Anonymous uses. The main difference with the church programs is, they use the one true God. They do not or, should not, use the terms, “a higher power”, or “God as we understand him to be.”

God can also be an addiction, in one sense of the word. God can, and should have complete control of our lives. If we will allow God to have control of our life, then there is nothing that we cannot accomplish through his strength and power. God will not take control of our life however, unless we ask and allow him to. God gives us the final decision as to what we do and how we live our lives. How will you choose to live yours? Will you ask God to have control, and allow him to lead your life in everything you do, or will you let something or someone else have that control? Whether you believe it or not, if you don’t allow God into your life through Christ Jesus, then satan has control. If you’re not living for God, then you are living for the world, and that is the same as satan having you right where he wants you. You have to make a choice.

The Twelve Step program has its merits, all based on a perception of surrender, which when interpreted accurately is not the same as giving up.  In believing that we are more than a cellular heap, which seem to break down at a steady velocity, there comes the belief that man and woman maintain a spiritual fragment, whose ending is a mystery to say the least.

Twelve Step recovery is not an agenda sponsored by any religious congregate on entity.  However, persons using this program discover it in harmony with their own spiritual beliefs.  It has no authoritative religious affiliation.  It is, however, a program that helps us to rediscover and expand the spiritual part of ourselves.  Additionally we also realize through performing the twelve steps that our spirituality is valuable.  We learn to live our lives according to the guidance of God, our Higher Power.  When used as intended, the steps are a extremely powerful process for allowing God to heal damaged emotions.

The Twelve Step process of recovery is a spiritual journey.  It takes us from a life where we experience confusion and grief to a place of peace and serenity, one day at a time.  Many changes can and will occur over us, but they won’t come about all at once.  The process will take quite some time and much patience.  God, in his time, instills in us the power of character that only comes form a healthy relationship with him.

Working the Twelve Steps with God’s help enables us to acknowledge much of our destructive or repressed nature.  This process is akin to sunlight and shadow.  As soon as we stand in the sunlight, we realize that we cast a shadow.  In the same way, as we start to work the steps and measure ourselves by God’s standards and principles, we envision our need.  Through our connection with God we are able to redefine the limits we set for ourselves, and we gain the insight that all things are possible for those that love God.

Angie Lewis

My addiction used to control me. It overwhelmed the person inside of me, and I became a stranger to my family, and to myself. All I cared about was having another drink. All I thought about was where and when I was going to get my next drink. My mind was totally and completely absorbed within my addiction, and I didn’t even know it. I was proud, haughty and selfish. I was an alcoholic.
Do you have an addiction? Some of us overeat, over drink, smoke, look at porn, gamble, do drugs, or become abusive. We can even be addicted to our feelings. When we let our negative thoughts control us to do wrong, we are under the power of our thoughts and feelings. Addiction controls several aspects of our character that keep us from coming to our full potential. I know these things first hand; I have been there and done that.
Mentally the addiction affects the way we think and feel, and how we live our life. The addiction will literally stunt the growth process, and the addict will remain childish, selfish and insensitive to the needs of others. Psychologically the addict remains in denial, and will do just about anything to justify bad behavior to others while under the control of their addiction. Addicts are basically selfish people who only care about themselves even though they are real good at manipulating others into believing otherwise.
Emotionally the addiction makes the addict become overly defensive to anyone who tries to take away what he or she so desires. Addicts have a difficult time suppressing their negative emotions and are immature and childish. If they become too dependent on the addiction, they will justify reasons of why they think they are better people when abusing their substance of choice. Their low self-esteem keeps them very sensitive to how others feel about them. They are prone to finding faults in others to get any attention off of them.
Spiritually the addict is at a loss. He is desensitized to the spiritual self within him. The addiction keeps the addict from becoming the whole and complete person that God intended him to be. True potential is stunted. The addict does and says things that he normally wouldn’t if he were living his life without the neediness of addiction. The addict is missing out on so much in his life that he “wants and needs” too much, making him unable to give of himself.
In the days of my disease, I reveled in my negative feelings, denying my weakness and sins. My feelings literally fed my constant unhappiness. If I accepted the fact that God was my source for REAL happiness, I would have to admit my failings, something that a spiritually bankrupt person is unable to do. In essence, the addict desperately needs to have trust enough in God first to quit their addiction and then begin to grow out from the selfish aspect of their rebellious personality.
Alcohol and drug addiction affects the whole family. Family members are affected in different ways, especially the person who loves the addict and enables the addiction. This person is called the enabler because they sweep things under the rug, so to speak, pretending there isn’t a problem. Unfortunately, the enabler usually gets the brunt of the abuse from the addict because the addict expects so much from them. If the enabler doesn’t come through with the addicts neediness and constant requests for things, the enabler had better watch out! The enabler is just as sick mentally, emotionally, and spiritually as the abuser. They both need help.
The enabler is the rescuer of the addicted person. As long as the problem is continually swept under the carpet by the enabler, the addiction will continue to progress further because no one believes there is a problem! Denying the problem exists runs rampant in homes where addiction is fed. The longer the addict continues to use, the worse it will be for everyone involved.
What happens to the person who is controlled by addiction? Many things take place, but some of the things that control the addict are not always apparent to anyone else. Usually what we notice first in the addict is the emotional imbalance of the mental and spiritual capacity, and the decline of health. But what isn’t apparent about addiction is actually the most important element of who a person really is. And that is the lack of spiritual realism in the addicted person. He or she through their addiction denies the spiritual Christ to intervene within the framework of who they are. As long as the addicted person remains unspiritual they will remain a slave to their addiction. Unfortunately, it usually takes something very drastic and horrific to happen to the addict before they actually give up their addiction and ask God for forgiveness and help. This is called the “end of the addicts ropes”, or “bottom out effect.”
On the outside some addicts look like everyone else. They go to church, acknowledge God, raise families and have careers. But through all of this, they still lack the spiritual maturity and godly wisdom to realize the impact, and the consequences of their addiction. These things aren’t ‘t important to the addict. For the addict just being able to continue on with their lives without anyone realizing they have a problem gives the addict more justification and credibility for remaining in their addiction. They themselves remain in denial, talking them selves out of having a problem. They must bottom out! The setback with that is, the enabler keeps rescuing the addict’s behavior and so they never bottom out!
The addict one way or another must come to grips with his REAL source of who he is and with the potential of his existence. But if the addict is in denial, this is going to be difficult for him to do. The addict is usually a selfish and arrogant individual who hasn’t come to grips with who he or she is and so how can they know, understand, accept, and believe in their creator for guidance?
Enablers can do something to help the addict, but they’re afraid that it will somehow change the addict, or that the addict won’t love them anymore. In essence, the enabler needs to get help first, so he can then help the addict.
The three main reasons the enabler keeps saving the addict is below. The three main reasons the addict can’t stop using are below.
(1)Fear = panic, trepidation, apprehension, terror, afraid of the unknown, etc
(2)Denial = mentally refuse to believe, and emotionally refute, disclaimer,
(3)Spiritual loss = proud, haughty, unbeliever, rebellious, arrogant, self-righteous,
The addiction takes hold of the mind with such force the addict is afraid to even think of living without the addiction. Addicts try to stop, but their bodies and mind tell them they can’t. They are filled with fear and terror at the thought of not getting their next fix, afraid they will not be able to cope in life, but this just isn’t so!
At first abstaining from an addiction that has controlled the mind, body, and soul for so long does make us feel insecure and self doubting, but the addict can endure and overcome those fears through the help of God. But first before any of this will have any real impact on the addict he must WANT TO QUIT THE ADDICTION!!
By trusting in what God says is true, you can believe in the power of Gods words to help guide you away from your fears and into God’s truth and love. God’s words are the addicts comfort and refuge. Gods breath-filled words, and spiritual presence over-powers evil and reveals the truth in the addict. The evil is the addiction, and God’s loving kindness is stronger and more powerful than any addiction.
Alcoholics Anonymous teaches to believe in a higher power because addicts are powerless to change on their own. This statement is very true. Why do you think addicts quit for a while only to go back to it again? They thought they had enough strength and will power to quit on their own.
All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”
2 Timothy 3:15-16
When the addict feels scared, fearful, and insecure, or just plain weird in their body, they need to go to the scriptures. If they are tempted to go back to the addiction, they need to go to the scriptures, and ask for the Spirit of Jesus Christ to intervene for them in their temptation. They must trust in God with all their heart, mind and soul, and He WILL deliver them from the evils of addiction!
I know that God delivers people away from their addictions and sins, it happened to me! I prayed to God with all my heart and mind to guide me out of my addiction to alcohol. I also prayed that the craving for alcohol be taken from me for good. I have been sober for over twelve-years now, and I have not ONCE craved the desire to drink. As a matter of fact, when I see others abusing alcohol I feel so unpleasant inside, and deep sorrow for them because I know exactly how they are feeling, and what they are going through. It’s not good.
The addict has got to really want to stop his addiction before God will intervene. God wants to know that you are for Him and not against Him. When we abuse our minds day in and day out, we have no spiritual awareness to even acknowledge the existence of Him who created us! God wants you to acknowledge Him, and ask Him to help you overcome your addiction.
“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” Romans 1:16
Addicts are powerless without God! The Spirit of Christ is the stronghold to your future. It is the foundation for your life! Do you want to stop beating yourself up? Humble down your proud and arrogant ways. Let go of the old sinful selfish person to God. Let go of those heavy burdens. Believe in yourself and know what a better person you can become serving God without the weight of addiction upon your shoulders!
Come to Jesus Christ! “For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, do not fear; I will help you.” Isaiah 41:13
“For God did not give us a Spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7
Jesus Christ is the power that overcomes all things that hold us in bondage. The foundation of truth, wisdom, and love is our stronghold! Take a hold of it now and let addiction go for good!
Copyright 2005 Angie Lewis
Author: Journey on the Roads Less Traveled
ISBN 1413788904 Writer for online Christian/spiritual ministry, Heaven Ministries. http://www.heavenministries.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Angie_Lewis [http://ezinearticles.com/?Overcoming-Addiction---Addiction-+-Denial-=-Out-of-Control&id=72425 ]http://EzineArticles.com/?Overcoming-Addiction—Addiction-+-Denial-=-Out-of-Control&id=72425

Take Steve and Iris (name change) who I have known for years. They married young (20), and had many things going for them, even though the stigma of a “way to young” marriage was always thrown at them by family and friends.

Steve had an active trade (certified mechanic) and Iris was a licensed nurse. Iris knew coming into the relationship that Steve had a “small” cocaine problem, but she was sure that he would outgrow it in time, especially with the new child on its way. Several years passed, and Steve couldn’t shake the habit. In-fact it seemed to get worse, as a weekend binge now turned into an almost daily event, with money disappearing out of he bank account at an accelerated rate.

Iris confronted Steve and put some ultimatums into place, as he was not only driving them into financial ruin, but behaving as a truly detached, incompetent father. Speeding up the story sees Steve and Iris separating for almost 3 years, as it took an inpatient rehab stay before Steve was able to break loose from the cocaine bondage.

Yes they are back together now, and thank God Steve is clean and sober. Everyone in this small family suffered, and I believe Iris suffered just as much as Steve. It was she who was up all night worrying if Steve would come home alive after a night of partying, and again her who took care of their child day and night while Steve was either incapacitated, or gone from their lives.

Addiction takes its toll on everyone. If you or a family member are struggling with this disease, get them help as quickly as possible. Time can be an enemy of someone struggling with an addiction, and you owe it to yourself and your partner to act as quickly as possible.

Until next time….stay well and God Bless…Vic