Batten Down The Hatches

II Peter 1:3
As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.

You have been trapped in a life of darkness and addiction.
You want out but lack strength and will power.
You have become a slave to the very thing you thought you controlled.
There doesn't seem to be an escape from this life of darkness and hell.
Now you want out.

You have tried different things.
You went to multiple rehab's.
You even went to AA meetings or NA meetings.
Nothing changed.
You prayed.
You cried.
You used again.
You hated yourself.
The cycle went on and on and on.
Each trip around, you grew weaker and weaker.
You quit caring and you may have even accepted you lot in life as the way it will be to the end.
But that thought......
That idea that seemed to settle down in your brain and heart, was straight from the pit of hell.
We call it False Belief #4 --- I am what I am and I cannot change.
When a person falls into this belief and lifestyle, it is a dangerous place.

But there is One who can do for you what you are unable to do for yourself.
He is known by many names.
Wonderful.........Counselor.......Mighty God.......Prince of Peace........The Everlasting God......The Lamb who took away the sins of the world........The Lion of the tribe of Judah......Messiah.....The Christ........The Deliverer.
Who would ever have these names associated to himself unless he possessed the power, character and authority...to free the lives of people trapped under the death penalty of sin?
For those who are addicted, the idea of Jesus being able to free them seen as almost a fairy tale.
How do you reconcile Jesus of Scripture into the life of someone addicted? Because the shed blood of Jesus at Calvary is the answer to every sin problem that plagues our life. In other words, the way has been opened for anyone under the curse of sin to be free.

Jesus, being the answer to our sin problem, in our minds, seems so out of touch with our society that we discount the idea that He is the answer we have been looking for.
We turn to psychology.
We turn to Eastern mysticism.
We look to ancient religions and claim that there are many paths to enlightenment.
In other words, we wallow in the vomit of the world trying to clean ourselves in an effort to free ourselves from our addiction.

We must realize that our problem lies within. Our addiction is a symptom of our living problem. What living problem? We have a broken relationship with Jesus.
That relationship was broken in Genesis 3 (Garden of Eden where woman and man disobeyed God).
Sin became the barrier that separated us from God.
Separated from God, we turned to our own desires and wants. We fed that nature inside of ourselves everything it demanded. We worshipped the sin nature by giving it whatever it wanted.
IF it demanded drugs, we got drugs no matter what it took. If it demanded sex, we found someone to fulfill that desire. We served the god of "ME". I had a god created in the image of me. Where has my god left me? Broken..........loaded under guilt and shame.........everything around me destroyed or broken.

What's the answer?
Jesus.
I know it sounds too simple.
Maybe it even sounds like a fairy tale or some kind of science fiction story.
But it is truth.
Romans 10:9 -  That if you confess with your mouth, the LORD Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

I can write these things because of what Jesus has done for me.
I know my history and how my life has changed since I was saved.
I have seen my marriage restored when it stood at the brink of divorce. Jesus saves.
I have seen every area of my life touched and changed. Jesus saves.
I have been given purpose where, in the past, I wandered from job to job. Jesus saves.
I have two wonderful godly sons. Jesus saves.
I have two beautiful daughters-in-law. Jesus saves
My grand children.......I love them beyond belief. Jesus saves.
My destiny has been sealed. No matter what happens in this life, heaven is my home. Jesus saves.
I want to close with some verses from I John Chapter 1:
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled concerning the Word of Life---
The life was manifested and we have seen and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us......

The things I share with you, I do so because of Jesus who has been manifested in my own life.
Thanks for stopping by Greene Street Letters, and may the God of peace lead you into the saving knowledge of His son, Jesus.

God on you....
mb