22/02/2020
ACTIVATING GRACE IN THE FACE OF ADDICTION… Part 1
Apostle Gideon Odoma
Grace can be undermined in effect if we lack proper conception and comprehension of its nature, its enhancers and its inhibitors. A person can receive God’s grace and underutilize it.
Victory over addictions and destructive habits begins with basic understanding and a healthy acceptance of responsibilities. Addiction is not something that HAPPENS to a person; it is something that a person DOES. This is crucial. Take some responsibility for where you are at. We will eventually consider the role of satan and demons in the addiction web, but you have to take some responsibility first. No one becomes addicted to anything overnight, or suddenly and without their active initial cooperation. Before a practice or vice becomes an addiction, it begins as a choice. Someone only begins to lose control incrementally as his system not only ADAPTS to the destructive rhythm of the new practice (or habit) but also as her system becomesDEPENDENT on the rhythm of the practice that eventually becomes the addiction.
The behavior or practice which ultimately becomes the addiction, is initially under the person now addicted, within her control, before she eventually goes under it. It takes time and a process to come under the bo***ge of an addiction. Therefore, it often takes time and a process to break free from its hold. Occasionally, God intervenes in drastic ways, so that the full grip and influence of the addiction is shattered in a moment of encounter or visitation. Yet, the normal route to victory is often progressive and incremental.
THREE REGULAR GATES
There are gates through which the initial seeds that give rise to destructive habits are sown. The three frequently used gates are the EYE gate, the EAR gate and the FANTASY gate. What you see, gaze upon and watch, matter. What you hear and listen to also matters. Don’t put yourself in a place or situation that compromises your visual and auditory purity. When these two gates are charged by exposure to the perverse and immoral, the FANTASY gate is activated. So that beyond what you saw and heard, your imagination goes to work to improve and furnish you with further pictures and templates of what else you could see and hear that may not be physically available.
The imagination is incredibly elastic in its capacity to generate visuals as a means of augmenting what you saw or heard at a previous point. Guard your eyes and your ears. What movies you watch, what songs your listen to, what occasions and ceremonies you attend are all tributaries, contributing to the overall health of your soul and spirit. Sensual lyrics, music, and movies are slippery slopes. They will take you to unintended but inevitably ruinous destinations.
Biblical background and pathway to Victory:
Romans 6 (read whole chapter)
We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
For one who has died has been set free from sin. (Rom 6:6,7)
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
For he that is dead is freed from sin. KJV
The first handle in Romans 6 for our consideration is KNOWING.
Knowing is an epistemic posture that affirms, primarily affirms the status of our old man as crucified, in keeping with the operations of God in Christ Jesus, through Jesus’ atonement. Knowing is a deep-seated conviction in the heart of the believer that enables him to grasp what God has done for us in Christ Jesus with an assurance sustained by the consistently beaming brilliance of the testimony of God’s Spirit.
The process of KNOWING may begin by contemplating, reading, and studying the acts and processes of God in Christ Jesus for us, as revealed in the scriptures but the process becomes fruitful at some particular point and time-t, when revelation, divine revelation breaks through the barricade of the soul and becomes a living light in our spirit. There is a point where the Spirit applies this truth (of God’s great work for us) to the believer’s spirit immediately, without the aid of the soul. At this blessed point, Light breaks out in the human spirit, and a profound, sublime awareness of what God has done in Christ Jesus becomes intimately, and organically understood by the believer’s spirit. This is the moment, the glorious moment of KNOWING. And this is the first operation of God in our lives, if we will be brought into a spiritual state of conviction regarding any redemptive reality and if we will experience victory over the carnal nature in specific areas.
– To be continued
- Apostle Gideon Odoma
