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Foreign. Welcome to the Project 108 podcast. I'm Scott. I'm going to be your host today. Thank you for joining us. I hope you're having a good day so far. If this is your first time with us, let me just tell you a little bit about what this is all about. Here at Project one eight. We created this place to be an interactive spot where people can ask us some of the questions that are on their mind and on their heart. Maybe there's things that are troubling them, and in all honesty, they don't begin to know where to go with those questions, who to talk to. We want you to understand that this is a place where you can ask those questions. In fact, we've made it really easy. There's a link right in the description where you can connect with us. You can do that anonymously. You can ask us some of the questions about things that you're seeing in your culture, some things going on with your family, your friends, maybe you personally, things that trouble you, maybe get you up at night, in the middle of the night. And you can know that my friends and I are going to do the very best that we can to try to frame those questions with answers that come from the word of God, from the scriptures. We do that because we believe that the Bible was given to us to help us understand who God is and the love that he has for us and who Jesus is and the fact that he has a plan and he has a purpose in our life. And it's really amazing thing. It's a beautiful thing. And yet we understand that going to church sometimes can be a little bit overwhelming. It could seem quite odd, or there's a lot of folks out there who have had bad experiences with the church as well. So we just want to remove those barriers as much as possible and be a place where you can trust us to love you without shame and without ridicule and just try to do the best that we can to provide you a little bit of hope and an alternative to some of those things that are going on within your life. Like today, for example. Today we're going to be talking about addictive behavior, and we're going to specifically be asking the question, you know, does the Bible tell us that God can help me overcome harmful addictions? But before we get too far into that, let me just address some of the complex issues that are layered in this question to help us narrow our focus for today to the core of what's really going on when we ask that question. I mean, let's go ahead and start out by defining what addiction is today. We're going to, just for our purposes here on the podcast, we're going to be saying that addictive behavior is an inability to stop doing or using something, especially something harmful. Now, I readily admit that there are many things that influence addictive behavior, and we're certainly not going to be able to discuss all of today. It's an exhaustive study. There's a lot that goes into why we do the things that we do. There's biology. Sometimes our chemical makeup may produce a more likelihood of substance dependence. There's even cultural issues that go into addiction, things that define harmful habits. For example, many Westerners would say that workaholism is actually a virtue and it's not a vice. But is it indeed an addictive behavior? We're also not going to be able to talk about some of the treatments for addiction. We're not going to get into California sober or Cali sober, which has to do with harm reduction versus absolute absolutism. We're not going to be able to cover all of that today. But what I do want to do and what I do want to talk about, however, is, is kind of focusing on certainly something along the lines of the spiritual component of addiction. In other words, does a person who has believing loyalty in Jesus, also known among Christians as being saved? Maybe you've heard that term before in Bible language. It's a person who recognizes that they have sin in their life and they have responded to, in faith to the work of that Jesus did in his life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension. Trusting him, does that person have something different about them that can help them overcome repetitive destructive and harmful behavior? I'm going to suggest that the answer is yes. I believe that they do have resources, for lack of a better term, that are available to them that somebody who is far from God just doesn't have. So if you're somebody who believes in Jesus and you find yourself thinking along the lines of will this addiction always be here? Is this as good as it's going to get? I mean, do I have to accept this addiction? Can he give me victory where I've only known years and years of defeat? I hope you're going to take encouragement as we look at a couple of things today. Let me start out by just again affirming you about what it means to be in Christ. What that looks like in the day to day life. That you have it first of all means that there's something new that's going on at work in you. And we're going to be using a lot of Bible passages today. And so I'm not going to be able to like, describe where all of those things are found in the Bible. But I'm going to encourage you to listen to this with a Bible in front of you and maybe go to some of these passages and understand a little bit about what's going on. Let me go first to a book that was written in the second half of our Bible, which is called the New Testament. It's found in Second Corinthians, is the name of that book, chapter five and verse 17. Here we read, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away and see the new has come. That new thing that the author is referencing there that has come is God's spirit living within us. That's something that happens when we put our faith and our trust in Jesus. John chapter 14 says this. If you love me, you'll keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father and He will give you another counselor to be with you forever. And he is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn't see him or know Him. But you do know him because he remains with you and he will be in you. But the counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything that I have told you. So God's spirit actually comes to live within us. When we understand and we put our faith and trust in Jesus back in First Corinthians, then it says this. Don't you know then that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, who you have from God. You are not your own. You were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. Consider this. Then let me put some practical application to what it means to have God's spirit or God himself indwelling us. There are others I think immediately we think of, like there's going to be a future benefit to that. I know that one day when I pass away, that if I have put my faith in Jesus, something in the future is going to be good. And we're going to talk more about that. We're going to have an episode on the afterlife. What does it mean when we die? Where do we go? What happens next? What's that look like for a person who puts their faith in Christ versus a person who doesn't? But there's not only future benefits to it, there's daily Benefits and present benefits to who we are as well. There's a book in the New Testament that's called First John. And in that book, in chapter three, it kind of describes what's going on today. Here we can read that. It says, see the great love that the Father has given us that we should be called God's children. And we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it didn't know Him. Dear friends, we are God's children now. And what we will be has not yet been revealed. That's the future thing. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is. And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure. So there's that daily component because God is at work doing something in us, in his spirit. One day we know that something will happen. Amazing where we're going to be like Christ. But yet today that gives us something that we can do to help purify ourselves. So let's unpack that a little bit more. In simple terms, John is saying this purity thing that we can go through can happen just as a reality about what is going to happen in the future. Both of these things are assured. Let's do this. Let's think of this in terms of the change that's known as metamorphosis that takes place when a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. It illustrates a significant transformation that takes place when something that is one thing becomes something that is quite different. We know that from the Bible that we are being changed right now. And that transformation will one day, in fact, be complete. And. And in fact, the Greek Word, which the New Testament was originally written in Greek, from which we get the word metamorphosis, occurs four times in the Scripture, two times. It occurs within what we call the Gospels, which are the narrative descriptions of Jesus's life. You may know them from your Bible as Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They are autobiography. They're biographies that describe who he was and what he did. They paint different portraits of him. The Word occurs twice there during an event where Jesus goes up onto a mountain with three of his friends and he transfigures himself. Now, I know that's a really churchy word, but it basically means that he became glorified in front of them. And glorification is. They got to see him as he will be in the future and as he was in the past. They got to experience the brightness of his glory. And they described that as being that metamorphosis that that change that was before him. But the other two times it occurs in the Bible are what's really interesting for us as well. The first occurs in Second Corinthians, chapter 3, verse 18. Here it says, we all with unveiled faces are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord. And we right now are being transformed. There's our Greek word metamorphosis into the same image, from glory to glory. This is from the Lord. And who is the Spirit? Now what it's saying, there is this transformation that's going on right now in the present tense, something that's happening right now where we are being made to be more like Jesus. The really interesting place that this occurs is the fourth time that this word occurs. That's found in Romans, chapter 121 and 2. This is interesting because here we read, therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true worship. Do not be conformed to this age. Now here comes our word. But be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing and perfect will of God. Here's what's interesting about these verses and how it can help us understand addictive behaviors. The Corinthian use of the verb metamorphosis is the present tense, which I mentioned, is indicating that right now we are in the process of being transformed into that ultimate glory that Jesus will give us through the Holy Spirit, that existence of ultimately being glorified. And I promise we're going to do episodes on what that means is the completion of what we call our current sanctification process, the setting apart of what God is doing for us and in this world. That's what is meant by sanctification. He's doing something in us every single day that ultimately will result in us having that same glory that Jesus showed to his friends up on that mountain. That same transformation, the Romans passage then helps us understand that this, this change, this transformation is also a moral possibility. It's all in a moral context of what we can do today in order to help us with that change that's already taking place in us because of the Holy Spirit and again because of God's work in us that can result in victory through the renewal of our minds. So let's put a bow on this and put it in more simple terms. God is in the process of freeing us from to change our destructive habits. This is a thought that's echoed in a book called Galatians. In chapter five, verse one, it says, for freedom, Christ has set us free. Stand firm then and don't submit again to a yoke of slavery. And what the author is saying there is, look, now you have something new that's going on in you. The spirit of God that's working within you, makes it possible at a new level for you to look at life differently. You can lean into him and you can understand that you don't have to be held in bondage to some of the sinful patterns that you used to have in your own life. So what's this mean then? Some very practical thoughts about the spiritual component of addiction. Well, I think first of all, we need to understand that, that we will never be perfect in this world. I mean, this is swinging that pendulum the other way, right? And maybe you grew up in a church where it was like just a whole list of do's and don'ts that kind of exhausted you and it left you feeling like, I'm never going to be able to live up to this list. And you know, therefore why should I even try what the scriptures are talking about? And I think you, you and I can both understand this from a practical point. We're never going to be perfect. Like our sin nature is not eradicated just because we trust and have believing loyalty in Jesus. That's not going to happen. We're human. And so let's not go there. Let's not, you know, begin to say that there is some three point method that I can do where I'm going to end up being perfect. That's just not the story of the Bible and it's not our human journey as well. A healthy mental balance is found somewhere between conceding to the control of sin and surrendering the strongholds to God and asking for his help. Like we don't have to accept defeat either. Saying that we'll never be free from the thing that controls us. To claim that is to diminish the power of God. We have the right as his children to ask him to do astonishing things within our life, to do miraculously, things that will free us from the things that shackle us. I mean, he can do that for us, but oftentimes we just never ask Him. Think about this. If the Creator God of the universe, all of his power, all of his might, all of his love that he had for us to become human in order to provide us a method of future salvation, that certainly applies today. I can trust him today as much to get me through the next Few days, the next few hours, as I can with my eternity. That's part of the joy of our salvation, of understanding Jesus as our victor. But in reality, we never really rely on Him. We get into this cycle of failure and shame because we power up in our own strength. That's a good Western thing to do, right? We just pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. We don't seek help, we don't seek advice. So that said, when defeat comes, we need to be at peace that God can forgive us every single time as we continue to grow in Him. Our human failure will never change the way that he sees us, nor should we heap deeper levels of guilt on ourselves. That would mean that we would choose to stay in a place of defeat and that Christian life is growing in our brokenness and it's not dwelling in it. You know what I mean? There's a balance there that, like, we can never accept total defeat because that would diminish God. That would say that he can't do that. And, you know, I don't know about you, but I don't like to put the word can't in God in too many sentences together. He can do these things, but we need to understand that we have to ask him to be able to do that. Ask him to do the extraordinary within our life. Take Paul's words from Philippians, chapter three. Now, if you don't know Paul's background, Paul was like a religious zealot. You know, he was really into the do's and the don'ts of his faith. You know, you had to do things, you didn't have to do the other things. And that, that defined his morality. And then he meets Jesus, really interesting story. While he's traveling to persecute some Christians, he's going to throw families in jail, he's going to torture them. He's just got this terrible story, this backstory of his life. And yet he goes on to write a major portion of the Bible in a book called Philippians to a church in a city called Philippi. He writes this. He says, brothers and sisters, I. I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing that I do, forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God's heavenly call in Christ Jesus. Therefore, let all of us who are mature think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this also to you. It may mean that you are in a spot that calls for concentrated prayer and fasting in your life. And. And we're going to do an episode on what that means. What does it mean to pray and to fast? You know, why is giving up something like food or something that I can fast away from, how's that going to help me spiritually? We'll do an episode on that. But there are times in our life when it's really necessary to change it up to get out of the rut, to focus in on the Lord through prayer and fasting. And this should be one of the first things that we do. We need to ask the Lord for his victory. Another thought here, too is we need to remember that our faith puts us into a community of others, and part of God's plan is that we support each other in this life. That's a distant thought for a lot of us who live in an individualistic culture. But for the original audiences of the Bible, that was an unspoken reality. People didn't try to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. They live connected in communities that shared in burdens and celebrations. It was natural to get advice from the family. It was natural to get advice from the community. As you struggled through things, everybody knew what was going on and they were there to help. That was a positive thing. So, again, you know, addiction is a very complex issue, and we can't resolve that in just this one podcast. In fact, we are going to do some interviews and podcasts, coming up with experts on addiction. We're going to talk with people themselves who have gone through addictions and are battling addictions in the moment. And we're going to hear from them what it means to lean into the fact that Jesus is there with you in his spirit, and that he can help you through some of these things. And for our purposes today, we just can't exhaust this subject, but we are going to circle back to it. But I do want to encourage you. There are resources available, if you've never thought of it this way, that help you in your battle. And according to the Scriptures, the greatest resource is Jesus himself. He loves you enough to respond to the prayers that you have. I love how the author of the Book of Hebrews puts it in chapter four. This is one of my favorite parts of the Bible. The author writes, therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens and Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, Let us approach the Throne of Grace with boldness so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. I want to thank you for listening today. I know this is a very difficult issue. If there is something that we can do to help you in your battle with addiction, I want you to know that we have resources beyond listening to this broadcast. Please connect with us directly again through that link that's in the description. We can put you in touch with counselors, people that can talk with you. We can help you with whatever that addiction is to really take some positive, practical steps to overcoming it. We don't want you to live in a place that. That is controlled by something other than God, something that's unhealthy for you. There's so much more to life and we just want to be able to be here as a resource for you. So, again, I just want to thank you for tuning in today. Thank you for trusting us. I hope you're encouraged through this portion of the scriptures. I hope this is a beginning of a journey back to healthiness. If you're really broken right now and you're understanding, like, where do I even begin to start? Let us be your starting point. Just connect with us and we will do the very best to. To love you and to pray along with you and to lock arms with you in this journey. The next time that we get together on the next episode, I'm going to be leaning into some of the supernatural content of the Bible. We're going to be talking about, you know, what's the reality of angels, demons? We're going to begin to lay the foundational work for the afterlife, what's going on with spiritual warfare, those type of things. And so I hope if you find that to be an interesting subject, that you'll be able to join us for the next podcast. But for now, again, just thank you so much. God bless you all and I hope you have an encouraging day. Take good care.