Page 83 - Overcoming Addiction

The Believer’s life is to be one of abiding in Christ. We must always stay
connected to the source of divine life. We dare not walk away from His presence.
The Spirit of Christ dwelling in us is capable of the most intimate and specific
instructions.

I Corinthians 2:11-13
For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the
man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the
Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the
Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by
God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom,
but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with
spiritual words.

If you are a Christian, you have received the Spirit of Christ to instruct you
and lead you in all things. This even includes the specific instructions regarding
how you are to overcome your addictive desires. Do not make the mistake of
thinking that because the Lord led one person to do a particular thing, that He will
lead everyone in the same manner. He will not. There may be general principles
that we must all follow, but the specifics of our battle to overcome addiction will
be tailored to us as individuals.
We can see the truth of this as we once more look at the history of the
Israelites as they went in to take possession of the land and drive out all the
enemies. Yahweh gave the people specific instructions for each battle. Each city
they conquered was fought in a different way.
The first city that Yahweh led the people to conquer was Jericho. Under the
leadership of Joshua they were shown precisely what to do, and it was a most
unusual battle plan. Yahweh instructed all the people to march around the city of
Jericho once a day for six days. As they marched they were to remain silent. On
the seventh day they were to march around the city seven times, and after the
seventh time around the priests were instructed to blow the trumpets and all the
people were to shout. Yahweh promised them that as they did so the walls would
fall down.
Now, you or I would never in our wildest imagination have come up with
such a peculiar plan of battle. Our knowledge of how battles are conventionally
fought would have most likely shaped our idea of how Jericho should be
conquered. We might have thought of laying siege to the city, or constructing
some type of towers, or using battering rams on the gates. I do not think any of us
would have come up with the idea to simply march around it as Yahweh instructed
them to do. But Yahweh’s plan worked. When the people shouted the walls of
Jericho fell down and the people of the city were undefended. Israel then went in
and easily conquered the city.
There is absolutely nothing written in Scripture that is without a purpose.
We should anticipate that there are great lessons for us in the detailed description
of Israel’s conquest of Jericho. Yahweh wants us to understand that the battles in
our lives are not to be fought according to the wisdom of the world. We are always