Free 1

- FREE -

“The Truth will Set You FREE”    

by Doug Reed

• Todays Topic: How ADDICTION Works 
• Todays References:  James 1:13-16  (NKJV)                                              

*  Series Verse:  John 8:36 (NIV)  “If the Son sets you free — You will be free indeed”     

(Use LEASH illustration again — Review last week — Truth and freedom go together — The world offer freedom but only Jesus offers “FREE INDEED” )  

This SERIES is predicated on the idea that JESUS wants you to have             LIFE and to have that LIFE to the FULL  (GO over JOHN 10:10)  

We have to LEAN into together this morning & GET that it is not GODS plan for US to have some LIFE CONTROLLING behavior stealing the PLAN of GOD and the GLORY of GOD in our LIVES — GOD wants us FREE 

• LOUIS GIGLIO —  “Our FREEDOM and God’s GLORY are                         forever interwoven into ONE STORY”   

God wants the GLORY of your FREEDOM STORY  (Celebration of your Liberation) 

The LIVING STORY of a FREE version of YOU and ME is the way GOD plans to GLORIFY HIMSELF  ——  We are supposed to be a LIVING CELEBRATION of the power of God’s GRACE to set us FREE!! 

(TRANSITION)  But… The fact is that many of us are simply not FREE                             — Instead we are BOUND — We are ADDICTED  

*** INTRO Todays Topic ***  The way the ENEMY STEALS the LIFE that           JESUS offers is by means of ADDICTION 

*** My prep time this week — God’s heart was communicated to me — God does not want HIS people to be ADDICTED to anything except HIM *** 

-   Lets fact it … We are ADDICTED to many things — This place is a      BUFFET of ADDICTIONS today — They are MANY and they are MUCH             ——   ADDICTION… It’s name is LEGION  ——

— There are ADDICTIONS here of all SHAPES and sizes — Some are the    BIG ONES (GIANTS) like DRUGS or ALCOHOL or PORNOGRAPHY 

It’s a substance of some kind  —  (Meth - Weed - Coke - Oxy - Pain meds - Alcohol - Even FOOD)  — You turn to it that and it dulls the pain of your life 

*** (ELAB on each one)  Maybe its MONEY or SEX or STUFF (Nordstrom - Target - Walmart (24 hours)  —  RETAIL THERAPY Joke  —  It could be Accomplishment or Achievement  —  Adrenaline Junkies (Double shot or triple shot)  —  Some are addicted to PAIN (Relationships) (Cutting)                   —  OR even PEOPLE — Why haven't HE / SHE texted me… me??? *** 

*** OR A MASSIVE ONE — ** STIMULATION — IPAD - IPOD — TV — EVERYTHING — ILLUSTRATION (Parents giving us as kids a paper towel roll)  Now we can’t spend an hour together without STIMULATION ***

WHY???  Because we are ADDICTED — Addicted to all MANNER of things 

— Have you ever heard the phrase… “An Addictive Personality?”  (ELAB)  

GET THIS:   We all have ADDICTIVE PERSONALITIES… In fact…                 — You were created by God to be DEPENDENT  

• We were created BY God & FOR God — We are DEPENDENT & INTERDEPENDENT creatures — We need God & we need EACH OTHER 

— This is the way God has built you and me… We get our VALUE by the fact    that we were created BY GOD  —  We get our PURPOSE by the fact that     we were created FOR GOD — We are MADE to to depend on GOD 

BUT… Like everything else… The LIAR  —  The ENEMY —  He Uses our        GOD given DEPENDENT NATURES against us  —  He offers        anything BUT GOD to PACIFY (not satisfy) our DEPENDENCY 

*** TOP ADDICTION — ** The  APPROVAL of OTHERS — People who tell you “I do not care what others think” — TRANSLATION “I really really care about what other people think” — We all do — INSTAGRAM & FACE-BOOK — They have it all figured out  (The power of the word LIKE)  REFRESH JOKE … How sad it can be… We check and we wait *** 

• This world is increasingly becoming more and more of a “SET-UP”                             for people who need the APPROVAL of other PEOPLE 

—  You might say… “I am getting off of FACE-BOOK or INSTAGRAM or    whatever”  — GOOD — But know this…  Underneath your need for       APPROVAL is a DEEPER issue  ——>   **  COMPULSIVENESS 

Wether it is the your need for APPROVAL or a PAIN your trying to mask with a CHEMICAL or STIMULATION  ——  There is a RIVER beneath the SURFACE of your ISSUE  (Root verses Fruit) ——                                                           ——  YOUR RIVER of COMPULSION is being driven by something 

(TRANSITION to TEXT - 1 )  Now… If we could dig down beneath the surface of ADDICTION - We would find many things:  A PERSON - A PLACE - A PAIN —   OR…  An EVENT that caused an INSECURITY that                          is so deep that you fear you will never recover 

I am not discounting that… BUT —  If we really want to be FREE….                            — we have to DIG even DEEPER

• To find FREEDOM — We have to dig deeper than EVENTS or HISTORY — We have to dive into the MYSTERY of our NATURES 

Stop asking “How do I stop” or “Where did this begin” and start asking… ——  “Why do I feel COMPELLED to do the thing I do?”  ——

— We have to DIG all the way DOWN to the ORIGINATION                                  of our FLAWED characters — The sin of the GARDEN  — (FAST) 

*** FAST — ADAM and EVE — Naked & no Shame — But then they Sin — They Hide and they cover — (Addiction is how we HIDE — How we Cover) — Brief “Twisted / Bent Nature stuff” — Hit on Insecurity *** 

So….   Now we wrestle with COMPULSIONS — DEPENDENCIES                                  — INSECURITIES… & the Controlling Behaviors that go along with it 

• ADDICTION is (ultimately) a COVERING and COPING              mechanism that flows from our FLAWED sinful NATURES                                       (Your COMPULSIONS originate with your irreplaceably broken CHARACTER)  

—   The GOOD NEWS of the GOSPEL is that JESUS came to do what                       we are POWERLESS to do:  Set us FREE from SIN & SELF 

* John 6:36a (NIV)  - “The Spirit gives LIFE - The Flesh counts for NOTHING”  

—  PAUL even prayed that God would “RESCUE him                  from this BODY of DEATH”   (Romans 7:24) 

PRAYER: “Rescue me from my COMPULSIONS that fuel my ADDICTIONS”  

(Final Transition to TEXT)  God wants to ANSWER that prayer today & give you                           both HIS POWER and HIS WISDOM to be FREE 

—  A great PASSAGE that OUTLINES the way our COMPULSIVE    ADDICTIONS work is JAMES 1:13-15 — It is powerful & enlightening  

James 1:13-15 (NKJV)  Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 

But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.  Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death

Verses 14 & 15 of this passage methodically line out the PROCESS by          which we become BOUND in SIN  (Remind of DOG LEASH ILL.)  

There are  * 5 STAGES of  ADDICTION FORMATION (revealed here) 

• 1. The DESIRE stage  
• 2. The ENTICING stage  
• 3. The CONCEPTION (deception) stage 
• 4. The BIRTHING stage 
• 5. The GROWTH (bondage/death) stage     

Lets UNPACK this…   — TEMPTATION begins with (DESIRE) 

— As we have just talked about… DESIRE (evil compulsion) originates            with our BENT NATURES…  Desire happens QUICKLY and SUBTLY  

*** Mall… Victoria not-so- secret — or BASS PRO — Late night TV —     —— Desire is birthed by what we give our attention to ***

• The KEY to you winning the BATTLE of TEMPTATION is to                 FIGHT EARLY — In the REALM of your DESIRE — Out of              control ATTENTION always leads to out of control DESIRE 

*** — ME and My day at the BEACH years ago — *** 

NOTE:  DESIRE battles are THOUGHT LIFE BATTLES  

— The moment a DESIRE become a THOUGHT You have Two Options: ——  DEAL WITH IT OR DWELL ON IT 

When you meditate on a WRONG THOUGHT it exponentially increases DESIRE

SO BIG…  SINFUL DESIRE comes from you making your SINFUL NATURE        a PRIORITY by giving your ATTENTION to SINFUL THINGS 

(ENTICED)     James 1:14a — “each one is tempted when he is drawn away                                                                   by his own desires & ENTICED”

— This is a FISHERMAN’S TERM   ** Me and FISHING **                    FISHING is built on TWO THINGS:   ** DESIRE & ENTICEMENT 

** You FISH when fish have a DESIRE to FEED (Winter vs Spring)           — We use their DESRE against them in the form of ENTICEMENT ** 

*** Do FISHING POLE and LURES Illustration — 

— The “She’s so HOT BAIT”  — The “My husband doesn't understand me like “HE” does bait”  — “This is gonna take away you pain bait”  — “This will make you happy bait”  — “You know better (than God) bait”  

*** Build up to the OTHER STUFF —  CUPCAKE — MONEY STACK  — FANCY CAR KEYS — DRUG BOTTLE *** 

• The DEVIL has been TEMPTING longer than you have been SINNING            —— If you PLAY his GAME you will LOSE BIG every time 

*** Go over each of the LURES — The enemy has way more TRICKS in his bag than you have the will power to resist — He studies your desires *** 

(CONCEPTION/DECEPTION)   *** USE a LURE with a HOOK *** 

Once DESIRE and ENTICEMENT have captured you… the CONCEPTION / DECEPTION stage begins — We IGNORE the HOOK and deceive ourselves 

—— PLANNING for SIN can take YEARS or MONTHS or                                             just DAYS or MINUTES — Even just SECONDS 

— The LIES are always the SAME:  “You need this” - “You deserve this” “No one will know” - “God will forgive you”  - “It no big deal - just 1 time”    “I wont suffer any consequences - I wont get addicted”  

*** Casino ILL.  — Ignore the odds — Im going to WIN this time”   *** 

DESIRE and ENTICEMENT drag us away and SIN DECEIVES and                  so it is CONCEIVED — (We are like sheep led to the slaughter)  

• Key Verse:  Proverbs 22:3 (NLT)  A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions — The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.

(BIRTHING)  — The BIRTH of SIN happens QUICKLY —— your                  just DRAGGED AWAY —  (USE the LURE — Chase it)  

*** PRINGLE’S — Once you POP you cant STOP *** 

• Ignoring the consequences — Taking massive risks — Your fully deceived *

(GROWTH- bondage/death)   SIN grows UP at an alarming rate and SOON          it becomes a KILLER of all things good 

James 1:15 (NKJV)  “Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin;  and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death”

MSG - Lust (desire) gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin!                                         — Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer

—— What has ADDICTION killed in your LIFE?   

*** Your big dreams?  Your integrity?  Your purity?  Your peace of mind?  Your financial security?  Your self esteem?  Your self respect?  Your relationship with you spouse or kids?  Your relationship with God  — your sense of His presence?  Your physical and emotional health?  *** 

**  CLOSE:  ADDICTION is EASY — Change is HARD 

Hebrews 12  tells us to “Throw off everything that hinders and the SIN that easily ENTANGLES”  — and “run the RACE God has marked out for us”  

— It is not HARD to GET ADDICTED — To get ENTANGLED by SIN 

*** Use KOOPERS LEASH or the fishing line to ENTANGLE myself ***

—— It is not hard to be ENVELOPED by an ADDICTION ——  

But… It is HARD to get FREE without JESUS — Even with JESUS             you have to want FREEDOM with all of your HEART 

—— CHANGE is ALWAYS PAINFUL!!! 

***  The great cultural LIE —— CHANGE w/out PAIN — Take this pill  — watch this video — Eat whatever you want — Change without     changing anything —— It is always a LIE!!!  *** 

—— CHANGE is always a BOLD move — Change is WAR

• You will only CHANGE when the PAIN of CHANGE                           becomes less than the PAIN of STAYING THE SAME

GET THIS:  Every-time you give up an ADDICTION you need to replace    it with an OBSESSION   (Overeating for working out)  

*** NOTE:  Even healthy things can become addictions *** 

JESUS is the only OBSESSION that will never lead to ADDICTION  

 — HE is what your HEART has always longed for!   — Too much of     JESUS is never enough — He always satisfies and fulfills  (ELAB)  

ALTAR:   What has captured you?  What are the LIST of your      —— ADDICTIONS?  Are you not TIRED of being enslaved?  

John 8:36 (NIV)  “If the Son sets you free — You will be free indeed”  

—  God wants the GLORY from YOUR STORY — His story of GRACE