Our key recovery verse at His Way is:
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)
In this verse, Paul emphasizes that the key to change – radical change – is the renewal of your mind. My mantra at His Way is, “You Live What You Believe.” Every action, word, thought, and choice made is an expression of our belief system – not just what we say we believe but what we truly believe.
Jesus said,
“Out of the heart the mouth speaks,” (Luke 6:45)
Our words and actions reveal our true faith. Therefore, if you want to change your living, you must change your believing. God does not reveal His true reality in our hearts, as our contemporary culture would like us to believe. In fact, scripture tells us,
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and is desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).
Instead, God’s truth is revealed through His Word in Scripture.
Addiction Is a Mind Problem
My children grew up in the 1980s and early 90s during Nancy Reagan’s, “Just Say No” drug campaign. One popular television commercial showed a man holding a round, white egg while saying, “This is your brain.” He then cracked the egg and dropped the yolk into a frying pan. As the egg sizzled, the man said, “This is your brain on drugs.”
Addiction, whether to drugs or any other obsession, is rooted in the mind. Paul addresses this in Ephesians 4:17 with the phrase, “futility of their minds.”
“Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.”
Paul says all sin and rebellion against God is rooted in problem in the mind. Futile thinking is influenced by the world rather than by our Creator. Paul’s solution to our lifestyle problem is a renewed mind. He reveals a process of transformation,
“Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created in the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24)
The key to real change – to transformation – is mind renewal, and the source of mind renewal is Scripture.
“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” – (Romans 8:5-6)
So, transformation of your life requires a change in the mind.
Addiction Is a Spirit Problem
Let us go back to the beginning and remember that we are created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 2:7). Psalms 8:5 says,
“You made us a little lower than yourself, and you have crowned us with glory and honor.” (CEV)
In Genesis it says that after God formed us, He uniquely breathed into us the breath of life, and we became living beings. Being made in the image of God means we contain the spirit of God through the breath of God. When we are disconnected from God by sin and disbelief, His spirit within us shrivels and becomes dormant. While all humans are created in the image of God, only through His breath do we live out His character and purpose.
The spirit of God also resides in His Word. Paul writes,
“All Scripture is breathed out by God (or inspired by God).” II Timothy 3:16
The English word “inspired” comes from the Old English word “inspirited,” which means to place one’s spirit into another.
As a child I watched the TV show Sea Hunt starring Lloyd Bridges. In many episodes, there was a crisis when one of the scuba divers ran out of air or was cut off from his oxygen. The drama of the episode centered around him fighting desperately for his very last breath. Inevitably, the hero would rescue the distressed diver by sharing their oxygen. I can still picture the face of the diver when they finally got a breath of air after having been deprived of oxygen for what seemed like an eternity. What a relief and a jubilation!
Scripture is just like that, a life-giving breath of air. We all need spiritual resuscitation, and God’s Word is our only source.
Isaiah paints a beautiful picture of God’s Word in Isaiah 55:10-11.
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
God’s promise through Isaiah is that His Word will never return to Him void. It will always accomplish His purpose.
Our purpose at His Way is to reclaim, rebuild and restore. If you’d like to be a part of this mission, contact us today to learn how you can get involved.