Foundational Truths for the Addicted (Part 1)

The first foundational truth for the addict is the answer to the question Who are you?  It amazes me at how as a society we label the addicted.  I hear regularly people labeling themselves as alcoholics, or addicts and many in society labeling them with terms like drunkard, crackhead, junkie, smackhead, or druggie.  Is this who you are as one struggling with addiction?  I think not.

To understand who we are let us look at where we came from. 

Genesis 1:26 (KJV) ²⁶ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Genesis 2:21-23 (KJV) ²¹ And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; ²² And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. ²³ And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

According to God, you are made in the likeness of God.  God's Word declares you as the only one of His creation made in His image.  Yes, you may have made wrong choices that have led you into a lifestyle of addiction, but that is not who you are.  You are God's crowning work in creation.  You are the only one of God's creation made in His image. 

Foundational Truth #1:  You are Made in the Image of God!

Because you are made in the image of God there are two truths I would like for you to consider.

First, the God who made you, is the same God who can provide all of your needs. 

How many needs did Adam and Eve have that God did not directly provide?  Of course, the answer is none. Let's think about that for a second.  Did they have a need for love?  Yes they did, but God provided.  Did they have a need for personal significance and worth?  Yes they did, but God provided.   Were they living free from addiction, free from worry, free from depression, free from bondage, free from materialism, free from jealousy, free from discontentment?  Yes they were because God provided all their needs. 

God provided all their needs through their relationship with Him.  This same God is able to provide these same needs in our lives today. 

Philippians 4:18-20 (KJV) ¹⁸ But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God. ¹⁹ But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. ²⁰ Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Notice what Paul is writing to the church at Philippi.  He is stating that through one's relationship with Jesus Christ all of our needs can be met.

Secondly, God made us with the ability to choose and think.

Being made in God’s image enables you to think and choose.  This was the case with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and is the case today.  Many people fail to remember that...

There was evil in the world while Adam and Eve walked in the Garden of Eden.

Isaiah 14:12-14 (KJV) ¹² How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! ¹³ For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: ¹⁴ I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

Satan had already been loosed on earth.  His presense here presented Adam and Eve with the choice between right and wrong.

There were choices to obey God’s Word or to disobey God’s Word.

Genesis 2:16-17 (KJV) ¹⁶ And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: ¹⁷ But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Like Adam and Eve, each of us is given the freedom to choose to obey or disobey the commands of God. 

 Eve and then Adam choose to disobey God’s Word.

Genesis 3:1-6 (KJV) ¹ Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? ² And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: ³ But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. ⁴ And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: ⁵ For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. ⁶ And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Eve and then, Adam choose to disobey God and disobedience to God's Word has consequences.

Adam and Eve suffered the consequences of their choice.

We lose our freedom to choose when we give in to sin. The consequence are inevitable, incalculable, and up to God. Proverbs 5:22, Proverbs 20:17, Proverbs 9:17-18  RECOVERY PRINCIPLE #9

Click here to learn more about Recovery Principle #9: http://www.reformude.com/10-principles.html
Genesis 3:7-8 (KJV) ⁷ And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. ⁸ And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden

Although we choose to obey or disobey God and His Word, we do not control the outcome of our actions.  God alone determines the consequences to our sin.  This leads us to foundational truth #2.

Foundational Truth #2:  Sin Has Consequences

We will look more at the foundational truths for addicts in the next blog, including the consequences of our choices according to God's Word. 

Let me close this article, by offering to each one of you a restored relationship with God.  God loves you and God desires to have your fellowship, and friendship.  Remember, we are made in His image.  He is willing and able to supply our needs.  To read more about God and His desired relationship with you please visit:  http://www.reformude.com/first-step.html  If you would like to see and hear more visit: http://www.preciousseed.com

A Little Kindness Goes a Long Way: The Paul Betz Story

He came to his first RU meeting in May after hearing a Radio ad.  He sat quietly in the back and seemed a little uncomfortable, perhaps even a little nervous. 

The following Thursday, Pastor Jon (our youth pastor) and I went to his home to make a visit.  May I say that in this day and age with people being very busy, many are understandably not overjoyed when we knock on their doors.  Paul, however, was an exception. He welcomed us with open arms.  He was grateful.  He was gracious.  He was kind. 

Over the course of the next several months, Paul became a regular at the Friday RU meetings.  He was diligently studying God's Word and faithfully completing the RU curriculum.  What made Paul unique was not what he was doing, but who he was.  He was grateful.  He was gracious.  He was kind.  Each person coming in contact with Paul left encouraged; left feeling better about themselves.

In life it is usually not what we accomplish that people will remember,  but what we are like.  Paul will be remembered not so much by what he did as he will by who he was. 

Monday night the phone rang, it was Paul's wife.  She said, we lost Paul today.  An interesting choice of words that described exactly the emotion flooding my own heart.  Lost.  I felt a deep sense of loss.  I loss someone who  had touched my life. 

As the word spread that Paul had passed away, others expressed their sadness. One said, we lost a good man while another said, he was always so kind, and such an encouragement.  It was evident that people truly felt loss.  It is amazing that in the few short months we knew him, that he was able to affect so many of our lives. 

The known saying, a little kindness goes a long way describes our dear brother.  The Bible says it is evidence of God's love in a life.  1 Corinthians 13:4 (KJV) ⁴ Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,  In Ephesians God's Word encourages us to be kind.  Ephesians 4:32 (KJV) ³² And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

If I were to select three words to describe Paul it would be kind, grateful, and gracious.  What three words would others use to describe us?

By the way, Paul knew Heaven would be his future home.  Paul had placed his trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for his salvation, have you?  For more information concerning your eternal destiny please visit:

http://www.reformude.com/first-step.html or http://www.preciousseed.com/

Fentanyl By Dr. George Crabb

I am passing this on.  Originally posted in Dr. Burks blog.

“Fentanyl” – By Dr. George Crabb
Greg was a 42-year-old man that was disabled from his job as a police officer secondary to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA). His law enforcement career looked promising as he advanced quickly up the ranks, reaching the position of sergeant in record time for his municipality. At the age of 30 he started noticing joint pain with morning stiffness and he was ultimately diagnosed with RA. At first the RA did not affect his job performance but his condition rapidly worsened over a course of 5 short years and he finally had to take a medical retirement and permanent disability. As his RA continued to advance his pain escalated dramatically. Greg was not only dealing with significant pain and disability but also dealing with a severe component of depression because he had lost his career as a police officer and saw nothing worthwhile in his future except for more disability, more depression and more severe pain.
Greg was initially started on an anti-inflammatory and hydrocodone (also known as, Vicoden, Norco, Lortab, Lorcet, etc) for his pain. He soon became tolerant of the hydrocodone and progressed to Percocet then ultimately to the fentanyl patch, still using the Percocet for “breakthrough pain.” He soon realized, after putting the first fentanyl patch on his skin, that fentanyl was different from the other opiate-like drugs he had been on previously. The Fentanyl patch made him feel different, it made him feel almost “normal” and more importantly to him it made his depression disappear (or at least he thought.) He went from the 25 mcg patch that he would apply every 3 days to the 100 mcg patch every 3 days in a few short months. Over the course of the next few months Greg’s personality changed. He started acting “funny” according to his wife of 20 years. He became unreliable, agitated, argumentative and at a few distinct times hostile. This was a fundamental change for Greg. His wife even caught him in several lies which he adamantly denied.
When he presented to my office I immediately noticed that he was in significant trouble and headed for total and complete destruction if intervention wasn’t soon coming. When I first met with him, his wife was at his side. After a lengthy conversation and performing my medical assessment, his wife and I confronted him about his personality changes and that we felt that the fentanyl patch was a foundational problem. Greg became immediately defensive, denying all accusations. He went on to say that he felt that his wife was looking for a reason to leave him and that I had no idea what was going on inside of him in regards to his medical condition and in regards to the fentanyl patch. He was not interested in any of my recommendations. As he left my office I gave him a “Breaking the Chains” tract and invited him to attend church with me and my family the following Sunday. He replied to my invitation with the following statement, “I don’t need your help and I definitely don’t need God!” Five days later he was found unresponsive in his living room by his wife. The wife immediately called 911 and the EMS unit arrived at their house in a few short minutes. They feverishly attempted to revive him. As they continued to work on him they rushed him to the emergency room where he was ultimately pronounced dead. It was noted on his autopsy report that ten, 100 mcg fentanyl patches were found on his body and his toxicology report found deadly levels of fentanyl in his blood system which was listed as the official cause of death. Later, the investigation found that Greg had 5 different physicians, each of which were prescribing fentanyl patches to him unaware that other doctors were involved in his care. Greg had masterfully deceived each doctor making them believe that they were his only prescribing physician. Unfortunately, Greg is not alone. It is a known fact that many people are abusing Fentanyl patches and most are unaware of the devastating consequences that will happen if they do not stop.
Fentanyl is a synthetic (made in the laboratory) opiate. Fentanyl’s potency or strength is reportedly 80 times that of morphine. Although fentanyl is usually administered as an intravenous medication in the hospital setting, fentanyl is also available in prescription form as a transdermal patch with continuous release into the blood system and it is also available as a lollipop (absorbed through the buccal mucosa) which is usually used for breakthrough pain in patient’s diagnosed with cancer. Both the licit and illicit use of fentanyl has dramatically increased over the past 10 years. The fentanyl patch is designed to be worn for 72 hours then taken off and replaced by a new patch. At this point, the used patches still contain substantial amounts of fentanyl and the potential for abuse is obvious. According to the DEA, fentanyl patches may be sold on the street for as much as $100 per patch. The fentanyl patches may be smoked or ingested or the contents may be extracted and injected intravenously. Some people reportedly smoke the patches by scraping the contents from the patch onto aluminum foil. The fentanyl is lit, and the smoke is inhaled with a pipe or pin case. Some individuals intravenously inject the contents of the fentanyl patch with devastating consequences including abscess formation, deep venous thrombosis (blood clots), superficial thrombophlebitis and of course death. The fentanyl lollipops have the street name “perc-a-pops.” They have a street value of roughly $20 a piece. Overdosing with fentanyl, regardless of the delivery system, will exhibit symptoms of opioid intoxication such as respiratory depression with potential respiratory failure, central nervous system (CNS) depression, low blood pressure, mood swings, agitation, fatigue, coma and death. Withdrawal symptoms are severe including restlessness, agitation, severe muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, decreased appetite, depression, anxiety, headache and severe insomnia.
Just because a drug is prescribed by a physician does not mean it is safe and without the potential of abuse or addiction. All medicines, whether it be prescriptions or medicines that you can obtain over-the-counter (OTC), must be taken cautiously and the individual must be aware of all potential risks and side effects including abuse. Regardless if the drug is legal or illegal, prescription or OTC, the abuse is real and the devastation is deep. Jesus is willing and able to give freedom to all those that come to Him, from all drugs of abuse. The key, the answer is to daily abide in Jesus Christ.

Breaking the Downward Cycle of Addiction

Addiction becomes a habit.  It becomes the answer to fulfilling your needs in life.  You feel pain so you reach for the pills, you feel down so you take something to pick you up, or you feel stress so you do or take something to relieve the stress. 

You train yourself to depend on the chemicals to give you a good time, to stop the pain, to mask the hurt, to escape your problems. In reality, you cannot have a good time or feel good without them.  It is on.  Now you have  begun the downward cycle.  Each time you use you travel further downward in the cycle of addiction.  You seek the initial feeling you had, but it becomes impossible to find.  You continue using and the highs are less high, but the lows are lower.  You start having problems at work and at home.  Your finances are a wreck.  Your morality has led you to a place of little self worth and respect.  You wake up each morning with a desire to drink or take drugs. 

Proverbs 23:35 describes you:  They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake?  I will seek it yet again

The  first step to breaking this downward cycle of addiction is to admit you have a problem.  You must start believing and speaking the truth.  As long as you believe you can hide your addiction or live with your addiction, you will continue with your addiction.  This is why the majority of addicts only seek help only after they have reached the bottom. 

The second step to breaking the downward cycle of addiction is to understand you not only have a drug or alcohol problem, but also life problems and belief problems.  Simply abstaining will leave you miserable.  Your self-image is in the dumps.  You have not learned or have forgotten how to live responsibly.  With your substance withheld from you, you no longer have a way to cope with your problems. For there to be success in breaking the downward cycle of addiction, you will need to learn how to live life and how to cope with life and its problems. 

The third step to breaking the downward cycle of addiction is realizing you do not just have personal problems, but you also have problems with your family and community.  Your addictions have affected every person who has ever had a meaningful relationship with you.  Relationships need to be restored, and wrongs need to be made right.

The fourth step to breaking the downward cycle of addiction is realizing your problem is not just rooted in the physical.  Your problem is more than just physical, it is also mental, emotional, and Spiritual!  I personally believe the latter is the most important.  The goal of most programs is sobriety, but that goal is insufficient.  The goal must be to teach people how to know the truth of God's Word and how to live with the blessing of God upon their lives.  This is why I love RU and believe it has had the success it has had.  RU teaches you how to live a life filled with God's Spirit and filled with God's blessing. 

John 8:32 (KJV) ³² And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.