Lesson 7 The Cross Cleanses Us
Question 1
Greetings, friend; welcome back!
Review
The attitude we need to develop toward substance abuse is that it must die! We must cultivate a hatred for it of such magnitude that we want to hang it up on a cross, stab a sword into its side and bury it away in a grave!
Hopefully, in the last lesson, you sought the Lord for His divine battle plan to crucify your lusts and put to death overindulgence in alcohol and/or to cut off drugs and smoking. Now it is time to implement your God-given plan, and you’ll need spiritual motivation to do it.
But where do we get this kind of “kill or be killed” attitude? Typically, we don’t have it initially for sin’s pleasures are too recent, our experience of temporary relief and satisfaction feels too fresh and vivid. We used to turn to alcohol or drugs to escape our problems and be comforted, but now we need to kill that which used to comfort us. We used to turn to cigarettes for stress relief, and now we need to put them to death and instead learn to find comfort in the Comforter - the Holy Spirit (John 16:7). How do we get this attitude?
Hope for Change
We get the motivation we need from God; He can change our hearts! If God starts working on us, eventually, we will be broken and sick of substances that harm us and others! Yes, God can make this change in us.
God doesn’t want His children anywhere near substance abuse. The cross is proof that He will go to any length to save you, rescue you, and set you free. He will do anything, bridge the gap from heaven to earth, nail Himself to a cross and bleed out, then go to hell and back for you! He loves you and is committed to extracting you from sin’s grip, even if it costs Him His own life’s blood!
So, how does He do this? How does He take someone like me, who loved alcohol and lived for the thrill of drugs and impurity, and cause my heart to hate all that, want to crucify it, and bury it? How in the world does this happen?
I will answer this question, but first, let me ask you a question.
Question 1. Are you seeking the Lord for a heart change? Please share:
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