The need for change

[George]

Brothers and sisters, as most of you are aware, I was an alcoholic and a drug addict for many,many years. I was in bondage to sin almost to the point of losing my life.

(Psalms 40:1) To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. (Psalms 40:2) He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. (Psalms 40:3) And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.

That is what The Lord did for me. When I was saved and then surrendered I became a student of the Bible. It is only through God's Holy Word I was saved and it is only through God's Holy Word that I conduct my life to the very best of my ability with a great deal of help from the Holy Spirit.

My primary function at present is as Chapter Director of the Reformers Unanimous Chapter in my Church. Reformers Unanimous is called a Christian addictions abstinence program but in reality is a discipleship program. We teach using only the King James Bible how people can change their lives to live more and more in the likeness of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ and therefore the problems which caused our addictions in the first place disappear.

I would like to share some things with you that you may be able to use in your lives or possibly in the area of helping someone else. Remember that in the shadow of the steeple, someone is dying. In our own backyards each day people are dying unsaved. In the writings I would like to share a lot of them are centered on addictions such as alcohol and drugs. However I would like to remind you the Bible says we are all addicted to sin. When reading these things if you replace any words such as alcohol and drugs or even the word addiction with the word sin it will apply to most anyone.

None of my writings are copyrighted. The Bible says,
(Matthew 10:8) Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.

Please feel free to use them in any way you see fit. Please also feel free to ask questions of me. And by all means, if you see something you do not think is Scripturally correct, challenge me. I love the opportunity to learn and to grow.

Yours in Christ,
George Groce

[George]

The Temple of our Body

(John 2:21) But he spake of the temple of his body.

1. It is not our body in the first place.

Our bodies are the temple of Christ. Our bodies are a gift that is on loan to us from God, the Father. Our bodies are not even really our own. Witness, (Galatians 2:20) "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." It is the Spirit of the crucified Christ that lives in us.

How do we treat our bodies? Do we treat them as if they were the Temple of God? Do we treat them as if it is Christ that lives inside us and not even ourselves? If someone asked you to drive their car for them and they had a brand new, shiny Cadillac or Mercedes would you not take care of it better than your own car? If, as the Bible says, it is not your body in the first place, but the Temple of God in which Christ lives should you not take care of it better than as if it were your own possession?

(Galatians 5:19) Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

(Galatians 5:20) Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

(Galatians 5:21) Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Now the works of the flesh are manifest…The flesh is the physical, non-spiritual aspect of the human being. Notice that in the list above some of the things are those we do with our bodies and some of them are things we do to our bodies. The mind is also a part of the body. Committing one or more of these acts in our mind is just as bad as actually doing it. All sin has its origin in our hearts.

2. The heart, the controller of the body.

(Matthew 5:28) But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

(Matthew 15:18) But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.

(Matthew 15:19) For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

Our heart, which is not the physical pump that supplies the necessary blood to our systems but the non-physical aspect of our being determines what comes out of our mouths. Let me give you an example. Some time back I became really aware of my filthy mouth and the language that came from it. I was a sailor for about 7 years. I had what is known as the stereotypical “sailor’s mouth.” It was really terrible. I started working on the things that came out of my mouth; to clean up my language as it were.

I have this feeling that the Lord carries around this big 2 X 4. Periodically He applies it to me to wake me up. I may be doing something that is wrong or I may not be doing something He would have me do. All of a sudden I get this big wake-up shot that lets me know in no uncertain terms that something is not right. I got that wake-up call one day when I realized that although I was doing a much better job of controlling what came out of my mouth I was still thinking those words. I was still performing profanity in my heart. I know from experience that the closer I get to the edge the more likely I am to fall off that edge. Sure enough one day in a fit of pain over doing something that caused me to hurt the words came out. I was shocked but not surprised. It was in my heart. If it is in my heart it will come out of my mouth sooner or later.

(Jeremiah 17:9) The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

What is in our hearts will control what we do with and to our bodies.

3. How do we solve the problem?

(Romans 12:1) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. (Romans 12:2) And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

First look at what is required. Paul uses the words, “I beseech you.” When Paul uses these words it must be something important that needs to be really looked at. He uses these words 23 times in his writings. He beseeches us by the mercies of God. Merciful God is the only one that can restore in us a pure heart. Contrary to the teachings of the secular world it is not a matter of being restored to sanity. We were never insane in the first place. We are merely sinners that have gone astray as have all the people that ever lived, live now or will live in the future. (Romans 3:23) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Present our bodies a living sacrifice that is Holy and acceptable unto God. In the days of sacrifices in the Bible the things that were sacrificed had to be pure and without blemish. They had to be absolutely clean to be worthy of being presented to God. Today we have the advantage of the atoning blood of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ to ensure that we are clean and therefore acceptable unto God. Jesus was absolutely pure, clean and without spot or blemish when He was sacrificed for us.

The key requirement of a sacrifice is something must die. In the case of the living sacrifice spoken of by Paul it is our old man. Our old ways must die. We must put on the new man.

The very basic instructions of how we arrive at this state of purity of heart are spelled out in the first part of Romans 12:2. Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Be transformed by the renewing of our minds. I have heard it said that the human mind contains about 10,000 hours of tapes inside it. In order to be transformed we must erase those tapes and replace them with something different. Transform them into a new creation.

In order to make a transformation we must change everything in our lives. We must change the people, places and things that we are around on a regular basis. We must take heed of those that cause strife and divisions and mark them so that we can avoid them. Look at the following:

(Psalms 1:1) Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

We are blessed by the Lord if we stay away from those things that are ungodly, sinful and scornful. If you have ever attended a 12 Step meeting, in the example I will use, an AA meeting, you have heard it read at the beginning of the meeting that it is requested you confine you topic of discussion to your problems relating to alcohol. That is an indication right there that you really ought not be at that meeting. If you surround yourself with people that are talking about nothing but their problems with alcohol it is that much easier to return to the sin of alcohol consumption yourself. If it is in your mind and therefore in your heart it remains very easy to lapse back into sin. If you hang around a barbershop long enough you WILL get a haircut.

The place you should be to renew your mind and be transformed is in church and with Christian people. The way to beat temptation is to be stronger than the temptation. The only way to be stronger than the temptation is through God. In the very beginning of the teachings about our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, he was tempted three times. He was tempted in all aspects of the human body. He was tempted in body, mind and soul. He defeated that temptation by using the Scriptures which was the equivalent of the Bible in those days.

Look at the story in Luke, Chapter 4. This story details the temptations of Christ. Notice what His response to the devil was on those occasions.

Luk 4:4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written

Luk 4:8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written,

Luk 4:12 And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said

Jesus used God’s Holy Word and the things that were commonly discussed and taught about that Word to defeat the devil. Jesus has defeated Satan. Jesus has defeated the prince of this world. The only way we can do the same is to follow His example. In order to have defenses against the lusts of the flesh and the things of the world (sin) we must be able to rely on Him. If things are not of God they are of the devil.

The Bible deals with all the aspects of the worldly things that will control us without the help, grace and mercies of God. In the King James Version of the Bible there are at least 80 uses of the words drunk, drunkenness and drunkard. There are not specific passages that deal with drug addiction that I am aware of. The drugs we now use as commonplace instruments of sin were not available at the time. However, the use of the teachings about alcohol can be applied to any other addiction, stronghold or stubborn habit we may have in our lives.

(1 Peter 5:8) Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

(1 Thessalonians 5:6) Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

(1 Thessalonians 5:8) But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

(1 Timothy 3:11) Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.

(Titus 1:8) But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;

The word “sober” in these verses means exactly what it appears to mean. It means not to be under the influence of things that can affect our minds and bodies. It means to be discreet. It means to use caution. In 1 Peter 5:8 it tells us to be vigilant, to watch out, to be aware, because the devil is roaming around looking at who he can gobble up and make a meal out of. We cannot be vigilant if we are under the influence. It is not possible.

(Ephesians 5:18) And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

This is another verse that deals with the renewing of the mind and the method of dealing with the temptations of the world, the lusts of the flesh. Don’t be under the influence of worldly things, things that are bad for you and thus not Holy and acceptable unto God, but be filled with the Spirit. Notice the word Spirit in this verse is rendered with a capital letter “S.” The use of the capital denotes the Holy Spirit. Be filled with the Holy Spirit and not the things of the world.

Recall the teachings of Galatians and the writings of Paul: “they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” The things that will keep us from a closer relationship with God include, but are not limited to: Alcohol, drugs, smoking, gambling. pornography, using filthy language, overeating, anger, lying, stealing, backbiting, and many other things. The key to understanding if something is wrong is to pray and ask God for guidance. If you have the slightest little doubt that what you are doing or are about to do is wrong ask God. Even if you are pretty certain it is okay ask Him anyway. You will get the right answer.

In closing notice that Paul tells us these things are our reasonable service. This meaning is two-fold. It means presenting our bodies as being Holy and acceptable unto God is within reason and can also be reasoned out. Nothing that God asks or tells us to do is unreasonable or beyond reason. That is a whole different lesson!

Friends, brothers and sisters, is there something in your life you are hanging on to which needs to be changed? Are you guilty of strong holds or stubborn habits which need to be eliminated? Is there something in your rmind that needs to be renewed? Why put it off any longer? True freedom can be found in The Lord.

[Brother Ben]

Rich! Bro. George, rich! Thank you for that. What a refreshing gust of wind from Heaven, my sails are set for the day. I am looking forward to these lessons. If we were gathered coporately, I'd be giving a hardy, "Amen!" right now. I appreciate the discipleship aspect of this program. I hope we will remember to pray for Bro. George and the other RUI workers around the country as they help people.

Brethren, read, ponder, pray, and apply. This is very good for us (me).

Bro. Ben

[Brother Ben]

George said,

If it is in my heart it will come out ...

How we need to guard our hearts. As I reread this good post, I saw a great and often understated truth. If it is in your heart...it is going to come out. How we should let the Lord shine His searchlight in and show us the real us!

Thank you, Bro. George for this very helpful post. Ya'll avail yourselves to this. These issues deal with the cancer that so maims the victorious Christian life.