Are You Blinded By Addiction?Blinded by drugs and alcohol! NeedEncoragement.com

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I wish I had listened to my gut feeling to realize that drugs were a total waste of time, but I was lured away by my flesh; I thought I had all the answers, and my parents were the ones who did not know anything! (boy, was I wrong!).

If you are blinded by addiction like I was, you will appreciate understanding that there is hope for any addiction. Believe me, when I was actively addicted to alcohol and drugs, I remember for a long time that I would never be able to stop using, but God had different plans for my life, and I am so thankful for that!  ~  Bill Greguska

John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.

 

 

 

 

Blinded By Addiction / Before And After!

 

Addiction Resource Links:

I Focused On Foolishness, And That Is What I Got!

I became hooked on getting high, grew blinded by addiction, and my life was no longer my own. It was like I signed it over to Satan himself and could not get it back for many years’ worth of pain and heartache. I loved drinking Annie Green Spring and Thunderbird wine and would drink a bottle with friends at the park. The Annie Green Spring wine seemed to go down smoothly but hit me later, although the Thunderbird hit me hard since it was much more potent. It was not until I got my eyes off the drugs and alcohol and on to the possibility of being clean and sober that I finally started recovering. Through my experience with marijuana, without a doubt, there is an emotional type of addiction that happens. I lived to use and used to live. I wonder why I put drugs and alcohol more important than you, Lord, and other people like my family and other essential elements in my life!

Proverbs 23:31 Do not gaze at wine when it is red when it sparkles in the cup when it goes down smoothly.

 

Do You Think Society Is Too Accepting Of Alcohol?

Humbly I can say that I was very good at basketball with the potential to do excellent in high school and maybe college. I fought to stay away from the drugs and did, for the most part, but my junior summer was a disaster. Sometimes situational problems or depression can take us down to an unhealthy level. My best friend, Steve Mader, died when I was 16, and it was tough to process my feelings all on my own. Satan grabbed me in a headlock that made me fall to my knees, where I started to worship marijuana, beer, wine, and a wild sinful lifestyle as if it were my God.  Again, why did God allow bad things like this to happen? I know you give us free will, yet with that freedom comes responsibility, which I was lacking.

Immediate Gratification

The immediate gratification from the drugs and alcohol was just a trap that messed up my life. If only I could have seen what my addictions were leading my life, I would not have done all that I did. The United States has been brainwashed with all the beer advertisements on TV alone! Why is there too much pressure on high school athletes to succeed? To cover up my use, I began to lie regularly to my parents and others and even steal from my parents. I had to find a way to support the full-blown habit during my junior year in high school. I was expelled from Pius XI, and only one year earlier, on top of my game in basketball, was a huge setback. I had trained hard for many years to run and jump and play the game of basketball to the best of my ability. Again I ask myself, why God?

Luke 21:34 Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness, and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap.

 

Extended Hours And Years Of Basketball!

I put in many hours a day in the off-season and many hours a day in the season to sharpen my skills. I had a competitive edge that almost helped me make the varsity team as a sophomore. I was a contender to possibly succeed in college basketball due to the many years of training and discipline I put into the game with God’s help. I put my whole heart into the game of basketball and did pretty well, but looking back on it all, I would not have done it the same way. Even though I loved the game and still do, I treated basketball like a god, like alcohol and drugs.
As I said, I was blinded by addiction. I believe that the pressure to succeed in basketball put a lot of weight and stress on me, which was too much for a 16-year-old high school student. I focused on the wrong thing, and if I had focused on you, Lord, I would have been far, far better off! Why God was this was very hard for me since we all had known each other as good friends for the last five years going to school and playing basketball on the team together. My basketball testimony was critical to me because basketball was my life. I finally got good at something to call my own. Although the dark side of my basketball testimony was that I turned away from God and grabbed tightly onto alcohol and drugs, that was a way of life that I never expected in a million years to develop into.

Marijuana Is More Harmful Than People May Think

I have done with my addictions and habits addictions and habits were to give them to God, share them with others to get help, realize they are from the devil, and ask God to help me break the chains. Do you think that marijuana is a safe drug?  Why did I start smoking pot around age 12, the summer I was going into the ninth grade? Many of my friends were going to different high schools the following year. But why God?

Psalm 6:2 Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint; heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony.

 

 

 

Some Specific Scriptures To Encourage You:

1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV 

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, he will also provide a way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

1 Peter 5:8 ESV 

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

James 1:12-15 ESV 

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when lured and enticed by his desire. Then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death.

1 John 2:16 ESV 

For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

1 Corinthians 6:12 ESV 

“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.

James 4:7 ESV 

Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

1 Corinthians 15:33 ESV 

Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

1 Peter 5:10 ESV 

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

Galatians 5:19-21 ESV

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Peter 2:11 ESV 

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

Proverbs 20:1 ESV 

Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.

John 8:36 ESV

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Matthew 6:13 ESV 

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Romans 13:14 ESV 

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

 

 

 

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