Spirit-Led Recovery From Addiction

Caffeine
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Caffeine

Caffeine may sound like a silly thing to call an addiction, but many people are seriously addicted to caffeine and if you don't believe it, just take them off of it for a few days and see what happens. You may mistakenly think you need to do deliverance on them because they may act more like a demon than a human until the withdrawal symptoms subside. Plus caffeine can greatly aggravate your withdrawal symptoms of the other addictions you have recently quit, and cause you to relapse because your system is already in a state of chemical crisis. So when you introduce stimulants like caffeine or nicotine into a body that is already in chemical turmoil, it just makes your condition and chances of relapse much worse. When we are recovering from addiction, we need our body to stop ingesting all drugs for a while, so that it can sort out everything and re-balance itself chemically based on its natural state. The idea of having no drugs is terrifying if we suffer from a fear problem and think we need something physical and tangible to administer to ourselves so that we feel protected and in control. When we are afraid to live our life without the imaginary protection of a drug, that just shows that it has become and idol to us, and that we are trusting "it" in place of God to do what only He can really do. Besides, drugs normally give us the opposite of what we think they are giving, we may think they are shielding us from pain, when in reality they are what is responsible for causing it.

A drug idolater uses a substance for the drug mainly, not necessarily the taste of the product it is in. Sure we like the taste of Coke, Pepsi, and coffee, but an addict will drink it for the drug fix just as much if not more than the flavor. I once knew a Christian lady that confided in me that she was a Coke addict, and I don't mean cocaine, I mean Coca Cola. I thought that maybe she was exaggerating until she took me out to her garage. She literally had a garage full of Coke and it looked like it was a Coke warehouse in there. She burst out into tears and said "I hate being so addicted to this stuff, but I am hooked on it both physically and mentally". She felt trapped because she knew that caffeine had a place in her heart and life that only God should have. Anytime we cease to control the use of something and it controls us, that is an addiction. I also know some people that are seriously hooked on latte's and espresso's. There is nothing wrong with having a coffee or coke, it's when you need it that it becomes a problem. The problem is not with the product, it is with the overuse of the product, and the idol that substance becomes in our lives. God must be able to control every area of our hearts, minds, and lives, not a drug.

If you think that caffeine has become an idol to you then ask the Holy Spirit what He wants you to do about it. He may just say to cut down, or He may just tell you to get off of it for a while to break its power over your body and mind. There must not be even one area of our heart or mind that Jesus Christ is not Lord of, or you will be open for attack by the evil one. If someone can see that you are seriously addicted to something, then they can clearly see that you do not fully trust God in your life to meet your needs, and that you are making an idol out of that thing in place of Him. We are all loaded with the basic truth of the Kingdom on the hard drives of our hearts, so anyone can clearly see if you are turning to a drug in place of God to meet your security and protection needs. Once God is satisfied that caffeine is no longer an idol in your life, He may, or may not allow you resume its use. God wants us to be happy and to enjoy what He has created, but He doesn't want what He has created, to control us, ruin our Christian witness, or become something that dominates us through our unhealed fear and need to feel in control of our lives.

Here is a prayer to pray if you need it.

"Dear God, please forgive me for making an idol out of caffeine and for placing its importance in my life above the self control you want me to walk in concerning it. I ask that you would help me to only use caffeine responsibly from now on, or to not use it at all if that's what you know is best for me. Thank you for hearing my prayer and for helping me this day. In Jesus name I pray, amen".

Some extra scriptures to help you.

1CO 10:23 "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is constructive. 24 Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.

RO 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

MT 6:25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

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