Addiction - Making The Mountain Insignificant!

Fish N Loaves Ministries, Inc.

“Multiplying God’s Word Around The Globe”

By: Hanny Lynn Stearns

Scripture for Today: Zechariah 4:6-7

So he answered and said to me:

“This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel:
‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’
Says the Lord of hosts.
 ‘Who are you, O great mountain?
Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain!
And he shall bring forth the capstone
With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’”

Today I want to encourage anyone who has been struggling with the mountain of addiction. Those things come in many forms. Some of the most powerful are sex, pornography, drugs, alcohol, gambling, shopping, and food and sugar addiction. 

As a person who has struggled with almost all of these issues, I understand the power that they can have over our lives.  The base of addiction is rooted in fear. It is a strong desire to fulfill a need. When people do not look to the Lord to fulfill them, they will grab onto to anything that comes their way. The devil knows exactly what’s going on in our lives and he knows which spirit to send to try to thwart the plans of God and get into our hearts any way he can see to.

The good news is this:

When we turn to the Lord and ask Him to forgive us for turning to an idol to help us, He is quick to forgive – no matter how many times we have blown it in the past. Anyone who has accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior has the power of Almighty God by His Holy Spirit living on the inside of them. Our spirits have been regenerated and perfected.

The thing we have to do to get free is to believe that the Son has already set us free. We need to believe deep in our hearts that He has already given us all the power we need to overcome the stronghold of addiction. Once we get a hold of this truth, we can begin to walk over that mountain as if it was just a plot of level ground and shout, “Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!”

Let’s look at this verse in the Easy to Read Version

He said, “This is the message from the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Your help will not come from your own strength and power. No, your help will come from my Spirit.’ This is what the Lord All-Powerful says. That tall mountain will be like a flat place for Zerubbabel. He will build the Temple, and when the most important stone is put in place, the people will shout, ‘Beautiful! Beautiful!’”

Our help to overcome the addiction will not be in our own strength. In this we need to remember that we have a big part to play in overcoming this stuff. We must do our part. What is that? First, trust God 100% with the help only He can provide.

Next, put down whatever the habit is – stop doing it. Just stop! No matter how uncomfortable it is to your flesh at first, just put it down!

Remember, it is only one day at a time. Only one moment at a time. When we break the picture down into one single day of having to do something, the load immediately becomes lighter. And at first, it will be a moment by moment breakdown. That’s OK. All we have to do is make it to the next minute. The more minutes we get through successfully, the stronger our faith will become.

When we asked God to help us, we surrendered to Him. We acknowledged that we are powerless to overcome the thing that has been binding us. So when we do our part by trusting Him and putting it down, He comes in with His power – so pleased with our faith in Him, and He helps us by doing the biggest part – the part we cannot do. Isn’t that wonderful – praise the Lord!

So now I want to type out this Easy to Read Version with my name in it as an example for you. Instead of my name, put your name there. Print this out. Place it right in front of you. If you have to say it out loud 100 times a day – do it. You will get the victory – I promise. How do I know? God’s word works. It worked for me and it will work for you. I will paraphrase it a bit… 

Hanny, your help will not come from your own strength and power. No, your help will come from My Spirit. This is what the Lord all powerful says.

That tall mountain of sugar and food addiction will be like a flat place for you Hanny.

Hanny will build her temple (her body) and when the most important stone (reaching your final goal) is put in place, Hanny will shout, “Beautiful, beautiful!” (Praise God! Praise God!)   Hallelujah! Thank You Jesus!!!! 

I will close this with a short but powerful testimony of how this worked for me. When I couldn’t seem to reach my weight goal because I would slip and give in to my flesh and eat something here and there that would delay my progress, I got frustrated with myself. (Frustration is lack of faith)

One day I looked up to the heavens and asked God to help me. I admitted to Him that I just couldn’t seem to get myself there. After that, slowly but surely, I could see a change. In what now seems like no time at all, I got on the scale and I had reached my goal! Let me tell you that I was running around the house shouting praises to God for helping me. I knew He did it. I cried and sang His praise as I stood in awe of how He had brought this to pass in my life.

Yes, I still had to make the right choices in what I was eating, but because of His Spirit living in me, I was able to do it. God’s Holy Spirit will always lead us to do the right thing.

I am believing with you for total victory so you too can walk in freedom. The Almighty has done great things and it is marvelous in our eyes. Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for loving me so much that You never give up on me no matter how many times I have blown it. Thank You for the blood of Jesus that washed away my past, every bit of it. Lord, with You I get to keep what is good and forget the rest. Father, today I ask You to help me to stop _______. According to Your word, if I do my part, what You tell me to do, (John 2:5) You will do the miracle in me and by Your power I will have all the victory I ever desired. Lord, today I surrender. I can’t do it on my own. Today I invite You to get me there Lord – for Your glory and so that I can be used by You to help others get free. Thank You Lord for Your amazing grace and mercy. In Jesus name. Amen.

And the Lord said to me……..You fill in the blanks

Make it a successful day in Jesus! J