We all struggle with habitual cravings
August 28, 2009
Daily Devotional, August 27th
Posted to Exodus 16:4 on Aug 21, 2009 at 11:12 AM
“Walk forward”
His father described him as down-to-earth, generous, kindhearted, life-loving, and unselfish. Maybe that’s why so many people were shocked when Australian-born actor Heath Ledger died of a prescription drug overdose. Before his death, Ledger was reportedly fighting an addiction to heroin.
We all struggle with habitual cravings—food, gambling, and porn are just a few of the things that can enslave us. Fortunately, God can free us, as surely as He released the Israelites from slave status in Egypt. But once He sets us free, He wants us to move forward.
A short time after the Israelites left Egypt, they developed an attitude. “Back in Egypt . . . we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted” (Exodus 16:3), they whined. Shaky circumstances led them to idealize the “good ol’ days.” But that kind of backward thinking sabotages our efforts to move forward, following “the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives” (Galatians 5:25).
God wants us to keep taking steps of faith—believing that He will provide what we need each day. When the Israelites realized that their new zip code didn’t include any grocery stores, God said, No biggie. I’ll send some manna their way—“as much food as they need for that day” (Exodus 16:4). Similarly, we should live one day at a time, trusting God to provide an escape route from our selfish desires. God “will not allow the temptation to be more than [we] can stand” (1 Corinthians 10:13). When we’re tempted, He will show us a way out.
If God has shown you the escape hatch, don’t look back. Don’t “let sin control the way you live” (Romans 6:12). Instead, walk forward each day, trusting that “you will see the glory of the Lord” on your journey through the wilderness (Exodus 16:7). —Jennifer Benson Schuldt, Our Daily Journey
CLICK HERE to visit OurDailyJourney.org
Renewing the Mind
August 25, 2009
Deeply ingrained patterns of thinking and responding have formed strongholds in our minds. Addiction is a stronghold!
Do we have to remain victims of the these mental strongholds for the rest of our lives? Absolutely not!
If we have been trained wrong, can we be retrained? If we have learned to believe a lie, can we now choose to believe the truth? If we have programmed our computers wrong, can they be reprogrammed? Absolutely!
But we have to want to renew our minds. How?
Our lives are transformed as we renew our minds through the hearing of God’s Word, Bible studies, personal discipleship and Christ-centered counseling.
Study offers insight into brain chemistry behind addiction
August 13, 2009
MONTREAL — Researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute have gained fresh insight into the brain chemistry behind addiction by studying the least likely of addicts — Parkinson’s disease patients.
Typically, those suffering from the neurodegenerative disorder are the polar opposite of an addictive personality. Most patients with Parkinson’s are found to be introverted,
rigid and slow to anger — not the excitable, impulsive temperament that’s necessary for addiction, said Alain Dagher, lead author of the MNI study.
Yet paradoxically, some patients who are treated for the tremors associated with Parkinson’s disease do develop addictive behaviours. For example, the incidence of pathological gambling in treated Parkinson’s patients is eight per cent compared with one per cent in the general population.
What Dagher and his colleagues discovered is that some of these patients might have been given too much medication to stimulate dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain. People with the disease lack dopamine.
“In some instances, Parkinson’s disease patients become addicted to their own medication, or develop addictions such as pathological gambling, compulsive shopping or hypersexuality,” Dagher said.
So what does Parkinson’s have to do with addiction? Dagher, a neurologist, has found that people suffering from addiction have elevated levels of dopamine in their brains.
Thus, the link between some Parkinson’s patients under treatment and addicts is higher-than-normal levels of dopamine in their brains. Previously, some scientists had questioned whether too much dopamine in the brain could trigger addiction.
“People with addiction, we think, have an excess of dopamine,” Dagher explained. “And with Parkinson’s disease, you give a drug to increase dopamine in order to relieve symptoms, and some people get overdosed. One of the effects of this excessive dopamine stimulation from the drug appears to be the development of addictions — especially pathological gambling.”
The practical implications of the research means that doctors will have to be much more careful in prescribing medications to patients with Parkinson’s, Dagher said.
As for addiction, researchers will need to focus more on genes that predispose people to elevated dopamine.
Nearly 100,000 Canadians have Parkinson’s. Addiction prevalence is much higher. One out of every 10 Canadians, aged 15 and over, have symptoms consistent with alcohol or illicit drug dependence, according to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
The MNI study was published Wednesday in the journal Neuron. Researchers from McGill and the University of Cambridge were also involved.
Montreal Gazette
© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette
Reprogramming the Mind
August 11, 2009
by Neil Anderson
1 Peter 1:13
Gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ
Since we came into this world physically alive but spiritually dead, we had neither the presence of God in our lives nor the knowledge of His will. Our minds were programmed to live independently of Him. We were mentally conformed to this world.
When we became Christians, nobody pushed the CLEAR button in our preprogrammed minds. Even as Christians we can still allow our minds to be programmed by the world. So what must we do?
First, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:1). How do you renew your mind? By filling it with God’s Word.
Second, Peter directs us to prepare our minds for action (1 Peter 1:13). Do away with fruitless fantasy. To imagine yourself doing things without ever doing anything is dangerous. But if you can mentally prepare yourself in advance to obey the truth, you can motivate yourself toward productive living–as long as you follow through by doing what you imagine.
Third, take every thought captive in obedience to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). Practice threshold thinking. Evaluate every thought by the truth, and don’t let your mind entertain thoughts contrary to the will of God.
Fourth, turn to God. When your commitment to do the will of God is being challenged by thoughts from the world, the flesh, or the devil, bring it to God in prayer (Philippians 4:6). By doing so you are acknowledging God and exposing your thoughts to His truth. Your double-mindedness will dissolve “and the peace of God . . . shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).
Fifth, assume your responsibility to think. “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things” (Philippians 4:8).
Prayer:
Lord, I commit myself to practice these steps daily in order to bring my mind under Your control.