Just say NO - then say YES!

I am grieved by something someone told me recently.   They said that marijuana is just like using alcohol, and if used as an adult (not a teen) for self medication like people use alcohol for, no harm done.  After all, "everyone is using it!"  No, not everyone is using it.  I know many people who have never nor would ever touch alcohol or recreational drugs.  I am one of those people.  I can stand here and say that these lips have never touched alcohol, tobacco, or drugs.  I have never allowed a swear word to slip past these lips.  I am proud of that!  One disclosure I do have to sadly make is when I was about 8 or 9 yrs. old, someone (an adult) handed me a cartoon-looking carton (1/2 pint) and said to drink it because it was orange juice.  I was thirsty and loved orange juice so took a sip, but it tasted disgusting!  It had vodka in it.  But I didn't know it when I agreed to take that sip, and I never took another.  But other than that deceitful moment, I can say alcohol never passed these lips.  I was around it - I had a step father who was an alcoholic, and my mother smoked for a little while and I was tempted once to take a puff, but as I thought about it, I decided to say NO.

Listen to me: whether it is drugs, alcohol, smoking, even eating too much (which is also an addiction) that is binding you with chains, let me tell you that only Jesus can satisfy your soul.  You have a REAL enemy - the devil - who wants to destroy your soul.  PREACHERS - don't be afraid to say it!  Don't be afraid to bring some revival to this world!!!  He is a REAL enemy, and we need to get as enraged about THAT enemy as we do about ISIS and the political concerns we have today in this nation and this world, because WHO DO YOU THINK IS BEHIND IT ALL?  Yes, that roaring lion.

1 Peter 5:8: "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour."  What does God say to do about it?  The next verse says this: "Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world."

JUST SAY NO to drugs - and that includes alcohol and cigarettes!  NO!  NO!  NO!   These things are addicting, they are harmful, they are dangerous, and they can ruin your life!  Don't play with fire.  My response to that person I spoke with recently was this: "THE BEST WAY TO STOP A BAD HABIT IS TO NEVER START IT IN THE FIRST PLACE."  Just don't go there.  Find satisfaction where you will find real satisfaction, the real living water that will quench the thirst of your soul so much that you will NEVER thirst again!  Now THAT'S satisfying.  This is what Jesus said to the woman drawing water at the well:

John 4:13-14: "Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."

If you have already done it, then STOP IT!  CUT IT OUT!  It's not too late to stop. Get tough with yourself.  Hey, we have no problem saying "NO" to other things, like church, reading God's Word, listening to healthy music for our souls, and praying.  It's about time we say YES!  YES!  YES!  to God and godly things.  "YES, GOD!"  "I WILL OBEY!"

I am telling you RIGHT NOW - JESUS is the only One who can truly satisfy that hunger in your soul.  JESUS has the power to break those chains - ONLY  JESUS.  I don't care if that's not politically correct - it's the truth.  HEED it if you want to be wise.  Don't make excuses.  

I am linking two songs; one is a beautiful song that I didn't write that is called, "Only Jesus Can Satisfy Your Soul."  It's so true!  What a blessed song.
Listen to "Only Jesus Can Satisfy Your Soul"

The other one is one I wrote called, "Wisdom and Understanding", taken from the book of Proverbs.  See how much God loves wisdom and understanding, and the value of it.
Listen to "Wisdom and Understanding"

I hope and pray you will turn from this culture of bad choices and unhealthy lifestyles, and let's not allow anything to control us but the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 5:18-20: "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."