Drug Addiction : Shattered Dreams, Wasted Lives Part 2

The Alien and the Earthling

The best way I've found to describe the brick wall that we encounter when attempting to reason with a drug addict is the following :
Picture a space alien being dropped down to earth and trying to find something "in common" with a human. It just doesn't work. What is of value to the alien holds nothing of value for the earthling. That is much of how a drug addict views a non addict and vice versa. They have nothing in common with each other. This is why an addict will hang out all weekend with other addicts and leave their families behind. It's what they have in common, it's what they do. The most important aspect of their lives, drug addiction, they are able to relate to only with fellow addicts.

I have come to notice this because I've had family members and friends abuse drugs. I was very angry that they would miss their kid's birthday parties, stay gone for weeks on end and generally avoid me like the plague. Now I have become accustomed to being shrugged off because I have come to understand the nature of drug addiction better now than before.
Birds of a feather flock together

Drug abusers enjoy the company of other users and that's why our loved ones will go off on a binge and not stay home where we want them to be, they have to go off with those who are like them. We try so hard to change them. We can cry and threaten them with ultimatums that will never do any good. The ultimatums we give only temporarily work if the addict is out of money or out of drugs, but if they have money or a source, forget it. They will always desire to be near the ones they can relate to, other addicts.
Spouses of Addicts

Here is a good place to say that the Spouse of an addict will many times play follow the leader with their addicted husband or wife. This is the wrong decision to make. I have talked to wives of addicts who have said to me: "Well, I went with him because I knew that I could WATCH HIM and make sure he wouldn't get into any trouble or take too many drugs".
What she was going to "watch" was beyond me. Was she going to watch him do drugs? Watch him spend every last dime on drugs that could have went to food or paying bills? Was she going to watch him so that he would not go near another woman?

You cannot baby-sit a drug addict. It is beyond our control to control others, no matter if they are our husband or wife or significant other.

All you will end up doing is neglecting your children as well as bring your own self down to the level the addict is currently at. I cannot tell you how many times I've seen this scenario play out:

The non using spouse goes with their addict and ends up walking home from God knows where or else they end up in a fight. They may end up on drugs themselves because we ALL think that we're so strong and can avoid the mess our loved one is suffering. This is a delusion and will only serve as a trap for you.
Help for Spouses of Drug Addicts

If you would like to know what to do in a situation like this, here are a few helpful suggestions:

1. Allow the addict to leave, you cannot stop him or her

2. Take care of your children that God has given you.

3. Pray for the person that is addicted to drugs.

4. And above all, pray that God gives you strength in this time of trial and heartache.

5. Do not enable your loved on who is addicted. If they want money, let them make their own money. If they beg you to get them drugs, do not become involved, or if you already are, distance yourself from being involved in their lifestyle as much as possible. I am one that believes that God and a prodigal son experience can save your addicted loved one.

Until the addict is stripped of everything INCLUDING the drugs which controls him or her, there is nothing anyone can do for them. This is why enabling an addict always leads to disaster. If you are enabling the addict by giving them money, paying bills for them and taking care of their responsibilities whatever fashion, you will be partially to blame for what happens to them from here on out.

I cannot make this more clear. God wants you to get your hands off of the situation so that he can get to work on it. We always think it's our job to take care of the things that only the power of Jesus AND the right decisions made by the addict can accomplish.

I have known of some addicts who got sick and tired of living the way they had for years and got clean. Keep in mind that many times, it will take a jail term for an addict to stop and look at his life and what his life has become. Many times this changes the addict and they will stop their abusive lifestyle. Sometimes jail makes a hard hearted person even harder to reach. But then again, if you live a life that is destructive and harmful to others, then you must know that you will suffer the consequences for your destructive ways. That applies to all of us.

Building the Kingdom of Antichrist

As time marches on, we have those elite and wealthy men of this earth who have one prime agenda. That of building the kingdom in which the Antichrist will bear rule over the whole earth.

This comes as no surprise to those who have studied their bibles carefully. It is pointed out in scripture that the wicked one will surely come and will bear rule over those who have been given over to a spirit of strong deception. This strong deception will cover the entire earth in the last days, which has already begun in my opinion. This deceptiveness will be so great that even the most faithful saints will be tempted and tried and many will be found lacking in the end. The tribulation coming upon this earth will devastating.

Who are those building the kingdom of Antichrist?

The bible refers to them in the book of Psalms Chapter 2 verse 1 :

1.Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying,

3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.

5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.

6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

God will laugh at these mere men who rage and imagine vain things

It is because of vain men along with their vile imaginations that the Antichrist will be given rule. Mankind who willfully turn their backs to God and his direction are doomed to slip, stumble and fall. Great will be the fall of these men who have left God in order to bear rule over themselves and others.

The love of money is the root of all evil, mammon, usury and all that goes with anything "money" is what these men are involved with. They are the movers and shakers of THIS world. Their hands are in the cookie jars of one and all. Gluttony and greed reign supreme in this world and America is NO exception, but just wait, it will get a lot worse.

Because of greed, power and gluttony, it is going to be the trap that will be used to force the global economic system onto every man. This scheme that includes a trap which many will fall into is the worse kind of snare. Most will decide that when it comes to eating, drinking and being merry, and giving them up, there is no contest. There will be many who will not give up buying, selling and holding a job no matter what God has warned us of in his word. When it comes down to saying no to the upcoming economic slavery system many will not do it. And why won't they? Because money has become their GOD and they value money and what it supplies them with more than their own souls. They will deem their life on this earth of more importance than their eternal life and security.

It is the rulers and kings of this earth, those important people in high places who are the very ones molding and shaping the Antichrist's kingdom to come. I believe their prime agenda is to shape minds and sway opinions, all with the purpose of bringing this ungodly kingdom along with the son of perdition's evil plan to fruition. I think that the plan has been in the making for a long time now. The unsaved soul, the one who has turned his back to God is prideful and wants to be regarded as wise when he really is blind to the ways of God and does not seek to learn God's truth, for he is prideful and arrogant and haughty and is not concerned with what God desires of him, only what he desires for himself, only his own gain.

Who is the Antichrist?
There is a spirit of Antichrist in these last days.
The Antichrist will be a man, born of this earth and not of heaven as Christ was, however, he will be endowed with power from Satan to bear rule over the entire earth during the later half of Great Tribulation period.

What a contrast. The Antichrist will bear rule for a time over the entire earth and those who live in the earth. God however will rule over those in heaven for all eternity, not just for a time, as the Antichrist's limited rule will be. There will be a specific time frame for the Antichrist's rule, not so with Jesus's rule.

The Antichrist is that evil one, the Son of Perdition, he brings with him all deceitfulness and lies that the Apostle Paul spoke of in Thessalonians:

1. Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,

2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Sometime shortly before Christ comes back, this Antichrist will be revealed and will take rule over the earth. He will enter the temple that will be rebuilt in Jerusalem and will proclaim himself GOD.

By the time the people duped by him understand what has actually happened, it will be too late for them. These people will be seduced and tricked by him. They will believe him to be their "Prince of Peace", their security and their Savior in the days they call upon him for help and a better life for all humanity. But by the time they find him out for the liar and brutal beast that he is, it will be too late. For they have accepted him and his thoughts, ideas and his MARK, they have agreed to be one with him, just as Christ has desired his people to be one with him. But nobody has forced these people to believe the lies of the deceiver, for God has always made a way of escape, his word has gone forth throughout the whole earth so those who have been duped by the world's ways, by the deceitfulness of riches and so on have brought all of the misery upon themselves by REJECTING GOD AND HIS TRUTH.

There are children of the true God and there are children of the Devil just as Christ said when he was on earth:

44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

46 Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?

47 He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

Drug Addiction : Shattered Dreams, Wasted Lives Part 1

People addicted to drugs are not primarily concerned with their children or their spouse. What should be the most important events in life are shrugged off as nothing while they go about their lifelong journey, that of obtaining and using drugs.

To them, a job is never good nor bad, it is simply a tool - a means of obtaining the money they must have to buy their drug of choice.

A human being is viewed much in the same way; are you someone that has something to offer them? Chances are they will treat you well until you are no longer useful to them.

The whys and wherefores of Drug Addiction

The drug abuser is driven by his hunger for that next "fix". Instead of God or family consuming his/her thoughts, the drug they crave holds that place. It does no good to yell, cry, beg or plead with a drug addict - for he will hear your words, but your words will not get past his ears. They will not sink deep into his heart - they will not take root. They do not because his desire for drugs will always overpower your words and pleadings for him to please "stop"!The driving force behind drug addiction is Satan. Make no mistake, the person is to blame by the choices he has made. But the spirit of drug addiction is not from God, it is of the evil one, Satan. Driven by selfishness and euphoric feelings, the addict is consumed with ungodly and selfish desires. This struggle will continue until the addict "comes to himself" and chooses to stop no matter what it costs him. See the article on the prodigal son.But sadly, many who abuse drugs never choose to stop. In choosing to continue their addiction, they are unfortunately also choosing poverty, prison or death. Some chronic abusers end up with all three.

When and Why?

When do people start using drugs and Why do they?
1. To experiment
2. To fit in
3. To Escape Reality due to some crisis in their past or present
4. To Retaliate against parental control

Experimentation - Usually in the early teens, although more kids twelve and under are now experimenting with drugs more than ever before.

Fit in - Many who suffer from low self-esteem and lack security start using drugs. The drug is a welcome friend that helps to relieve anxiety, boost self esteem and helps them to feel more secure in the insecure world they live in.

Escape Reality - When you refuse to face and deal with past traumatic experiences, you are locked into a permanent form of "unreality". Drug use is a companion to those who refuse to face their past and this leads to a continually traumatic present and future for them. Just like a person on a treadmill, the person must eventually keep going to feed his habit.

Rebellion - In order to rebel against parental control, kids will try drugs. But this proves to be more detrimental than the person ever dreamed of because drugs do not like to part ways with their users, not ever. In many instances, the user finds himself or herself in a "Till death do we part " strangle hold of a relationship with the drug they experimented with.
Oh, please tell me Why you do it?

Ask an addict this question and you're bound to get back, "What am I doing"? Tell them they're a drug abuser and you'll get, "No I'm not"! See what I mean by talk will get you nowhere? They have the remarkable ability to completely by-pass anything you say to them that should make perfect sense otherwise. That's because if you SAY anything that opposes or goes against that one most precious thing in their life, (Their drug) , then they disregard it.

An addicts mind is wired differently than the non user and it will remain that way until they choose to stop killing themselves and harming those who love them.

This person is on drugs, WHY don't they care about ME like they did before they started using or before their use escalated?

Here's a question I have been asked a few times before..

They care - it's just that the only thing they now care about is maintaining their habit. They cannot care about your needs or feelings. I've seen an addict miss their child's birthday party. I've looked on in disbelief as an addict is too busy on their drug binge to bother with visiting their ailing or possibly dying parent. I've stood by and took note of things those who are not snared by addiction would hardly believe possible.

Drug addicts don't particularly care if the phone is shut off, the electric is disconnected and there is no food in the fridge, or milk for their baby.

But they will care if their supplier is out of town or they run out of money. but the money problem is solved many times by larceny/theft. Many addicts think nothing of stealing from a friend, parent, sibling or child if it comes down to going cold turkey and having to get clean. They are not above crime, period.

How do they Live?

Most drug abusers I've known will only hold a job if forced to. Others will work only long enough to get that paycheck and then squander it on feeding their addiction. If an abuser can find someone to pay their bills and maintain them by way of food and shelter so that they won't have to work, that is accepted very readily by the drug abuser.
A drug addicts main target for making these things a reality for them is often their parents.

They see their parent as an easy target, for what parent doesn't hate to see their child out of money, hungry or sick. So the parent will make themselves along with their money available to their child, the drug abuser all too readily. Many parents never realize that the abuser is taking advantage of them until it is too late. By then the parent has a much lower bank balance and badly frazzled nerves to show for all of the help they've given to their child, the drug abuser.