Vineyard Church North Phoenix | Breaking Addictions

1. Introduction
2. Breaking addictions
1. Begin now !
1. Prov. 27:1 Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth.
2. Eccl. 11:4 (NLT) If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done.
2. Don’t blame others .
1. Prov. 19:3 (NLT) People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the LORD.
3. Take a personal inventory of your life.
1. Ps. 139:23-24 ²³Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts;²⁴And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.
2. Ps. 32:4-5 (NLT) ⁴Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. ⁵Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide them. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the LORD.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.
4. Give Jesus Christ control of your life.
1. Rom. 6:12-13, 16 (NLT) ¹²Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to its lustful desires. ¹³Do not let any part of your body become a tool of wickedness, to be used for sinning. Instead, give yourselves completely to God since you have been given new life. And use your whole body as a tool to do what is right for the glory of God. ¹⁶Don’t you realize that whatever you choose to obey becomes your master? You can choose sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God and receive his approval.
2. John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
5. Avoid temptation !
1. Rom. 13:14 (NLT) But let the Lord Jesus Christ take control of you, and don’t think of ways to indulge your evil desires.
2. I Cor. 15:33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”
6. Focus your attention on something else.
1. Prov. 4:20-23 ²⁰My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. ²¹Do not let them depart from your sight; Keep them in the midst of your heart. ²²For they are life to those who find them And health to all their body. ²³Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.
2. II Cor. 10:3-5 ³For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh,⁴for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. ⁵We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
7. Restore broken relationships .
1. Rom. 12:18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.
8. Get involved in a support group .
1. Eccl. 4:9-10 (NLT) ⁹Two people can accomplish more than twice as much as one; they get a better return for their labor. ¹⁰If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But people who are alone when they fall are in real trouble.
2. James 5:16a Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
3. Gal. 6:2 Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.
9. Give yourself to others .
1. II Cor. 1:3-4 (NLT) ³All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us. ⁴He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.
2. God never wastes a hurt !
3. Conclusion

(Unless otherwise indicated all Scripture verses are in the New American Standard Version.)