As a believer you were super imposed with power so you could live accordingly, change your life, give glory to God and help lead others into this glorious light.
When it comes to addiction most people do not comprehend that cigarette smoking is a physical habit and that habit also has chemical and spiritual factors. The fact is The Paper Pipe called cigarettes are free based just like Crack Cocaine.
Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of disease, disability, and death in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), cigarette smoking results in more than 443,000 premature deaths in the United States each year—about 1 in every 5 U.S. deaths—and an additional 8.6 million people suffer with a serious illness caused by smoking. Thus, for every one person who dies from smoking, 20 more suffer from at least one serious tobacco-related illness.
The harmful effects of smoking extend far beyond the smoker. Exposure to secondhand smoke can cause serious diseases and death. Each year, an estimated 126 million Americans are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke and almost 50 thousand nonsmokers die from diseases caused by secondhand smoke exposure.
See Video below to understand the truth about ingredients and free basing within Cigarettes:
Most Christians are unaware of the power that resides within them. When that power is misused it oftentimes moves into an arena of self which is self-defeating, dangerous, and deadly.
A stronghold suggests a fortified defensive structure. It relates to something that is familiar, chronic, and that resist with intelligence.
It's something that is woven into the fabric of life. It is so much a part of life that people who want to quit often fail. It takes more than will power because, for many, it becomes a way to cope or deal with stressors.
In other words people often have faith in things that have the power to kill them and also those around them. This is called Spiritual Prostitution because it is dependence upon something that takes the place of God. Dependence upon anything other than God to cope is wrong.
The Solution
Trying to give up smoking is a radical and life changing event. If you're ready to turn to Scripture for help, you may wonder where to start.
The first thing you MUST do is COUNT THE COST.
The Bible says in Luke 14:28 (KJV) For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?
In other words sit down in meditation and think about how difficult it has been to quit. Think about your failures in the past when you have made attempts to leave nicotine alone.
Realize that what you're about to do is going to take a TLC.
TOTAL LIFE CHANGE. Ask yourself if you are ready to go to any length for victory in Jesus Christ.
Prayer
You already know you can't do it on your own. Matthew 26:41 says, "Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak"
If you believe in God and in prayer, then you should believe that God will give you the strength to end your bad habit. Prayer is a way of communicating with God, letting him know how you feel and what your needs are, and asking for his help. You can talk to God about anything. Most people who believe in God believe in the scriptures and believe God's promises that he will get you through whatever tribulation you are dealing with.
John 14:13 is one of these promises. It states that "whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." Chapter 14 goes on to state that, "If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it." This is a promise you can include in your prayer. Cling to it and believe it. If you ask God to help you stop smoking and you believe it, he will give you the strength. Develop a prayer life that will help you in the times that you are tempted.
Renew your thinking
Realize your body is not your own. If you are a believer, you belong to God. It is also important to realize that addiction affects your thinking. Romans 12:1-2 says, "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect".
To renew your mind, turn to God's word daily. Make it your new habit. Find a bible and start to read scriptures from a different perspective. That Perspective is POWER!!!
Stop Serving Two Masters
Joshua 24:14- Joshua stated "15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
What Joshua is saying is this. If serving The Lord is a burdensome, loathsome, and unpleasant duty. If you have found another master which is more pleasant and profitable to you then MAKE A CHOICE!!!
Matthew 6:24- Jesus said , "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." Mammon is the demon of greed, more, and lust. Jesus understood making a decision and sticking with it.
It's time to stop playing brother Laydown and make a stand for Jesus Christ. It's time to submit to God and resist the devil. You can't have high life living with low life. You can't have balance with this world and expect to receive the fullness of power from God's Holy Spirit. It's time to operate in the fullness and stop justifying and minimizing the power of God.
Listen I see mighty men and women of God take the path of least resistance and smoke cigarettes for decades not realizing they are destroying their temple. I see them give value to the paper pipe but none to the Word of God.
I truly believe Jesus would be astounded and I can hear Him ask "why do you call me Lord and not do the thing I say?
In other words why do you call yourself by my name and not operate in the power that is promised to ALL believers?
Don't you know that He has given you power over all demons, including the demon of addiction?
Yes addiction is a demon.
If that doesn't make you incensed then I'm afraid that you've already made a choice.
Lastly it's time to become a disciple and not just a professed believer. It's time for discipline.
Self-control
One of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control (Gal. 5:22-23). Other fruits of the spirit include love, peace, patience, kindness and goodness. Ponder these things. Their opposites are often the reason people reach for a cigarette.
Ask God to fill you with his Spirit and through his power he will cultivate new fruit in your life. Remember you are not alone in this. "You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13). Surrender your will to him and he can change you from the inside out.
In closing if you follow these instructions then you will be able to put down that paper pipe and never pick up that poisonous and toxic nicotine again.
Simple but not easy. Jesus has already paid the price.
All you've got to do is believe and step out in faith (action).
THE PROCESS TO DESTRUCTION
LUNGS OF A SMOKER VS. NON-SMOKER
