Daily Devotional for Tuesday February 27, 2007

Does "Rehab" Really Work

(John 8:34, Romans 6:16, 2 Peter 2:19, John 8:32, Romans 8:2)

Like never before, rehab is in the news. Rehab, is a critical and serious place for many to find hope, help, and deliverance from the bondages people become enslaved to during this life. Lately, it has been turned into a joke by Hollywood stars who use rehab as a place to hide when their addictions and poor choices catch up to them and are exposed to the world. A few weeks later they emerge, claiming they are "cured" when nothing has really changed. So this does raise the legitimate question, does going to rehab really cure people of their addictions, does rehab really work?

It is important to understand, there is no magical place to go to be delivered from an addiction. That place doesn't exist. Please listen to me. Nobody will ever be delivered from whatever they are in bondage to until they want to be delivered. I have to say this again since this goes to the very heart of the issues today. NOBODY WILL EVER BE DELIVERED FROM WHATEVER THEY ARE IN BONDAGE TO UNTIL THEY WANT TO BE DELIVERED!

Here is another very important truth for you today. Even God won't deliver you unless you want to be delivered and set free. Why? Free will. God gave you the free will to make your own choices. You are the one who chooses to take drugs, drink, smoke, overeat, engage in sinful sexual activities, shop for things you don't need, gamble, and anything else that you become enslaved to. When YOU are ready to stop, to be set free, God will be there to strengthen you and help you find the deliverance you seek. But YOU have to first make the choice to stop and seek the Lord's help. Until you come to that place, NOTHING will change.

Please don't underestimate the "God factor" in people being set free from their addictions. IT IS THE KEY once a person decides to seek freedom from their bondage. That is why Christ-centered rehab programs have a dramatically lower recidivism rate than secular rehab programs. Once you take your stand and are determined to be free from your addiction, you need a power greater than yourself to be able to walk in victory day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year.

The clich? "one day at a time" is real. For the person who has fought and won the battle over their addiction, they are acutely aware that the battle never stops. The reason people "relapse" or "fall off the wagon" is because they quit doing the things they need to on a daily basis to walk in victory. For someone who has been delivered from an addiction, they MUST do the things they need on a daily basis to live in victory, or they will wake up one morning back in the jaws of their addiction.

The good thing all rehab programs do is help educate a person about their addiction. It helps them to understand the psychological and physiological factors involved. It also gives a person the practical tools to live "clean." The greatest of those tools is accountability. None of us can walk through this journey of life alone. We all need others in our life to guide us, strengthen us, and encourage us along the way. That is especially true for someone who is battling to live in freedom from some addiction. Having someone in your life to hold you accountable who has fought the battle and is living in victory over their addiction, is critical to helping you live in that same victory.

I love you and care about you so much. The reality is no place or program will ever work until you are ready to live in freedom from whatever your bondage may be. The same free will you use to make the choice to drink, do drugs, gamble, smoke, overeat, shop for things you don't need, engage in sinful sexual activities, or whatever your bondage may be, is the same free will you have to exercise to make the choice to live in freedom from that bondage.

When you make that choice to be free, rehab and programs like AA can be very effective in helping educate you and giving you the basic tools you need to live your life in freedom. The critical element at that point in finding your life again is a relationship with Jesus Christ. Without Christ you can be delivered from your bondage and live in freedom . However, like all who live without Christ you can never know the true joy, peace, and abundance of this life, and when this brief journey is over you will be forever separated from God your Creator in hell. *There is no rehab or programs to escape from hell once you die and are there!

By surrendering your heart and life to Christ by faith, you will not only find freedom from your addiction, but you will find the strength to live a victorious life each day. This life is not about just living until we die, but living in victory and making our lives count. Without Christ, that is impossible, with Christ, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!

I will be praying for you today. If you are currently battling with an addiction, I pray that you will open your heart today and hear God's voice speaking to you through these word's He is telling you that you don't have to be a slave to your addiction any longer. You can be free. Freedom from your addiction is only a prayer away! The fact is your life is a mess right now, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. God will help you, but YOU have to be ready to live in freedom from your bondage. Ask God to open your heart to His love and Truth and watch this video clip: http://www.liveprayer.com/altarcall.cfm

I will also be praying today for all those who are in rehab or some program today, trying to be free from whatever has enslaved them. I pray that they will open their hearts to the Lord who loves them and wants them to not only be free from their addiction, but know the true joy, and peace, and abundance this life can offer through a relationship with Him. No place or program will ever work until the person is ready to quit, and no victory will ever be complete without Christ!