Why we should rely on the Holy Spirit to wean off addictions?

Praise You Holy Father, Holy Son, and the Holy Spirit of Christ Jesus. Thank You for Your daily grace and mercy towards the human race who are hurting self and others out of weaknesses in the flesh. Thank You for Your lessons of grace throughout the day, pointing out our own weaknesses so that we may not judge one another hastily. In Jesus name, we praise and uphold Your name as the God Most High. Amen.

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Holy Spirit wants to emphasize on His Sovereignty in Christ today over our own sinful desires. Having been a nicotine addict for over 3 decades was not a position I visualized myself to be in when I first smoked as a young teen.

I have attempted to quit with my own strength many times before, but since I have little to no will power, I looked up replacement therapies, utilizing nicotine patches that gave me skin rashes, nicotine vaporizing that got me more addicted, as well at nicotine gums that I could not stop chewing on top of smoking and vaping nicotine. I used Nicotine to sooth my anxieties, pain, grouchiness, heartaches, fatigue, stress and quite honestly, I smoked when I was sociable and happy too.

Nicotine was my core outlet for resilience throughout many years of my life. I understand that there are many who had done it with their own strength without needing faith or reliance on supernatural power from Christ; but since I have little to no will power due to past traumatic syndromes, I had built up an extreme subconscious dependence around nicotine as well as THC from marijuana that most people condemn, for good reasons.

Little did I know that Lord Jesus Christ's Holy Spirit could help me eliminate all withdrawal symptoms through solitude time in stillness. He had been conversing with me prior to me quitting my addictions of nicotine, THC, and all kinds of cuisine including food made from animals products. I LOVED living the good, self-centered life that I found out later from Christ how He abhors. I mean I knew from other Christians that substance dependence is bad, but not any other restrictions such as food choices or choosing certain career paths that are not in line with His will, other than the obvious ones, listed in the Book of Bible.

Christ Spirit made me lie down in my bedroom to analyze my inner emotions that took weeks, then He proceeded to heal me in every way, emotionally ,physically, and mentally. I couldn't even carry anything of weight in my right arm due to onset rheumatism, or get dressed without severe pain. He healed it in weeks of prayers and resting in Him. Not to mention my back ache from childhood injury that comes and goes, which is completely gone in weeks as well, from spending alone time with Christ, without participating in any worldly activities. He also helped me stop looking at my phone for once when I was constantly needing to scroll mindlessly on it.

I was used to the fact that people could be healed instantly by watching other Pastors praying for their Church members. It never happened to me. I always thought that they must be more special than me because I didn't experience that kind of instant deliverance before.

But what puzzled me the most was, why would Christ's Holy Ghost even want to have contact with someone sinful and weak like myself? I mean that was the whole reason why I ran from Him for more than 10 years, thinking it was either my imagination, or my mental illness like the doctors had diagnosed. I totally agreed with everyone else but Christ for 13 years. I was definitely crazy and took medications to quiet His voice. He backed out of my life due to my lack of gratitude, until I had enough convictions from my unbelieve, I joyfully accepted His calling again Dec 30, 2023 to repent and spend solitude time with Him.

Fast forward 1.5 years later, I am no longer a nicotine or THC addict. I am no longer a fan of any food from animal products, nor do I always wonder if God truly loved me. I have been off all medications or having to take any supplements for just over a year now. Although it differs case to case, depending on your level of progress with Christ Spirit. Did He take my sinful addictions away instantly? Absolutely NOT. I remember asking Him why didn't He do so instantly since He could. He told me that I needed to wean off addictions, but He didn't tell me why until later.

I learned from Christ Spirit that if we insist to rebel against our desires in some extreme painful self struggling way, we may build up a resentment so high internally that when we relapse, we may not be able to control that urge. Christ Spirit needs to observe that we have enough HUMILITY to acknowledge that we cannot do it based on our own strength, that is when He steps in to remove those sinful urges or desires. It may be any cravings that is harmful to our soul development or our physical health, by abiding in Him and not in the world.

He wants me to tell everyone my testimony because He doesn't like that we bear too much burden through self blaming when we cannot achieve the desired result in our journey with Christ. He wants us to understand that whenever He sees us kneeling by our beds, bowing our heads to ask for His intervention to align our wills with His, He will eventually step in to help us. It may be faster for some then others, it is really a personal experience that cannot be limited into one single time frame to achieve yielding to His will bearing fruits of Christ-like righteousness. This is why He is against self-righteous striving of "holiness" that CANNOT last, due to it's adverse effects from resentment, operating from the nature of the flesh. Work-based faith is futile in fulfilling His will for the benefit of His Kingdom.

He doesn't wish for anyone of us to think that we are better than the other simply because He has shown grace to us. We must constantly check with His will, by sending all our requests to Him in prayers instead of to humans. This is a very high calling that I couldn't have adhered to, myself; but of late, I am getting better at it because I had prayed multiple times for Him to take charge of my desires to align with His will. That being said, I am still a work in progress. He has been calling me to a deep fast for a very long time, I truly wanted to follow that, but I keep on slipping.

Although, He has been able to take my appetite away in a massive way, I find it applicable to wean off my eating instead of rushing into a deep fast. He needs to be the one leading. If we are the ones initiating, we either come out grumpy and indignant or we become excessively self-righteous, judging others more than we want to admit.

Some evil spirits may fault you, blame you or shame you for not doing better, but you need to try and believe that Christ still loves you even when you failed. In other words, our God loves us just as much, regardless of how we are sinful, but we choose to do His will because we know it is for our own good in bearing fruits for His Kingdom. If we can't, we pray humbly for His deliverance.

In the end, He would like us all to share our testimony of how good He is in Jesus Christ as the Holy Spirit who will do anything for His creations to grow in His Spirit so that everyone willing could live eternally in Christ Spirit, full of joy, harmony and peace everlasting as one body, loving one another.

Ultimately, Holy Spirit of Christ really wants to see genuine humility in us towards Him, knowing that we cannot do anything without Him. John 15:5,

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."

I pray in Jesus name that we no longer hate or abuse one another but pray for one another to the best of our abilities, in our deepest sincerity, for Him to heal all our iniquities and be united in one peaceful body of Christ with joy in eternity. Amen.