We are at War!

Today's post is directed at the topic of ADDICTION(s).  This will be a topic I will cover in greater detail in the future as it is the MAIN tool of the Advisary to thwart our agency to choose the right.

A few things I don't remember but have been taught and believe:
1. We lived as spirits (not flesh and blood) with our Heavenly Father (God) before we were born on earth.
2. In that realm we were taught lessons, and we grew in our intelligence to use our AGENCY to choose good or evil.
3. Lucifer was in God's presence and proposed a plan that would remove mortal agency and subject "man" to perfect obedience.
4. Christ proposed the same plan the Father outlined: Give man agency to choose between right and wrong.
5. All spirits cast their vote and 1/3 of all the spirits of Heavenly Father were banished from God's presence.
6. Michael (the Archangel) fought against the Lucifer and his angels (The Great Dragon) and defeated them.
7. Lucifer became Satan (The Advisary as I will refer to going forward) and he and his devils were cast to earth to tempt and try mans agency.

Birth: From our first breath to the age of accountability (8 yrs old), the advisary has no power to tempt or try us.  But once 8 yr old, our agency is then open to temptation and the WAR begins again.  The Advisary doesn't want us to be successful or happy, actually he wants us to be miserable like he is.

Every day we face choices, some inconsequential (do I run or bike today?) and others monumental (do I click on an immoral website or read an uplifting book?)  The choice is always ours, the consequence isn't.  To every choice a set outcome is prescribed, although not always physical in nature, it is always spiritual.

What I mean by this is that within each of us resides our spirit, that resembles us in every way.  That spirit combined with our body forms our SOUL.  When we choose to injure our body, our spirit also suffers.  For example: Let's say I am fighting an addiction to smoke and in the moment of struggle I choose to eat doughnuts, a lot of them.  Eventually that choice will break down our WILLPOWER to resist the urge to smoke because we have already introduced a form of toxin into our bodies.

Imagine for a moment your body.  Now try to visualize your spirit in your body.  Is it comparable in size to your body?  If fruits, vegetables, meat, etc... feed and nourish our bodies, what is the fuel for our spirit?  Our spirit thrives on Service to others, reading truth (scriptures), gaining knowledge, etc... If we neglect our spiritual nutrition, we are in a sense surrendering our bodies to fight what will become a loosing battle.  If our spirit is not fed to grow and is smaller than our body, it is akin to a childs hand in a large glove, much of the uses will be diminished, in a sense going into battle unprepared.

In my previous post I described how the Holy Ghost communicates with us, spirit to spirit.  The voice of the spirit is a feeling.  Our spirit needs to be healthy in order to be sensive to Hear (feel) those promptings.

This brings me to my last comments today.  Addiction is a horrible tool the Advisary uses to bind the agency of the sons and daughters of God.  This binding is nearly impossible to break and impossible once an addiction persists.  The debilitating sorrow, loss of confidence, and shrinking of our spirit seems to condemn us to the pits of dispair and spiritual death, BUT each day the SUN rises anew, and this day become the day for men to prepare to meet God by trying again to use our agency in healthy and productive ways.

Yet, on our own, we fail again and again, and again............

A few questions:
1. Are the scriptures true?
2. If the scriptures tell us that Christ can save, then why doesn't he?

3. Is there something that we must show him first in order to qualify for his GRACE (strength)?

For each of us, this SOMETHING is different, but through the wisperings of the Holy Ghost we too can hear what me wants of us.  Wash 10 times in the river? Put mud or saliva on our eyes? Simply look up and live?  

Let's each of us decide to do that something and allow Christ to break our chains of addiction that bind us.

Michael