Are You a Victim of "SMA"?

Are you a victim of SMA? It will be your duty to try to figure out what SMA is before I tell you what I'm talking about. SMA. Are you a victim of SMA? Perhaps SMA could be equated with the song, and I like the song, One Day at a Time, sweet Jesus. Yes, I know that Jesus tells us to not take any anxious thought for the moral, for sufficient is the evil of the day. And sometimes I find myself saying, if I could just make it through today, or if I can make it through the next week or two weeks or month, then everything will be all right. And I become more and more a victim of SMA. Is it possible that you are a victim of SMA? Is it possible that you are a victim of compulsive, addictive behavior? So that's what SMA that I'm talking about is all about. To some degree, compulsive, addictive behavior. Compulsive, addictive behavior is very difficult to overcome. We talk about addictions to drugs, to alcohol, tobacco, sometimes addiction to various foods, chocoholics, some say, pornography, and other forms of aberrant behavior. There are physical addictions and there are psychological addictions. Oftentimes an addiction begins with a physical action, and then it oftentimes migrates into becoming a psychological addiction. In the spiritual domain, addictions are a form of idolatry. Let's note what the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10.15. 1 Corinthians 10.15 I see this is not the scripture that I wanted. Let's go to 1 John 5, verse 21. In 1 John 5, verse 21, the Apostle John concludes his first epistle here with these words. I said, in the spiritual domain, addictions are a form of idolatry. So are you a victim of SMA? And what is SMA? And could it be so subtle that maybe you're not even aware that you are a victim of SMA? In 1 John 5, verse 21, the little children keep yourself from idols. Another place Paul writes that you can keep yourself from covetousness because covetousness is idolatry. The most successful programs that humans have developed to overcome addictions is what is called the 12-step plan. Alcoholics Anonymous, they employ that plan, the 12-step plan. Even in a program that is developed by people who do not know the whole truth of God, one of the steps is to admit that you have a problem. Could you admit that you have become a victim of SMA? Let's look at 1 John 1.

In 1 John 1, verse 5, This is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. We recently covered 1 John 1 in Bible study a couple of sabbaths ago. John is writing to combat Gnosticism to some degree. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

Of course, time after time, during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, people say, Well, what does the Feast of Unleavened Bread represent? It represents putting sin out of our lives. Virtually everybody here can quote that or say that. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. So one of the first steps for overcoming any addiction is to admit that you have a problem. And so with the 12-step plan with regard to Alcoholics Anonymous, they start with the confession, I am an alcoholic. I am not an alcoholic personally, but that's what they say. I am an alcoholic, or I am a chocoholic.

I am addicted to, and you fill in the blank, whatever it might be. You've already figured out what SMA is, haven't you? Well, let's see. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us. Now, there should be no chapter break here.

My little children, these things are right unto you that you sin not. So, the best prescription is that of preventive, and of course, if the medical field would focus on preventing illness instead of treating the illness after you get it, then the world would be a lot different.

So, John says, I'm writing this, that you sin not. But if you do sin, and if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. And He is the propituation. He is the one who went in our stead. So, we wouldn't have to die. The wages of sin is death. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Son of God was catted worthy to pay for the sins of the whole world.

And hereby we do know that we know Him if we keep His commandments. He that says, I know Him, and keeps not His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in Him. So many people live in a state of denial and lie to themselves.

People with various addictions. Oh no, I'm not an alcoholic. Oh no, I'm not addicted to nicotine. Oh no, I'm not addicted to pornography. Oh no, I'm not addicted. And once again, fill in the blank. So they live a life of denial, lying to themselves. And the underlying theme of one of these days, I'm going to change. And even if secretly in their being they know they have a problem, it's like, well, one of these days, I'm going to change.

One of these days, I'm going to put cigarettes away. One of these days, I'm going to stop looking at pornography. One of these days, I'm going to stop drinking too much. One of these days, I'm really going to begin to have a systematic plan for spiritual growth.

I'm going to pray. I'm going to study. Sort of reminds me of the old John Anderson song, I'm just an old chunk of coal. But one of these days, I'm going to be a diamond someday. But one of these days never comes. Alas, one of these days never come and they fall deeper and deeper into the pits of despair and helplessness. They are victims of SMA. So what is SMA? SMA is an acronym for Survival Mode Addiction.

Survival Mode Addiction. Do you have SMA? Well, I have it to some degree. I've had it off and on, and I freely confess trying to get out of SMA, Survival Mode Addiction. Things can get so difficult that we go into survival mode, seeking some kind of comfort, and we do things we don't normally do. We may eat more ice cream than we usually would eat. Perhaps some might drink more than they would normally drink alcohol. And perhaps they would sleep longer than they usually sleep. So the coping behavior may take on many forms. You may eat too much. You may eat things that you know that are not good for you. You may take more pain pills than usual. You may take a drink that you would normally not take. You may work harder than you normally work. Or paradoxically, you may withdraw and not do much of anything. You just have to make it through the day. You may get up earlier than you used to. Or, on the other hand, you may stay in bed longer each day. After all, you're just trying to survive. You're a victim of SMA, survival mode addiction.

So you make it through the day, and you're able to somewhat function, and slowly you become addicted to that way of life.

Sadly, people become addicted to being in the survival mode. That is what brings them comfort. And it seems they're afraid to break out of it. Or maybe they're somewhat oblivious to the fact that they are addicted to this survival mode kind of existence. To break out of the survival mode will probably cause more pain initially, but in the long run, it is the only hope a person has for overcoming their addiction. When those with various chemical addictions are in the drying out process, as they call it, they go through what is called withdrawal symptoms. They may have tremors and sweats and fears, maybe even hallucinations. And it's very difficult, they say, in the drying out process.

And it will probably be so when one breaks the physical, psychological, and spiritual change that binds them. Are we so bold as to break out of the survival mode? I would say that almost everyone here is in some type of rut, or they are, to some degree, victims of SMA. Survival mode addiction. You may just be mildly addicted, but I believe everybody here, to some degree, is addicted. One of the ways you can know is to take stock, take inventory, of how much you've changed since the days of Unleavened Bread last year.

How much have you grown? How much have I grown over the past year?

How much have you changed since last Sabbath? Last Sabbath, we really zeroed in on worshipping God and how to appear before God. And what it's all about, from the way you dress, to your attitude, to whatever else it is. I mean, did you make any changes based on that? We could all ask ourselves. How much of the Word of God have I hidden in my heart this week? Did I learn anything new? Did I dig for the gold in a way that I haven't dug in the past? Over and over we hear that the days of Unleavened Bread pictures putting sin out of our lives. Hopefully, we have all repented of our sins, or did repent of our sins before taking the Passover on Thursday evening. Hopefully, we did not take Passover in our sins. I believe that the days of Unleavened Bread are more about preventing sin from entering our lives on a daily basis than putting sin out. Supposedly, we've already examined ourselves, been reconciled to God and Christ and each member of the body of Christ, discerning the body of Christ, both physically the body that was given for our sins, the body, the Church of God, that we have forgiven one another, and we take the Passover with a clean slate. I believe the days of Unleavened Bread are about breaking the chains that bind us in being set free in mind and spirit.

Israel left Egypt on the first day of Unleavened Bread. Look at Numbers 33, verse 3. Numbers 33, verse 3 says very clearly that they left on the first day of Unleavened Bread. I'm reading Numbers 33, verse 3. And they departed from Rameses in the first month on the fifteenth day of the first month. You heard this statement made during the Offertory Sermonet. On the morrow after the Passover, the children of Israel went out with a high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians. So they left, they started on foot, a long trek toward the Promised Land. Some say up to a million or two people. Hard to imagine.

The challenge for Israel after setting out on foot to leave Egypt was to leave sin and death behind them and live by faith. But they brought along the baggage of Egypt with them. They could not let Egypt go and live by faith. Look at Exodus 15, verse 22. Exodus 15, verse 22. It seems that the children of Israel were victims of SMA, survival mode addiction. And we'll see some of the irony and paradox of this. In Exodus 15, verse 22. Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea, and they went up into the wilderness of Shur. And they went three days into the wilderness and found no water. Three days after the ten plagues had come upon Egypt, the Red Sea had been parted. They saw it close, a host of Pharaoh drowned. And when they came to Morah, they could not drink the waters of Morah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Morah, and the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried unto the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. And when he had cast out the waters, the waters were made sweet. There he made them a statue and an ordinance, and there he proved them, which means he tested them. And he said, If you will diligently hearken to the voice of the Eternal, your God, and will do that which is right in his sight, and will give heirs to commandments and keep all his statues, I will put none of these diseases upon you, which I have brought upon the Egyptians, for I am the Eternal that heals you. Yaveh, Ravika.

Then, moving forward into chapter 16, verse 27 there, says they came to Elam. In chapter 16, verse 1, they took their journey from Elam, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came into the wilderness of sin, which is between Elam and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month. So here they are, thirty days on their journey, after departing out of the land of Egypt. And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, when we did eat bread to the full, for you have brought us forth into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly, and with hunger we are going to starve to death. See, they brought the baggage of Egypt with them. The challenge historically for the people of God is to live by faith. The Scriptures tell us clearly that the just shall live by faith. This means to believe God and do what He says. This means to believe and know that God always has our best interests at heart. And no matter what the circumstance situation is, He will deliver us in due time. This means casting all your care on Him, for He cares for you. The Israelites were victims of SMA, Survival Mode Attitude. They refused to rid themselves of the ways of Egypt, even though they were in a state of bondage. See, they were in a state of bondage. They were slaves. And they were crying out for deliverance. They could not bring themselves to leave, sin and death. They were victims of SMA, Survival Mode Addiction. Oh, we're in Egypt, we're in slavery. But somehow people can adapt and adopt to the situation, the circumstance, and they feel comfortable with that. So they're taken out of that slavery and bondage, and they're out in the wilderness, and the going is tough. They're thirsty at times, and now they're hungry.

They don't have the comfort food. They don't have the flesh pots, whatever your comfort food might be. They're out there, and they have to live by faith.

So how are you and I going to overcome Survival Mode Addiction? In short, it is to learn to live by faith. Now let's go to Numbers 14. Numbers 14. This is the account, Numbers 13 and 14, where the ten spies were sent out to spy out the Promised Land to bring back the report concerning the Promised Land. So they went out, twelve of them, and only two brought back a good report. They were giants in the land. They have these chariots. I mean, they are just so big, and they're armed, so to the hilt, how on earth could we possibly conquer them? There is no way. And so they began to murmur against Moses and Aaron, against Joshua and Caleb, ready to kill them. And Moses did his intercessory prayer and pleaded with God. So you look at Numbers 14 and verse 22. Because all these men, which have seen my glory and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice. So ten times they had tested God, tempted him, in a matter of about three months after leaving Egypt. They just could not learn, it seems, to live by faith. They wanted to go back to their comfort zone, where they were addicted to, even though in slavery and bondage, that was more comfortable than breaking out and living by faith. Now we go to Hebrews chapter 3, where Paul draws upon this example of the Israelites and admonishes us, those of us who have entered into the covenant and sacrificed the new covenant, in Hebrews chapter 3. In Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 7, Wherefore, as the Holy Spirit said, today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation in the day of temptation in the wilderness. We read about the thirst, we read about the hunger, the ten times in three months, when our fathers, or your fathers, tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore, I was grieved with that generation, and said, they do always err in their heart, for they have not known my ways. For I swear in my wrath, they shall not enter into my rest. Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief departing from the living God.

But exhort one another daily what it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Could S.M.A. be sin? Sin is deceitful. And we get into a rut, and we just repeat that over and over again. After all, I'm just trying to survive. And we become comfortable with just trying to survive. And one day at a time, sweet Jesus. And, you know, at times people will talk to me, and I say, what else can you do? Take it one day at a time. But at the same time, we cannot become addicted to one day at a time, and when are we going to break out of it and move forward? Verse 17, What with whom he was grieved forty years? Was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? See, their sin was unbelieved. Oh, they were hungry. They were thirsty. They thought they couldn't take the land from the Canaanites. They were so big. They were so well-armed. How are we going to defeat them? We are as ants in their sight.

To whom he swear that he that should not enter into this rest, but to them that believe not. So we see that they could not enter into because of unbelief. Do you believe that you can overcome SMA? Let us therefore fear, lest the promise being left of us, of entering into his rest. Any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them, but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed to enter into rest, as he said, as I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. So note the hearing of the gospel was not mixed with faith. They heard the words, saw the works of God, but they did not really believe. We know that Lebanon definitely represents sin. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 5-6 that a little leavening leavens the whole lump. Paradoxically and incredibly, the Israelites still yearn for their comfort zone in Egypt. Is that what we're doing? I'm sure that we're not doing that consciously. It just sort of creeps up on us, and after a while we settle into the kind of drift and go with the flow. Yesterday, as I was feeding the fish, the leavened bread, I dropped the plastic bowl into the pond, and this front had come through, and it just swept that bowl over to the bank. The bowl had no resistance against the wind. It just floated along with it. I was able to go over there and retrieve it in a few minutes.

When you go with the flow, you go on the path of least resistance. We must fight against the current and make our calling and election sure. Even though the winds may be boisterous and the storms of life beating upon our doors, and it looks like we can't make it, we've got to break out. Break out. Break the chains. Bind. A lot of people try to reason around God and make God over in their image, their own image. They decide for themselves what God would and would not have them do. Jesus sheds more light on what leavening represents in the spiritual sense in Matthew 16. Matthew 6, Anchor's Care, is listed as an enemy of faith. In chapter 8, fear is listed as an enemy of faith. Chapter 14, doubt is listed as an enemy of faith. We come to chapter 16, and this enemy of faith feeds off the other three, that is, anchor's care, fear, and doubt. In Matthew 16, this is verse 5. And when his disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread, then Jesus said, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and they reasoned among themselves, human reasoning, thinking of the physical first. If you think of the physical first, you will stay in the survival mode.

Because it hurts. We reach our psychological limits way before we do our physiological limits. I found that out practicing football in August. You know, run one more wind sprint, I can't. If I do, I'll die. And also, if they ask me to run another one, I'm going to quit. But you run another one and go through the same process again, and you run another one, and so on it goes. People can do incredible things when they have to. We reach our psychological limits way before we do our physical limits. And sometimes we almost always, not always, but sometimes we discount the spiritual side of things. And sometimes we don't even know what God can do. They reason among themselves, saying, it is because we have taken no bread. Which when Jesus perceived, He said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? Do ye not understand, neither remember the five loaves of five thousand, how many baskets you took up, neither the seven loaves of four thousand, and the baskets you took up? How is it then that ye do not understand, that I have spoken not of you concerning bread, the physical thing, that ye should beware of the leaven, that is, the teaching of the Pharisees, verse 12, then understood they how that He bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees? So Jesus equates false teaching with leavening. We might say something like, God understands that I'm just trying to survive. He understands all about that. And time goes by. The days pass into weeks, the weeks into months, the months into years, and the years into decades, and you perhaps wake up one day and say, What have I done with my life? And what will I do with the rest of my life? Am I ever going to break out of this? Or am I just surrendered now to SMA, a survival mode addiction? Now, I know that some people are trapped by the circumstances of life and or the law of unintended consequences. You didn't intend that such and such happened, but it happened. I had several things this week happen. This is one of the toughest weeks I've had in a long time. I didn't intend that it happened, but it happened. Mainly just physical things that were really aggravating, hurtful, painful, broke tin ribs when it fell, and burned my hand. It's like a miracle how that thing is healed. So I know that we are oftentimes trapped by circumstances of life and or the law of unintended consequences. We didn't mean to happen. We didn't really choose for it to happen, but it did. But wherever we are and whatever circumstances we are in, we must not become victims of SMA. We must break the chains that bind. We must climb out of the ruts that hold us captive. This requires stepping out on faith and putting first things first. Just about everybody in here can quote Matthew 6, 33. Seek you first, the kingdom of God. And oftentimes we stop there. Almost everybody can quote that first part. Seek you first, the kingdom of God. Now the second part there says, and his righteousness.

So that phrase is just as important as the first. In fact, you cannot seek the kingdom of God apart from seeking God's righteousness. Seek you the kingdom of God and seek you his righteousness. This means that you will have to set certain goals and develop plans to reach your goals. Goals should be set in the principal domains of life. So what are the domains of life that we operate in? First of all, spiritual. If you've been called into God's marvelous light, you have made certain commitments that you say that you're going to live up to.

There's the psychological domain of how you view things. What is your state of mind? Some might call it your attitude, your frame of mind. It's closely related to your emotional state.

There is the intellectual state.

Are you growing in grace and knowledge? Then there is the physical state. So those domains we operate in, spiritual, psychological, intellectual, emotional, physical. You cannot view any of those just in isolation. They all work together. Of course, the Greeks had this famous saying going back to ancient Greece, sound mind and a sound body. We've been called into God's marvelous light, so there will be a powerful carryover from one domain to the other. Oftentimes, achieving physical goals can lead to achieving spiritual goals. For example, if you have a weight problem, I would submit to you that you will surely feel better about yourself if you lose weight. And this feeling better about yourself will have spiritual implications. Let's illustrate from the Scripture. Let's go 1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3. One of the things that hold people in chains, and for them to withdraw, it can be any number of things, their personal appearance. Oftentimes, they can't do anything about it. My heart grieves when I see certain people that have experienced it might be some kind of disease, it might be some kind of accident, or whatever it is, that cripples them in some way or disfigures them. And you yearn that you could help. But I admire those who, regardless of that, whether they have been disfigured, whether they've been crippled, whether they've been, and you fill in the blank, that they take that and they go and they conquer, as it were, the world. We all know about Helen Keller and similar kind of stories. In 1 John chapter 3 verse 18, My little children, let us not love and word neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And one of the greatest challenges we all have is to close the gap between what we know and what we do. To a large degree, through the decades, the Church of God has been there, just boasted in their knowledge. Oh, we know the truth. Well, knowing the truth is one step. But that in and of itself won't catch you there. And hereby we know that we are of the truth. How do you know that you are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before Him? For if our heart condemn us, in other words, whatever it is that binds us, that holds us back, that holds us down, that we may in our secret most being of ourselves think nobody else knows it, but God knows it, whatever it is. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things. He knows what's going on there.

Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. So whatever it is, from an ingrown toenail to whatever you want to name, going in from the physical to the spiritual, God knows about it.

Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then we have confidence toward God. So we get rid of it. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. See, that's going to this worshipping God in spirit and in truth. And this is His commandment that we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as He gave His commandment. And He that keeps His commandments dwell in Him, and He in Him, and hereby we know that He abides in us by the Spirit which He has given us. See, oftentimes a breakthrough in one area will lead to breakthroughs in other areas of life. It begins with having our spiritual house in order. And the Feast of Unleavened Bread is a time in which you can deeply reflect on what you need to do and to develop plans for achieving your goals. If you don't, you will still be more or less a victim of SMA. Survival, mode, attitude, stay in the same rut, repeat the same thing over and over, and just try to make it through one more day and so on. To break out of that is a challenge that all of us need to face. It begins with having our spiritual house in order, and this is a good time to do it. That brings us to the command to keep the Feast with the Unleavened Bread of Sincerity and Truth, which is one of the Scriptures of the Day on the Bulletin. To keep the Feast with the Unleavened Bread of Sincerity and Truth, and the commands in the Old Testament to eat Unleavened Bread for seven days during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The spiritual fulfillment of that, of course, is to ingest the Word of God. Now, I realize almost everybody that I talk to, whether in the church or out of the church, if they really express how they feel, I'm talking about now just in the physical domain, we'll say, I'm tired. I'm tired. I would say, I'm tired and I'm weary, too. So I realize that we're tired and weary. And our burdens at times seem more than we can bear, but there are exhortations we must accept, believe, and put into practice. Accept, believe, and put into practice. Now, first of all, the warning. Look at Luke 21, verse 34.

You know, when you get to be the age that I am, people begin to talk about it. Of course, some begin to talk about it. I remember some people back in the community where I grew up and some of the relatives and friends and so on. Boy, when they get to be 60 or 65, they're going to retire. Of course, life expectancy has increased in recent times, but they just couldn't wait to retire. The life expectancy after a person retires, for most people, is quite short. I find in the Bible that nearly all of the great men and women of faith continued as long as they could. In Luke 21, verse 34, as I said, this is the warning. Then we have the exhortation. And take heed to yourselves, Luke 21.34, take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting. Surfeiting is a medical word used for nausea after drunkenness, from which is... And it gives the Greek word, no need for me to say that. So nausea after drunkenness be overcharged with nausea and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that the day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all of them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. And then, the Scripture I had at the front of the news, watch you therefore and pray always that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things which will come to pass and stand before the Son of Man. Now notice the exhortations in Matthew chapter 11. So how are you going to break out? Instead of turning to the comforting things in the physical realm, break out. Break out spiritually. Break out physically. Set those goals. Develop a plan. In Matthew chapter 11, verse 28, Come to me, you that labored are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest under your souls, your innermost being. See, that's a faith step. That is not... it's difficult to explain that you come to that point that you cast all your cares, as we'll read in just a moment. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Now, first Peter chapter 5, first Peter chapter 5, back to the general epistles, admonition to all peoples for all times. In first Peter chapter 5, beginning in verse 5, verse 5. First Peter 5, verse 5, See, God is in the clothing business.

Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. There is no way that you can just carry all the weight by yourself. Yea, though I walk to the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. If God be for you, who can be against you? All of those kinds of positive affirmations. They're not just Norman Vincent Peale of the power of positive thinking, though there is some power in positive thinking, but it's from the Word of God itself.

Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour.

And you are far more easy prey when you are in the survival mode attitude or addiction.

Whom resists steadfast in the faith. Israel could not let Egypt go.

Whom resists steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who has called us unto life eternal, glory by Christ Jesus, after that you have suffered awhile, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Now notice Galatians, back to Galatians 6.

These admonitions from the Word of God, from Christ Himself, from the inspired writers moved by the Holy Spirit, Mianneville wrote, in Galatians 6, verse 7.

Galatians 6, verse 7. Be not deceived, God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. For he that sows to his flesh shall have the flesh reap corruption, but he that sows to the spirit shall have the spirit reap everlasting, life everlasting. Let us not be weary in well-doing. Yeah, I say at times, sometimes one will say, Are you tired? No, I'm not so tired. I'm just really weary. I'm just weary with it. It sort of wears you down, whatever that is. And as I said, I think the main complaint I hear of all peoples is, I'm tired. I'm tired, I'm weary. I've been on the treadmill too long. The admonition is, don't be weary with well-doing. Verse 9, Let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. As we have, therefore, opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially, into those who are of the household of faith. Of course, I have commended all of you many times, in recent times, and it continues of you having the, as it says, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12, 25, 26, having the same love-care concern for one another. And counseling people who are plagued by compulsive, addictive behavior, and I used to do quite a lot of this at college, students with various problems, and some of it, a lot of it, was compulsive, addictive behavior, whether it be bulimia or some other eating disorder, or it could be a lot of different addictive behaviors. Instruct them to get rid of everything that elicits the temptation. Whatever it is that almost like tells you to go back into the survival mode, and it is addictive, because you do whatever you do that comforts you, and it seems all right, and you repeat it again and again. So get rid of everything that elicits the temptation. Then get on a daily program of prayer and Bible study, and one of the most important steps is, as soon as the addictive urge enters your mind, is to go and get down on your knees and start reading Psalm 119. I want to read two or three verses out of Psalm 119. Let's go to Psalm 119. Psalm 119, verses 9 through 11. Psalm 119, verse 9.

Psalm 119, verse 9, Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? You want to break the addiction? You want to be set free? By taking heed thereto according to your word, With my whole heart have I sought you, O let me not wander from your commandments. Your word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against you. So here's one of the greatest ways for breaking out. So brethren, we can overcome. We don't have to be victims of SMA. Look at Hebrews 12. I will leave you with these two or three verses here in Hebrews 12.

Breakthrough. Breakout of SMA. Hebrews 12, verse 1. Wherefore, seeing you also are accomplished about, With so great a cloud of witnesses, those are catalogued in chapter 11. Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which has so easily beset us. And let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against him, Lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. You have not resisted unto blood, striving against sin. So, brethren, greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world, And through faith we can and we shall overcome.