January 10, 2025 • 25 mins
Addiction is a spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical warfare. Are you able to engage in the battle alone without armor and weapons?
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SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
I'm here to help.
If you're in search of help totry to get your life back
together, join me here atDocShock, your addiction
(00:21):
lifeguard, the addictionrecovery podcast.
to be real clear about what thispodcast is intended for.
It is intended for entertainmentand informational purposes, but
(00:45):
not considered help.
If you actually need real helpand you're in need of help,
please seek that out.
If you're in dire need of help,you can go to your nearest
emergency room or you can checkinto a rehab center or call a
counselor like me and talk aboutyour problems and work through
them.
But don't rely on a podcast tobe that form of help.
(01:06):
It's not.
It's just a When I'm dealingwith somebody who's got
(01:31):
addiction, what I'm dealing withis a problem of a conflict.
It's a battle.
It's a warfare that they'reengaged in.
But they have become the targetby other people and themselves.
So the battle that's occurring,unfortunately, is with an enemy
that is very sneaky and verydeceptive.
(01:54):
And it disguises itself and ishidden.
So when an addict is expressingoutrage or upset about life or
other people and the peoplearound them are upset and raging
against the addiction whatthey're doing is they're coming
after the addict and there's alot of blaming there's a lot of
(02:17):
confrontation it's a prettymessy battle the part that's
missing is that you're notreally engaging with an addict
you're engaging with addictionbut addiction is sneaky and it
can hide and it does it hidesvery well it disguises itself
and it It fades into thebackground so that it's hidden.
(02:37):
So what happens invariably iseverybody's running around upset
and there's lots of chaos andblame storming and all kinds of
stuff goes on.
The battle is with addiction.
It's not with the addict.
The addict is not the problem.
The addict has a problem and theproblem is the problem.
But addiction...
(02:57):
is the disease that they'reusing to cope with the problem
it's a faulty coping mechanismso the idea that that you're
dealing with addiction means tomost people that they're dealing
with the addict the addict isthe victim and the people around
them are the victims they'rebeing attacked by this wily
(03:18):
crafty chameleon-like attackerthat comes in the form of
addiction The enemy is strikingagainst you.
And so when you begin to work onaddiction, you have to separate
yourself from the attacker.
That's kind of challenging to dobecause addiction causes you to
(03:39):
be very destructive.
And anybody who has addictionunderstands what I'm talking
about.
Destroys families, friends,relationships, freedom, health,
financial success, failure ofthat, everything, housing.
It attacks everything.
Right.
Because eventually what it wantsto do is kill you, but it's
going to strip everything awayfrom you.
(04:00):
And in the process, it will pityour family members and your
friends, your loved ones againstyou, the addict and the addict
against them.
So the old saying of the enemyof my enemy is my friend.
So addiction gets allies.
And what it does is it starts toinvade all these relationships
(04:20):
and cause all this destruction.
UNKNOWN (04:22):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (04:23):
The problem that most people have is they don't
understand they're up against anenemy, and so they're not
prepared for that battle, andthey have no protection.
There are no weapons thatthey're using.
You can go to rehab.
You can start working a program.
You can go into the rooms, intomeetings, and participate in
those kinds of things.
(04:44):
But until you really understandwho the enemy is, you're
shooting in the air.
You're swinging at nothing.
You're shadowboxing, if youwill.
So I think what I'd like to...
work on today is anunderstanding of what is the
enemy, who is the enemy, andwhat do you do about dealing
(05:04):
with the enemy.
And I think the idea that youare in a battle by yourself is a
false idea.
You're not.
But there are lots of ways ofinterpreting and understanding
the enemy, but from a scripturalstandpoint, The description of
(05:26):
be sober and watchful becauseyour adversary, the devil, walks
around as a roaring lion seekingwhom he may devour.
That's in 1 Peter 5, 8.
The idea of the enemy is beingsober and watchful, right?
The enemy is not an addictitself, right?
(05:47):
It is the tool that the enemy isusing.
Addiction is the tool that theenemy is using to come after
you.
The enemy is sober and watchful.
It's waiting.
It's waiting to attack.
We talk about in recovery that,hey, you know what?
You think you may be safe fromaddiction, but while you're in
the rooms here and we'retalking, but you know what?
(06:09):
Addiction is out in the parkinglot doing push-ups and
exercising, getting stronger.
It's being watchful, and it'sgoing to be around as a roaring
lion, seeking whom he maydevour.
That's true.
Addiction is funny.
It works on its strength, right,because it's got to have that
strength.
So trying to figure out how tobattle an enemy is great, but if
(06:33):
you don't even know who theenemy is, you can't identify it,
you're not going to be battlingagainst anything.
To understand the enemy is tounderstand how you deal with the
battle.
So I like to think of addictionas the enemy.
It's the tool that the enemy isusing, if you will.
(06:54):
Also, you could look at iteither way.
But it's the enemy.
So you attack...
And, you know, we have a lot ofsayings in recovery.
One of them is individuals don'tget sober or clean.
Groups do.
So if your group includes familymembers or loved ones, that's
fine.
If it's if you don't have any ofthose that, you know, some of us
(07:16):
don't have families, then you'reyou're friends.
UNKNOWN (07:21):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (07:22):
And if you have a few of those left because
they've either died from theiraddiction or they are addicts
engaged in addiction and they'renot really, you know, those are
the friends you have, then yougo into the rooms and you get a
new group of friends, right?
You get sober friends and peoplethat are allies in that fight
against the enemy.
And when you get those peoplearound you, that's when you
(07:44):
start to battle because there'sstrength in numbers, right?
But what's interesting is one ofmy sayings, isolation is
addiction's best friend.
And so what addiction wants youto do is get isolated, right?
Subtract all the people that canhelp you, all the resources that
(08:06):
can fight against addiction.
Addiction will isolate you.
You isolate your opponent,right?
from all its support, all itsallies, it's sure to fall.
And so it's kind of like theCubans.
The United States has tried touse that as a means to force
Cuba into overthrowing itscommunist government.
(08:30):
Unfortunately, it's not working.
It hasn't worked so far.
But, I mean, that's the idea,right?
To isolate.
Every war that we've had, we tryto cut off the allies of the
enemy because it makes theenemy, you know, weaker.
So, in the instance ofaddiction, you know, it's the
(08:51):
lion that's going to comeroaring forward and devour you.
And if it's roaring in thedistance, it's coming for you.
If it's out in the parking lotand doing exercises, pushups
waiting for you, it's going tocome back.
And if you are in any way in theprocess of recovery, you know
exactly what I'm talking aboutbecause the fight that you've
(09:12):
seen other people engage in andperhaps lose that fight, they go
back out, they overdose, theystop their recovery, you know,
all along the way, you're seeingit.
So how do you fight addiction?
Well, you have to identify it asthe enemy first because you want
(09:34):
to see that the lion is theenemy, right?
It's coming to get you.
And so when you're prepared forthat, what you have to have is
you have to have strength.
You have to have the training,the understanding, the strategy.
And again, another scripturalreference to this is, Ephesians
(09:56):
6.11, but the armor of Godstatements.
Put on the whole armor of Godthat you may be able to stand
against the schemes of thedevil.
The armor of God.
You know, the idea that you wereprotected.
You have to have that armor.
You're not just going toautomatically have it.
You have to go seek it out.
(10:18):
And I know there's scripturalreferences to what that armor is
and protecting yourself in thespiritual warfare that goes on.
But I would rather for thispodcast talk about the idea of
what the armor of God could beprovided to you.
Where do you get that?
Not necessarily what it is, butwhere do you get it?
Well, you get it from yourfaith.
But if you don't have any faithin anything, you don't believe
(10:39):
in anything, you don't believethat there's anything that can
help you, you're not going toselect anything for armor.
There is no armor.
Going into the rooms, gettingthe camaraderie of the people
that are in that struggle too.
You shouldn't fight the enemy byyourself.
Fight it with other people.
(10:59):
The people that care about you.
So that you can stand against,and it's interesting, the
schemes of the devil.
I know there's many versions ofthe Bible.
That's from the modern Englishversion.
But the schemes of the devil areFor the fight is not against the
flesh and blood, but againstprincipalities, against powers,
against rulers of the darknessof the world, against the
(11:21):
spiritual forces of evil in theheavenly places.
It is a spiritual warfare that'sgoing on.
It is a physical warfare that'sgoing on.
It's a mental warfare that'sgoing on.
The enemy has many weapons touse against you.
And if you only have one weapon,source of protection and the
(11:42):
enemy defeats that there isnothing left you are left wide
open for and vulnerable forattack so it's important that
you have a process and a systemand a and a resource in place
for every possible thing so whenpeople come to see me in my
practice and and i talk to themabout recovery It is like the
(12:03):
first questions I'm asking themis like, well, what else are you
doing?
I mean, you came here, butthere's 168 hours in a week.
So this is one.
What about the other 167 hours?
What are you doing?
And most times I hear, I don'tknow, nothing.
Well, I have a book I'm reading.
(12:24):
Well, are you really readingthat book?
And that's it?
Like you don't have people?
And they don't.
They don't have people.
They don't have a crowd aroundthem.
They don't have the resourcesfor that.
They haven't engaged in thatpart of it.
But that's a very important partof it.
Because the enemy is crafty andit has weapons.
(12:45):
It has multiple weapons.
So you have to have the supportaround you.
Because again, I think it's athree-pronged attack.
It's spiritual, it's mental, andit's physical.
And if you can...
know destroy one of those thingsthe other two will fall shortly
after you know your health youstart getting hep c and your
(13:09):
jaundiced you know or yourintestinal tract starts failing
because of all the alcoholyou're consuming so you've got
ulcers and you're bleeding outor whatever it is right you fall
and you get a traumatic braininjury now you're in the icu in
the hospital clinging to lifebecause you were drunk and you
fell off the balcony or you fellon the hit the curb in the
parking lot So how long is itgoing to take before the rest of
(13:35):
your fight gives up because youdon't have any other weapons
against the enemy?
So if it's a physical warfare,your body is going to shut down.
That's usually at the end stagesof alcohol, unless you're one of
the unfortunate ones who willconsume a large amount of
alcohol or drugs and youoverdose.
You go into respiratory arrestor your heart just stops.
(13:57):
Or you have multiple strokescaused by drugs you're using,
which happens.
And now your brain is fried.
So there are many thingsphysically that can happen to
you.
It's not just one ofincarceration.
So you're trapped, you'rearrested, you're thrown in jail.
It can be beyond that.
(14:19):
That's a physical thing.
imprisonment but that's notphysical harm necessarily but
it's the medical problems soyou've got that so you know
you're at risk for that but it'sthe spiritual and the emotional
the mental warfare that goes onthat really causes the problems
if somebody has a physicalproblem it's pretty obvious they
(14:41):
got the physical problem so theyhave a stroke or they have brain
damage or physical damagebecause they got in a DUI or
whatever well that's going to bevery limiting And those are sad
stories, no doubt.
But it's the spiritual warfareand the emotional mental
warfare.
The arrogance that you have inaddiction is it's everybody
(15:03):
else's problem.
That's part of the spiritualwarfare.
That's the arrogance thataddiction has handed you.
I don't have a problem.
You got the problem.
Well, no, actually addiction isworking through you to hand you
arrogance to use as a shieldbecause that's addiction's
(15:24):
weapon that it's handed you asthe addict to use.
So it's giving you a weapon touse against those who would like
to help you.
Your arrogance.
And I always say that arroganceis very strong and addicts, but
it's also the one weapon that'sthe last one to be put down by
(15:45):
the addict.
The arrogance.
There are times when people comeinto my office and they sit in
the chair across from me andthey're so full of arrogance.
And they're telling me about howeverything's fine.
It's everybody else's perceptionof them being a problem, but
they've got it going on.
Everything's handled.
(16:06):
And They don't quite understandwhy everybody's upset about
whatever it is they're using.
And the biggest problem is thatthey're blinded by their
arrogance.
And arrogance is something thatis not going to go away easily.
(16:26):
Because it works.
And so it allows you to havethat distance between you and
everybody else.
So if the enemy has handed youarrogance and it's a very
effective weapon, you know what?
When you put your arrogance downand you start to accept that you
are flawed, you accept theproblems of what you're going
through, you acceptresponsibility for things, the
(16:49):
arrogance starts to go away.
It's not everybody else'sproblem.
It is your problem.
It is a problem of you doingthings that are destructive.
Imagine that, you know, likeyou're trying to fight a fight
and the enemy hands you a weaponand then you turn it on
yourself.
It's crazy.
(17:10):
Why would you do that?
It makes no sense.
And then you have allies thatare trying to help you and the
enemy has handed you a weapon.
You accepted it and you startfiring upon the people that are
trying to help you.
So you're destroying yourallies.
That's crazy.
That's friendly fire.
(17:31):
Why would you do that?
Well, because you're blinded byarrogance.
We all have flaws.
We all have those flaws.
But the phrase, the armor ofGod, is one where you are given
protections against the enemy.
The fight is not against theflesh and blood.
but against principalities,against powers, against the
(17:52):
rulers of the darkness, againstspiritual forces of evil.
That's what it's against.
And when you have a spiritualwarfare, you have an emotional
warfare, you have a mentalwarfare, you need help with
that.
So that's why I'm urging you toseek that help out and join in
on that fight.
(18:13):
Don't become part of the band ofthe enemy that's trying to slay
everybody around you, that'strying to help you.
So you've got to seek out thathelp, and you do it in the
rooms.
So you go into the rooms, get asponsor, get friends that are
working on recovery, go to SmartRecovery, go into any form of a
(18:34):
group.
that's working on recovery.
Literally.
Any form of group.
And you will find allies thathave been deceived by the enemy.
That breaks that cycle of havingthat warfare that's involving
the principalities and thepowers and the rulers of
darkness.
It's that spiritual warfare.
(18:55):
The spiritual forces of evil areout to get you.
The...
The thing that I think of everytime I say that or hear that, it
always makes me laugh because Ithink about my son reading Diary
of a Wimpy Kid.
And there's a passage in one ofthe books where there's this
(19:17):
house that's dark and forbiddingand there's a forest area around
it.
And they're walking through theforest and they're scared
because it's at night.
And these weird kids that livein that house, they are varying
ages.
And one of them is trying toscare them out of the woods to
(19:38):
get away from the house.
And he's yelling at them thathis brother, Meckley, you better
watch out.
Meckley's going to get you.
And I always think of that.
Meckley's going to get you.
And they are terrified.
So they run out of the woods.
And that's kind of what thatspiritual warfare is like.
Addiction's going to get you.
And so run.
UNKNOWN (19:58):
Run.
SPEAKER_00 (19:58):
Run quickly for freedom.
And where do they go?
When they're in the book, heruns home.
He's got to get home.
He's trying to get home.
He's trying to take a shortcutthrough the woods.
But Meckley's going to get you.
So it's that fight.
(20:20):
It's that fight where you'retrying to get free from the
enemy.
So if the enemy's using...
or has handed you the weapon ofarrogance, that is a primary one
that keeps everybody at bay.
And so that spiritual warfare isgoing to ramp up when that
arrogance kicks in.
And I'll tell you something,man, there is nothing harder to
deal with than an addict who isjust in full-blown arrogance.
(20:43):
I've seen people that arehomeless, they're destitute, and
they need no money, barely anyclothing, and they're high, or
they're drunk all the time.
And they're just, it's just, youknow, they have a place to stay.
They haven't become completelyhomeless, but they're close.
And they look horrible.
(21:03):
Tweakers and drunks and, youknow, speed freaks and heroin
addicts and their skin is allmessed up.
They stink.
They're dirty.
And you ask them how they'redoing and they're like, I'm
fine.
It's like, you're not fine.
This is way far away from fine.
(21:24):
But the arrogance kicks in, andthey don't really see that
there's an issue.
And I've done interventions withpeople like that.
I've done interventions wherethe person actually in front of
me is high or drunk at the timeof the intervention.
And I'm looking at them, andthey know that I'm an expert in
the field of recovery.
And they look at me, and I say,are you drunk?
(21:46):
right now.
You're high right now.
And they're like, no, I'm not.
I'm like, wow, you, who, who doyou think you're fooling here?
You know, but that's arrogance,right?
That's the spiritual warfare.
So the, the enemy that the enemyin the darkness with the, the,
the, the ruler of darkness,right?
It's the ruler of darkness.
I heard a guy talking about, um,His understanding of what he was
(22:12):
experiencing when he had thismoment of clarity in his
recovery, where he had thishorrible, horrible dream, and he
was thrown into hell.
And he was there, and he waslooking down, and there were all
these people that were in thispit, and they were...
(22:34):
It was hot and there was fireand there was a pit and he was
looking down at them as he wasgoing into this hell that he was
sinking into and he saw them andthey were all reaching up to him
and they were screaming andyelling and he thought they were
trying to pull him in.
to the pit and as he got closerand closer he heard them and he
(22:55):
realized they weren't trying topull him in they were screaming
that they wanted to get out andthey wanted him to help them get
out of the pit and he wasfreaked out about it and he
realized what hell really waslike that nobody wants to be
there he thought he always usedto think that there were people
that actually wanted to be inhell and then when they got
(23:16):
there they enjoyed it.
And what he experienced in thismoment where he was having that
revelation of it, that it's nota place that anybody wants to
be.
Well, that's what the spiritualwarfare is about.
That enemy wants to take youthere, right?
And like I said, it's going totake everything away from you.
So you have to have...
(23:37):
the tools and the resources tobe able to fight against that.
And that's where it's aspiritual warfare.
It's a mental warfare.
It's an emotional warfare.
It is a physical warfare.
And the enemy wants to take youdown.
And so having the full armor ofGod, those pieces that will
protect you and that you canuse.
(23:59):
But in order to pick up oneweapon, you have to put another
one down.
So the enemy wants you to hangon to that arrogance and hang on
to those tools.
And that's not how you win.
So be understanding of yourselfand that there is that warfare
that goes on.
But be sober and watchful.
(24:20):
Sober and watchful.
Because your adversary, thedevil, walks around as a roaring
lion seeking whom he may devour.
Think about that.
That's what addiction is.
Addiction is the enemy.
It's the adversary that walksaround as a roaring lion wanting
(24:43):
to take you out.
Fight against that and don'tever quit.
I hope you've enjoyed thisepisode of Doc Jacques, Your
Addiction Lifeguard.
I'm Dr.
Jacques de Bruker, a licensedprofessional counselor and
addiction specialist.
(25:03):
If you need help, you can reachout to me through my website,
wellspringmindbody.com, and getthe help that you need.
I'll give you answers, I'll giveyou suggestions, and if you just
need help clinically, I can dothat too.
So reach out to me, because, youknow, listen, addiction wants
you, it's going to kill you.
It I want you to die.
It's not worth saving youraddiction by ending your life.
(25:26):
That's insane.
So, please, go get the help.
Go to rehab.
Go to the rooms.
Do something.
Don't be just wobbling youraddiction.
So, until the next episode ofDog Shock, Your Addiction
Lifeguard, like and suggest.
And I'll see you next time.
UNKNOWN (25:43):
Bye.
I'm here to help.
If you're in search of help totry to get your life back
together, join me here atDocShock, your addiction
(00:21):
lifeguard, the addictionrecovery podcast.
to be real clear about what thispodcast is intended for.
It is intended for entertainmentand informational purposes, but
(00:45):
not considered help.
If you actually need real helpand you're in need of help,
please seek that out.
If you're in dire need of help,you can go to your nearest
emergency room or you can checkinto a rehab center or call a
counselor like me and talk aboutyour problems and work through
them.
But don't rely on a podcast tobe that form of help.
(01:06):
It's not.
It's just a When I'm dealingwith somebody who's got
(01:31):
addiction, what I'm dealing withis a problem of a conflict.
It's a battle.
It's a warfare that they'reengaged in.
But they have become the targetby other people and themselves.
So the battle that's occurring,unfortunately, is with an enemy
that is very sneaky and verydeceptive.
(01:54):
And it disguises itself and ishidden.
So when an addict is expressingoutrage or upset about life or
other people and the peoplearound them are upset and raging
against the addiction whatthey're doing is they're coming
after the addict and there's alot of blaming there's a lot of
(02:17):
confrontation it's a prettymessy battle the part that's
missing is that you're notreally engaging with an addict
you're engaging with addictionbut addiction is sneaky and it
can hide and it does it hidesvery well it disguises itself
and it It fades into thebackground so that it's hidden.
(02:37):
So what happens invariably iseverybody's running around upset
and there's lots of chaos andblame storming and all kinds of
stuff goes on.
The battle is with addiction.
It's not with the addict.
The addict is not the problem.
The addict has a problem and theproblem is the problem.
But addiction...
(02:57):
is the disease that they'reusing to cope with the problem
it's a faulty coping mechanismso the idea that that you're
dealing with addiction means tomost people that they're dealing
with the addict the addict isthe victim and the people around
them are the victims they'rebeing attacked by this wily
(03:18):
crafty chameleon-like attackerthat comes in the form of
addiction The enemy is strikingagainst you.
And so when you begin to work onaddiction, you have to separate
yourself from the attacker.
That's kind of challenging to dobecause addiction causes you to
(03:39):
be very destructive.
And anybody who has addictionunderstands what I'm talking
about.
Destroys families, friends,relationships, freedom, health,
financial success, failure ofthat, everything, housing.
It attacks everything.
Right.
Because eventually what it wantsto do is kill you, but it's
going to strip everything awayfrom you.
(04:00):
And in the process, it will pityour family members and your
friends, your loved ones againstyou, the addict and the addict
against them.
So the old saying of the enemyof my enemy is my friend.
So addiction gets allies.
And what it does is it starts toinvade all these relationships
(04:20):
and cause all this destruction.
UNKNOWN (04:22):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (04:23):
The problem that most people have is they don't
understand they're up against anenemy, and so they're not
prepared for that battle, andthey have no protection.
There are no weapons thatthey're using.
You can go to rehab.
You can start working a program.
You can go into the rooms, intomeetings, and participate in
those kinds of things.
(04:44):
But until you really understandwho the enemy is, you're
shooting in the air.
You're swinging at nothing.
You're shadowboxing, if youwill.
So I think what I'd like to...
work on today is anunderstanding of what is the
enemy, who is the enemy, andwhat do you do about dealing
(05:04):
with the enemy.
And I think the idea that youare in a battle by yourself is a
false idea.
You're not.
But there are lots of ways ofinterpreting and understanding
the enemy, but from a scripturalstandpoint, The description of
(05:26):
be sober and watchful becauseyour adversary, the devil, walks
around as a roaring lion seekingwhom he may devour.
That's in 1 Peter 5, 8.
The idea of the enemy is beingsober and watchful, right?
The enemy is not an addictitself, right?
(05:47):
It is the tool that the enemy isusing.
Addiction is the tool that theenemy is using to come after
you.
The enemy is sober and watchful.
It's waiting.
It's waiting to attack.
We talk about in recovery that,hey, you know what?
You think you may be safe fromaddiction, but while you're in
the rooms here and we'retalking, but you know what?
(06:09):
Addiction is out in the parkinglot doing push-ups and
exercising, getting stronger.
It's being watchful, and it'sgoing to be around as a roaring
lion, seeking whom he maydevour.
That's true.
Addiction is funny.
It works on its strength, right,because it's got to have that
strength.
So trying to figure out how tobattle an enemy is great, but if
(06:33):
you don't even know who theenemy is, you can't identify it,
you're not going to be battlingagainst anything.
To understand the enemy is tounderstand how you deal with the
battle.
So I like to think of addictionas the enemy.
It's the tool that the enemy isusing, if you will.
(06:54):
Also, you could look at iteither way.
But it's the enemy.
So you attack...
And, you know, we have a lot ofsayings in recovery.
One of them is individuals don'tget sober or clean.
Groups do.
So if your group includes familymembers or loved ones, that's
fine.
If it's if you don't have any ofthose that, you know, some of us
(07:16):
don't have families, then you'reyou're friends.
UNKNOWN (07:21):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (07:22):
And if you have a few of those left because
they've either died from theiraddiction or they are addicts
engaged in addiction and they'renot really, you know, those are
the friends you have, then yougo into the rooms and you get a
new group of friends, right?
You get sober friends and peoplethat are allies in that fight
against the enemy.
And when you get those peoplearound you, that's when you
(07:44):
start to battle because there'sstrength in numbers, right?
But what's interesting is one ofmy sayings, isolation is
addiction's best friend.
And so what addiction wants youto do is get isolated, right?
Subtract all the people that canhelp you, all the resources that
(08:06):
can fight against addiction.
Addiction will isolate you.
You isolate your opponent,right?
from all its support, all itsallies, it's sure to fall.
And so it's kind of like theCubans.
The United States has tried touse that as a means to force
Cuba into overthrowing itscommunist government.
(08:30):
Unfortunately, it's not working.
It hasn't worked so far.
But, I mean, that's the idea,right?
To isolate.
Every war that we've had, we tryto cut off the allies of the
enemy because it makes theenemy, you know, weaker.
So, in the instance ofaddiction, you know, it's the
(08:51):
lion that's going to comeroaring forward and devour you.
And if it's roaring in thedistance, it's coming for you.
If it's out in the parking lotand doing exercises, pushups
waiting for you, it's going tocome back.
And if you are in any way in theprocess of recovery, you know
exactly what I'm talking aboutbecause the fight that you've
(09:12):
seen other people engage in andperhaps lose that fight, they go
back out, they overdose, theystop their recovery, you know,
all along the way, you're seeingit.
So how do you fight addiction?
Well, you have to identify it asthe enemy first because you want
(09:34):
to see that the lion is theenemy, right?
It's coming to get you.
And so when you're prepared forthat, what you have to have is
you have to have strength.
You have to have the training,the understanding, the strategy.
And again, another scripturalreference to this is, Ephesians
(09:56):
6.11, but the armor of Godstatements.
Put on the whole armor of Godthat you may be able to stand
against the schemes of thedevil.
The armor of God.
You know, the idea that you wereprotected.
You have to have that armor.
You're not just going toautomatically have it.
You have to go seek it out.
(10:18):
And I know there's scripturalreferences to what that armor is
and protecting yourself in thespiritual warfare that goes on.
But I would rather for thispodcast talk about the idea of
what the armor of God could beprovided to you.
Where do you get that?
Not necessarily what it is, butwhere do you get it?
Well, you get it from yourfaith.
But if you don't have any faithin anything, you don't believe
(10:39):
in anything, you don't believethat there's anything that can
help you, you're not going toselect anything for armor.
There is no armor.
Going into the rooms, gettingthe camaraderie of the people
that are in that struggle too.
You shouldn't fight the enemy byyourself.
Fight it with other people.
(10:59):
The people that care about you.
So that you can stand against,and it's interesting, the
schemes of the devil.
I know there's many versions ofthe Bible.
That's from the modern Englishversion.
But the schemes of the devil areFor the fight is not against the
flesh and blood, but againstprincipalities, against powers,
against rulers of the darknessof the world, against the
(11:21):
spiritual forces of evil in theheavenly places.
It is a spiritual warfare that'sgoing on.
It is a physical warfare that'sgoing on.
It's a mental warfare that'sgoing on.
The enemy has many weapons touse against you.
And if you only have one weapon,source of protection and the
(11:42):
enemy defeats that there isnothing left you are left wide
open for and vulnerable forattack so it's important that
you have a process and a systemand a and a resource in place
for every possible thing so whenpeople come to see me in my
practice and and i talk to themabout recovery It is like the
(12:03):
first questions I'm asking themis like, well, what else are you
doing?
I mean, you came here, butthere's 168 hours in a week.
So this is one.
What about the other 167 hours?
What are you doing?
And most times I hear, I don'tknow, nothing.
Well, I have a book I'm reading.
(12:24):
Well, are you really readingthat book?
And that's it?
Like you don't have people?
And they don't.
They don't have people.
They don't have a crowd aroundthem.
They don't have the resourcesfor that.
They haven't engaged in thatpart of it.
But that's a very important partof it.
Because the enemy is crafty andit has weapons.
(12:45):
It has multiple weapons.
So you have to have the supportaround you.
Because again, I think it's athree-pronged attack.
It's spiritual, it's mental, andit's physical.
And if you can...
know destroy one of those thingsthe other two will fall shortly
after you know your health youstart getting hep c and your
(13:09):
jaundiced you know or yourintestinal tract starts failing
because of all the alcoholyou're consuming so you've got
ulcers and you're bleeding outor whatever it is right you fall
and you get a traumatic braininjury now you're in the icu in
the hospital clinging to lifebecause you were drunk and you
fell off the balcony or you fellon the hit the curb in the
parking lot So how long is itgoing to take before the rest of
(13:35):
your fight gives up because youdon't have any other weapons
against the enemy?
So if it's a physical warfare,your body is going to shut down.
That's usually at the end stagesof alcohol, unless you're one of
the unfortunate ones who willconsume a large amount of
alcohol or drugs and youoverdose.
You go into respiratory arrestor your heart just stops.
(13:57):
Or you have multiple strokescaused by drugs you're using,
which happens.
And now your brain is fried.
So there are many thingsphysically that can happen to
you.
It's not just one ofincarceration.
So you're trapped, you'rearrested, you're thrown in jail.
It can be beyond that.
(14:19):
That's a physical thing.
imprisonment but that's notphysical harm necessarily but
it's the medical problems soyou've got that so you know
you're at risk for that but it'sthe spiritual and the emotional
the mental warfare that goes onthat really causes the problems
if somebody has a physicalproblem it's pretty obvious they
(14:41):
got the physical problem so theyhave a stroke or they have brain
damage or physical damagebecause they got in a DUI or
whatever well that's going to bevery limiting And those are sad
stories, no doubt.
But it's the spiritual warfareand the emotional mental
warfare.
The arrogance that you have inaddiction is it's everybody
(15:03):
else's problem.
That's part of the spiritualwarfare.
That's the arrogance thataddiction has handed you.
I don't have a problem.
You got the problem.
Well, no, actually addiction isworking through you to hand you
arrogance to use as a shieldbecause that's addiction's
(15:24):
weapon that it's handed you asthe addict to use.
So it's giving you a weapon touse against those who would like
to help you.
Your arrogance.
And I always say that arroganceis very strong and addicts, but
it's also the one weapon that'sthe last one to be put down by
(15:45):
the addict.
The arrogance.
There are times when people comeinto my office and they sit in
the chair across from me andthey're so full of arrogance.
And they're telling me about howeverything's fine.
It's everybody else's perceptionof them being a problem, but
they've got it going on.
Everything's handled.
(16:06):
And They don't quite understandwhy everybody's upset about
whatever it is they're using.
And the biggest problem is thatthey're blinded by their
arrogance.
And arrogance is something thatis not going to go away easily.
(16:26):
Because it works.
And so it allows you to havethat distance between you and
everybody else.
So if the enemy has handed youarrogance and it's a very
effective weapon, you know what?
When you put your arrogance downand you start to accept that you
are flawed, you accept theproblems of what you're going
through, you acceptresponsibility for things, the
(16:49):
arrogance starts to go away.
It's not everybody else'sproblem.
It is your problem.
It is a problem of you doingthings that are destructive.
Imagine that, you know, likeyou're trying to fight a fight
and the enemy hands you a weaponand then you turn it on
yourself.
It's crazy.
(17:10):
Why would you do that?
It makes no sense.
And then you have allies thatare trying to help you and the
enemy has handed you a weapon.
You accepted it and you startfiring upon the people that are
trying to help you.
So you're destroying yourallies.
That's crazy.
That's friendly fire.
(17:31):
Why would you do that?
Well, because you're blinded byarrogance.
We all have flaws.
We all have those flaws.
But the phrase, the armor ofGod, is one where you are given
protections against the enemy.
The fight is not against theflesh and blood.
but against principalities,against powers, against the
(17:52):
rulers of the darkness, againstspiritual forces of evil.
That's what it's against.
And when you have a spiritualwarfare, you have an emotional
warfare, you have a mentalwarfare, you need help with
that.
So that's why I'm urging you toseek that help out and join in
on that fight.
(18:13):
Don't become part of the band ofthe enemy that's trying to slay
everybody around you, that'strying to help you.
So you've got to seek out thathelp, and you do it in the
rooms.
So you go into the rooms, get asponsor, get friends that are
working on recovery, go to SmartRecovery, go into any form of a
(18:34):
group.
that's working on recovery.
Literally.
Any form of group.
And you will find allies thathave been deceived by the enemy.
That breaks that cycle of havingthat warfare that's involving
the principalities and thepowers and the rulers of
darkness.
It's that spiritual warfare.
(18:55):
The spiritual forces of evil areout to get you.
The...
The thing that I think of everytime I say that or hear that, it
always makes me laugh because Ithink about my son reading Diary
of a Wimpy Kid.
And there's a passage in one ofthe books where there's this
(19:17):
house that's dark and forbiddingand there's a forest area around
it.
And they're walking through theforest and they're scared
because it's at night.
And these weird kids that livein that house, they are varying
ages.
And one of them is trying toscare them out of the woods to
(19:38):
get away from the house.
And he's yelling at them thathis brother, Meckley, you better
watch out.
Meckley's going to get you.
And I always think of that.
Meckley's going to get you.
And they are terrified.
So they run out of the woods.
And that's kind of what thatspiritual warfare is like.
Addiction's going to get you.
And so run.
UNKNOWN (19:58):
Run.
SPEAKER_00 (19:58):
Run quickly for freedom.
And where do they go?
When they're in the book, heruns home.
He's got to get home.
He's trying to get home.
He's trying to take a shortcutthrough the woods.
But Meckley's going to get you.
So it's that fight.
(20:20):
It's that fight where you'retrying to get free from the
enemy.
So if the enemy's using...
or has handed you the weapon ofarrogance, that is a primary one
that keeps everybody at bay.
And so that spiritual warfare isgoing to ramp up when that
arrogance kicks in.
And I'll tell you something,man, there is nothing harder to
deal with than an addict who isjust in full-blown arrogance.
(20:43):
I've seen people that arehomeless, they're destitute, and
they need no money, barely anyclothing, and they're high, or
they're drunk all the time.
And they're just, it's just, youknow, they have a place to stay.
They haven't become completelyhomeless, but they're close.
And they look horrible.
(21:03):
Tweakers and drunks and, youknow, speed freaks and heroin
addicts and their skin is allmessed up.
They stink.
They're dirty.
And you ask them how they'redoing and they're like, I'm
fine.
It's like, you're not fine.
This is way far away from fine.
(21:24):
But the arrogance kicks in, andthey don't really see that
there's an issue.
And I've done interventions withpeople like that.
I've done interventions wherethe person actually in front of
me is high or drunk at the timeof the intervention.
And I'm looking at them, andthey know that I'm an expert in
the field of recovery.
And they look at me, and I say,are you drunk?
(21:46):
right now.
You're high right now.
And they're like, no, I'm not.
I'm like, wow, you, who, who doyou think you're fooling here?
You know, but that's arrogance,right?
That's the spiritual warfare.
So the, the enemy that the enemyin the darkness with the, the,
the, the ruler of darkness,right?
It's the ruler of darkness.
I heard a guy talking about, um,His understanding of what he was
(22:12):
experiencing when he had thismoment of clarity in his
recovery, where he had thishorrible, horrible dream, and he
was thrown into hell.
And he was there, and he waslooking down, and there were all
these people that were in thispit, and they were...
(22:34):
It was hot and there was fireand there was a pit and he was
looking down at them as he wasgoing into this hell that he was
sinking into and he saw them andthey were all reaching up to him
and they were screaming andyelling and he thought they were
trying to pull him in.
to the pit and as he got closerand closer he heard them and he
(22:55):
realized they weren't trying topull him in they were screaming
that they wanted to get out andthey wanted him to help them get
out of the pit and he wasfreaked out about it and he
realized what hell really waslike that nobody wants to be
there he thought he always usedto think that there were people
that actually wanted to be inhell and then when they got
(23:16):
there they enjoyed it.
And what he experienced in thismoment where he was having that
revelation of it, that it's nota place that anybody wants to
be.
Well, that's what the spiritualwarfare is about.
That enemy wants to take youthere, right?
And like I said, it's going totake everything away from you.
So you have to have...
(23:37):
the tools and the resources tobe able to fight against that.
And that's where it's aspiritual warfare.
It's a mental warfare.
It's an emotional warfare.
It is a physical warfare.
And the enemy wants to take youdown.
And so having the full armor ofGod, those pieces that will
protect you and that you canuse.
(23:59):
But in order to pick up oneweapon, you have to put another
one down.
So the enemy wants you to hangon to that arrogance and hang on
to those tools.
And that's not how you win.
So be understanding of yourselfand that there is that warfare
that goes on.
But be sober and watchful.
(24:20):
Sober and watchful.
Because your adversary, thedevil, walks around as a roaring
lion seeking whom he may devour.
Think about that.
That's what addiction is.
Addiction is the enemy.
It's the adversary that walksaround as a roaring lion wanting
(24:43):
to take you out.
Fight against that and don'tever quit.
I hope you've enjoyed thisepisode of Doc Jacques, Your
Addiction Lifeguard.
I'm Dr.
Jacques de Bruker, a licensedprofessional counselor and
addiction specialist.
(25:03):
If you need help, you can reachout to me through my website,
wellspringmindbody.com, and getthe help that you need.
I'll give you answers, I'll giveyou suggestions, and if you just
need help clinically, I can dothat too.
So reach out to me, because, youknow, listen, addiction wants
you, it's going to kill you.
It I want you to die.
It's not worth saving youraddiction by ending your life.
(25:26):
That's insane.
So, please, go get the help.
Go to rehab.
Go to the rooms.
Do something.
Don't be just wobbling youraddiction.
So, until the next episode ofDog Shock, Your Addiction
Lifeguard, like and suggest.
And I'll see you next time.
UNKNOWN (25:43):
Bye.
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