Part 1 – Removing the Smoke
Greetings from sunny Florida, where it is currently a lovely 72 degrees, Fahrenheit! Well there is something to be said about living in a state where instead of wearing sweaters and coats at Christmas, you are sweating and coating yourself with sunscreen. Oh, and before I forget, Happy New Year! January 1st is traditionally a time to make (and often break!) a “new year” resolution. The word resolution defined simply means; “A firm, unwavering decision.”
Health clubs and personal trainers know that they will have a bevy of ninety day disciples come January, complete with good intentions and bulging holiday bellies. Unfortunately, like clockwork, dreams of “6 pack” abs and “buns of steel” soon become “6 packs” of beer and “buns of oatmeal.” Human beings are notoriously creatures of habit, which leads me to; “How To Quit Smoking.”
Before I proceed, let me share this disclaimer: I am a minister, not a doctor, or a licensed nutritionist. I write for, Home Cures That Work, which offers its readers a variety of articles written by authors who focus on their area of expertise. My modality of healing is predominantly spiritual, however, in no way am I undermining the importance of doctors, psychologists or nutritionists. Though we may see through different lenses, we are all looking for the same result, a healthier more vibrant… you!
It is estimated that 26 million men (25%) and 23 million women (21%) in America smoke.
Considering those numbers, few would argue that cigarette smoking is a powerful addiction. If you google “stop smoking” a multitude of sites pop up, each with a bold promise of instant freedom from your smoking addiction. What they don’t tell you is, their success rate! Why? because a smoker can “quit” the habit on Monday and be chain smoking again by Friday! It is my prayer that this article will help you leave your addiction in the rearview mirror, for good. In order to get free from this addiction, you must have an open mind, so open in fact, that truth can walk in right now and delete all of the misconceptions you have filed away in your mind concerning your smoking addiction. And by the way, I know a little bit about addiction, I will be sharing how this former crack addict was set free, literally over night!
Before you can understand your smoking addiction, you must first understand how you are designed. We are triune beings, or three expressions in one. Let me explain. A laser-beam is actually three lights focused into one! That’s how we are designed; we are body, soul and spirit, divinely packaged into one being.
Our body or “Earth suit” is a wonderful, yet extremely vulnerable container. Our soul is the “epicenter” of our thought, will and emotions. Another interesting feature of the soul is its ability to enable either physical consciousness or spiritual consciousness. In other words, it acts like a selector switch that determines if your thought, will and emotions are based on the spirit or the body (flesh). Learning to “flip that switch,” will change your life, and as you read this article you will begin to see how simple this is, and suddenly you will realize that the key to your freedom has been with you all along.
Romans 8:5, “Those who live according to the flesh, (body) have their minds set on what the flesh (body) desires, But those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.”
Your spirit wants you to be free, but your flesh (body) desires momentary gratification at any cost, and your mind is the key! Lets get one thing straight, as a man believes, so he is, whatever you believe, you conceive. Notice, I did not say, whatever you think you conceive. This is where most people miss it, thinking something and believing something are two different things! A thought is subjective or suppositional; a belief is something the mind accepts as truth. The difference between thinking and believing… is knowing, and this is where faith comes from.
Hebrews 11:1 “Faith is being sure of what we hoped for. It is being certain of what we do not see.”
Faith moves mountains, faith is resolute, and faith changes things. Years ago, there was a clinical study performed by a group of oncologists. They told five cancer patients with malignant tumors, that they would be receiving “cutting edge” cancer fighting medicine that would shrink the tumors and completely cure them of cancer within a few months. The “medicine” the doctors gave them was a placebo, pills made of sugar. In a few weeks, the doctors noticed that the tumors of all five patients had begun to shrink! After four months, all five patients were discharged, cancer free. What caused their healing, sugar pills? No dear reader, their faith made them whole.
As a child, I recall one of my neighbors taking his son to the doctor to get a wart treated. When the little boy came home, I noticed he was pressing a wooden tongue depressor on his wart. When I asked him what he was doing he replied; “The doctor gave me this special wart stick and told me keep it on the wart and it would go away.” A few days later, when I saw that little boy again, his wart stick was gone and so was the wart.
Faith has a nemesis, fear, they are diametrically opposed, and therefore, you can only experience one at a time. Fear cancels faith and faith cancels fear… period. Remember, a double-minded man is unstable in ALL of his ways! Vacillation and resolution are also juxtaposed, hence, people that make New Year resolutions they believe in, succeed, and those who merely think it might work, do not.
How powerful is fear? It can kill you.
Years ago in Atlanta, Georgia, I met a minister who shared a tragic childhood story with me. The minister said that his mother was so affected by her mothers passing that after the funeral, she began to say; “I will never live a day longer than my mother and I will die the same way she did.” With tears in his eyes, the minister said; “ and you know Michael, my mother died the same age as her mother, with the same disease, on her mothers birthday.”
The bible tells the story of a man named Job, who makes this powerful statement after seemingly insurmountable loss; “the thing I feared the most has come upon me.” Before you can find faith, you must lose fear. I will show you how in these 2 segments of this article.
The title of this article, “Smoke And Mirrors” is a metaphor for a deceptive, fraudulent or insubstantial belief or description. The source of the name is based upon a magicians’ ability to manipulate the natural (often using mirrors or a puff of smoke) to make it appear supernatural. This is called, an illusion. Top illusionists like Chris Angel or David Copperfield make their money by getting people to think (some actually believe!) that something happened that never actually happened. David Copperfield made the Statue Of Liberty disappear right? No, its still there. Chris Angel walked on water in Vegas right? No, there was a plexiglass platform in the pool and strategically placed mirrors (note, one of the pool chairs has 6 legs!) creating the illusion that Chris Angel walked on water.
Here’s the truth, what you believe about your smoking addiction, is an illusion! Read part 2 to find out how to remove the illusion.
