Welcome to CIR’s Workshop: “Satan’s Role in Addictions and Dysfunctional Behaviors” This Workshop is presented by noted author Don Umphrey
note: Members can discuss this workshop in the Message Boards HERE
The Workshop will be held one more time Wednesdays September 30 9:30-11:00 PM Eastern Time
Obie-host We strongly suggest you get a copy of his latest book Seeking Spiritual Clarity This will help you to get the most out of the workshop. We recommend this workshop for all aspects of recovery (not just addictions).
Obie-host Let us open in prayer….
Heavenly Father,
We ask Your blessings upon this workshop…..
annoint Don as he speaks to us…..
may HIs words reflect Biblical Truths…..
open our hearts and our minds to the promptings of Your Holy Spirit….
lead those who are in need of support and help to this workshop….
in the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Obie-host I now hand things over to Don for the rest of the evening.
Thanks, Obie.
Hello. I’m Don, an alcoholic.
Welcome back to the third week of our 4-week seminar,
Satan’s Role in Addictions/ Disfunctional Behaviors
38 Don–author As we’ve done in the previous 2 weeks,
46 Don–author I’ll share for awhile and then open it up
54 Don–author for your observations or questions.
05 Don–author As earlier stated, we live in this fallen world
12 Don–author where we are influenced by God, the creator
21 Don–author of the universe, and His son Jesus Christ.
28 Don–author We are also subject to the influence of Satan,
37 Don–author the origin and epitome of evil, who is a fallen angel.
44 Don–author The more Christ-like we are, the more we start
57 Don–author seeing the world through His eyes.
06 Don–author Or, if we move closer to Satan, we start taking on his world view.
14 Don–author We have seen that Satan’s desire is to be God,
22 Don–author Every temptation we will ever encounter contains an aspect of this.
31 Don–author When we start “playing God,” we start following
39 Don–author the source of evil on a course of self-destruction.
48 Don–author “Playing God” is in violation of the First Commandment,
56 Don–author “You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3
06 Don–author Anytime something in our lives becomes more important
13 Don–author than God, we end up “playing God.”
20 Don–author Our second point about Satan was that once we
34 Don–author start “playing God,” we put ourselves in the middle
42 Don–author of the universe and expect everything to revolve around us.
50 Don–author I call this me-me-me, but it also
57 Don–author may be referred to as the big I, ego, self-will run riot.
05 Don–author This is when we start using others
12 Don–author for our own gratifications—such as bossing them around,
20 Don–author manipulating them through guilt or other forms of control,
28 Don–author having a big mouth and talking or the time, etc.
37 Don–author When me-me-me takes over, we make ourselves into easy targets
44 Don–author and thus we may be easily hurt or easily offended.
51 Don–author No matter what anyone else says, it is always about us.
58 Don–author Our third point is that Satan is a liar.
10 Don–author Jesus called Satan a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44)
18 Don–author Even Satan’s very appearance may be a lie because
26 Don–author “Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.” (II Cor. 11:14)
34 Don–author One way this shows itself is that there is a seeming positive
41 Don–author pay-off for us in every possible sin.
49 Don–author In other words, sin always looks good.
57 Don–author The first time we see Satan in the Bible,
04 Don–author he was trying to cast doubt on God’s word. (Genesis 3:1)
23 Don–author Then he told Eve a giant whopper: “You will not surely die.” (Gen. 3:4)
33 Don–author Finally, the last point about Satan that we covered last week:
41 Don–author Denial is defined as when someone believes a lie
54 Don–author and then starts lying to him/herself.
06 Don–author Satan has deluded himself into believing that he is God.
15 Don–author If we believe Satan’s lies, we will also be in denial
23 Don–author and the longer we spend in denial, the greater our
31 Don–author spiritual blindness. Paul writes about this in Romans 1:21:
40 Don–author “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him
48 Don–author as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became
56 Don–author futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.”
05 Don–author Hardened hearts. Blinded minds. These are functions of denial.
11 Don–author Here are four points we shared about denial last week:
37 Don–author 1) As they walk the murky path toward complete spiritual
46 Don–author blindness, people in denial lose all objectivity in regard to themselves.
53 Don–author This impacts their view of everything in the universe.
06 Don–author 2) The person in denial is “always right” and
14 Don–author justifies everything he/she does.
22 Don–author 3) The person in denial suffers from a loss of identity.
31 Don–author 4) The journey toward spiritual blindness is characterized
39 Don–author by a loss of earlier standards and morals.
50 Don–author Now let’s look at two more steps on the downward
58 Don–author path toward self-destruction. As we know, one thing
05 Don–author that separates people from animals is that we are made in God’s image.
13 Don–author By losing our identities of being made in the image of God and
21 Don–author continuing to follow the evil one, we will act like animals.
34 Don–author The first time we see the evil one in the Bible, how does he appear?
41 Don–author As a snake.
48 Don–author Satan is also called a “roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (I Peter 5:8)
56 Don–author Jesus referred to Satan as a wolf which
04 Don–author attacks the flock and scatters it.” (John 10:12)
11 Don–author Jesus also said, “Watch out for false prophets.
27 Don–author They come to you in sheep’s clothing,
36 Don–author but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” (Matthew 7:15)
44 Don–author Again, like sin itself, the outward appearance is a lie.
52 Don–author Peter wrote about people who follow “The corrupt desire
59 Don–author of the sinful nature and despise authority” as
07 Don–author “Brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be
20 Don–author caught and destroyed.” (II Peter 2:10, 12)
28 Don–author People with darkened hearts in Romans 1: “(They) exchanged the
38 Don–author glory of the immortal God for images made to look like
45 Don–author mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.” vs. 23
53 Don–author How are some ways that people act like animals?
03 Don–author In the sexual lives? In the way they eat? In their lack of conscience?
13 Don–author According to the website for the Church of Satan:
20 Don–author “Satan represents man as just another animal, sometimes better,
28 Don–author more often worse than those that walk on all-fours, who,
36 Don–author because of his ‘divine spiritual and intellectual development,’
43 Don–author has become the most vicious animal of all.”
55 Don–author There are many ways a person can live as if he/she
03 Don–author is not made in God’s image.
10 Don–author It is no coincidence that the prevailing academic theory
18 Don–author for the origin of man is that we are descended from animals.
25 Don–author Our next major point on the road to self-destruction.
33 Don–author Satan has things backward, and we will, too, if we follow him.
40 Don–author Here are some examples:
49 Don–author God said in the First Commandment, “You shall have no other gods
57 Don–author before me.” (Exodus 20:3) Satan claims to be God.
04 Don–author God is the author of all truth. Satan wants us to think his lies are the truth.
11 Don–author God gave us freedom of choice. Satan wants us to be slaves.
19 Don–author Both God and Jesus are referred to as light or living in light.
27 Don–author Evil is described as darkness and so is hell.
40 Don–author Again quoting Paul about the people with darkened hearts described in
51 Don–author Romans 1: “Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools.” verse 22
00 Don–author My comment: In other words, they had it backward.
09 Don–author Now verse 23: “They exchanged the TRUTH of God for a LIE. (emphasis mine)
18 Don–author Below is Isaiah 5:20. It is a verse that describes the backward thinking that
25 Don–author I used when I was drinking.
32 Don–author “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,
39 Don–author who put darkness for light and light for darkness,
46 Don–author who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.”
53 Don–author This sounds an awful lot like what is going on right
07 Don–author now in our society.
15 Don–author To what extent did we have backward thinking
22 Don–author when we were lost in sin?
28 Don–author To what extent do we have it now?
37 Don–author Finally, after playing God, me-me-me, liar, denial, acting like an animal,
47 Don–author and having things backward, we reach a point of complete self-destruction
00 Don–author ”The mind of sinful man is death.” (Romans 8:6)
09 Don–author I used to think that hell was a place someone arrived after death on earth.
17 Don–author Now I have come to believe that hell starts right here on earth and continues after death.
26 Don–author Raise your hand right now if you’ve already gone
34 Don–author through a figurative hell right here on earth.
38 Don–author !
43 G3 !
52 Moonsong !
57 Obie-host !
02 AlanH !
06 BobR !
12 wAM !
24 Don–author Thanks for sharing
28 Don–author During my drinking, I was on the way to killing
37 Don–author my mind, body and soul.
49 Don–author Also very sad is the fact that people who are self-destructing
58 Don–author serve as self-destructive agents in the lives of others. I have been
18 Don–author both the victim and the victimizer in these circumstances.
29 Don–author Topics for discussion tonight is anything along the path
37 Don–author of self-destruction that we discussed tonight or in
46 Don–author the two previous weeks.
54 Don–author Feel free to share personal experiences or ask questions.
01 Don–author Before I stop, let me say that these are grim subjects we’ve been discussing.
10 Don–author Make sure to come next week when we discuss what it takes
17 Don–author for a person to come out of denial and start seeking the Lord in his/her life.
28 Don–author done for now
33 Obie-host Thank you Don
37 Moonsong ty Don
38 BobR thanks don!
41 G3 tyfs Don
48 AlanH Thank you Don
53 wAM tyfs Don
01 Obie-host Who would like to ask a question or make an observation?
11 AlanH !
17 Obie-host GA Alan
37 AlanH Phew! You cover a lot of ground Don….
50 AlanH I did get a copy of your book and am enjoying it greatly…..
01 AlanH taking lots of notes and highlighting it…..
17 AlanH You mentioned the animal nature tonight….
34 AlanH and that is what I became when I was deep in my addictions….
37 AlanH and behaviors….
55 AlanH I morphed into something very animal-like…….
04 AlanH there is no other way to put it…..
12 AlanH I was in total denial at the time…..
27 AlanH but as I look back now with a clear and sober head….
33 AlanH I am ashamed of what I became….
55 AlanH it amazes me that God reached down and picked me up…..
08 AlanH I don’t think people realize or see how low they go…..
15 AlanH done.
22 Obie-host Thank you AlanH
26 Moonsong thanks Alan
28 BobR thanks Alan
34 Don–author Everything you said, Alan, is also true of me. thanks
35 G3 tyfs alan
53 BobR !
01 Obie-host GA BobR
16 BobR I did suffer a loss of my identity…..
36 BobR my identity was all wrapped up in my addiction ….
44 BobR also I suffered from abuse for many years as a kid…..
55 BobR and I lost all self worth…..
09 BobR I am still struggling to get my own identity back…..
26 BobR is it possible to get one’s identity back 100%?
31 BobR done.
41 Moonsong relate ty Bob
49 AlanH thanks Bob
51 Don–author We will have our identities back 100 percent when we see God
56 wAM I relate too
01 Don–author face-to-face right after we die.
31 Don–author In the meantime, we see through a glass dimly because of this fallen world.
35 Don–author done
49 BobR !
55 Obie-host GA BobR
16 BobR well….I was hoping for a different answer!…….
22 BobR Jesus came to heal us….
39 BobR I would like to think that I can attain wholeness …..
44 BobR here and now….
49 BobR maybe not right away…..
55 BobR I’ve come a long way……
12 BobR I don’t want to go through life knowing that I will never heal completely…..
26 BobR Jesus never healed part way in the Bible….
38 BobR he healed people 100%….
47 BobR why would it be different now?
48 BobR Done
55 AlanH thanks Bob
59 Don–author Thanks, Bob.
02 wAM Thank you Bob
06 grace relate
11 Moonsong yes ty
14 Don–author I was paraphrasing I Cor. 13:12
30 Don–author “Now we see but a poor reflection in a mirror.
40 BobR nod
42 Don–author ; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part;
54 Don–author then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”
09 Don–author This face-to-face is when we see God that way.
24 Don–author So I guess I would say that we can strive toward wholeness
40 Don–author but don’t know that we will attain it 100% while here.
55 Don–author Even the Apostle Paul said, “Wicked man that I am, who will delivery
00 Don–author me from this body of death?”
15 Don–author His answer, of course, was Jesus Christ.
34 Don–author I hope I wasn’t discouraging to you, Bob.
47 Don–author Probably, we see things quite similarly.
48 Don–author done
57 BobR !
02 Obie-host GA Bob
13 BobR I see what you are saying…
33 BobR but I feel strongly that God delivered me from drinking….
40 BobR I have no desire to drink at all….
48 BobR I believe I have been healed…..
03 BobR that does not mean that I can ever drink again….
15 BobR it means that I have no desire to drink and for me that is a miracle…
38 BobR I need to be aware of any temptation that comes my way…..
58 BobR but I do feel 100% free in this area of my life.
02 BobR for what it is worth. done.
10 Obie-host thanks Bob
16 AlanH Thank you bob
27 Obie-host Who would like to ask a question or make an observation?
30 Don–author I also feel the same about God delivering me from drinking, Bob. THanks.
31 Don–author done
38 grace thanks BOB
01 Obie-host !
31 Obie-host Don, you talked about becoming a destrutive agent in the life of others….
41 Obie-host When I was active in my addictions….
51 Obie-host I was on a tear of self-destruction…..
56 Obie-host and I did not care….
08 Obie-host I also deluded myself into thinking that what I did to myself….
18 Obie-host didn’t matter to anyone else…..
26 Obie-host but in my haze…..
35 Obie-host I was hurting the ones who loved me most….
43 Obie-host I was totally blind to this at the time…..
15 Obie-host I simply cannot believe that I behaved in that manner or that…
24 Obie-host I could have been so blinded by satan……
34 Obie-host I fell for his lies hook, line and sinker…….
42 Obie-host done.
51 Don–author Wow, me, too. Thanks
32 Obie-host Who would like to ask a question or make an observation? Feel free to share about how you have believed Satan’s lies or how denial steered you toward spiritual blindness.
00 Obie-host The floor is open
16 Moonsong !
22 Obie-host GA Moonsong
29 Moonsong ty Obie
53 Moonsong Don may I ask how you fight or deal with denial now, as a Christian?
23 Moonsong sone
27 Moonsong done
35 Don–author Whew! Big question.
45 Don–author I have come to believe that I will die in denial
55 Don–author and that I will always be in denial about something.
59 Don–author However,
20 Don–author my goal is to grow closer to Jesus and come as close as I can
28 Don–author to walking in His footsteps.
53 Don–author Toward that end, we as Christians are asked to examine ourselves
09 Don–author when we take the Lord’s supper.
27 Don–author See I Corinthians 11:17ff about this.
41 Don–author What I try to do when taking communion
48 Don–author is to compare myself to the man on the cross.
04 Don–author When I see the difference, then I will know why he died for me.
11 Don–author At the same time I will recognize my denial.
19 Don–author The steps also help us to root out denial.
42 Don–author These include Steps 4 thru 10.
52 Don–author When I was drinking, I thought I was right all the time.
02 Don–author The steps always having me examining myself
03 BobR nod
17 Don–author and often have me saying that I have been wrong.
17 Don–author done
36 Moonsong thank you Don great tools
12 Moonsong done
10 wAM !
20 Obie-host GA wAM
50 wAM What do you think are the primary ways to defend against satan?
59 wAM done
12 Don–author You guys are making things tough for me tonight.
21 Obie-host 🙂
25 Moonsong sorry bro
35 Don–author In AA, it is said that the day will come when I have no defense
41 Don–author against picking up the first drink.
09 Don–author But, we also say that our sobriety is contingent upon
14 Don–author our spiritual condition.
28 Don–author Thus, in and of myself, I am a slave to sin.
39 Don–author But Jesus does for me what I cannot do for myself.
01 Moonsong amen
10 Don–author So, I would say that He is my strength against Satan.
23 Don–author Now you have me thinking about steps 11 and 12.
34 Don–author 11–seeking him with all my heart
50 Don–author 12—-helping others.
15 Don–author and, of course, Step 11 has me using prayer and meditation.
18 Don–author done
34 wAM thanks don
40 BobR thanks Don
48 Moonsong yes
52 carieln awesome, thank you Don
59 Obie-host Who else has a question or observation?
32 Obie-host anyone?
32 Don–author !
37 Obie-host GA Don
46 Don–author I keep on thinking back to what Alan said toward the beginning.
59 Don–author About the animal nature.
13 Don–author My wife and I have the sweetest dog.
16 Don–author Her name is Gracie.
33 Don–author But she had no regrets about killing a squirrel that came into the yard.
48 Don–author During my times of drinking, I had no regrets about anything I did.
02 Don–author It was as if I was acting solely on instincts like an animal.
15 Don–author With the haze lifted in sobriety, I now look back on that
33 Don–author and find it hard to believe that I really did some of those things.
52 BobR nod
52 Don–author Today, I recalled some things that were very painful.
11 Don–author However, unless I can accept the grace of Jesus
22 Don–author and move forward past any guilt regarding those things,
30 Don–author I am guilty of playing God.
44 AlanH amen
49 Don–author Because: Are my sins so great that they can’t
57 Don–author be forgiven by the grace of Jesus?
01 Don–author Heavens no.
03 Don–author Done
07 carieln ouch but true
16 AlanH great points
22 BobR Thank you Don
27 Moonsong hunility is tough ty Don
28 wAM thanks don
45 Obie-host any other questions for thoughts?
48 carieln !
50 Obie-host or thoughts
55 Obie-host GA carieln
03 carieln thank you Obie
21 carieln I was guilty for a long time
28 carieln of just what you said
44 carieln not moving past guilt regarding things I did
05 carieln in my days of drugs and alcohol
17 carieln for a long time I could not forgive myself
32 carieln and only now am I seeing that
38 carieln the way you describe,
45 carieln that there is no sin so great
56 carieln that His beautiful wonderful grace
00 carieln is not greater
02 carieln done
06 Don–author thanks
15 Moonsong ty carieln
22 Obie-host thanks carieln
30 BobR Thank you carieln
01 Obie-host anyone else?
32 Obie-host comments? thoughts? questions?
13 Obie-host OK, I guess that is it for this evening…..
22 Obie-host who would like to close us in prayer tonight?
46 AlanH GA Moonsong
52 Obie-host GA Moonsong
00 Moonsong ok thank you
09 Moonsong Dear Father,
30 Moonsong Your love is better than life…
54 Moonsong how awesome it is what you have provided for us here tonight…
01 Moonsong we thank you
14 AlanH yes Lord
26 Moonsong Thank you for bringing Don here
52 G3 left.
52 Moonsong Thank you for using his book and testimony to advance your kingdom of earth…
08 Moonsong Thank you for teaching about fellowship…
25 Moonsong Thank you for being patient with our dysfunctions
40 Moonsong Thank you for the blood of Jesus your only begotten
49 Moonsong We love you
02 Moonsong thank you again and good night
11 Moonsong in Jesus name, amen
27 Don–author amen and thanks for a beautiful prayer
31 carieln amen
20 bj amen
25 Don–author Please Come back next week for the redemptive part.