The Common Quest of Man

The Common Quest of Man
by: L. F. Low author of Genuine Christianity

The attitude of the world toward those who are trapped in some obsessive,
compulsive lifestyle is commonly captured in the following phrase "Once a
druggie always a druggie." The same thing goes for those trapped on alcohol, sexual perversions, gambling, eating disorders, etc.The fact is however, that does not have to be true. When a person is ready to get off of whatever they are trapped by, believe me, they can find freedom; I have helped hundreds find total freedom.

The same goes with most rehab centers; they treat the compulsive behavior as the problem. The Compulsive behavior has become a problem or the person would not be seeking help. However, the behavior is not the problem.

Our behavior,regardless of what it is, is the fruit of our problem. Twelve
step programs, in most cases, string you along with the promise of freedom
only to re-trap you with constant meetings and rehearsing the fact that you are hopelessly trapped and will never escape without continuing with whatever the twelve steps taught you.

I am thankful for the help gained by some involved in these programs however, the percentage of people who have truly found freedom from their destructive behaviors are very very small compared to the numbers who are trying to find freedom. Typically there are only 1% or less who actually kick the habit and the reason is, you can not fix your problem by simply picking off the bad fruit. To change the fruit of a person's life you must change the root of that life. No human can do that-- but God can!

If you treat your compulsion as the problem you are constantly picking bad
fruit. Consider an apple tree that produces wormy apples; picking off all the apples does not fix the problem. Constantly admitting that you have a problem does not fix the problem either. No, constantly admitting you have a problem makes the problem worse and your condition hopeless.

Constantly condemning a person because they do drugs does not change the reason they do drugs. Punishing them for doing drugs actually adds to the problem by intensifying or exasperating their root problems that caused their destructive behaviors in the first place.

Unfortunately most contemporary religion is merely picking bad fruit by preaching sin sin sin to those who are trapped in their destructive lifestyles. I will agree, destructive lifestyles do make us sin. However, we must go deeper if we are to ever help the hurting find the permanent freedom Jesus promised those who would follow Him. The religionist (Is that a word?) would say "You can't go deeper than a person's sin." But I tell you that you can go deeper and that is the very reason Jesus came to the earth (Isaiah 61:1).

In order for Jesus to do what He came to do, He had to deal with mankind's sin issue. The church must quit celebrating what He had to do and go deeper to actually facilitate what He came to do. Once we have helped others gain their freedom then we can celebrate.

Until then however, we need to learn how to work with Him to help ourselves so we can help others. That is what I want to teach you; how to go deeper and receive the good out of why Jesus did what He did. He did it all for your freedom! He didn't do all that He did to trap us in some dead religion! By helping you gain your freedom I will be teaching you how to help others who are hurting as well.

Jesus set a standard for those who claim to be His followers; that standard is talked about very little and most of those who claim to follow Him can not answer the following questions; "What is the standard of Christianity? Or what measuring stick did Jesus give his followers to help them determine where they are in Him?"

How do I know most people will not be able to answer that question? Because for years I have been traveling and ministering in churches all over this country and in foreign countries as well and I ask that question wherever I go and I have never found any church who could or would answer it.

Today I am going to tell you what that standard is; it is not sinless-ness or perfection as so many think it is. No, it is perfect inner peace and rest. Peace, quietness and confidence forever; in or out of the storms of life. Peace is the answer and if you would like to see the scriptures that prove that just let me know and I will email you a boat-load of them or stick with me.

In my last article I mentioned, quite strongly, that Christianity is not a
religion but the potential for a dynamic relationship with God. Why would we want a relationship with God? Now get ready for my answer and please don't decide to stone me until you finish reading this article; then, if I am out of whack, go ahead. Here goes.

We need a dynamic relationship with God for the same reason people do drugs; to find peace. May I also go on and say, the same reasons people are on mood altering drugs such as antidepressants, uppers and downers to find rest and peace; to cope. The same reason some people need an adult beverage after a stressful day, to unwind. The same reason people smoke pot, etc.,etc.,etc.

The point I am trying to make is every human on earth is ultimately seeking the same thing; peace, quietness and confidence. And every thing we do on our own to find peace and rest in life, can eventually control and destroy our life. Peace, rest, quietness and confidence is God's promised reward for an intimate relationship with Him (John 14:27, 16:33, Isaiah 32:17, 26:3). God has something much better than coping!

Therefore, doesn't it make sense then to at least look at the possibility of getting to know God, rather than run the other direction just because you are afraid of Him for some reason. Especially if you are trying to kick some habit or find peace because of what life has done to you. If you have tried everything else and none of it gave you back your life or helped you gain the peace and freedom for which you are searching stick with me and I will teach you how to live in a troubled world with perfect inner peace and confidence.

You can find much more help on my website at www.genuinechristianity.org, click on Ministry Helps and then look over the offerings under the sections entitled: Articles, Booklets and CD's & DVD's. You will find free teachings even some mp3 downloads free for the taking.

Enjoy my friend until next time,
Be blessed;
L. F. Low