Smoke And Mirrors
Greetings from sunny Florida, where it is currently a lovely 72 degrees, Fahrenheit! 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” 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 this month’s topic, “How To Quit Smoking.” Before I proceed, let me share this disclaimer: I am a minister, not a doctor or a licensed nutritionist. Each month, this Home Cures That Work publication, 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 do not 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 rear view 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. By the way, I know a little bit about addiction. In fact, in the next few months, I will be sharing how this former crack addict was set free, literally over night!
Divine by Design
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 is 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. 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.
“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.” Romans 8:5
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, but a belief is something the mind accepts as truth. The difference between thinking and believing… is knowing and this is where faith comes from.
“Faith is being sure of what we hoped for. It is being certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1
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.
It Can Kill You
Faith has a nemesis named fear and they are diametrically opposed. 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 (James 1:8)! 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, I met a minister in Atlanta, Georgia who shared a tragic childhood story with me. The minister said that his mother was so affected by her own mother’s 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, “ You know, Michael, my mother died the same age as her mother, with the same disease, on her mother’s 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.
World’s Best Smoking Illusion
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 magician’s 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, it is still there. Chris Angel walked on water in Vegas, right? No, there was a plexiglass platform in the pool and strategically placed mirrors (note that one of the pool chairs has 6 legs!) creating the illusion that Chris Angel walked on water.
Here is the truth: what you believe about your smoking addiction is an illusion!
Addictions are predominantly divided into two categories mental (emotional) or chemical (physiological). The truth is all addictions are a bit of both because you cannot affect the mind without the body being affected and visa versa. This month we are focusing on stop smoking, so let’s dispel some classic misconceptions and shatter the illusions that have kept you from quitting smoking.
- After quitting, you are always one puff away from being addicted again. Really? A close family member smoked for years, she said she started to look cool. One day she read a report from the American Cancer Society and never smoked again.
- Nicotine is a powerful highly addictive drug. Really? No, cocaine, heroine and opiates like oxycontin are powerful highly addictive drugs. People have quit cigarette smoking with hypnotism. However, you will NEVER find it effective with cocaine, heroine or oxycontin. Smoking is predominantly a mental addiction with a slight chemical interaction. I have never met anyone with a nicotine deficiency. Likewise, I have never seen junkies snorting, shooting or dropping nicotine.
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Many smokers acquire the habit through peer pressure to imitate friends or belong to a group of people. Either way, smokers can be insecure or nervous people who need a cigarette between their fingers to get them through stressful or awkward times. If you follow the instructions that we give you and if you use the herbs that we have found to clean nicotine from the body and to reduce the cravings, then YOU CAN DO IT!!!
Here is a list of myths former smokers have shared with me to help you identify your own.
- Smoking makes me look more attractive.
- Smoking calms my nerves.
- Smoking keeps me thin.
- Smoking helps me cope.
- Smoking gives me confidence.
- Smoking helps me focus.
- Smoking makes me look “cool.”
What do YOU believe? Do you believe a wooden stick can cure warts? Do you believe sugar pills can cure cancer? Do you believe a cigarette has power?
The truth is your addiction is attached to a personal belief system or imagined reality that you have created all based upon an elaborate…illusion!
Every smoker I have encountered, that has been unsuccessful quitting smoking, says the same thing, “I can’t quit! I’ve tried everything!” Look at your words: can’t never could! The truth is you have tried everything that does not work. Trying hard has made you skeptical, frustrated, tired and numb.
Lets change that now, first realize that your healing began the moment you started reading this article and truth is gradually replacing the lies that you have been telling yourself for years.
Next, begin to laugh at yourself. Seriously, see the humor in you – God’s greatest creation – being afraid of a piece of paper with tobacco stuffed in it! If your still not laughing, do you remember the scene from the “Wizard Of Oz” when Dorothy and her friends were shaking like leaves in the presence of Oz, the great and terrible? All of a sudden, Dorothy’s dog Toto pulls back the curtain revealing the real Oz, a short old man with a loudspeaker, smoke and mirrors! Now realize, you do not have to work or try harder. Just change what you believe, change your mind and you will change your LIFE!
You Are Not Alone
Let me leave you with one last story. Years ago, a dear friend of mine (lets call him David) was beside himself because after trying everything, he could not stop smoking. David’s wife was pregnant with their first child and he wanted to quit smoking before the baby was born.
Many of David’s well-meaning Christian friends offered suggestions. But, it was the advice of a new convert that changed David’s life. He said, “Forget the patch. Forget will power. This is what you do. Every time you walk out to the dock to smoke, hold that joker in the air and say, ‘God, you know I hate this, but I have been powerless to stop. What can you do for me?’” On David’s seventh trip down the dock, he threw his cigarettes into the lake breaking his smoking addiction. That was over seven years ago and he has never smoked again.
I love the word “Emmanuel.” It means “God with us!” Friend, you are not alone in your struggle.
He is always there and he created you with the ability to overcome any obstacle in your way. I am looking forward to hearing your stories. Please write and let us know if this article was helpful.
It is my prayer that you will be ringing in the New Year with a prayer of gratitude on your lips, instead of a cigarette.
LOL (short for “Lots Of Love”),
Michael
DOWNSIDE UP, The CD, IS FINALLY AVAILABLE!
The wait is over!…The hardcopy version of Michael’s newest CD project, DOWNSIDE UP is now available. This beautiful “Digipak” comes with a 12-page booklet of art, photos and lyrics. Joining Michael on this project are: The Nashville Strings, Ed Pingenot and Dustin Horne, with cameo vocals by: Jerome Olds, Adam Carpenter and Rick Pino. This CD will make the perfect Christmas gift! Available only at: www.michaeltyrrell.com
Michael Tyrrell, www.michaeltyrrell.com is the founder of the Network Center Inc., a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2001 which works as an advisory agency to local churches, faith-based ministries, Para-church ministries, schools, home fellowships and music ministries in connection with their outreach ministries or missions based activities. Michael has been committed to training their key leaders and members to deliver the message of their Christian faith in order to reach the lost, the disenfranchised, the sick and the hurting through the organic roots of the Christian faith and other areas as needs arise. Michael has been in full time ministry for the last 27 years and is a writerhttp://michaeltyrrell.wordpress.com music producer and well known musician.
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