DRUGS AND MEDICINES

 

LIST OF SCRIPTURE

Ex. 7:10-12 (Aaron's rod swallowed their rods.)

22:18 (Kill the witches.)

Lev. 19:26-31 (God forbids these practices.)

20:6 (Rejected by God)

20:27 (Punished by death)

Deut. 18:9-12 (Abominations)

I Sam. 15:23 (Rebellion and stubbornness)

28:3 (Familiar Spirits)

II Kings 21:5-6 (Wickedness)

II Chron. 33:6 (Evil)

Psalm 73:9 (Evil tongue)

Isa. 2:6 (Soothsayers)

5:13-14 (Alienate believer from God)

8:19 (Familiar Spirits)

Jer. 17:5 (Oath brings a curse from God.)

27:9-10 (Prophesy lies)

Zech. 10:2 (God's presence)

Hosea 4:6 (Ignorance of Word of God)

Mal. 3:5 (Fear not God.)

Matt. 5:14-16 (Help others)

5:34-37 (Swearing or taking an oath)

Acts 8:9 (Sorcery)

16:16-18 (Soothsaying)

19:19 (Curious arts)

Rom. 6:16 (Slaves)

I Cor. 6:19 (Sacred Temple)

10:31 (Glorify God)

II Cor. 4:4 (Satan is god of this world.)

I Tim. 4:1-3 (Depart from faith)

II Tim. 1:7 (Sound mind)

3:8 (Corrupt minds)

Rev. 9:11 (Apollyon)

9:21; 18:23; (Sorcery)

21:8; 22:15 (Sorcery)

DRUG ABUSE IN THE WORKPLACE - STARTLING FACTS IN OUR TIMES - There is growing concern among America's CEO's over the toll that our national drug problem is taking on their organizations and communities. A recent Allstate/Fortune magazine survey underscores how troubled corporate America is about this issue. The drug problem ranked second to the federal deficit in responses to the question: "What is the largest problem facing the U.S. today?

1. The drug generation has entered the work force. Young adults tend to bring their drug habits with them. A 1986 survey showed that five years after graduating from high school, half of those who used marijuana daily in high school continue to do so.

2. One in four employed twenty to forty year old adults reported using an illicit drug in 1986; one in five reported at least one use in the past month.

3. As many as one in five American workers may have alcohol and drug problems. Ten percent of the labor force (11.5 million people) have a drinking problem.

4. A majority of employers responding to a recent survey said that between 6% and 15% of their employees have an alcohol or drug problem.

5. Approximately half a billion workdays are lost each year because of alcoholism alone, a 2% loss in productivity.

6. The federal government estimates that alcohol and drug abuse cost the economy $177 billion a year, including $99 billion attributed to lost productivity. Two-thirds of the cost is attributed to alcohol.

7. A University of Michigan study shows that lost profits as a result of abuse amount to $10 billion in the construction industry alone.

8. Nine of ten utilities, eight to ten transportation operations and over half of all sports associations and government agencies have implemented some kind of drug testing program.

9. Over half (57%) of all high school seniors had tried an illicit drug; and over a third had tried an illicit drug other than marijuana.

10. Among college students one to four years beyond high school, one in three used marijuana in the last year. Nine of ten used alcohol, and more than one in ten used cocaine.

11. Abuse of prescription drugs is a widespread problem, especially among adult women. The non-medical use of tranquilizers doubled between 1982 and 1985.

12. Absenteeism, medical expenses and lost productivity as a result of abuse are costing employers an average of 3% of their total payroll - roughly half the typical company's payments for an employee's Social Security coverage.

13. At least seven companies in the study said they calculated the cost of alcohol and drug abuse at more than $50 million each.

WHY DO PEOPLE TAKE DRUGS? - I am always interested in the reasons why we (people) do the things we do. The Bible tells us in Gal. 6:7-8, Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at - scorned, disdained or mocked (by mere pretensions or professions, or His precepts being set aside). He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God. For whatsoever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap. For he who sows to his own flesh (lower nature, sensuality) will from the flesh reap decay and ruin and destruction; but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. If you are in trouble, the Bible tells you that you are reaping what you have sown. The Bible also tells us that God has made a way for us to recover all (some times even better that it was before). We have to apply ourselves to diligently following the instruction given in the manual (Bible).

As I have pondered, prayed and studied the problem of drugs and their destructive power, I have become convinced that the overriding problem behind the use of destructive drugs is rejection. Many children today are not allowed to bond with their parents, therefore they never feel truly accepted or at oneness with the people they are naturally supposed to bond with. One of the causes of this is early baby days spent in nursery or day care situations where the care giver changes rapidly. It is very unsettling to try to settle alignment and affections on someone and have them leave you to quickly. Because of this, we have a whole generation of young people trying to fix something but they do not know what it is that needs fixing so how can they fix it? Another reason is being brought up in an unhappy, uncaring home. God has told parents to rear children (tenderly) in discipline, wise counsel and admonition of the Lord (Eph. 6:1-4 and II Tim. 3:1-3). One reason for so much divorce is this inability to relate intimately with others. The abuse of drugs is an attempt to satisfy rejection.

Looking up rejection in the Bible, I have found that God has not rejected a single person who has not persisted in rejecting God. See I Sam. 8:7; I Sam. 10:19; 15:23, 26; 16:1; II Kings 17:15, 29; Isa. 53:2; Jer. 6:19, 7:29-30, etc. All of these scriptures reassure us that if we heed God's call to us, He will not reject us.

When people come into the world we say, " What a cute, little innocent baby." As far as sins they have committed, they are innocent. But some other gifts besides life that we have given them frequently puts them in bondage before birth. Because of the sins of their ancestors, they may be in bondage due to curses lasting many generations. These curses allow demon spirits to follow them, coerce them, and try to trick them into sins that will allow demons to control them in that demon's particular area.

We have not