All my life-long I had panted for a drink from some cool spring that I hope would quench the burning of the thirst I felt within. – Clara Williams
We know that there are emotional and physical causes for addiction to drugs and alcohol. But there is something else at the root of addiction which precedes the first drink or the first hit and that has to do with our relationship with God. We were born with an emptiness, a need that can only be filled by God himself.
Mankind has tried a myriad of ways to fill that void. Some try money, success, and fame and others use drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling, or some other addictive thing in an attempt to find purpose and fulfillment in life. But this spiritual need for God can only be remedied by faith in God’s Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus put it this way, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” What a wonderful promise! Not only will Jesus fill that void within our soul, but our hearts will overflow with peace and joy. I have seen this occur again and again with those who have found freedom from addictions by faith in Jesus Christ.
Addictions directly affect individuals, their families and those around them.
2B Free Ministries was founded in 2009 to help people address the spiritual causes behind addiction. Since then, we have witnessed God work miracles in many lives.
Hallelujah, I have found Him whom my soul so long has craved! Jesus satisfies my longings, thru His blood I now am saved. – Clara Williams
Here a few who would like to share their stories:
JACKIE: Hello, my name is Jackie. I had been on alcohol and medications for over 35 years. I had pills to wake up, to sleep, for pain, etc. When I couldn’t get prescriptions, I would get them from others. They were all controlled substances that I thought I needed. I felt terrible when I didn’t have them…I was addicted.
After the death of my husband, I was a mess mentally and physically. I cried out to God to help me, asked for His forgiveness, and prayed for healing to rid my body from all these medications. I held on to the Lord, and He was with me through it all. I started reading my Bible to get to know Jesus personally. 2B Free Ministries helped me understand my addiction problem and gave me encouragement to use the power that Jesus gave me when I trusted Him as my Savior. Today I am on no medications. I have a new life with my family. I want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for setting me free. John 8:36: “If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” I also want to thank my family, with whom God has blessed me, for all their love and support.
WARD: It may seem strange for me to say that the way to conquer addiction is to give up faith. However, this is what I did. When the thought I might be drinking too much struck me, I made a firm resolution to have only two or three drinks a night. Sometimes this worked. Next, I decided that only weekend drinking would be allowed. For a time, this too worked. When I again failed to stay consistently sober, and even while still drunk, I would pour out the remaining stash with full intention of staying straight once and for all. Needless to say, the liquor store clerk would grin and hand me my change a few days later. I have been sober a total of eight years to date. So, what did work? It was literally falling, unscripted, uncensored, and uncontrolled; collapsing helplessly before God, without pride, as a child before a loving parent. You see, I had to give up faith in myself and place my faith in God alone.
ANGIE: My story begins without Jesus in my thinking or life. Choosing to do what I deemed exciting at the time, I found myself addicted to meth, alcohol, and the many things that are attached to that lifestyle, not caring about others or myself. A person that cared for me suggested that we turn to God for help. I began reading the book of John in the Bible and found that I have a Savior in Jesus Christ. Starting to attend 2B Free Ministries and a Bible-believing church helped me to understand myself and my awesome God. He took away my sinful lifestyle and replaced it with peace, sobriety, and fellowship with others who will lead me to a better life. Psalm 34:8: “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”
BRIAN: (My wife) Amber and I have a similar story with others who have had a problem with drugs or alcohol. It wasn’t until I acknowledged I was lost and needed a savior that I understood my addiction was a choice. God didn’t choose this for me; I did. Jesus died on the cross for my bad choices; my sin.
AMBER: Like my husband, I heard that I had a disease or that it couldn’t be taken from me. They said to do steps every day or take medicine to help to stop wanting drugs, and I would get my life back. Funny thing is that I did need help. I admitted to God I couldn’t do it without him and believed he could take this from me. So, I asked God for help and kept asking him what to do. It was not a system of works that gave me freedom. It was God. Though I was saved when I was younger, it wasn’t until recently that I chose to follow him. The right choices where easy because I put God first and read his Word. He transformed my life, my family and others around me. People don’t even see the woman I used to be. I walk with him every day; I was made new in Christ.
AMANDA: I was raised with a long family line of alcoholism. I started at a young age and by the time high school came around I was drinking every day. I had totally given up my life to Satan. I had friends who tried to save me and get me to accept Christ. I would sneer and say, “I don’t need to be saved.” One day a lady in the Las Cruces homeless shelter explained that Jesus is with us always when we accept that he died for our sins and was resurrected. I could accept a friend. It just clicked with me. I was all alone in New Mexico and a friend is what I needed. For years I continued in my ways, but I started to get to know who Christ is and his life. My addiction took me to very dark paths of spiritual warfare. Yet I continued to search who God was. There were dark times where I wanted to give my life to Satan. I wasn’t strong enough to stop. I reached my end after years of drugs arrests and extensive mental illness. I cried out and said. “When I run off my cliff of addiction and lose everything I’m yours.” I kept my promise. Four months later I had lost everything for the last time. I threw my hands up. “Get me out of here!” Nine days later I was arrested, and I’ve been not only Jesus’ friend, but I made him my Savior (something I’ve never done before). That day was April 10, 2011. The spiritual warfare was bad in my last jail time, but I had the power of Jesus and was able to come out clean and white as snow. I have no mental illness or urge to use anymore. Christ is my King, my Savior, and my friend.
AMY: We all have specifics in our stories that have lead us down paths of destruction not knowing beforehand what lays ahead. We use and/or abuse because we are either trying to ease the pain or stress of someone who has hurt us or a situation to difficult to deal with in reality. We might think we can disguise or hide in our addiction or vice of choice from some horrible thing we have done wrong and just can’t deal with the consequences. From there, one bad choice begets the next bad choice. Then we find ourselves at a place of “HELP! I’m in a pit so deep I can’t get myself out!” You’re right, you can’t get yourself out and neither can another person. It took me a very (very) long time to get to that place of “HELP!” and I assure you that my only helper was through the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ alone who brought me out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock and established my steps. (Psalm 40:2) I was able to understand my need for salvation by getting to know who Jesus really is and the sacrifice of His death on the cross to forgive me of my sins. I began reading the Bible and seeking to spend time with other people who were believers as well. While I realized just how much of my sin nature was a heart issue, I was able to learn through scripture just how much God really loves me to have a plan for my life even while I am a sinner. (John 3:16) It doesn’t matter how big the sin (bad thing) you have done or even how long it has been going on. God wants every one of us to give it over to the One who came to take it for us because we cannot do it ourselves. It doesn’t take twelve steps – just ONE! Jesus Christ paid it all. Take the step or leap of faith or just fall. He is waiting to catch you.
I love the Savior You sent for me, To die on the cross at Calvary. On the third you were risen So I could be free from this prison.
Meetings for 2B Free are held every Thursday from 6-8 p.m. at the community room of Alice Nettel Tower in Virginia.
We know that there are emotional and physical causes for addiction to drugs and alcohol. But there is something else at the root of addiction which precedes the first drink or the first hit and that has to do with our relationship with God. We were born with an emptiness, a need that can only be filled by God himself.
Mankind has tried a myriad of ways to fill that void. Some try money, success, and fame and others use drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling, or some other addictive thing in an attempt to find purpose and fulfillment in life. But this spiritual need for God can only be remedied by faith in God’s Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus put it this way, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” What a wonderful promise! Not only will Jesus fill that void within our soul, but our hearts will overflow with peace and joy. I have seen this occur again and again with those who have found freedom from addictions by faith in Jesus Christ.
Addictions directly affect individuals, their families and those around them.
2B Free Ministries was founded in 2009 to help people address the spiritual causes behind addiction. Since then, we have witnessed God work miracles in many lives.
Hallelujah, I have found Him whom my soul so long has craved! Jesus satisfies my longings, thru His blood I now am saved. – Clara Williams
Here a few who would like to share their stories:
JACKIE: Hello, my name is Jackie. I had been on alcohol and medications for over 35 years. I had pills to wake up, to sleep, for pain, etc. When I couldn’t get prescriptions, I would get them from others. They were all controlled substances that I thought I needed. I felt terrible when I didn’t have them…I was addicted.
After the death of my husband, I was a mess mentally and physically. I cried out to God to help me, asked for His forgiveness, and prayed for healing to rid my body from all these medications. I held on to the Lord, and He was with me through it all. I started reading my Bible to get to know Jesus personally. 2B Free Ministries helped me understand my addiction problem and gave me encouragement to use the power that Jesus gave me when I trusted Him as my Savior. Today I am on no medications. I have a new life with my family. I want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for setting me free. John 8:36: “If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” I also want to thank my family, with whom God has blessed me, for all their love and support.
WARD: It may seem strange for me to say that the way to conquer addiction is to give up faith. However, this is what I did. When the thought I might be drinking too much struck me, I made a firm resolution to have only two or three drinks a night. Sometimes this worked. Next, I decided that only weekend drinking would be allowed. For a time, this too worked. When I again failed to stay consistently sober, and even while still drunk, I would pour out the remaining stash with full intention of staying straight once and for all. Needless to say, the liquor store clerk would grin and hand me my change a few days later. I have been sober a total of eight years to date. So, what did work? It was literally falling, unscripted, uncensored, and uncontrolled; collapsing helplessly before God, without pride, as a child before a loving parent. You see, I had to give up faith in myself and place my faith in God alone.
ANGIE: My story begins without Jesus in my thinking or life. Choosing to do what I deemed exciting at the time, I found myself addicted to meth, alcohol, and the many things that are attached to that lifestyle, not caring about others or myself. A person that cared for me suggested that we turn to God for help. I began reading the book of John in the Bible and found that I have a Savior in Jesus Christ. Starting to attend 2B Free Ministries and a Bible-believing church helped me to understand myself and my awesome God. He took away my sinful lifestyle and replaced it with peace, sobriety, and fellowship with others who will lead me to a better life. Psalm 34:8: “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”
BRIAN: (My wife) Amber and I have a similar story with others who have had a problem with drugs or alcohol. It wasn’t until I acknowledged I was lost and needed a savior that I understood my addiction was a choice. God didn’t choose this for me; I did. Jesus died on the cross for my bad choices; my sin.
AMBER: Like my husband, I heard that I had a disease or that it couldn’t be taken from me. They said to do steps every day or take medicine to help to stop wanting drugs, and I would get my life back. Funny thing is that I did need help. I admitted to God I couldn’t do it without him and believed he could take this from me. So, I asked God for help and kept asking him what to do. It was not a system of works that gave me freedom. It was God. Though I was saved when I was younger, it wasn’t until recently that I chose to follow him. The right choices where easy because I put God first and read his Word. He transformed my life, my family and others around me. People don’t even see the woman I used to be. I walk with him every day; I was made new in Christ.
AMANDA: I was raised with a long family line of alcoholism. I started at a young age and by the time high school came around I was drinking every day. I had totally given up my life to Satan. I had friends who tried to save me and get me to accept Christ. I would sneer and say, “I don’t need to be saved.” One day a lady in the Las Cruces homeless shelter explained that Jesus is with us always when we accept that he died for our sins and was resurrected. I could accept a friend. It just clicked with me. I was all alone in New Mexico and a friend is what I needed. For years I continued in my ways, but I started to get to know who Christ is and his life. My addiction took me to very dark paths of spiritual warfare. Yet I continued to search who God was. There were dark times where I wanted to give my life to Satan. I wasn’t strong enough to stop. I reached my end after years of drugs arrests and extensive mental illness. I cried out and said. “When I run off my cliff of addiction and lose everything I’m yours.” I kept my promise. Four months later I had lost everything for the last time. I threw my hands up. “Get me out of here!” Nine days later I was arrested, and I’ve been not only Jesus’ friend, but I made him my Savior (something I’ve never done before). That day was April 10, 2011. The spiritual warfare was bad in my last jail time, but I had the power of Jesus and was able to come out clean and white as snow. I have no mental illness or urge to use anymore. Christ is my King, my Savior, and my friend.
AMY: We all have specifics in our stories that have lead us down paths of destruction not knowing beforehand what lays ahead. We use and/or abuse because we are either trying to ease the pain or stress of someone who has hurt us or a situation to difficult to deal with in reality. We might think we can disguise or hide in our addiction or vice of choice from some horrible thing we have done wrong and just can’t deal with the consequences. From there, one bad choice begets the next bad choice. Then we find ourselves at a place of “HELP! I’m in a pit so deep I can’t get myself out!” You’re right, you can’t get yourself out and neither can another person. It took me a very (very) long time to get to that place of “HELP!” and I assure you that my only helper was through the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ alone who brought me out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock and established my steps. (Psalm 40:2) I was able to understand my need for salvation by getting to know who Jesus really is and the sacrifice of His death on the cross to forgive me of my sins. I began reading the Bible and seeking to spend time with other people who were believers as well. While I realized just how much of my sin nature was a heart issue, I was able to learn through scripture just how much God really loves me to have a plan for my life even while I am a sinner. (John 3:16) It doesn’t matter how big the sin (bad thing) you have done or even how long it has been going on. God wants every one of us to give it over to the One who came to take it for us because we cannot do it ourselves. It doesn’t take twelve steps – just ONE! Jesus Christ paid it all. Take the step or leap of faith or just fall. He is waiting to catch you.
I love the Savior You sent for me, To die on the cross at Calvary. On the third you were risen So I could be free from this prison.
Meetings for 2B Free are held every Thursday from 6-8 p.m. at the community room of Alice Nettel Tower in Virginia.