How is Satan involved in addiction and why?

Out of the raw materials that God had created, Satan has built a twisted kingdom that manifests his character. He has an organized intricate agenda, established connections in high places throughout the world, and is successfully moving into positions of authority and control.

Satan is not an evil force or a symbol of negative energy. He is a powerful spirit being. Even though his mind and heart are twisted with pride, he is highly intelligent, hard–working and skilled in the art of deception, politics and diplomacy. A Hitler’s ingenious mind and yet equally depraved heart.

Satan has an insatiable desire to be in sovereign control over every man, woman, and child on this planet. As Children of God, we are not to fear him, but we are to take him seriously (1 Pet 5:8). He is the enemy of our soul and will take any opportunity to develop a control base. But equipped with spiritual armor, we will be enabled to be victorious and free. (Eph 6:12).

We live in a spiritually hostile world! In the last days, as in the days of Noah, the world is becoming increasingly corrupt. Satan's grip is tightening. He is preparing to rise to power as Antichrist. His control will be so complete that no man, woman, or child will be able to buy or sell unless his mark of ownership is on their body. In his twisted thinking, to control is to become a god.

How does Satan gain control? By creating and fulfilling need—creating dependency, and providing the sole source of fulfillment. Alcohol, sex, heroin, caffeine, nicotine, even junk food are prime examples of his destructive tools of control.

The list is endless, pornography, sleeping pills, fantasy books, late night infomercials, diets, Donkey Kong, Internet, dating chat lines, even the cable shopping channel. There are therapists who specialize in helping lonely souls overcome shopping channel addiction. People will sit up day and night watching this stuff. It becomes their closest friend, sometimes their only companion.

Any form of stimulation, whether drugs, alcohol, porn Internet or a roller coaster ride, falsely heightens sensory awareness through an increase of adrenaline in the blood stream. Heart rate increases, the body tingles, palms sweat, emotions soar and imagination runs wild. This state is always temporary and results in a stimulation deficit causing a feeling of restless emptiness.

Sex was created by God. It is given to the husband and wife as a wedding gift to enjoy physical and spiritual union. Between a married couple it is the dance of love. A sweet incense pleasing to God. In marriage, it is one of the most holy acts our flesh can engage in. But Satan has twisted sex into a powerful destructive lever—a tool of control.

A father gets up in the middle of the night, sneaks to his 7–year–old daughter's room, stealing from her what was being saved for her husband. She will never trust a man again. The silent screams carry her to the brink of insanity.

A wife is anxiously waiting for her husband to come home. Walking through the front door, one look and she knows. Betrayal! He has destroyed her trust. The wound in her heart will infect the rest of her life.

Respected Christian leaders have been caught with their pants down for all the world to see. Broken men with broken dreams, teaching God, living in sin. Satan laughs as the world asks, is nothing sacred? Who can we trust? Christian ministers, husbands, wives, teachers, politicians, rock stars, and teenagers have come crashing to the ground because of sex. It is a powerful tool because it has been created by a powerful God.

In the same way, food in its twisted state, has the power to control. Sugar, salt, and fat–laced foods are physically and emotionally addictive. The average North American Diet is clear evidence of Satan's agenda. Healthy, nutrient–rich foods, twisted into addictive tools of control.

Cravings are a bent form of hunger. The body hungering for something that is poisonous and like puppets in a play, we dance to its deadly song. Promising satisfaction, only to end in sickness, suffering, and a hellish cycle of dependence.

Culture is in a constant state of evolution. Directing that evolution is the key to power. A force that impacts the unconscious movements of the herd. Man is a creature of habit, we live our lives in patterns. The world is changing and we are changing with it. Changes that affect how we think and feel. It seems we have been caught in a tide, so busy swimming to keep up there is no time to stop, think, and consider the direction life has taken. And as the years roll by, we wonder where the time has gone, too frightened to even consider how meaningless our lives have become.

We are so inundated by change, we simply do not have the time to consider how these changes are affecting us on the inside. What shape they are molding us into. We have become a part of the ebb and flow of an ungodly Kingdom, helplessly drifting on a tide that we know inside is leading to spiritual death. We are warned Do not conform to the patterns of this world (Rom 12:1). Conforming is deadly. It is being recreated into something with which God can no longer communicate.