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Mornings With Jesus
Mornings With Jesus
Satan only shows you the thrill, never the bill. | Joshua Scott Zeitz
Satan only shows you the thrill, not the bill that comes after. Through passages from Isaiah and Ezekiel, we uncover how Lucifer—once described as "full of wisdom and perfect in beauty"—fell from his exalted position through pride and rebellion. This fallen angel then approached Adam and Eve in Eden, offering temporary pleasure while hiding devastating consequences.
Why does something so wrong feel so right in the moment? I share my personal journey through drug addiction that began innocently enough in the back of a friend's car. What started as a momentary high gradually deadened my conscience, leading me down a path of escalating drug use, theft, broken relationships, and ultimately jail time. None of these consequences were visible when temptation first appeared—just like Eve couldn't see beyond the fruit that was "pleasant to the eyes."
The enemy excels at perverting God's good gifts, hijacking our pleasure centers while concealing the destruction that follows. My story reached rock bottom on a jailhouse floor facing 12 years in prison, but that wasn't the end. God's redemptive power changed everything, offering freedom where addiction once chained me. If you're struggling with any form of addiction today, there's hope beyond the cycle of diminishing returns and increasing consequences. Don't run from God in shame—run to Him for salvation. He stands ready to transform your rock bottom into the foundation of a new beginning.
Hello and welcome to Mornings with Jesus, your daily dose of encouragement. I am your host, joshua Scott Zeitz. In today's episode we're going to pick up where we left off yesterday and answer the question when did sin come from? We will also be exploring the question If sin is so bad, why does it feel so good? Listen, sin is fun for a season, but once that season is over, there is hell to pay. The truth is, the enemy only shows you the thrills and the fun, but he doesn't show you the lasting consequences or how it will affect everyone else.
Speaker 1:Satan is known in scripture as the father of lies. Jesus said he has been lying since the beginning. However, this wasn't always the case. God created him as a beautiful angel. Listen to these passages in the book of Isaiah and Ezekiel.
Speaker 1:Isaiah 14, 12-14 reads how art thou fallen from heaven, o Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the ground which did weaken the nations? For thou hast said in thine heart I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the most high. Ezekiel 28, 11 and 19 reads. Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me saying Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus and say unto him Thus saith the Lord, god, thou sealest up the sum.
Speaker 1:Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty, thou hast been and eaten the garden of God. Every precious stone was thy covering the sardius, the topaz and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald and the carbuncle and gold. The workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covers, and I have set you so. Thou wast upon the holy mountain of God. Thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day which you were created until iniquity was found in thee by the multitude of thy merchandise. They have filled the midst of thee with violence and thou hast sinned. Therefore, I will cast you down as profane out of the mountain of God and I will destroy you. O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire, thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty that thou hast corrupted thy wisdom. By reason of thy brightness, I will cast thee to the ground. I will lay thee before kings that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic. Therefore, will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee. It shall devour thee and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee. Thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.
Speaker 1:It really is a sad story, the fall of Lucifer. But it was in this fallen state that the enemy met Adam and Eve in the garden and deceived them into eating of the forbidden fruit. The Bible says that Eve saw the fruit, that it was pleasant to the eyes. She took it and ate it and gave it to Adam, who was with her. Now, I'm sure at that very moment the fruit tasted quite delicious and it did open their eyes to a whole new world, something they had never known before. But it wasn't what they expected, and attached to it was an onslaught of negative feelings and consequences. Satan is a perverter. He excels in taking things that God has created as good and wholesome and sensationalizing them, overloading the pleasure centers of our brains and our body, but then leaving us with the lasting consequences.
Speaker 1:I have struggled with this many times during my life, and perhaps the best example I can give is when I was hooked on drugs. The very first time I got high, and even several times after, there weren't any visible side effects. Sure, I had to fight through my conscience telling me it wasn't right, but after a while that voice on the inside deadened and in its place was a seared conscience the Bible so clearly warns us against. Instead of feeling convicted because of what I was doing, I was chained to it, constantly seeking to relive that first high, that first feeling of euphoria. And eventually this drove me to seek stronger drugs and more things like pornography to satisfy those cravings that were so persistent.
Speaker 1:Fast forward even further and I was a total mess. I didn't eat and I barely slept. I spent my days and nights seeking my next high, my next fix. It drove me to steal from my friends and family, and when that dried up, I began to steal from strangers. I burnt all my bridges and any friends I may have had at that time were no longer. I was paranoid all the time, constantly looking over my shoulder, thinking at any moment the cops were going to come and arrest me.
Speaker 1:Finally, after being hooked on drugs for a few years and after being locked up five times, I found myself at rock bottom sitting in an overcrowded jailhouse on the floor facing 12 years in prison. Listen, none of that was shown to me when I took that first smoke of the joint in the back of my buddy's car. It wasn't shown to me how I would struggle with guilt and shame because of the pornography and be turned down time and again for jobs because I was a convicted felon. But the great news is this that in the midst of all of that, god stepped in and saved me, radically changing me, and he can do the same thing for you. If you're dealing with any kind of addiction today, I encourage you to turn to God. Run to Him, not from Him. He is your answer, he is the solution. Remember until next time what you make happen for others, god will make happen for you.
