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Month: May 2018

How to Talk to an Addict

I know that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, then you would be pleased. 2 Samuel 19:6 The most common question I get is, How do I talk to the addict in my life? How do I make him get help? As I came across today’s passage, I realized that Joab’s confrontation…
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Metastatic Sex

. . . Being stronger than she, he violated her and lay with her. 2 Samuel 13:14 The problem with cancer is not that it purposefully tries to kill its host. The problem with cancer is that it does what it wants, growing, multiplying and spreading outside of its boundaries. Cancer lives only to propagate…
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The Long Dark Night

And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. 2 Samuel 12:16 When at the bottom of my addiction, in the darkness of realizing that I had killed everything good in my life, it was difficult to see any light. The world was black, and hope was a joke. It was in…
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Forgiveness and Consequences

The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless . . . the child who is born to you shall die. 2 Samuel 12:13,14 Someone recently asked me if forgiving meant forgetting. I don’t think the question was about literally forgetting, but rather, Does forgiveness mean we are supposed to live as…
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Who Is the Villain?

Nathan said to David, “You are the man!” 2 Samuel 12:7 After watching the most recent superhero movie, my son was irritated that the story made us sympathize with the villain. The identity of the villain was never in question to us – he was the one attempting to kill half the world – but from…
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Lie, Cheat and Steal

Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die. 2 Samuel 11:15 For the addict, intoxication is only part of the problem. The drug use is certainly caustic behavior, but for it to continue, the addict usually must lie, cheat and steal.…
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Kryptonite and Compromise

David . . . saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. 2 Samuel 11:2 Years ago, I met a retired physician near the end of his life, which was hastened in no small part, by his drug addiction. He did not want to address the issue directly, but still, he…
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Dancing in Church

David danced before the Lord with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod. 2 Samuel 6:14 I do not dance. It makes me uncomfortable, not physically uncomfortable, but self-conscious – everyone is looking and pointing – uncomfortable. I just cannot get past the insecurity of feeling like I’m making a spectacle of…
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We All Want the Shortcut

Here is the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul . . . 2 Samuel 4:8 My son and I are planning on running a long race this fall, which requires us to start preparing now. I long to know the fulfilment that will come from training for the next five months. I just don’t…
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Fear of Tomorrow

When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. I Samuel 28:5 As much as I would like to have it all together, I still struggle with this one. In my drug addiction, I was constantly afraid of what tomorrow would bring. Withdrawal, discovery, and consequences were always…
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