Month: November 2018

I will have mercy on No Mercy, and I will say to Not My People, “You are my people”; and he shall say, “You are my God.” Hosea 2:23 Before I was married, I developed some destructive habits with chemicals that I thought would automatically disappear in marriage. They were relatively minor issues – I thought…
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I will betroth you to me forever . . . I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord. Hosea 2:19-20 Long before I was engaged to my wonderful wife, I went through one of those spells where I felt like I would never find anyone. I knew I wanted to…
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Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods . . . Hosea 3:1 Most of us are egocentric enough to think that we are the good guys in our own story. Generally, we feel…
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The Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom . . . Hosea 1:2 It is not uncommon, working with addicts, to meet those who are too smart for their own good. While the addict must have some knowledge of recovery before he finds it, the addict…
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The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me . . . Daniel 10:13 Today’s is an unusual passage about the conflict that exists in the spiritual realm. In the story, Daniel prayed but the angel sent to answer him was delayed 21…
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The king commanded, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions. Daniel 6:24 The thing that attracted me to stories like Daniel and the lion’s den when I was a child, is the same thing that frustrates me as an adult. Within just one chapter, a conflict arises…
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When Daniel knew that the document had been signed . . . He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously. Daniel 6:10 As I was in the middle of a long workout yesterday, I distracted my mind from the drudgery by…
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You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting. Daniel 5:27 One of the greatest lies the addict, in his madness, tells himself, is that he can do it alone. I don’t need help. I can quit by myself. In the insanity of his addiction, he refuses help and refuses to follow God. He…
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At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever . . . Daniel 4:34 Every day, I wake up, make my coffee, sit in my chair, and thank God for another day…
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Break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed . . . Daniel 4:27 Every time I got a bottle of pills, it was the last time. I’ll stop tomorrow. I swear I will. Just one more indulgence, and then I’ll get my life together. When tomorrow became today,…
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