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Month: November 2018

The Biggest Threat to My Faith and Recovery

He ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Daniel 3:20 When I read today’s passage, I can’t help but wonder what I would have done. When Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were instructed to bow down to the golden image…
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What Faith Looks Like

Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods . . . Daniel 3:17-18 I’ve struggled with my definition of faith.…
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Daniel’s Diet Plan

Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food . . . Daniel 1:8 When I speak of food as an addiction, I sometimes wonder if I am over-spiritualizing the subject. Can eating really be a sin? Today’s passage though, reinforces the idea that God is interested in what we eat. In…
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When I Am My Own God

Because your heart is proud, and you have said, “I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods, in the heart of the seas” . . . you shall die the death of the slain in the heart of the seas. Ezekiel 28:2,8 It was pride that made the devil the devil and…
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A Love/Hate Relationship

After she was defiled by them, she turned from them in disgust. Ezekiel 23:17 I can clearly recall the first time I took an opiate pain medication. It was euphoric, amazing, and beyond description. I immediately fell in love with it. I didn’t go on to abuse pills for several years, but when I did,…
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Second Chance God

When a wicked person turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he shall save his life. Ezekiel 18:27 When I played my last game of college football, I just wasn’t ready to be done. Like most aging athletes, I longed for the opportunity to strap on the helmet…
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If Nothing Changes, Nothing Changes

And when they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations. And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. Ezekiel 11:18-19 I’m occasionally asked by someone who is still struggling with drug cravings if the appetite ever goes away. The truth…
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Addicted to the Screen

Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his room of pictures? Ezekiel 8:12 The newest update on my smart phone now gives me a weekly total of my screen time. I was a little alarmed to find that I’d tallied over…
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The Messes We Make

Thus says the Lord God: Disaster after disaster! Behold, it comes. Ezekiel 7:5 Life is hard enough without us making it harder. We compound our miseries though, by creating our own disasters. In our destructive pursuits, we sacrifice jobs, marriages, friends, self-respect, money, health (mental and physical), and faith. Though we know what is at stake,…
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The Crime of Doing Nothing

If I say to the wicked, “You shall surely die,” and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. Ezekiel 3:18 What is my responsibility in…
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