Month: June 2019

“Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” — he then said to the paralytic — “Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” Matthew 9:5-6 Honestly, it’s easy to write a…
Read more

All the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region. Matthew 8:34 Because it’s a nearly universal struggle, the topic of gluttony recurs often in one of the accountability/addiction recovery groups I attend. Not everyone has been addicted to chemicals, but most understand the struggle of…
Read more

He said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Matthew 8:26 In the chaotic consequences of my addiction, my family and career were in shambles. I desperately wanted both back, but in the months of uncertainty I became very fearful and anxious. In the tempest of my life I desperately wanted God…
Read more

A scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Matthew 8:19-20 The first time I heard it in church, it intrigued me. “If…
Read more

That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. Matthew 8:16 In jail, I’ll often hear men speak of how they are going to make good life decisions when they get out. I’m never coming back here. I’ll…
Read more

A leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” Matthew 8:2 In reading today’s story of Jesus healing the leper, it’s easy to assume that this is just the way God works. Christ, after all, healed the sick, brought the dead to life, and cast…
Read more

Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. Matthew 7:26-27 In medicine,…
Read more

Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Matthew 7:21 At the opening of most AA meetings, the participants read through the 12 steps. It’s a useful reminder of how AA works and I understand why…
Read more

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Matthew 7:15-16 Returning to the old life – with the old friends who are still using – is a disastrous problem for the addict…
Read more

For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Matthew 7:13-14 Every time an addict sobers up for a few days, goes…
Read more