Author: Scott

Stop Sabotaging the Relationship

Do not quench the Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5:19 When life fell apart due to my drug addiction, my marriage was a mess. After I came home from treatment, we lived in the same house, but for quite a while, we lived separate lives. I’d see other couples who appeared happy and I realized that I’d…
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Change Everything

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 I have a recurring conversation whenever I do discharge physical exams for patients who’re leaving treatment. Often, when I ask how they’re doing, they feel great. Cravings for the drug…
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Wishing Evil Upon Others

See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 1 Thessalonians 5:13 Early in the pandemic, I honestly thought everyone would pull together to fight a common enemy. I was obviously quite mistaken as Covid seemed to expose our division, generating tremendous animosity…
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The Right Tool for the Right Job

And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 1 Thessalonians 5:14 My own story of recovery is an important part of how I may be of help to those who still struggle. I’ve been there – is a powerful connection. I didn’t invent addiction…
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Two Kinds of People in the World

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 It’s not entirely fair or universally true, but whatever scenario I’m in, I sometimes find myself dividing the world into two kinds of people: Those who do one thing and those who do the other. In reading today’s…
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Children of the Light

For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But…
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The Day of Reckoning

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God . . . the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden…
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Ruled By Emotion

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 1 Thessalonians 4:13 In my addiction, I used chemicals that dramatically altered the way I felt. Basically, my emotions were suppressed by the high of the drug so…
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Faith As an Excuse

. . . Work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one. 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 Recovery from an addiction takes hard work and commitment to lasting change, which is why so many struggle to find it. We’ve spent years training (damaging) our…
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Mind Your Own Business

But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you . . . 1 Thessalonians 4:10-11 I’ve known more than a few people over the years who would qualify as busybodies. I’m…
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