If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you. Matthew 17:20 We enjoy superhero movies at our house which means we’ve often had discussions on what superpower we would want. In our debates,…
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Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Matthew 16:25 While enslaved to my addiction, I wanted out. I knew I’d be much happier if I found sobriety, but I also knew that the cost of sobriety was higher than I was willing to…
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Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. Matthew 16:23 In the disastrous consequences of my addiction, I thought my career as a physician was over. There were those though, who insisted it wasn’t. One such…
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He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:15-16 I ice fished once as a child, but when we first moved to Minnesota, I realized how serious ice fishing really was. It’s hard to believe in July, but…
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The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. Matthew 16:1 Addiction is an inevitable symptom of a life spent in pursuit of self. When I live for me, doing what I want, I follow whatever self-destructive behaviors I’m prone to, and eventually, I engage compulsively…
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Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd? Matthew 15:33 One of the most maddening things about addiction is that the addict returns repeatedly to behavior he knows to be destructive. This is the definition of addiction – to repeatedly engage in an act despite…
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Great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them . . . Matthew 15:30 As my children have grown older, we have more drivers, which means we have more vehicles, which means we need more…
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His disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” Matthew 15:23 I generally think of myself as a pretty good guy. I try to help those struggling with addiction and I visit jail for a Bible Study/Recovery Meeting once a week. I must admit that it made…
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Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. Matthew 15:19 In the painful consequences of my addiction, I needed to know where my recurrent self-destructive behavior came from. One extreme view told me that I simply made sinful choices. All I needed to do was to turn to…
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Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” He answered . . . “Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” Matthew 15:12-14 One of my (many) ongoing flaws is that…
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