Author: Scott

Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. Matthew 9:15 I have friends who’ve never had a problem with drugs or alcohol, but who understand food addiction. When I hear them talk about food…
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“Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” Matthew 9:11-12 To become a physician, I went to college and then medical school. Once in medical school, I understood that I was a…
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As Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. Matthew 9:10 When in chemical dependency treatment, I felt more than a little hopeless. My family was a disaster and I was pretty sure my career was over. I’d killed everything good in…
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As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. Matthew 9:9 The addict’s problem, as AA describes it, is self-will run riot. The addict follows his way of doing things above all, not just when…
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“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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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