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When the Ending Isn’t Happy

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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Just Stop It. It’s Easy

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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I’ll Clean Up and Do Good Someday

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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The Problem with Jesus

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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Patient Noncompliance

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,…
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Saying All the Right Words

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…
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Beware the Friend Who Leads Back to the Old Life

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…
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The Painful Truth About Addiction, Recovery and Faith

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…
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How to Not Be a Jerk

Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12 We’re going through some major changes at work and if I’m honest, whenever I hear of something new, my first thought is, How does this affect me? It’s not, Is this good for…
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When We Hear What We Want

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Matthew 7:7 I once ordered one of those diets where they send you a big box of prepackaged meals. I saw the commercial and thought, This is what I need, someone else to do all…
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