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Step 3: We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him. Not my will, but yours, be done. Luke 22:42 Not realizing it, I’ve been wrestling with step three my entire life. I’ve always felt this war between who I want to be and…
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Step 2: We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the…
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Step One: We admitted we were powerless over alcohol – that our lives had become unmanageable. I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate . . . Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Romans 7:15,24 For a long time, like most…
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If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23 During my first attempt at recovery, I encountered several well-meaning Christians who informed me that I didn’t need AA or treatment. All you need is the church and Jesus. I certainly didn’t want to argue…
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I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. Micah 4:5 The addict’s life, singularly focused on the drug, is eventually consumed with obtaining and using that which he craves above all. As the disease progresses, he will sacrifice loved ones, possessions, career, integrity, and faith, in pursuit…
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You shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him. Malachi 3:18 A few weeks back, while out hiking in the mountains, I came across the historical marker of an old cemetery with two gravestones. Buried in the snow and barely legible, one…
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Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. Malachi 3:8 When our kids were young, I would take them to the card aisle at a local store and let them pick out a card for their mother’s birthday. Because they couldn’t read,…
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My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. Malachi 2:5 I’ve lived in turmoil and misery, and I’ve lived in peace and contentment. From the outside, the circumstances between the two conditions probably didn’t look all that different. Both lives involved being a husband/dad, practicing as a…
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When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Malachi 1:8 Our dog has learned to stick close to the table at dinner time as when we are done, he usually gets the leftovers. Like us, he seems to love steak.…
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“I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?” Malachi 1:2 Years ago, while halfway through a marathon for which I was poorly prepared, a runner ahead of me veered off course and collapsed. I’m ashamed to admit that I was a little thrilled. I realized that I’d get…
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