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In that day I will restore David’s fallen shelter – I will repair its broken walls and restore its ruins – and will rebuild it as it used to be . . . Amos 9:11 (NIV) The worst part of my addiction – worse than alienating my family and losing my job – was that I…
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If they dig into Sheol, from there shall my hand take them; if they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down. Amos 9:2 Enslaved to his self-destructive appetite, the addict tells himself various lies to justify his behavior. In my own addiction, every time I relapsed, I convinced myself that this time,…
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Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amos 5:24 Most of us in chemical dependency treatment were compelled by some outside force to be there. This meant that most of us felt that in some way, we were being mistreated. It’s not fair! I shouldn’t have to stay this long. I’m the…
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The days are coming when I will send a famine on the land – not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. Amos 8:11 I’ve been eating right lately, not gorging myself before bed, which means waking up hungry. It was in such a state, that…
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Go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there, but never again prophesy at Bethel . . . Amos 7:12-13 I must admit that sometimes, I get irritated in ways that are just ridiculous. When I’m in a hurry and get stopped by a train, I imagine the engineer is…
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I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Amos 5:21 I’ve often been a hypocrite, but nowhere have I been guiltier than in church on Sunday morning, where I have sung of my love for and obedience to God, while using drugs. I wanted my words to be true,…
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Seek good, and not evil, that you may live . . . Amos 5:14 At the end of my junior year of high school, I told myself I was going to lift weights every day that summer in preparation for my senior year of football. I was going to get bigger, stronger, and faster. When football…
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Prepare to meet your God, O Israel! Amos 4:12 It’s not uncommon in medicine to meet those who insist they have a high pain tolerance. This usually indicates the opposite – it’s most often a ploy (of those who don’t tolerate pain) to convince others of the severity of their symptoms. Addicts are an odd…
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Go to Bethel and sin . . . Bring your sacrifices every morning . . . Amos 4:4 (NIV) Long ago, I attended Northwestern College (MN), which sat just across the lake from its closest rival, Bethel College. Today’s passage was a long running nerdy joke – Go to Bethel and sin – between the two…
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Hear this word, you . . . who oppress the poor, who crush the needy . . . Amos 4:1 In my drug use, I neglected the concerns of those around me. I did what I wanted without considering the consequences for others. Frankly, my needs and desires were more important than the needs and desires…
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