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I will go to the king . . . and if I perish, I perish. Esther 4:16 I hear this not infrequently in Christian circles, regarding drug addiction: It’s simple. Just believe in Christ and your free. What’s odd to me, is that those I hear saying it, still struggle with food, tobacco or pride, just…
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Who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?  Esther 4:14 Looking back, it’s easy to see God’s hand working through my addiction. God used the miserable consequences of my toxic choices to change me. Now, I’m able to share Christ’s transforming power with others. In retrospect, it’s…
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If you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Esther 4:14 When I go to the local jail for Sunday morning bible study, I would love to say that it is simply out of some noble desire to share…
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I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. . . Now I was cupbearer to the king.  Nehemiah 1:4,11 I don’t usually refer to current events in this blog, but one aspect of a recent tragedy has stuck with me. As the horrific details of multiple killings emerged on the news, several public…
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I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, “The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him . . . “  Ezra 8:22 I still struggle with the difference between…
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He did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God . . . 2 Chronicles 35:22 When I first attended Alcoholics Anonymous, I was irritated by their insistence that I had a persistent problem. I believed that once I came to Christ, I was set free. Other Christians confirmed for me that…
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He did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, but came to fight in the plain of Megiddo. And the archers shot King Josiah.  2 Chronicles 35:22-23 When my addiction came to light, there were those who questioned my faith. How can you be a Christian and struggle like this?…
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When he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.  2 Chronicles 33:12 Change, for me, has usually required significant discomfort. When I pursue a destructive path that brings me pleasure, I am unlikely to turn around, until I encounter the…
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They spoke of the God of Jerusalem as they spoke of the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are the work of men’s hands.  2 Chronicles 32:19 As difficult as it is for me to abandon an addictive, destructive behavior to follow God, it is impossible to change while I remain unwilling to…
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The Lord your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him. 2 Chronicles 30:9 I ate a donut. I’ve had a full year clean from donuts, but I recently brought them to work for a special occasion and though I planned to abstain, the temptation…
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