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I am the world’s worst transgressor
I have murdered millions
I have made people failures
I have made millions of homes miserable
I have changed promising people into hopeless social parasites
I have driven untold millions to despair
I have wasted the weak
I have snared the innocent
I have caused starving children to know me
I have made the hair turn gray on many parents
I have ruined millions and shall seek to yet ruin multiplied millions
My Name is Addiction
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World’s Greatest Benefactor
I have given life to millions
I have made failures successful I have made millions of homes happy
World’s Worst Transgressor Read More »
I must admit, my favorite question is “why?”
I ask it a lot: of God, of others, of myself, of life.
And yes, I ask the why question concerning the tricky addiction/recovery issue.
Author, Jonathan Lockwood Huie really takes that matter to task, using two words.
“Urgent? Why?”
It’s not merely a question; it’s a statement… about the significance of urgency.
And this is right up addiction’s alley. The fix driving the addiction- why?
Why is this my answer?
Why will this solve things?
Why will nothing else do?
Why must I be instantly healed?
It is that last question which brought two scripture passages to my mind: Jairus’ daughter and Lazarus.
Urgent? Why?? Read More »
If you’re feeling far away from God, guess who moved?
Do you ever feel like God’s least present when you seem to need Him most?
Lost In Darkness
When I struggled with depression following my injury, God seemed to be a million miles away. I knew intellectually that He was right beside me, but it sure didn’t feel like that. I imagined myself wandering in darkness so impenetrable that not even God could find me.
As I began to get a handle on the depression, I seemed to discover edges to the darkness. Bits of light penetrated the oppressive blanket of despair. And I found that as I felt less lost, God’s presence suddenly felt more real.
Where’s God When I Need Him? Read More »
A friend of mine who is experiencing some painful family issues has repeatedly asked herself the “why” questions.
Why is this happening to me?
Why am I being treated like this?
Why is my loved one acting in such an ugly manner?
She has been blindsided by a situation and a relationship she never dreamed was possible, rife with betrayal, deception and slander. This was once a close, bonded relationship, one filled with unconditional love and trust.
So, the events over the last few years were a definite shock.
Why is this happening to me? Read More »
“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?”
Jeremiah 32:27
I recently caught the 1960 Academy Award winning film, “The Miracle Worker.” It portrays the relationship of Helen Keller and that of her groundbreaking teacher, Annie Sullivan.
Most of us know the basics to the story. Helen Keller was blind, deaf and mute and, before Sullivan’s arrival, seemingly hopeless in her circumstances. If she could not see, hear or speak, how could she ever communicate, let alone, live in the world?
The situation looked bleak.
That was until Sullivan’s arrival…
Who or What is Your Miracle Worker? Read More »
And of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.” John 1:16
As someone recovering from disordered image, food and weight issues, I’ve long wrestled with the perfection issue. There was a mandate, both self-imposed and emanating from others, to be perfect in behavior, achievement and appearance.
However, this last goal was the most frustrating and demoralizing.
As a child, I was overweight, inheriting my mother’s own negative body image perceptions. Later, throughout adolescence, I was bullied, teased and rejected.
And then, adding insult to injury, I felt I could never win when it came to my dad and his expectations.
Success Is… Grace Read More »
Gethsemane: Code For… “I don’t want to do this.”
We’ve uttered that statement frequently in our lives.
This time of year, there’s a great deal of emphasis on Jesus. As we prepare for Resurrection Sunday, we read and remind ourselves just how this whole thing came to be: hope, salvation and reunion with God. It didn’t just happen.
And a large part of it depends on Gethsemane.
Yes, Jesus is amazing and loving. But He still had a night of decision. Hours away from being crucified, there was a real moment; He didn’t want to do it.
“I don’t want to do this.” Read More »
Even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest,
but we were afflicted on every side:
conflicts without, fears within. (2 Cor. 7:5 ESV)
Sometimes Christians get the wrong idea about faith. Knowing that only believers enter the celestial city, we put a great deal of importance on faith, and if it wavers, we become fearful. If we experience doubt, we wonder if our faith is failing – if, after all, we’re not Christians at all, or if we are, if we haven’t departed from the Lord and ceased to be such. I myself have been there – I won’t go into the details, but there was a time in the 80s when I seriously did wonder whether I’d ever been saved in the first place. My faith was under attack, and I grew afraid.
To some extent at least this grows out of a wrong idea of what faith is. Even the most knowledgeable Christians can sometimes make this mistake, believing that Biblical faith has something to do with our emotion state, or that it’s something we have to muster up from within ourselves. Let’s be sure of what faith is, and then attacks against our faith arise along this line, we’ll be better able to resist. There are two related Greek words we need to consider, one a noun and one a verb – pistiz and pisteuw (pistis, pisteuo). The noun means, “reliance upon, trust in, dependence on,” and of course the verb means “to rely on, to depend on, to trust.” Thus, when we have faith, or when we believe, we have that trust and dependence on Christ, we’re trusting Him and depending on Him. And it is important that we have the proper object of our faith. We must trust Jesus, Jesus entirely, and Jesus only. If we trust anyone or anything other than the Lord Christ, our faith is in the wrong object, and we’ll never see God. If we trust Jesus partly and something or someone else partly, we’re again not believing as the Bible demands, and we’ll come short of the heavenly city. Biblical faith has as its object Jesus alone and Jesus to the uttermost.
And it is here that some professing Christians miss the point.
Tribulation and Faith Read More »
Job 13:15 KJV
Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.
A young man was walking in forest early one morning, enjoying the transition from night to day. As he walked, he began to meditate on the natural beauty of the woods and how God is all powerful.
A Parable on Letting Go Read More »
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When you are inclined to worry — don’t do it! That is the first thing. No matter how much reason there seems to be for worrying — still, there is your rule. Do not break it — don’t worry! Matters may be greatly tangled, so tangled that you cannot see how they ever can be straightened out; still, don’t worry! Troubles may be very real and very sore, and there may not seem a rift in the clouds; nevertheless, don’t worry! You say the rule is too high for human observance — that mortals cannot reach it; or you say there must be some exceptions to it — that there are peculiar circumstances in which one cannot but worry. But wait a moment. What did the Master teach? “I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.” He left no exceptions.