Bible Verses Addictions devotional

05/27/2024

Reverential repentance (part 4)

So I said, “The thing that you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies?” Nehemiah 5:9

Repentance is a major concern for those who wish to overcome addiction. Turning to God from Idols: A Biblical Approach to Addictions emphasizes that almost every program that offers freedom from addiction is comprised of just three basic principles.
Those principles are reasoning, repentance, and rejoicing. Reasoning leads to repentance. The Apostle Paul led many to Christ through reasoning. God reasoned with Israel. And Jesus reasoned as well.

And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures. Acts 17:2

Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. Isaiah 1:18

And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? Isaiah 5:3-4

Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel, for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land. Hosea 4:1

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing. Luke 13:34

When referring to Christ, the officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!” (John 7:46). Jesus was persuasive. Persuasion is another word for reasoning. Reason produces order. A life that is ruined by addiction needs order. Counselors reason with their clients. I heard a Christian counselor say that his job was to convince people to reverence.

03/21/2024

The Birthrights Movement

Dear Gregory Madison,

This is a confirmation that the business formation filing for The Body's Birthrights Inc. has been successfully filed with the Georgia Secretary of State's office on 03/12/2024 02:49 AM. A digital confirmation and receipt have also been sent to the filer's inbox.

03/18/2024

I think that I’ll stay!

You have dealt well with Your servant, O Lord, according to Your Word. Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I trust Your commands. Psalms 119:65-66

My Aunt Jean was my favorite of all my mother’s aunts. While my mother had no sisters, she had enough aunts of her own for me to claim. I used to love to visit Aunt Jean to meet the children she fostered.
During one of my visits, my Aunt Jean explained how the new boy was at first a little hesitant about staying. She said that the boy asked if she had any cookies. “Yes”, she said. The boy asked if she had soda pop. “Yes”, she said. The boy asked if she had ice cream, hot dogs, and a list of other items. “Yes”, was her reply to them all. My aunt was relieved by the boy’s announcement, “I think I’ll stay!”
David asked God to teach him knowledge and good judgment after He saw how well God had dealt with him. Don’t we need good judgment and knowledge to keep us from falling for addictions? Most certainly! You can trust God for the direction you need as David—and as much as my Aunt Jean’s foster child trusted her for potato chips, ice cream, candy, soda pop, hot dogs, macaroni and cheese …

“If a man has a great investment in a voyage, he aims at such an end as may be worth his investment. So when God above all things lays out His wisdom, power, mercy, goodness, and faithfulness, and sets at work all His counsels to be laid out upon such a business as to get man to attain to His last end, then, certainly, man’s end and happiness must be worth it all. And it must be a glorious thing God intends for the children of men, to make them happy, when the great counsels of God, and the ways of God’s wisdom and power, are so about this business of bringing man to happiness.” –The Evil of Evils, Jeremiah Burroughs

By the same token, it takes time to learn the things that God wants to teach you. You must be willing to stay long enough to receive the things that God has for you. While I do not condone individuals abstaining from addictions just for rewards, you must also recognize and enjoy the fruit of your labors. It is most important that you abstain in honor of His Majesty. And, it is equally important that you recognize that a life of sobriety is not always “cookies and candy.”

03/18/2024

Announcing The Birthrights Movement!
https://www.facebook.com/thebirthsmovement/

The body of Christ directly helping people transition from addictions