The Sober Christian

09/10/2026

When someone asks, “What does God want from me?” “How am I supposed to live now that I’m a Christian?” or “What does Christian living actually look like?”—one of the first places we should point them is Colossians 3:1–17.

It’s not an exhaustive list of everything involved in following Christ, but it’s a pretty good blueprint to start with.

Set your mind on things above. Put to death the sinful things of the old life. Put away anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk, and lying. Put on compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another. Forgive as the Lord has forgiven you. Above all, put on love. Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart. Be thankful. Let the Word of Christ dwell richly in you.

And then Paul sums it up beautifully:

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” — Colossians 3:17 ESV

Sometimes we make God’s will for our lives more mysterious than it needs to be. Read the Bible. God has already told us a whole lot about how He wants us to live.

We may not always know exactly where God is taking us, but Scripture gives us plenty of direction about how we’re supposed to live while we’re getting there.

09/09/2026

09/09/2026

Sometimes it may look and feel like we’re being blown off course, when God is actually putting us right where we need to be.

Paul never planned to go to Malta. He was a prisoner headed for Rome when a violent storm drove the ship off course and eventually left them shipwrecked on the island. But Paul didn’t waste time wondering why he was there—he simply did the work God put in front of him. He served, healed the sick through God’s power, and left an impact on the people of Malta.

What looked like a detour became an opportunity for God’s purposes.

We don’t always understand where the storms of life are taking us. Sometimes the place we never planned to be is exactly where God has work for us to do.

Stay faithful where you land. Do the work God puts in front of you.

📖 Acts 28:1–10

09/07/2026

I know what it is to be a slave to something.

For an alcoholic or addict, drugs and alcohol can become idolatry. They become what you think about when you wake up, what you chase throughout the day, and what you organize your life around. Relationships, responsibilities, health, and everything else begin taking a backseat. You may hate what you’re doing and desperately want to stop, yet continue doing it anyway.

Romans 7:18 describes that struggle:

“For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.”

That was my life.

I wanted things to be different. There were times I wanted to stop. But wanting to change and having the power to change were two very different things. Sin had become slavery, and alcohol and drugs had become idols.

But then come two of the most beautiful words in Scripture:

BUT GOD.

Ephesians 2:4–5 says:

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”

I didn’t save myself by getting sober. God saved me. Even in the worst of my alcoholism, I cried out to God for help—and He answered.

God broke the bo***ge. God tore down the idol. God got me sober.

And sobriety opened the door to a life I couldn’t have imagined while I was trapped in addiction. I began seeking God, going to church, reading and studying His Word, coming to believe in Jesus Christ, and growing in a relationship with Him.

Sobriety wasn’t my salvation. It was part of what God did in saving and transforming my life.

Romans 6:16 says we become slaves to the one we obey. And 1 Thessalonians 1:9 speaks of turning “to God from idols to serve the living and true God.”

That’s my story.

I was enslaved.
I was chasing an idol.
I couldn’t rescue myself.

But God, who is rich in mercy, did for me what I could not do for myself.

If you’re still trapped today, don’t believe the lie that you’re too far gone. Cry out to God. Ask for help. Accept the help He puts in front of you. There is hope.

The same God who met me in the darkness is still in the business of setting captives free.

To God be all the glory.

09/06/2026

The Biblical Flow of Salvation

Sometimes we hear words like repentance, justification, sanctification, and glorification, but what do they actually mean, and how do they fit together?

The Bible gives us a beautiful picture of what God does in the life of a believer:

LOST IN SIN
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GOD CALLS THROUGH THE GOSPEL
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REPENT & BELIEVE
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JUSTIFIED — Our standing before God changes. We are declared righteous through faith in Jesus Christ, not because we’ve earned it.

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Romans 5:1

⬇️
ADOPTED — We aren’t simply forgiven; we are brought into God’s family as His children.

“The Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.”
Romans 8:15

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SANCTIFIED — We are set apart as belonging to God, and the Holy Spirit begins the lifelong work of changing us to become more like Christ.

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PERSEVERE IN FAITH — We continue following Christ, repenting when we fall, growing in obedience, and trusting Him through this life. We don’t do these things to earn salvation; a changed life is the fruit of genuine faith.

⬇️
RESURRECTION — Physical death isn’t the end. Those who belong to Christ will be raised.

⬇️
GLORIFIED — God completes what He started. Believers are fully transformed, and sin and death are finally defeated.

Romans 8:30 gives us a powerful picture:

“Those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”

We don’t clean ourselves up enough to earn our way to God. Salvation begins with God’s grace, is received through faith in Jesus Christ, and God continues His work in us.

Justification changes our standing before God.
Sanctification changes the way we live.
Glorification completes the work.

And it all centers on Jesus Christ.

09/05/2026

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
— Ephesians 6:12 (NIV)

“I look at something this horrifying and I don’t believe evil is merely a metaphor. I believe there is a real spiritual battle between good and evil, and Scripture tells me there is an enemy behind darkness and destruction.”

09/04/2026

THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST

2 Corinthians 5:10 is one of those verses that makes you stop and really think:

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”

Paul is speaking to believers. There is coming a day when every one of us will stand before Christ and give an account for the life we lived.

This is not saying that we earn salvation by our works. We are saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ, not because we were good enough. But Scripture is equally clear that what we do with the life God gives us matters eternally.

Our obedience matters.
Our service matters.
How we love people matters.
What we do when nobody is watching matters.
What we do with the opportunities God gives us matters.

Our works don’t purchase salvation—they demonstrate the reality of our faith, and Scripture teaches that Christ rewards faithfulness.

That helps me understand Paul’s life. He was beaten, imprisoned, falsely accused, rejected and eventually sent to Rome, yet he remained faithful. Why? Because Paul understood that the judgment of people was temporary. There was a greater Judge before whom he would ultimately stand.

And then Paul tells us what should motivate the Christian life:

“For Christ’s love compels us…” — 2 Corinthians 5:14

And:

“He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” — 2 Corinthians 5:15

That’s powerful.

Jesus didn’t save us so that we could simply go back to living entirely for ourselves. We have been given a new life, and that life belongs to Him.

Grace doesn’t make obedience unimportant. Grace gives us a reason to obey.

I don’t want to stand before Christ someday having wasted what He gave me. I want my life, my work, my service, and my faith to have counted for something that lasts.

Live today with eternity in mind.

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ…”
— 2 Corinthians 5:10

09/03/2026

God’s will becomes clearer when we stop letting the world shape the way we think and start allowing God to transform our minds. Surrender yourself to Him, let Him change the way you think, and you’ll begin to recognize what He wants for your life—what is good, pleasing, and right.

Give God your life, and let Him renew your mind.
— Romans 12:1–2