I want to talk to you about something that might be hitting close to home: the struggle with alcohol. It can lead us down some pretty rough paths, hurting ourselves and those around us. It's important to really think about the ripple effect our choices have, you know? We have to own our actions.
If you're finding yourself in situations where alcohol is taking control, please know there's support out there. Don't hesitate to reach out and get the help you need to stay safe and healthy.
From my perspective, alcoholism, like any addiction, is a form of idolatry. Anything we turn to instead of God to fill that deep need in our hearts becomes an idol, and ultimately, a spiritual chain.
I want to share something that can truly set you free from this struggle. It's the power of Christ's blood. I believe it's strong enough to cleanse you, detoxify you, and make you a new person. There's real freedom waiting for you.
nor thieves, nor greedy of gain, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers shall inherit the reign of Elohim.
And do not be drunk with wine, in which is loose behaviour, but be filled with the Spirit,
Wake up, you drunkards, and weep. And wail, all you drinkers of wine, on account of the new wine, for it has been cut off from your mouth.
Be sober, watch, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
It is good not to eat meat or drink wine, nor to do whatever by which your brother stumbles.
If we confess our sins, He is trustworthy and righteous to forgive us the sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it gives its colour in the cup, As it flows smoothly;
Not for sovereigns, O Lemu’ĕl, Not for sovereigns to drink wine, Nor for princes to desire strong drink;
Wine is a scoffer, strong drink a brawler, And whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
Then Ěli said to her, “How long are you going to be drunk? Put your wine away from you!”
And the works of the flesh are well-known, which are these: adultery, whoring, uncleanness, indecency,
See, I, Sha’ul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Messiah shall be of no use to you.
idolatry, drug sorcery, hatred, quarrels, jealousies, fits of rage, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions,
envy, murders, drunkenness, wild parties, and the like – of which I forewarn you, even as I also said before, that those who practise such as these shall not inherit the reign of Elohim.
Woe to those who rise early in the morning pursuing strong drink, who stay up late at night – wine inflames them!
And the lyre and the harp, the tambourine and flute, and wine are in their feasts; but they do not regard the deeds of יהוה, nor see the work of His hands.
Be not among heavy drinkers of wine Or with gluttonous eaters of meat;
For the drunkard and the glutton become poor, And slumber puts rags on a man.
Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who feels hurt without cause? Who has redness of eyes?
Do not desire his delicacies, For that food is deceptive.
Those staying long at the wine, Those going in to search out mixed wine.
Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it gives its colour in the cup, As it flows smoothly;
In the end it bites like a snake, And stings like an adder –
Your eyes look on strange women, And your heart speaks perversities.
And you shall be as one Lying down in the midst of the sea, And as one lying at the top of the mast, saying,
“They struck me, I was not sick! They beat me, I did not know! When shall I wake up? Let me seek it again!”
For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the desire of the nations, having walked in indecencies, lusts, drunkenness, orgies, wild parties, and abominable idolatries,
Likewise attendants are to be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for filthy gain,
Not for sovereigns, O Lemu’ĕl, Not for sovereigns to drink wine, Nor for princes to desire strong drink;
Lest they drink and forget what is inscribed, And pervert the right of all the afflicted.
For a cup is in the hand of יהוה, And the wine shall foam; It is filled with a mixture, And He pours it out. All the wrong of the earth drink, Draining it to the dregs.
“And take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down by gluttony, and drunkenness, and worries of this life, and that day come on you suddenly.
Let us walk becomingly, as in the day, not in wild parties and drunkenness, not in living together and indecencies, not in fighting and envy,
but put on the Master יהושע Messiah, and make no provision for the lusts of the flesh.
But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone called ‘a brother,’ if he is one who whores, or greedy of gain, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler – not even to eat with such a one.
Give strong drink to him who is perishing, And wine to those embittered in being.
Let him drink and forget his poverty, And remember his trouble no more.
envy, murders, drunkenness, wild parties, and the like – of which I forewarn you, even as I also said before, that those who practise such as these shall not inherit the reign of Elohim.
Blessed are you, O land, when your sovereign is the son of nobles, and your rulers feast in due season – for strength and not for drunkenness!
Proverbs of Shelomoh: A wise son makes a father rejoice, But a foolish son is his mother’s sorrow.
You spread before me a table in the face of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup runs over.
“But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male servants and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk,
the master of that servant shall come on a day when he does not expect him, and at an hour that he does not know, and shall cut him in two and appoint his portion with the unbelievers.
For the reign of Elohim is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Set-apart Spirit.
For, when you eat, each one takes his own supper first, and one is hungry and another is drunk.
I searched in my heart how to stimulate my body with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, until I could see what was good for the sons of men to do under the heavens all the days of their lives.
Beloved ones, I appeal to you as sojourners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts which battle against the being,
Woe to the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephrayim, and to the fading flower of its splendid comeliness that is on the head of the fertile valley, to those who are overcome with wine!
For it is: command upon command, command upon command, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.
For with a jabbering lip and a foreign tongue He speaks to this people,
to whom He said, “This is the rest, give rest to the weary,” and, “This is the refreshing.” But they would not hear.
But the Word of יהוה was to them, “Command upon command, command upon command, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little,” so that they go and shall stumble backward, and be broken and snared and taken captive.
Therefore hear the Word of יהוה, you men of scorn, who rule this people who are in Yerushalayim,
because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, and with She’ol we have effected a vision. When the overflowing scourge passes through, it does not come to us, for we have made lying our refuge, and under falsehood we have hidden ourselves.”
Therefore thus said the Master יהוה, “See, I am laying in Tsiyon a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a settled foundation. He who trusts shall not hasten away.
And I shall make right-ruling the measuring line, and righteousness the plummet. And the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lying, and the waters overflow the hiding place.
And your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your vision with She’ol not stand. When an overflowing scourge passes through, then you shall be trampled down by it.
As often as it passes through it shall take you, for it shall pass through every morning, and by day and by night. And it shall be only trembling to understand the message.”
See, יהוה has one who is strong and potent, like a downpour of hail and a destroying storm, like a flood of mighty waters overflowing, who casts down to the earth with the hand.
For the bed shall be too short for a man to stretch out on, and the covering shall be too narrow to wrap himself in it.
For יהוה rises up as at Mount Peratsim, and He is wroth as at the Valley of Giḇ‛on, to do His work, His strange work, and to do His deed, His strange deed.
And now, do not be scoffers, lest your bonds be made strong. For I have heard from the Master יהוה of hosts, a destruction decreed upon all the earth.
Give ear and hear my voice, listen and hear my Word.
Does the ploughman keep ploughing all day to sow? Does he keep turning his soil and breaking the clods?
When he has levelled its surface, does he not sow the caraway and scatter the cummin, plant the wheat in rows, the barley in the appointed place, and the spelt in its place?
For He instructs him for right-ruling, his Elohim teaches him.
For caraway is not threshed with a threshing sledge, nor is a wagon wheel rolled over cummin, but caraway is beaten out with a stick, and cummin with a rod.
Grain is crushed, so one does not go on threshing it forever, nor break it with his wagon wheel, nor crush it with his horsemen.
Even this has come from יהוה of hosts, who did wonders in counsel, who made wisdom great.
The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephrayim, is trampled under foot;
Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the esteem of Elohim.
His mouth was smoother than curds, Yet in his heart is fighting; His words were softer than oil, But they are drawn swords.
He who watches over the Torah is a discerning son, But a companion of gluttons shames his father.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you prove what is that good and well-pleasing and perfect desire of Elohim.
No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your frequent ailments.
Do you not know that those who run in a race indeed all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to obtain it.
And everyone who competes controls himself in every way. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown, but we for an incorruptible crown.
Therefore I run accordingly, not with uncertainty. Thus I fight, not as one who beats the air.
But I treat my body severely and make it my slave, lest having proclaimed to others, I myself might be rejected.
“For he shall be great before יהוה, and shall drink no wine and strong drink at all. And he shall be filled with the Set-apart Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is a gift of Elohim.
Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: whoring, uncleanness, passion, evil desire and greed of gain, which is idolatry.
Brothers, if a man is overtaken in some trespass, you the spiritual ones, set such a one straight in a spirit of meekness, looking at yourself lest you be tried too.
He who is patient is better than the mighty, And he who rules over his spirit than he who takes a city.
Let not my heart be inclined to evil, To practise deeds of wrongness With men working wickedness, And let me not eat of their delicacies.
“But I say to you, I shall certainly not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on till that day when I drink it anew with you in the reign of My Father.”
I call upon you, therefore, brothers, through the compassion of Elohim, to present your bodies a living offering – set-apart, well-pleasing to Elohim – your reasonable worship.
Do you not know that you are a Dwelling Place of Elohim and that the Spirit of Elohim dwells in you?
On me, O Elohim, are Your vows; I render praises to You,
For You have delivered my life from death, My feet from stumbling, That I might walk before Elohim, In the light of the living!
“The Son of Aḏam came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘See, a man, a glutton and a winedrinker, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ And wisdom was declared right by her works.”
“The Son of Aḏam has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a man, a glutton and a winedrinker, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’
When you sit down to eat with a ruler, Look well what is before you;
Do not move the ancient boundary, And do not enter the fields of the fatherless;
For their Redeemer is strong; He shall plead their cause against you.
Bring your heart to discipline, And your ears to words of knowledge.
Do not withhold discipline from a child; If you strike him with a rod, he does not die.
Strike him with a rod And deliver his being from She’ol.
My son, if your heart shall be wise, My heart rejoices, even I,
And my kidneys exult When your lips speak what is straight.
Do not let your heart envy sinners, But be in the fear of יהוה all day long;
For certain, there is a hereafter, And let your expectancy not be cut off.
Hear, my son, and be wise, And guide your heart in the way.
And put a knife to your throat If you are a man given to appetite.
Be not among heavy drinkers of wine Or with gluttonous eaters of meat;
For the drunkard and the glutton become poor, And slumber puts rags on a man.
Listen to your father who brought you forth, And do not despise your mother when she is old.
Buy the truth and do not sell it – Wisdom and discipline and understanding.
The father of the righteous greatly rejoices, And he who brings forth a wise one delights in him.
Let your father and your mother rejoice, And let her who bore you exult.
My son, give me your heart, And let your eyes watch my ways.
For a whore is a deep pit, And a strange woman is a narrow well.
She too lies in wait as for a prey, And increases the treacherous among men.
Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who feels hurt without cause? Who has redness of eyes?
Do not desire his delicacies, For that food is deceptive.
For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you desire to do.
“Come, let me bring wine and fill ourselves with strong drink. And tomorrow shall be as today, even much greater.”
But he who doubts, if he eats, is condemned, because it is not of belief, and all that is not of belief is sin.
Lamed The wrongdoer is borrowing and does not repay, But the righteous one shows favour and gives.
And I certainly did not mean with those of this world who whore, or with the greedy of gain, or swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.
But we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
And again it says, “Rejoice, O nations, with His people!”
And again, “Praise יהוה, all you nations! Praise Him, all you peoples!”
And again, Yeshayahu says, “There shall be a root of Yishai, and He who shall rise to reign over the nations, on Him the nations shall set their expectation.”
And the Elohim of expectation fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you overflow with expectation by the power of the Set-apart Spirit.
Now I myself am persuaded concerning you, my brothers, that you too are filled with goodness, complete in all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.
But I have written more boldly to you, in part, as reminding you, because of the favour given to me by Elohim,
to be a servant of יהושע Messiah to the nations, with the priestly duty of bringing the Good News of Elohim, so that the offering of the nations becomes acceptable, set apart by the Set-apart Spirit.
Therefore I have cause for boasting in Messiah יהושע in the matters pertaining to Elohim.
For I shall not presume to speak of any matter except what Messiah has worked out through me, in word and deed, to make the nations obedient,
in power of signs and wonders, in power of the Spirit of Elohim, so that from Yerushalayim and round about to Illurikon I have completed the preaching of the Good News of Messiah.
Let each one of us please his neighbour for his good, to build him up.
For You, O Elohim, do bring them down To the pit of destruction; Men of blood and deceit do not reach half their days; But I, I trust in You.
Have you found honey? Eat only as much as you need, Lest you be satisfied with it and vomit.
And the works of the flesh are well-known, which are these: adultery, whoring, uncleanness, indecency,
All is permitted me, but not all do profit. All is permitted me, but not all build up.
And these too have gone astray through wine, and through strong drink wandered about. Priest and prophet have gone astray through strong drink, they are swallowed up by wine, they wander about through strong drink, they go astray in vision, they stumble in right-ruling.
But I treat my body severely and make it my slave, lest having proclaimed to others, I myself might be rejected.
And he put cursing on as with his garment, So let it enter his inward parts like water, Into his bones and like oil.
To work out wicked schemes Is like sport to a fool, But wisdom is for a man of understanding.
Hear, my son, and be wise, And guide your heart in the way.
And put a knife to your throat If you are a man given to appetite.
Be not among heavy drinkers of wine Or with gluttonous eaters of meat;
For the drunkard and the glutton become poor, And slumber puts rags on a man.
Let those who are rejoicing at my evil Be ashamed and abashed altogether; Let those who are exalting themselves over me Be clad in shame and humiliation.
then say to myself, “Life, you have many goods laid up for many years, take your ease, eat, drink, rejoice.” ’