All too often we think we can make our unmanageable lives manageable again on our own. How wrong we are! In our Scripture reading for today from 2 Kings 5, we find Na'aman, a commander in the king's army, seeking Elisha's help to be cured of leprosy. Na'aman quickly dismissed Elisha's instructions. However, Na'aman would find out God's way is the only way for him to be healed and be brought to faith.

The same principle is true with our addiction. Our way of attempting to get sober, stay sober, and have lasting freedom and peace from our addiction fails. It's by God's grace and help that He puts people in our lives to help us medically, emotionally, and spiritually. It's through the Gospel we know we have everlasting freedom from sin and freedom from addiction.

God protects a person's name and reputation in the 8th Commandment.

Addicts have all too often sought to destroy someone else's reputation by lying about the person/people who confront the addict out of love about his/her addiction. Instead of taking the person's word's in the kindest possible way, the addict goes out of his/her way to ruin the other person's reputation as a means of self-preservation.

Listen to what Jesus has done to restore our reputation before our Heavenly Father by what He has done to take away our sins.

A pastor once told his catechism students, "The 7th Commandment is about protecting 'stuff'." Yes, he said "stuff". The "stuff" the pastor was alluding to were the many spiritual and physical blessings God bestows on all of us.

God has blessed us with so many spiritual and physical blessings. Sometime we waste and abuse those blessings to keep our addiction going. In so doing, we steal from God, our families, and ourselves when we keep feeding our addiction at the expense of providing for our families and giving back to God the first-fruits of our labor.

Even though we waste and abuse the blessings God gives to us, God gave us His one and only Son, Jesus, who didn't waste the opportunity to save us from our sins. Jesus paid for our sins with his perfect life, with his blood shed for us on the cross, and with his rising again from the dead so that we can have new life with Him. Because of Jesus, we are motivated to use and enjoy the blessings God has given to us faithfully.

The Recovery Under the Cross Midweek Meditation series on the 10 Commandments continues with the 6th Commandment: You shall not commit adultery.

The two most obvious ways in which the 6th Commandment is broken are spouses cheating on each other, or unmarried people fornicating.

The 6th Commandment goes deeper than that. Jesus tells us in his Sermon on the Mount that anyone looking at a woman lustfully commits adultery in his heart. The same is true for women looking lustfully at men.

One way people look lustfully at someone is often done in secret with near anonymity by watching porn on the Internet. Porn addiction has become more common since the launch of the Internet. Some try to soften porn addiction by saying it's not infidelity, thus not adultery. This is the work of Satan who lies in order to get us to sin. According to Jesus, anyone looking lustfully commits adultery.

Thankfully, we have Jesus who paid for all of our sins - even the sins committed in our adulterous hearts. God has also provided people in our lives to help those caught up in porn addiction to break free from it.

Conquerors Through Christ has a wealth of resources for helping someone caught up in porn addiction.

Recovery Under the Cross moves forward with the weekly Midweek Meditation series on the 10 Commandments. This week's meditation focuses on the 5th Commandment.

Exodus 20:13: You shall not commit murder. (EHV)

Naturally, murder is the main thing covered in the 5th Commandment. The 5th Commandment also forbids committing bodily harm to others and to ourselves. This week's Midweek Meditation will talk about murder committed within a person's heart - hatred (1 John 3:15).

What a blessing it is for us that Jesus paid for our sins of hatred toward others. Because of his great love for us, God turns our hate-filled hearts into loving hearts that forgive those who hurt us.

In the larger context of Scripture, the 4th Commandment covers more than obeying our parents. The 4th Commandment includes obeying all of God's representatives - in the home, in the church, in civil government. The last group seems to be the most difficult to honor and obey. It's hard for us to want to honor and obey those in civil government because it seems that so many people who serve in the government these days are corrupt and ego-maniacal in some way. Regardless of how our leaders think, act, and govern, God established government for our well-being and safety. It's God-pleasing for us to remember our civic leaders in our prayers, asking God to bless them with sound judgement, wisdom, and a servant-leader's heart.

One consequence of addiction is neglecting God's Word whether it's in our daily lives by letting our devotional life slide or giving up gathering with other Christians to worship God in church.

Today's Midweek Meditation turns our attention to the 3rd Commandment.

Exodus 20:8

Remember the Sabbath day by setting it apart as holy. (EHV)

The Recovery Under the Cross Midweek Meditation series on the 10 Commandments continues with the 2nd Commandment.

Exodus 20:7

You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God. (English Heritage Version)

One way we misuse God's name is by using His name to swear needlessly that something we say or do is true. Sometimes we use God's name to swear falsely, that is, to lie.

What a blessing we have in Jesus who kept His Heavenly Father's name holy for us, and washed away each time we misuse God's name for our own personal gain.