The “Average” Prisoner  Before he committed the Crime, he JUSTIFIED himself  When he was sentenced, expressed remorse – AT GETTING CAUGHT

Life Controlling Addictions  I’m only human  It won’t hurt anybody  It doesn’t interfere with my life

Example of Alcohol  Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.  Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.  “They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.”  Proverbs 23

Drunkeness & Gluttony  Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:  For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.  Proverbs 23:20-21

Bad Judgment & Hangover  Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?  They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.  Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.  At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.

3 Aspects of Addiction:  Physiological – Serotonin, Dopamine  Psychological – Fills a “NEED”  Spiritual – “Open Door”

Focus on Spiritual  Increased Stress  Anger and Bitterness  “Unclean” activities  Temporal Values – “Hedonic Hypothesis”

Life of Saul  Prideful  Independent Spirit  Bitter and angry

Saul’s Bad Marriage  Saul’s anger flared up at Jonathan and he said to him, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman!”  1 Samuel 20:30

Saul’s Anger at Daughter  “I will give her (his daughter Michal) to him,” he thought, “so that she may be a snare to him…”  Proverbs 18:21

Saul’s Envy against David  Saul was very angry; this refrain displeased him greatly. “They have credited David with tens of thousands,” he thought, “but me with only thousands.  1 Samuel 18:8-9

Envy is Poison  Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?  Proverbs 27:4

A Troubling Spirit Introduced  Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.  1 Samuel 16:13

Unclean vs. Clean  Haggai asks,  If something “Clean” touches something “Unclean”, will the “Unclean” be made “Clean”?  They answer, “No.”

Unclean vs. Clean  Haggai asks,  If something “Unclean” touches something “Clean”, will the “Clean” be made “Unclean”?  They answer, “Yes.”

Hedonism  A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.  Proverbs 22:3  And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite  Proverbs 23:2

Call for Separation  “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”  2 Corinthians 6:17