Overdosed – Saved But “Lost” – The Danger of Not Seeking a Deeper Experience with God – Purity 1856
Purity 1856 01/02/2026 Purity 1856 Audio Podcast
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Good morning,
Today’s photo of a roped-off sandy pathway that leads to the turquoise waters of one of the lagoons of Half Moon Cay, Bahamas, comes from your truly, as I captured this scene during my recent vacation, back on January 2nd, 2026.
Well, it’s Thursday, and I share today’s pathway photo as a visual reminder to get on or to stay on the path of Christian discipleship, and as a warning that, unfortunately, many will believe the lie that this path isn’t for them, and believing that lie just might cost them their lives.
Last night, I received some tragic news that one of the people who had come to the Celebrate Freedom Support Group meetings in the past had recently died due to a drug overdose. The person who shared this tragic news claimed that the individual in question was “saved” – that they had apparently put their faith in Jesus and knew some scripture by heart. I’m not doubting that this is true; I want to believe it’s true. I want to believe that even though our friend died from a drug overdose and he may be absent from his body, he is present with the Lord today.
Some may scoff at the suggestion that someone who is saved could die from a drug overdose, but if we realize that all it takes to end up dead is making the mistake of giving into temptation one time, we should remain silent about our doubts about the person’s salvation and use there tragic death as a cautionary tale of what can happen when we “do Christianity by ourselves” and when we aren’t steadfast in submitting to God and resisting the devil.
The enemy is the tempter after all, and he loves to steal, kill, and destroy, and in this case, it looks like he was successful. When people overdose and die, it is often said, even among secular recovery crowds, that they “fell victim to their demons”, without realizing how very accurate that statement is.
Could our friend have lived longer if he had stayed connected to the Celebrate Freedom Support Group and taken a more active role in pursuing the Lord and living by faith?
I think so, but I also know how hard it can be to fully surrender to God and to integrate oneself into “church culture” when you previously lived a life of sin and feel the sting of rejection from “polite society” in general, and the burden of stigma and judgement from in the place where you should be able to go for acceptance, help, and community.
However as much as atheists would love to blame the church for tragedies like this and as much as I would like to blame the spiritual forces of darkness, the truth is that we are all, also, individually responsible for the choices we make, and when someone chooses, for whatever reason, to distance himself from the flock and isn’t diligent in seeking the Lord’s presence or growing in their faith on a continual basis, some of the blame must fall on the person, not just for giving into the temptation that takes their life but for refusing to make the many decisions that could have helped them to find peace and joy in the Lord to maintain their sobriety and save their life. Their life could have spent making disciples and growing into the person that God made them to be, but instead their life’s story will serve as a cautionary tale of what not to do.
When we come to faith in Jesus, we are not to disregard the assembly of the saints. We are to submit all the areas of our lives to the Lord and resist the devil. If we do less than that, we give the enemy access to our lives and suffer greatly for it. Instead of a surface faith, we are to seek a life-sustaining, deeper experience with the Lord that transforms the way we think and live.
Speaking of a deeper experience with God, the In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley devotion talks about one way that we can draw closer to God, so I am sharing it on the blog today to encourage us all to consider all the ways we can submit to the Lord and grow in our faith.
“What Fasting Adds to Prayer
Fasting combined with prayer can be helpful when seeking God’s guidance and protection.
Matthew 6:16-21
Jesus’ words about fasting are an invitation to a deeper experience with God.
Fasting benefits us in many ways:
- Cleansing from sin. When we let our spiritual guard down, we start thinking incorrectly. Through such lapses, ungodly attitudes and habits can quietly take up residence in us, and we hardly notice. They impede our fellowship with God, limit the effectiveness of our service, and erode our joy. Fasting helps us give God our undivided attention as He addresses whatever is hindering our spiritual growth. (See Romans 12:2.)
- Guidance. God wants His children to understand and follow His directions. A combination of prayer and fasting helps us develop both the mind needed to hear what He’s saying and the spirit ready to accept His instructions.
- Protection. Through fasting, we gain insight into God’s ways and receive help in identifying unhealthy or dangerous situations. As we submit to His authority and confess our need for protection, the Holy Spirit will give us discernment to make wiser decisions and avoid unnecessary risks.
Fasting coupled with prayer will bring greater spiritual awareness and more intimate communion with the Lord. It can certainly be challenging, but the benefits are worth it.” – Charles Stanley
Amen. There are a lot of good points here, but let me stress this one: Jesus’ words about fasting are an invitation to a deeper experience with God.
This should be the motivation and the reason behind EVERY spiritual practice we do. That goes for fasting, tithing, prayer, Bible study, acts of service, and repentance. Our relationship with God is made real through our efforts to accept God’s invitation to know Him more. The success of any spiritual practice lies equally in our efforts and our motivation for doing them.
Fasting and the other spiritual disciplines all have various benefits for us, but if we do them just to receive the benefits or to be blessed in some way, we run the risk of falling into “spiritual materialism” – where we manipulate God to bless us and expect a payback for our faithfulness. There is a fine line here, so we have to be careful to make sure we are doing what we are doing for the right reasons.
All the benefits that Stanley mentions about fasting are true, but the biggest benefit to fasting (or any other spiritual discipline) is the deeper experience we have with the Lord, where we learn more about Him, and ourselves, and our love for the Lord increases.
I encourage those who feel called to fasting to give it a try, but to make sure that you put prayer/Bible study in the place where you would eat.
Even though your life may seem “empty” of your normal routine when you fast from food or some other habit, when you put prayer/ Bible study in its place, you will feed your spirit and be sustained by the Holy Spirit.
So, seek that deeper experience with God; He is there for the finding, and He draws close to you when you draw close to Him.
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For those who want more evidence for Christianity than my simple encouragements provide, I offer apologist, Frank Turek’s website, https://crossexamined.org/.
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Today’s Bible verse comes to us from “The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling” By John G. Kruis.
(While Bible verses on various topics of Counseling can be found with a quick Google search, we encourage you to purchase this resource to support the late author’s work. (The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling By John G. Kruis on Amazon )
This morning’s meditation verses come from the section on Prayer – Waiting on the Lord.
1 John 1:7-9 (ESV) But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Today’s verses are the sixth of six passages of scripture that fall under the nineteenth point of our counseling reference guide resource section on Prayer.
19. Pray for the forgiveness of sins.
Today’s Bible verses give us some indication of what real faith looks like and the benefits we can have when we submit to the Lord.
If we walk in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.
Conversely, if we don’t walk in the light and have fellowship with one another, we are not necessarily cleansed of all sin.
While I am not saying that a Christian who refuses to “walk in the light and have fellowship with the body of Christ” isn’t necessary cleansed of the guilt of their sins, Jesus does that for us, I am suggesting that they will have difficulty in experiencing the cleansing freedom from their sin that they could have when they choose to walk in the light and have fellowship with one another.
While I am not suggesting that we will ever be sinlessly perfect like Jesus, I can tell you that freedom from a besetting sin can be found when we walk in the light and fellowship with one another. The accountability, help, guidance, and support we can have in our Christian communities can be used by the Lord to help us to be cleansed of our besetting sins.
So, walk in the light and ask God, and the body of Christ, to help you to overcome and to experience the joy of your freedom in Christ.
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As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.com where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today, we continue sharing from “Day by Day Along the Way” By Jay E. Adams.
As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage you all to purchase Adams’ books for your own private study and to support the late author’s work. This resource is available online for less than $20 at many sites.
Day 355
He preached God’s kingdom and taught … with great boldness … – Acts 28:31
What an ending to the book of Acts! There is a consistency in Paul that is unmatched by most others. Everywhere, under every circumstance, he preached the same message. It was always adapted to the circumstances and to his audience, but the content never varied. Nor did his courage: there is that word again—“boldly.” Remember, it means, “to speak without fear of consequences.” His missionary history clearly bespeaks the truth of the statement in verse 31. How greatly such preaching is needed today! What a difference would it be if all preachers preached boldly rather than fearing Mr. Smith or Mrs. Jones down there in their pews! We’d have more converts, fewer false professors, more solid living, and fewer preachers—all of which would be a great blessing to the church. Will you pray for men like Paul? If God answers your prayer and sends you one, he’ll probably upset your lifestyle. Is that what you really want?[1]
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[1] Jay E. Adams, Day by Day along the Way (Cordova, TN: Institute for Nouthetic Studies, 2020), 363.
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