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Miss California just lost the Miss America pageant because in one of her answers to the judges she said she believed that marriage should be between a man and a woman… excluding gay marriage. Congratulations on your loss! The win would have been hollow. We’ve come a long way baby... and not in a good way. Yesterday I sat across from a couple and talked to them about the dangers of living together and premarital intimacy. I had the same conversation a few weeks ago. Cohabitation is so prevalent today that it’s almost a shock when someone says something against it! But here are the facts. Sexual intimacy before marriage inevitably results in an emotional, spiritual and physical change in a relationship. First there is the guilt at doing what you know to be wrong… even if it is buried guilt. Guilt results in unintended frustration, anger or apathy. Instead of drawing a couple closer together it constructs an emotional wall between them. It also damages needed self control. Learn to control the strongest of impulses that you have and you will be able to control any of the lesser emotions such as anger, frustration, irritation etc. It’s a good thing.
Today's Scripture reading is 1 Samuel 8; Proverbs 27; Romans 3
To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.podbean.com - Archives can be found at http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com
Today’s thought comes from 2 Peter 3:3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation." 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
Judgment Day: an old fashioned term used by wild eyed preachers! Hell, fire, brimstone and perdition… were they just used to scare the serfs into religious submission, or is there such a thing as the “Lake of Fire” where the ungodly go? In our age of tolerance and diversity the ridiculous idea that the ten suggestions are really commandments and that God is really going to judge the ungodly is way out of vogue! But God is not just kidding. He has the right, since he is almighty, to demand whatever he wants. He is the creator, after all, and one day He is going to hold court. It may seem far, far away and irrelevant at present, but it will be as serious as a heart attack on judgment day! Hell is a term we use to describe coming judgment. It is an eternal experience of inescapable pain, punishment, searing heat and complete darkness. It is identified as the place called “The Lake of Fire!” Not a happy thought. Judgment Day begins at a place called “The Great White Throne.” God is judging and it is there that the books are opened detailing every person’s life. A search is made to determine whether or not a person’s name is written in “The Book of Life.” Anyone not in the Book of Life does not get to pass Go and does not get to collect $200. Instead they go straight to jail (cf Revelation 20:11-15). So how does one get his name in the Book of Life? Through simple faith… trust Christ as The Only Way to save you from that horrible fate and you get a “get out of jail free” card. After all, He (The Almighty God) left heaven for you, took the form of a man and died to pay your penalty on the cross. Every one of us has a choice: Pay the penalty ourselves in the Lake of Fire or accept His payment on the cross for it. It is an exchange God is willingly making, an offer that stands until the day you die. And it is one I suggest that you take! Just trust Him and the deal is yours.
Dear Mighty God. I admit that I am a sinner in need of a Savior. I do want to miss out on Hell and I do want your free offer of Heaven. I trust that Your death on the cross was the complete payment for my sin and I trust You as my Lord and Savior.
And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.
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