Look
at this list in the scripture passage below. At first. I thought it was only
about the homosexual relations that are offensive to God, but look closer. It
started out by turning away from God’s plan for men and women sexually and then
their lives becoming full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate,
envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. If we
have these feelings or thoughts of greed, hatred, envy, murder, quarreling,
deception, malicious behavior, and gossip it is the same as committing that
very sin, as Jesus taught in His Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew 5). Do we do
those same things? Envy. Gossip. Any other offensive sins? Are we any “better”
than those whom God has abandoned? Consider what God wrote through the prophet Ezekiel.
Difference in flowers.
Difference in people.
Choose wisely.
If righteous people turn away from
their righteous behavior and ignore the obstacles I put in their way, they will
die. And if you do not warn them, they will die in their sins. None of their
righteous acts will be remembered, and I will hold you responsible for their
deaths. Ezekiel
3:20
There is
hope, as Paul wrote to the church at Philippi about God making us righteous
through faith in Christ. He is our hope. Don’t let others influence you to do
stupid things and turn your back on God.
Yes, everything else is worthless
when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his
sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that IDi could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own
righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith
in Christ. For God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith. Philippians 3:8-9
The
choice is ours. Follow God’s plan for salvation from our sins and live a
righteous life worthy of Him…or choose our own selfish desires and be abandoned
by God.
So
God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a
result, they did vile and degrading things with each other's bodies. They
traded the truth
about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created
instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. That is
why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against
the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And
the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust
for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this
sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved. Since they
thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish
thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became
full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception,
malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent,
proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their
parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and
have no mercy. They know God's justice requires that those who do these things
deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do
them, too. Romans
1:24-32
Prayer
~ Lord Jesus, thank you that You have promised to never abandon me. Holy
Spirit, please help me, my family and friends to choose wisely that we would
serve You and honor You in all that we think, say, and do. To God be the glory.
Meditate.
Consider obedience to God’s word.
Verse
of Salvation ~ Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to
obey you. Psalm
51:12
Friday’s
Feast at the King’s Table
Stay
hydrated. The intense rays of the sunshine can quickly dehydrate us—especially small
children and older adults. I aim for about twelve glasses of water a day. How
about you?
© 2025 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All
rights reserved.
All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT)
unless otherwise noted.
New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale
House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream,
Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm.
Books by Mickey M.
Hunacek
Available as e-books or paperbacks at Amazon.com
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