Romans 1:18-32 (New Living Translation)
God’s Anger at Sin
18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19 They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. 20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. 22 Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. 23 And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 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. 25 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. 26 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. 27 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.
28 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. 29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. 30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. 31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. 32 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.
Mike's Thoughts:
Simply put, God hates sin. When we become Christians, God graces us with his strength and power. However, when we decide to live in sin, he lets us. He gives us the desire of our hearts, be it good or bad. The problem is that when you walk away from God, it's hard to get reconnected with him. Not impossible, but hard. Not because of him, but because of us. This is seen in the percentage of people who turn from God's ways and never come back. Although many people do come back to God, the percentages are low. The only way to live for God is to know God. When we know God, he gives us power to live for him. When we turn form him and live for ourselves the power to live for him is gone. God is always there with open arms waiting for us, but we have to make the decision to come to him. God has revealed himself to everyone. Here, he does it through his creation. He also does it through his word.
Prayer:
God, thanks for letting us know who you are. Thanks for letting us know you in creation, your word, and the lives of other people. Thank you for the power to live our lives in you. Help us to know you and stay connected with you. When we have selfish desires, please let your spirit take over and strengthen us. --amen
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