Tagged: message of the day

“The Lord God planted a garden in Eden…and He placed there the man whom He had formed.” –Genesis 2:8 God freely and lovingly created man and gave him the breath of life. God not only provided man with an abundance of good food, but He also blessed man’s spirit by creating an environment that was “delightful to look at” (Gn 2:9). All of this was a sheer gift from God. In the world He created, God did not require man to produce his own food; that requirement was chosen by man when Adam and Eve decided to handle their own...

“This people pays Me lip service but their heart is far from Me. Empty is the reverence they do Me.” –Mark 7:6-7 Are you a person after God’s own heart who will carry out His every wish? (see Acts 13:22) Have you given your heart to the Lord? Is your heart beating as one with the Lord’s heart? Is your heart close to or far from the Lord? It is difficult to know our hearts (see Jer 17:9). However, the Lord has given us a way to judge the position of our hearts. Jesus said: “Wherever your treasure lies, there...

“God saw how good it was.” –Genesis 1:10, 12 God’s first creation was “good” (Gn 1:10, 12, 18, 25). God’s new creation in Jesus Christ is even better. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Cor 5:17). “All that matters is that one is created anew” (Gal 6:15). God made His first creation “good,” but through the deceit of Satan, man fell into sin. Since then, all creation has been groaning in sorrow and agony (Rm 8:22). Then God gave His only Son to renew mankind and creation – not just to restore them to their...

“By God’s grace I am what I am.” –1 Corinthians 15:10, our transl. The purpose of life is to be converted to the Lord. For example, “in the year King Uzziah died,” Isaiah “saw the Lord” in the temple (Is 6:1). Isaiah was converted. He saw God’s glory, became painfully aware of his own sinfulness, was forgiven and purified, and accepted God’s call to be a prophet (Is 6:1ff). Saul (Paul) was also converted. He did not see but heard the risen Lord (Acts 9:4). He was struck blind for three days, during which he prayed (Acts 9:8, 12). Then...

“Let marriage be honored in every way and the marriage bed be kept undefiled.” –Hebrews 13:4 When God revealed to the world His Ten Commandments, he set aside two of them to teach the human race about His thoughts on marriage: “You shall not commit adultery” (Ex 20:14). “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife” or husband (Ex 20:17). St. Thomas More and St. John the Baptist died as martyrs making a stand for God’s definition of marriage. Surely many others have suffered greatly over the centuries as well for the sake of God’s plan for marriage. Sadly, numerous people...