I Thessalonians 3:5 ” For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless. “

Temptation in and of itself isn’t sin…but if acted upon, gives way to sin.  And temptation acted upon,  gives leave to a gateway or portal of evil into our very being.   Evil now has a foothold…a threshold into our lives that we can’t even imagine.  We’re all tempted on a daily basis, by endless means, all focused to cause us to fall into sin.  But we don’t have to give in…and we don’t have to permit that entryway to be established in our lives.  God is greater than any temptation that will befall you today.  Look to Him for guidance.

Hebrews 10: 11-12 ” Day after day every Priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this Priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God.”

We can’t save ourselves.  We can try, and try, and try…but nothing we’ll ever do can rescue us from hell.  We need a Savior…a High Priest that offered the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf…Himself on the Cross…once for all.  And in doing so, gave us the greatest gift ever…the gift of eternal life.  Jesus Christ  is the only answer for this dying world…will you turn to Him today?

Habakkuk 2:18 ” Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it? “

So many times our humanness gets in the way of a right relationship with the Lord.  In a twisted form of arrogance,  we place our wretched past up on a pedestal and proclaim it to be “too terrible”  for the Lord to forgive.  Yes, your past may be riddled with bad choices…but nothing God hasn’t forgiven beforehand.  Murder, adultery, rape…the list goes on in the Bible of deplorable actions done by people in difficult situations.  But when they took responsibility for their sins and asked forgiveness…God forgave them.   For there’s nothing so serious, so vile, that God’s redemptive power can’t forgive.

Romans 6:1-2 ” What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? “

You can’t have it both ways. When you say “Yes” to Jesus, the broken relationship between God and you is restored.  But that doesn’t mean you can manipulate His unearned and unmerited favor to your advantage.  That’s what we’d call cheap grace.  It’s an attitude of entitlement and presumption that you’d rather beg forgiveness than ask permission.

Romans 6:23 ” For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. “

If we live a sinful life, in the end,  our compensation for all that evil will be death and eternal separation from God.   But if we accept the  gift of salvation offered to us by Jesus Christ, we are redeemed by way of His death and resurrection.   That free gift of  Salvation isn’t something we can ever begin to pay for…for Jesus has already paid the price for us.

Romans 3:23 “…for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”

Every one of us has missed the mark in our relationship with God.  No one is found right before Him,  for even our “good works” are like filthy rags  in His eyes.  We are a  desperate, sinful people, living in a dangerous, evil world…unable to save ourselves…incapable of  redeeming our souls.