Today's Passage - Romans 1:28-32

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Romans 1:28-32   "Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.  Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them."   God gives people over to sin because people purposely don't want to believe in God.  Because of self-centeredness, we often make self-gratification as our main principle in life.  We accept whatever satisfies our own needs, and reject whatever doesn't meet our needs.  Our choices are not made by evaluating whether they abide by the truth, but rather whether the choices satisfy our needs, and Christians are no exception.  When people seek the will of God, they're not really seeking God, but they are seeking Word of God to confirm what they want.  They only pick what they want to hear, and they "amen" to what they like but reject whatever doesn't serve their purpose.  When we follow our own will and walk our own path, God will no longer remind and correct us and He'll allow us to do whatever we want, but we need to accept the consequence of walking our own path.   If you are walking your own path right now and you are worried, you need to turn back to God and ask God for forgiveness.  You need to humbly turn back from your own way to walk on the way of God.  I've seen some do want to turn back to God, but when they turn to God's path they feel embarrassed to change their own way, and thus could not keep on going.  We need to understand whether it's more important to avoid embarrassment or to follow the will of God in the path of our life.  May God help us not to fool ourselves, for God's path will bring forth light and our own path will bring forth worry and anxiety.  Are you facing such choices in life right now?  May God help you to choose the right way of life.                                                                        Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, I especially want to pray for the brothers and sisters who are struggling in the path of life.  May the Lord open their eyes to see that they will be worried and anxious in the self-centered path of life.  May the Spirit of the Lord release them, give them a courageous heart to take on the path that pleases you.  I thank you and I pray that in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!