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6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 6:10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
Have you ever noticed the signs on the exit ramps of American Interstates that are facing backwards as you exit? Do you know what those signs say? If you ever get confused and start to enter an Interstate by an exit ramp, then you can clearly see those signs. They read: "Wrong Way".
The Interstate builders are boldly telling us that something is wrong! Are they being judgmental? How politically incorrect! Of course the Interstates were built in the 1960's, so that might explain some of it -- a few things were still considered to be morally wrong back then.
But do they have a right to tell people "Wrong Way" in the liberated 21st Century? Of course they do! And a responsibility to tell, too! Wrong is still wrong and all the creative denial in the world can't change facts. Don't believe me? Read the signs!
One sign is the human conscience. We, human beings, are programed with a sense of right and wrong. We have the freedom to ignore the inward sign of our personal conscience, but when we do, we experience a sense of guilt that says "Wrong Way".
Another sign is the Bible. It clearly says that many things are morally wrong, "sins" -- lying, adultery, stealing, sex outside of marriage, breaking just laws, profanity, fraud, over eating, selfishness, self-righteousness and many more. Yet we choose to ignore the Bible in our society and then get upset if a congressman refuses to be "sworn in" with his hand on the Bible. Is that not a double standard?
Don't take down the "Wrong Way" signs on the Interstate exit ramps. People may die if we do! And people are dying and destroying themselves and their families because we are pushing the "Wrong Way" signs out of our culture.
Sex outside of marriage is killing people through HIV and Hepatitis C while our society eagerly promotes it and makes fun of anybody who speaks out against it and says "Wrong Way". Millions of unborn babies are being unmercifully executed every year and even those who believe it is morally wrong say "Pro Life" instead of "Wrong Way". Abortion is as morally wrong as killing a child or an adult in his or her sleep. And nowadays, even Christians are beginning to excuse those who are taking the wrong way of homosexual behavior.
"We can't legislate morality!" someone says. True, but if we continue to take down, drown out, or destroy all the "Wrong Way" signs, how can we avoid personal self-destruction and the eventual fall of our society into Iraq style anarchy?
I am thankful for "Wrong Way" signs! They protect me from myself and from my tendency toward self-destruction. I read the Bible frequently and listen to my conscience and then do my best to obey them. How about you?
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22:24 Make no friendship with a man that is given to anger; And with a wrathful man you shalt not go: 22:25 Lest you learn his ways, And get a snare to thy soul.
Scientists finally discover peer pressure! “People whose friends become obese have a greater chance of also getting too fat, a finding that suggests obesity is socially contagious,” says the Los Angeles Times referring a study recently published in The New England Jouranl of Medicine.
The LA Times article also states: “Other studies have demonstrated that smoking can ripple through groups of friends and that depression can spread among family members.” Did it take modern scientific studies to discover the power of association, commonly known as peer pressure?
King Solomon already knew about the harmful influence of self-destructive friends, 3,000 years ago. If you read his book of Proverbs you will see that Solomon frequently talks about the power of a person’s companions to have a negative influence on his/her lifestyle.
Of course, if we want to we can turn this “recently discovered information” around and use it for our benefit. We can choose to associate with positive people who are working hard to avoid and overcome self-destructive behaviors. And we can minimize our contact with those who are openly engaging in self-destructive behaviors.
If fat is contagious, so is thin! If smoking is contagious, so is non-smoking. If depression is contagious, so are joy and contentment.
You decided every day what behaviors you are going to catch by the people you choose to associate with. Now that science has finally discovered peer pressure, maybe society will begin to put aside some of its self-destruction.
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5:17 pray without ceasing;
Would you rather talk to a friend, a counselor, a stranger, or a therapist? Do you need lessons in conversation or can you jump right into one? Can you talk about anything or are there only certain topics you will discuss? Or do you prefer to keep things to yourself?
Conversation can be pleasing and healing. Of course it can backfire and mess us up if the person we are talking to is untrustworthy, uncaring, or has a hidden agenda against us.
So who you gonna talk to? Nobody? That is very lonely -- to have to keep your struggles, pains, and problems completely to yourself. Ouch.
Wouldn't it be great if there was someone who is absolutely trustworthy, completely caring, and who's agenda is always for our best? Well . . . THERE IS.
Why not have a talk with God? You can speak out loud or silently in your mind. Doesn't matter. He hears you. Try it. Talk to Him like you would talk to a physically present human being.
Lay aside all the religious stuff -- bowing your head, closing your eyes, speaking in a formal manner, using religious sounding words, making your prayer sound pretty. None of that matters. Just talk. "Hey, God, I don't understand why I am going through this junk and I'm kinda of upset here. Uh, will you help me hold on and show me what I need to do? Thanks." Just talk to God and keep on talking to Him through out your day and night.
You will discover that talking to God is not like talking to the walls. It is not like talking to yourself. And it is not like talking to an imaginary friend. It feels completely different than those things.
Talking to God has the feeling of authenticity -- as if you are really talking to Someone who is genuinely listening to you. Wow. It is great to be able to lay my burdens down on Him.
Try it today. Ok? 
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1:5 And this is the message which we have heard from him and announce unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
America has considerable closet confusion!
Sicko-vision (nasty, negative, and disrespectful TV and movies) has come out of the closet -- clean, uplifting, and positive entertainment has all but vanished into the closet; buried under the "G" or "PG" label.
Cheapo sex has come out of the closet -- sexual purity has retreated into the closet.
Profanity, vulgar conversation, and adolescent language have leaped out of the closet -- clean, respectful, and honorable language has all but disappeared into the closet.
Pornography has exploded out of the closet -- respect for a fellow human being and her (or his) body has retreated into the closet.
Homosexuality has danced out of the closet -- the sexual morality of almost all cultures, religions, and time periods has been slammed into the closet.
Drugs have come out of the closet on to TV commercials, street corners, and even the Sheriff of Williamson County (Brentwood, Franklin, TN) was arrested for buying drugs -- while living drug free is slipping into the closet.
Abortion is way out of the closet -- while pictures of the dead aborted babies are so far in the closet that they are never shown in the popular US media.
Violence and militarism are hyped-up and closet free -- non-violence as a lifestyle is so deeply in the closet in most people's minds that it is regulated to the Amish.
Lavish lifestyles are out of the closet and flaunted on the "red carpet" -- the despair and hopelessness of modern American poverty are lodged deeply in the closet.
It seems that every religion, cult, and new age idea, is now out of the American closet -- however; passionate, heart-felt, sacrifical, Biblical Christianity seems to be in the very bottom of the closet.
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8:28 And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, `even' to them that are called according to `his' purpose.
One beautiful summer day, I was sitting in a park in Paducah, Kentucky talking with a friend. Suddenly, my friend’s eyes got really big and I heard the sound of a heavy thud behind me.
I turned around and there was a squirrel sprawled out, apparently unconscious, on the ground. Somehow it had fallen out of the huge tree we were sitting under.
My friend and I were stunned. How could a squirrel fall? However, after a few seconds, the squirrel suddenly jumped up, scampered up another tree, and began to jump from limb to limb.
I learned a lesson that day. If even an agile, acrobatic squirrel can fall out of a tree, any of us human beings can fall down in life. However, falling is no shame if you get up, get going, and get back in your tree.
Something tells me that the squirrel didn’t spend the rest of his life feeling guilty over his fall. He was too busy frolicking in the branches to wallow in his mistake.
Perhaps our life would work better if we would learn from the falling squirrel’s example. Let’s get up, live right, and forget our mistakes.
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