Daily Bread 11/8/2023

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    Daily Bread – November 8, 2023 (The Fourth Day – Genesis 1:14-19) Romans 12:9 – Have genuine love, hating the evil, cleaving to the good. In the opening statements of this chapter, Paul instructs each individual in the strongest terms possible to yield up their lives to God (Romans 12:1-2). In doing so, we are to give ourselves completely to walking in the nature of Christ Jesus. In the expression of the nature of Jesus is the love of God. God has loved us with a love surpassing all others, and we are commanded by Him to love one another. However, men run the risk of only acting like they love each other – many times as a result of holding on to problems or fears. Any non-genuine expression of love is hypocrisy of the worst degree (2 Corinthians 6:6; 1 Peter 1:22; 1 John 3:18). God wants us to express the love that comes from a pure heart and is supplied by the Holy Spirit (1 Timothy 1:5; Romans 5:5; Galatians 5:22). Everything not of the love of God in our relationships with one another is evil. It has been said that to love God is to regard evil with horror. Unfortunately, too many people are lured into a general tolerance of evil. But to think that God is in any way tolerant of evil is a big mistake. Evil is the enemy and the opposite of all it means to be in Christ. There is nothing more threatening to the soul of the redeemed saint than compromise. Those who love the Lord must hear the instruction of the Lord – Hate evil!! (Psalms 97:10, 119:104,128,163; Proverbs 8:13) The life-giving presence of the Holy Spirit radically alters the way a person lives his or her life. God has given us a quality of life, and expects a quality of life from us. If we are going to know what God expects of us, then we are going to have to take His instructions seriously. If we are going to know how to keep ourselves so the wicked one cannot touch us, then we are going to have to place God’s Words before us and not depart from the things which He has commanded. If we are going to stick to that which is good, we will above all other things, stick to the Word of God! Blessings, Pastor Mark Spitsbergen