Result Of Rejecting God and more food for the soul
The Result of Rejecting God
Romans 1:24-32
By its very nature, a vacuum can never be full. In the same way, when a man or woman denies God's rightful position as Lord over their life, that person's heart will remain hopelessly empty.
It's impossible to know true satisfaction if you refuse the divine call-to be filled with the Holy Spirit and have constant communion with the Father. Instead, a person will fall into idolatry. He or she will find some philosophy or object to devote time and attention.
Without the Lord, people will keep seeking new ways to satisfy the emptiness that only God can fill. Then, taking the short step from idolatry to immorality becomes all too easy. Indulging the sinful nature can take many forms. For example, some people are drawn to sexual perversion (Romans 1), while others who worship wealth may be lured by unethical business practices. Scripture clearly warns that idolatry and immorality will incur divine wrath.
God uses a subtle but potent kind of punishment on those who degrade themselves in the service of a false god. We're told in Romans 1:28, He “[gives] them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper.” There is no worse penalty than to have the Creator turn away and leave one of his children to be devoured by that which he or she worships. The heart becomes like an iron prison, locking God out forever.
There is only One who is worthy of your worship. If you have denied the Lord, you are already on the slippery slope to immorality-worshipping something that does not deserve honor. Dr. Stanley has a loving warning for you: Turn back to God before it is too late.
Charles Stanley In Touch Ministries
shared by Evang. Ethel Buchanan
And the judgment is based on this fact: God's light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.
-John 3:19
*A Matter of Light and Darkness*
I have always been amazed at how upset and completely irrational some people can become when the subject of Jesus Christ comes up. You can be talking about anything, even politics, and they will be relatively nice-even considerate. But just mention Jesus Christ, and you will see veins pop out of the foreheads of otherwise rational and considerate people.
We wonder, What's with this? It is a matter of light and darkness. It's a different dynamic altogether when you talk about the things of God. There is something about the name of Jesus that arrests a person's attention. Why else would people use it for effect when they take the Lord's name in vain? There is power in that name. Even the unbeliever, in a warped sense, recognizes that.
Jesus said, “All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed” (John 3:20). They hate the light for fear that it will expose their darkness.
The same is true of the Bible. When I travel, I will occasionally wind up in the middle seat, which I try very hard not to get. I am usually seated between two big guys who spill over their seats a little. As we are talking, I sometimes will reach into my briefcase and take out my Bible. They look at it. They see the gold pages and the ribbons. And at that point, I might as well have pulled out a live skunk. It represents truth to them, and deep down inside, they know it is the truth.
There is power in the name of Jesus and in the Word of God.