Devotion
Clean or Unclean
Frances Taylor

Mark's gospel continues with a list of those things that make defile the man: evil thoughts, sexual sins, thefts, murders, adulteries, coveting, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride and foolishness.

Take a good look at the list. How many of these evils are now in vogue as opposed to being considered to be sins. The ads we see are designed to make us covet our neighbor's goods, lifestyle and often, his wife. People climb all over others to get to the top in business. Pride makes us think that we deserve more than our share and there's no point in talking about fornication or adultery because we are so past seeing the wrongdoing in either of those. Just listen to the music, watch a movie or television program, not to mention the ads, and we get the picture that this is just normal behavior. Jesus was quite specific in this teaching. Just because everyone is doing it, does that make it right? No wonder our world is in ...

Morning Prayer 

A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.

Inspiration 

It's our human nature to come up with plans, thoughts, and goals for the future. But we need to realize God is the only one who truly knows what's best for us. When you have plans you would like to make, or actions you need to take about a particular decision, make sure that you go to God first.

Prayer 

Dear God, I commit all my plans, dreams, and aspirations into your hands. These are only products of my thoughts; what I truly want is what you want for me because I know that that is what will truly be best for me. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.