Remove the Stumbling Blocks to Temptation

God Created the World

God Creates, Humans Sin

Mark 9:42-48 The Message

42 “On the other hand, if you give one of these simple, childlike believers a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you’ll soon wish you hadn’t. You’d be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck.
43-48 “If your hand or your foot gets in God’s way, chop it off and throw it away. You’re better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owner of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire. And if your eye distracts you from God, pull it out and throw it away. You’re better off one-eyed and alive than exercising your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell.

For Reflection

What is it that seduces you to sin? What do you fear? What material desire overwhelms your sense of reason and demands your aggressive pursuit? You don't need to amputate a hand or a foot.  You need to overcome your fear, tame your material desires, and trust in the Holy Spirit to guide you.  Confidence in God will drive out your vulnerable worries and debilitating desires.

Pray

Pray so that you become alert to those things which make you vulnerable to your fears and desires. Pray so that you have confidence that all things will be made right in God's creation.


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