God's law is simple, but step one in salvation is confessing you can't keep it. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 5 Q. Can you live up to all this (God's Law) perfectly? A. No. I have a natural tendency to hate God and my neighbor. Summary A sinful nature is part of the human condition, as part of our inheritance of original sin from the first human, Adam. To say that we are without sin is a falsehood. Jesus paid the penalty for our sin, has granted us forgiveness, and made us a new creation; yet we are not without sin. God enables spiritual growth in the life of the believer, however none of us will reach a point of complete righteousness in this life. It is part of our condition to continually battle our fallen nature. Those who deny their sinful nature do more than fool themselves. Not only would such a claim betray the truth, but it would also suggest a belief that you were not in need of the grace of Jesus. The truth is that we have all fallen short and are in desperate need for the grace of Christ. To claim otherwise is to disregard, or at minimum misunderstand, the Gospel. Dig Deeper While Jesus calls us to love our God and our neighbor, our natural tendency is to do the exact opposite. Respect, manners, and sharing are all things that are taught to children either in the home or at school. None of us teaches a child to be selfish, hit when angry, or throw a fit when you don’t get your way; yet these behaviors are still commonplace. These tendencies are ingrained in our very being. Part of living as a Child of God is battling our fallen nature. While the Holy Spirit does empower believers to do good; the faithful remain locked in combat with our fallen nature. This battle will continue to rage on until the end of the age when our sanctification is complete. As you acknowledge your natural state of sinfulness, lean on the Holy Spirit for the strength to do what you cannot do on your own, which is to love God and love others. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Father God, you are faithful and just to forgive my sins and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Help me to recognize and confess my own sin, and strengthen me with the Spirit to trust in the righteousness of my Savior. ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Mark 10

Ephesians 6:1-3 (NIV) Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2  “Honor your father Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 25: The Fulfillment of the Law We The earth is the Lord's and everything in it. the world, and all who live in it" (Psalm 24:1). Today: 1 Corinthians 9

Revelation 1:4–8 (NIV) Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from Dig Deeper Our society generally has a favorable opinion of Jesus of Nazareth, the man who lived 2,000

Romans 6:1-4 (NIV) What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2  By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 29: The Marks of the True Church Today: Titus 2

1 John 5:19-20 (ESV) 19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. 20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know used the word 'world' earlier, when he commanded us to "not love the world or anything in the world (1 John 2:15)." Today: Matthew 21

Romans 10:1-4 (NIV) Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2  For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 25: The Fulfillment of the Law We Today: 1 Corinthians 7

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2  “This month is to be for you the first month, the first shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD—a lasting ordinance. -- Moses later speaks to the people: 24   “Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. 25  When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. 26  And when your children ask 27  then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites

God gives them two overarching commands: 1) Pray for their new city, which is what grabs our attention today, and 2) don't listen to the 'prophets' among them; these were the guys who presented God's will God's name in every way; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - 2

own rulers that the Lord may be willing to lead them in all their ways (as we were commanded to do in 1 Timothy 2 which we read earlier this week ) AAA Prayer (About) A CKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS : Our Father and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness (1 Timothy 2:2); A SK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year!

When it comes to the sacraments, not following the directions may cause serious side effects. 1 Corinthians   So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, 21  for when you are eating, As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. 22  Don’t you have homes to eat and drink , took bread, 24  and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for Today: 2 Timothy 3