file: /pub/resources/text/Our.Daily.Bread: db940324.txt
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          OUR DAILY BREAD                          Thursday, March 24, 1994
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          Read:  Romans 1:18-32

                                 NO EXCUSES ACCEPTED

                              They are without excuse.
                                    --Romans 1:20

          Derek  was  a drug abuser who came to Bill and Joanie  Yoder  for
          help. After they had spent hours answering his questions from the
          Bible, Derek said, "It seems to me that it would be pretty  cheap
          to  come to God after all I've done and say to Him,  'Well,  God,
          how  about forgiving me?'  It would be different if I  could  say
          that I hadn't known any better when I did the things I  did.  But
          I  knew  that the things I did were wrong, not just after  I  did
          them, but as I was doing them."

          Derek  had  hit on an important truth:  We do not  have  a  valid
          excuse  for  our sin.  God holds us responsible  because  through
          conscience  He  has revealed His moral laws to  everyone  in  the
          world.  While  creation declares God's power  and  majesty  (Rom.
          1:20), conscience echoes His law loudly enough so that no one can
          plead ignorance (2:15).

          Bill and Joanie explained to Derek that our only hope for release
          from  the guilt that our responsibility carries with it is  this:
          God  offers  forgiveness as a free gift through  faith  in  Jesus
          Christ,  who died in our place on the cross.  Late  one  evening,
          Derek accepted God's forgiveness.

          Until  we  are  willing  to  own  the  sin,  we  cannot  own  the
          forgiveness.  God accepts no excuses.

          Author:  Dennis J. De Haan

                          My sin, O Lord, defies Your Word,
                              It scorns Your holy name;
                         I will not make excuse for wrong --
                           Christ's blood is all I claim.
                                         DJD

          THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
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          If you make an excuse for sin, your sin will not be excused.

          THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:  Judges 19-21












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