Daily Prayer: a resource of Forward Movement

The Forward Day by Day Meditation for November 19, 2019

We post a Forward Day by Day Meditation for every day of the year - and we invite you to consider them and talk about them here. If you'd like to comment, you can log in to Disqus with your Facebook, Twitter, or Google account; just click "Login," or the appropriate logo below. Or, you can sign up for a Disqus account; just use the entry form below, or click the "D" logo to start the process. You can find the past week's Meditations in the box at right (or below, for mobile users), or search for previous entries on the Archives page. You can also listen to the Forward Day by Day podcast anywhere you find podcasts!

Please note: you won't be able to use the Comment feature unless you enable Javascript in your browser. In general, your overall experience on the Daily Prayer site will be greatly enhanced if you enable Javascript.

TUESDAY, November 19

Revelation 21:8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.

Perhaps you have seen the image on social media: It depicts a person carrying a large placard that contains a long list of sinful categories—and the warning that those who find any of their actions on the list can expect to spend an eternity in a very hot hell.

Many of the people in my social media network will readily admit to seeing themselves in one or more of the listed hell-bound categories—and yet they are also faithful Christians. So where’s the disconnect?

What my social media friends, along with the author of Revelation, understand is that every sin that can be imagined is forgivable by God’s grace in response to penitent faith. It’s when we reject God’s love by letting our sins get so deeply rooted in our souls that they come to define us that we put ourselves in harm’s way for eternity.

MOVING FORWARD: Do some research on hell. What do you think about it?

PRAY for the Dioceses of Salisbury (England) and Dunedin (Aotearoa, New Zealand & Polynesia)

Ps 97, 99, [100] * 94, [95] | 1 Maccabees 3:25-41 | Revelation 21:1-8 | Matthew 17:14-21