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My dear husband has been preaching on Life In the Valley. I guess he did not realize how much we would need those sermons ourselves! God is incredible and His design of the scriptures to meet our every need is beyond description. How often I have cried on Saturday night, only to sit Sunday morning in awe at how He speaks to me from His word, just what I needed; words of comfort and admonition.

I Corinthians 6: 18-20
"Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's."

Flee is to run away from. But how often do we flirt with temptation and sin? We put ourselves in the way of temptation and then pray, "God don't let me give in!" I remember years ago a young lady in our youth group telling us about attending a drinking party and praying, "God don't let me take a drink." Seems obvious, doesn't it?
We must flee from the very appearance of evil. That means to run far away from what would tempt us to do wrong. We should not even go where we know we might stumble and fall.

What excuses do we give for doing such things in our walk in the valley?
Do we justify our thoughts or actions? Do we ignore the warning signs we are on the wrong path? Do we shut the door on those who might help us?
This passage speaks specifically of sexual immorality, but do we realize that our own tongue sets the whole process in motion? Are we careful to guard our thoughts and words each day? Rarely do we set out to be immoral or sinful, but we let the false brightness lure us ever closer to the deadly flames of sin and death, until we are so caught, we think we cannot get loose.

But thank God for His inexpressible gift of life in Christ! He can forgive the worst sinner and make them clean again, but only if we are willing to do so according to His word. . . .we cannot choose the terms of our redemption.

"He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins." Colossians 1:13-14

"Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures." James 1:18 It is not any effort on our part that saves us, but entirely God's doing. We must ask for it and receive it, humbly acknowledging our dependence entirely on Him. What a wonderful relief that is! And what joy to know He provides such an entrance to salvation. As it is written in Acts 2:38, "Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
May your day be filled with the joy of this wonderful gift!
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