Dear friend, it's wonderful to greet you today. We are a family of God, eagerly waiting to hear from our one and only head, God Himself. He is speaking to us from Psalm 97:10 today, "You who love the Lord, hate evil. He protects the souls of His godly ones. He rescues them from the hand of the wicked." In other words, when we love the Lord deeply, we hate evil. We cannot follow evil, and that alone protects our soul. This is the only place where the Lord explicitly asks us to hate something. Because He hates evil so much, He does not want it to remain in our lives.

He knows what evil does to us. In the beginning, when He created man in His image, He saw how glorious man’s life was. Man walked so closely with God, moved in authority, and was able to rule over the earth. The blessings of God surrounded him. But then, sin entered when man accepted something not of God. He desired that fruit which God did not want him to have, and he chose disobedience. That single act of sin brought a curse upon man and separated him from God. God saw how man fell from His glory, and that is why He doesn’t want evil to persist in our lives.

So, God came in the form of man to give up His life, shed His blood, and save us from sin. Through His sacrifice, we are united with Him, always living with Him, and entering into the blessing of God. He wants us to love Him wholeheartedly and hold on to this blessing. This is why Jesus spoke of the young man who left the comfort of his father’s house to enjoy worldly pleasures. Though temporary, those pleasures vanished when the money ran out. His so-called friends left him, and he experienced deep emptiness without his father’s presence. That is what evil brings into our lives. But God says, “Love Me and hate evil. Stay in My house, and enjoy its richness.” And through this, He protects your soul.

PRAYER: 
Loving Lord, thank You for showing me the beauty of Your holiness and the danger of evil. Teach me to love You deeply and hate what You hate. Please guard my soul from wickedness, and help me to stay in Your presence always. Let me never get swayed away by temporary pleasures, but help me to hold fast to Your eternal blessings. Let Your Holy Spirit lead me back to You and restore my relationship with You, for I choose to remain in You always. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.