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Day 7, or January the 7th. It's never too late

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to live positively. Our thought today is rooted

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in Genesis chapter 18, verse 2. Abraham looked

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up and saw three men standing nearby. When he

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saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his

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tent to meet them, and bowed low to the ground.

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First the big picture surrounding this verse.

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God appears to Abraham and Sarah again, but his

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promise of a son is once again greeted with a

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laugh, this time from Sarah, who is asked, Is

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anything too difficult for the Lord? This is

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almost the same question posed by the angel when

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he speaks to Mary, mother of Jesus, when she

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is told she is to have a baby, even though she

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is still a virgin. Meanwhile, the cities of Sodom

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and Gomorrah are destroyed, just as God predicts,

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through two angels who visit Sodom where Lot

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lives. Abraham pleads with them for a stay of

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execution, but in the end, the inevitable happens.

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The angels, who appear as normal men, see the

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wickedness for themselves, and Lot has to give

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them shelter in his home before they finally

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escape. Sadly, Lot's wife perishes in a unique

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way by becoming a pillar of salt. Lot's daughters

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both have sex with him and produce a son each.

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One is called Moab, whose descendants become

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the Moabites, and the other is called Ben -Ami,

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whose descendants become the Ammonites. Both

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these groups of people hate the Jews for centuries,

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and are hated in return. And now our action step

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for today. Abraham is still childless and getting

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older and older, but he sets an example for all

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of us to follow. In chapter 18 we read that he

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runs, hurries, and runs again. Not bad for someone

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just short of his hundredth birthday. He doesn't

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let the fact that everything in his own life

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isn't perfect affect how he relates to others.

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Sometimes things just rub us up the wrong way.

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Sometimes it's people who do it to us. Don't

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let people determine how you will lead your life

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today. Lead it joyfully with the help and guidance

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of the Holy Spirit.