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Test your knowledge of famous persons (real
and fictional) with the following quiz.
1. Which of the following women helped her husband to
murder a King
Duncan of Scotland in one of Shakespeare's
plays?
A.
Guinevere
B. Lady
Macbeth
C.
Lady Macduff
D. Jane Eyre
2. Which of the
following men from committed adultery with
Hester Prynne
in the book The Scarlet
Letter?
A. Roger
Chillingsworth
B. Shylock
C. Arthur
Dimmesdale
D. Don Quixote
3. What
prominent psychologist promoted the idea that guilt was merely a
side
effect of repressed desire?
A. Carl
Jung
B.
Sigmund Freud
C. Wilhelm
Reich
D.
Dr. Spock
4. How did Tolstoy's Anna
Karenina from the book of the same name end her own
life?
A. By throwing herself under an oncoming
train
B.
By taking poison
C. By drowning in the
bathtub
D.
By falling off a cliff
5. What
did the four above mentioned people have in
common?
A.
Christian faith
B. Love of
children
C. Fear of
heights
D.
Deep sense of
guilt
6. Do you have anything in common with
them?
(Answers:
1.B, 2.C, 3.B, 4.A, 5.D, 6. Well?)
_________________________________________________________
Each of the characters in the quiz above violated one
of God's laws in one way or another and suffered from guilt. Lady
Macbeth committed murder. Arthur Dimmesdale and Anna Karenina
committed adultery. Sigmund Freud accepted perversion as
normalcy.
You probably have not committed
sins quite as heinous as these. However, if you have ever disobeyed
one of God's commandments, either actively or passively, you have sin in
your life. Even a "small" sin is enough to make you
guilty.
Have you ever told a
lie?
Have you ever stolen
anything?
Have you ever lusted?
If your answer is yes to even one of
these questions, you have broken God's Ten Commandments and are not worthy
to go to heaven. Instead, you deserve to go to hell. There is
nothing you can do to remove your guilt.
Have you felt that
crushing weight of guilt? If you have, you know how terrible it is
and how nothing seems to work to remove it. Denying your guilt will
not get rid of it. Rationalizing it only works temporarily.
Hiding it only causes it to eat deeper into your psyche, damaging both
your physical and mental health. Guilt has been known to drive
people insane, to ruin health, and to drive some to suicide.
There is no human solution for it.
But don't
despair! God, in His mercy and love for you, has
provided a way of escape. He loves you so much that He sent His own
Son, Jesus, to die for your sins. Jesus lived a perfect life here on
earth and went to the Cross in your place, died, and rose again. He
took the penalty that had to be paid for your sins. He washed
away your sin with His Blood. He forgave you! He removed
your sin!
"As far as the east is from the west, so far hath
He removed our transgressions from us."
Not only does that mean
that you are forgiven, but it means that the guilt is gone. You
can be clean inside. You don't have to sin anymore. You
can go to heaven. You can have a personal relationship with
God!
Jesus has paid in full for your sins. You cannot
add anything to His gift of salvation. However, you do need to
accept it for yourself to receive its benefits. Accepting it is
a simple act of faith, something you can do right anytime. All you
have to do is
to:
Acknowledge your sin to
God.
Believe in your heart that Jesus has paid for your
sin.
Ask Jesus to come into your heart to be Lord of your life.
It's
that simple! Once you have done those things, you can know for
sure that you have salvation. Don't doubt it! The Bible
says,
"...because if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as
Lord and believe in thy heart that God raised Him from the dead, thou
shalt be saved..."
Enjoy your newfound freedom from
guilt. Revel in the wonder of your
salvation!
You are clean
inside!
Citation- Arthur Dimmesdale
picture--www.hawthorneinsalem.org/images/image.php?name=MMD688
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