Extracted from 40.day2021 - Jul 2 I Week 1 I New Norm

Ezra 9:1-4 - After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices, like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites. 2 They have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, and have mingled the holy race with the peoples around them. And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness.” 3 When I heard this, I tore my tunic and cloak, pulled hair from my head and beard and sat down appalled. 4 Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered around me because of this unfaithfulness of the exiles. And I sat there appalled until the evening sacrifice.

"In the secular world of business, compromise is not a dirty word (HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW). Brokers compromise to seal the deal. They negotiate in the company’s interest. They bend over backwards and make concessions for a win-win. So goes the business world.

Not so among you! In the biblical world of discipleship, compromise is a lose- lose. Ponder and pray: We are God’s covenant people (1 PET 2:9). 

A community of faith with core distinctives. We uphold God’s Word as the authoritative standard for our lives: the compass we rely on for direction, the counsel we listen to for making wise decisions, and the benchmark we use for evaluating everything. 

The Bible must always have the first and last word in our lives (RICK WARREN). 

No compromise!"