Morning Musings – Page 200

Morning Musings: 2 Corinthians 8:21

October 2, 2017October 1, 20172 Comments

“…for we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of man.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

But I thought honoring God was our chief concern! It is. And if something is honorable in the sight of God, but dishonorable in the sight of men, then we are just going to have to be dishonorable in the sight of men. But, neither is our goal to needlessly offend the people around us. One of the hallmarks of the earliest church is that they had favor with God, but also had the favor of all the people. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: 2 Corinthians 6:14

September 29, 2017September 28, 2017Leave a comment

“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?” (ESV – Read the chapter)

This is a tough verse. It’s tough mostly because of its implications. I don’t think Paul’s point here is that we need to cloister ourselves off from the world. Rather, we should not attach ourselves to the world in such a way that we are depending on it for the things for which we should primarily depend on the Lord. Read the Rest…

Morning Musings: Isaiah 1:16-17

September 27, 2017September 24, 2017Leave a comment

“Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

This is a powerful call to righteousness and justice in its own right, but its context makes it even more powerful. Take a minute to read again what comes just before this. God essentially tells the people to stop worshiping Him. Well, not exactly that, but close enough as far as they were concerned.

For the people of Israel, the worship of God was found in the rituals. Having rituals be a part of our worship isn’t a bad thing. In fact, where those rituals help focus our hearts and minds on the God to whom we are directing our attention they can be a very good thing. But, it is easy to begin thinking that the rituals are valuable in and of themselves. As a point of fact, they’re not. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Proverbs 21:26

September 25, 2017September 24, 2017Leave a comment

“All day long he craves and craves, but the righteous gives and does not hold back.” (ESV)

Being righteous doesn’t mean being perfect. That is certainly the goal, but the two aren’t the same thing. The righteous person still has desires for all kinds of different things, many of them things which are not good for them. As Solomon writes here, he craves and craves all day long. What the righteous person does do is deny those cravings for the sake of others. He learns to say no to what he wants in order that he might be able to give to those around him. She is in control of her desires in order leverage her resources for the benefit of people who do not have similar access to them. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

September 22, 2017September 19, 2017Leave a comment

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

If we let them, the troubles of this world will completely overwhelm us and leave us unable to pursue the path of Jesus with anything resembling the commitment we need in order to gain the benefits from it. Problems in our marriages, problems with our kids, troubles at work, hardships at school, financial challenges, family issues, interpersonal doubts, and so on can fill our field of view until we don’t see anything else. They become the lens through which we see everything else. Depression (not clinical), discouragement, and malaise become our constant companions. Read the rest…