Tag: Righteousness

Morning Musings: Proverbs 21:26

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“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…

Digging in Deeper: Psalm 101:2-8

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I will ponder the way that is blameless.
Oh when will you come to me?
I will walk with integrity of heart
within my house;

I will not set before my eyes
anything that is worthless.
I hate the work of those who fall away;
it shall not cling to me.

A perverse heart shall be far from me;
I will know nothing of evil.

Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly
I will destroy.
Whoever has a haughty look and an
arrogant heart
I will not endure.

I will look with favor on the faithful in the land,
that they may dwell with me;
he who walks in the way that is blameless
shall minister to me.

No one who practices deceit
shall dwell in my house;
no one who utters lies
shall continue before my eyes.

Morning by morning I will destroy
all the wicked in the land,
cutting off all evildoers
from the city of the Lord.

(ESV – Read the chapter)

These are powerful words.  David was writing this from his position as king of Israel.  He was laying out his commitment to God of how he was going to manage his kingdom in such a way that would keep it on the path of righteousness.  He was talking about how he was going to set guardrails to keep it from teetering into evil.  Drawing from v. 2, he was committing himself to walking in the way that is blameless and then going on to describe how he was going to do that.   Read the rest…

Good Little Children

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This past Sunday as we continued our journey in 1 John, A Word on Reality, we looked at both the blessings and the expectations of being called the children of God.  The blessings are incredible beyond our ability to comprehend, but we are at the same time called to live up to a standard consonant with our confession.  What is this standard?  Keep reading to find out.   Read the Rest…

Morning Musings: 1 Corinthians 10:13

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“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.  God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Temptation is everywhere we look.  The Siren song of sin sings sweetly at every corner.  Sometimes it feels like all we ever do is drift from one temptation to another.  And yet, Paul’s observation here is true and powerful.  I think there are several things we can say about our efforts with the Spirit’s help to walk in the righteousness of the Lord based on what Paul says here.   Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Psalm 94:8-11

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If you noticed something different about that title, you are not mistaken.  In an effort to keep things fresh and to make sure you know what you’re getting into when you start reading, I’m going to introduce a new section of the blog.  I’ll call this new part, “Morning Musings” (with many thanks to Ron for the title).   Read the rest…